I can’t really say where the ‘trend’ began. Perhaps it was in high school, when I was spending a rather hefty chunk of my hard earned money on fashion (and gossip, I won’t lie) magazines. Or maybe it was that summer at camp when Jen and I would pour over one magazine, then trade, then go on-line to read more about the latest fashions and trends (and gossip… that in and of itself is a guilty pleasure, People Magazine, I mean… come on, you know you like it!). Truly, I can’t be sure where it started… but as you can tell, my guess is that the one page, tucked in the back of nearly every magazine started it all.
I am a Libra through and through, if you know me, it is uncanny how my personality lines up with the stars I was born under. I’m not into all the crazy mumbo jumbo that goes along with astrology, I just really enjoy a good horoscope every now and again.
My initial reaction to my own impulse is to be disappointed, “seriously self, you need validation by some hippie who thinks they can read the stars and planetary alignment?” but then I think, “no, I am content to live, have faith, and hope.” however, my curiosity usually wins out and I look up my horoscope, and damn it all if it isn’t spot on 92% of the time! It kind of creeps me out, how accurate it is.
What I also find interesting is that “horoscopedom” is divided into two camps, those who read them and those who don’t. Those who do are often emphatic and obsessed, all about how “their sign” they are (I may mirror my sign but I am no obsessor). And then there are those who don’t, they are obsessed to, with telling the other camp how stupid it is to read those “filthy things” all the time; “they are vague and convoluted, anything sounds good when it’s shrouded in hypotheticals and generalizations” they chant. But really, where is the line drawn, because I simply don’t fit into either of these camps, I just really enjoy reading a good horoscope from time to time.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but Drew moved to LA six months before I did. When he leftwe started sending each other our horoscopes for the day as a sort of game… “was yours right?” we would ask, anxiously awaiting the text back. 9 times out of 10 they were spot on, and in some weird way this helped us feel closer, it made it feel like we weren’t 2,500 miles apart.
Listen, hate all you may, think it’s hocus-pocus all you want… it doesn’t change the fact that there are things about our selves that transcend our understanding. Mankind has been trying to understand these “unknowns” since the beginning of times. Philosophers have studied it, astrologers mapped its movement, calendars have been made, and tests were created (enneagram,[I am a 2, wing 3] andmyers brigs [I have yet to do this one... it is on my list]). These things don’t replace religion, they don’t solve world problems, but they help give us understanding.
Given that this is getting far more mystical than I intended and running off on a rabbit trail I will leave you simply with this - There is mystery in the world, divine mystery, giving us the longing to discover more, and to be known.
So go on, check that horoscope.
xx
