Here’s How To Defend Your Belief In Astrology When People Say It’s Fake

I won’t ask you to believe me or agree with me. I just hope you choose to read on with an open mind!

98% of the people I meet who think horoscopes zodiac charts are utter bull**** have never even looked further than click bait articles.

I can respect the other 2% who’ve performed some semblance of research and then thoughtfully decided to disregard it (though I wouldn’t be surprised if they were a stubborn, rational, analytical Earth sign…just saying.) But as for everyone else who discredits it as pseudoscience as refuses to research…I just don’t understand.

How do they ever learn anything?

A few months ago I noticed a friend of mine using an app called CoStar Astrology (available for Apple-users only at the moment, unfortunately). It boasts its ability to determine your birth chart, see friends’ charts, and read daily horoscopes that take into account your entire chart.

I’m a try-anything-once kind of person, so I downloaded it and gave it a shot.

And let me tell you: this app is dope. Their “engine uses NASA data, coupled with the methods of professional astrologers, to algorithmically generate insights about your personality and your future.”

In other words, it’s not random Googled bull****.

Here’s what I learned from CoStar: We tend to think of ourselves in terms of our Sun sign (which position the sun was in the day one was born).

This makes sense because the Sun is thought to represent the conscious self—one’s qualities and expressions, the main principles one lives by. Essentially, it’s your “life force,” just like the sun is the solar system’s, serving as the most important source of energy for life on Earth.

But the solar system is vast and contains multitudes. Are you saying the only thing that influences me is the sun’s positioning?

Hell no! There’s also the moon! And, uh, several other planets!

So next time someone says “horoscopes are so vague and apply to literally anyone, it’s too broad to mean anything,” ask them if they have any idea what their moon, rising, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto signs are.

When they stare at you quizzically, verbally wipe away their ignorance with the following brief descriptions:

Sun

The sun determines your ego, identity, and “role” in life. It’s the core of who you are, and is the sign you’re most likely to already know. Then there’s the…

Moon

The moon rules your emotions, moods, and feelings. It’s the sign you most think of yourself as since it reflects your personality when you’re alone or deeply comfortable.

Rising

Also called your “ascendant,” this is the sign that was rising over the eastern horizon when you were born. It’s the “mask” you present to people. It can be seen in your personal style and how you come off to people when you first meet. Plus, it changes every two hours, which is why your precise birth time is especially significant in determining your birth chart.

Mercury

Mercury determines how you communicate, talk, think, and process information. It also indicates how you learn—it’s the mind’s planet.

Venus

Venus determines how and what you love. It indicates how you express affection and the qualities you’re attracted to.

Mars

Mars is the planet of aggression, so accordingly it influences how you assert yourself, take action, and the energy that surrounds you—particularly in your sex life, ambitiousness, and when you’re angry.

Jupiter

Jupiter is one of the two social planets. It rules idealism, optimism, and expansion. It’s also very philosophical.

Saturn

This is the other social planet. It rules responsibility, restrictions, limits, boundaries, fears, and self-discipline.

Uranus

Uranus stays in each sign for seven years, so it tends to rule a generation more than a person. It rules innovation, rebellion, and progress.

Neptune

Neptune stays in each sign for roughly 14 years, so it also rules a generation more than a person. It rules dreams, imagination, and the unconscious.

Pluto

Pluto stays in each sign for up to 30 years, so again, generation more than individual. It rules power, intensity, obsession, and control.

All of these things go into determining your birth chart and, by extension, horoscope. Oh, and did I mention houses?

Houses in Astrology

The zodiac is divided into 12 segments (like a clock) which the astrology community calls “houses.” Each one is ruled by a different sign and set of traits, and at the moment you were born, the planets were all situated in specific signs and houses.

The first six are known as “personal houses” and the last six are referred to as “interpersonal houses.” Concisely put, the houses cover:

Firsts

Impressions, the self, appearance, initiatives, fresh starts, and new beginnings.

Immediate Things

Such as material and physical environment, the five senses, income.

Communication

Talking, thinking, and even electronic forms of communication. Just beyond the immediate, it covers family, neighbors, and all things local.

Foundations

Home, privacy, security, parents, and children.

Creativity

Self-expression, drama, romance, fun, and play.

Health and Service

Schedules, organization, routines, fitness, diet, exercise, and support of oneself and others.

Relationships

Personal, professional, contracts, business deals, the whole works.

Transformation

Birth, death, sex, transformation, merged energies, and deep bonding, including inheritances and investments, too.

Expansion

Spirituality, inspiration, long-distance travel, foreign things, and deep stuff like philosophy, morals, and ethics.

Public

Tradition, public image, fame, achievements, awards, boundaries, and authority.

Teams

Like the 7th house, but with an emphasis on originality—groups, society, networking, social justice, eccentricity, and invention.

Endings

Final stages, tying up loose ends, completions, separations, afterlife, old age, and surrender. It’s associated with the imagination and subconscious mind. All of this is to say that astrology is a much more complex system than your average zodiac-denier might think. Learn, explore, expand your mind.

If billions of people can believe so staunchly in the unprovable aspects of religion, why should this approach to the world be considered any less believable? In the words of OG feminist Abigail Adams, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” A modern translation of the word “chance” as used here can also mean “click bait.”

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Recommended:

• Astrology: 7 Reasons Why Everyone Should Give It A Chance
• 5 Myths About Astrology That No One Should Believe

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This was written by Leah Scher for YourTango.

Leah Scher is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture and relationship topics.