When I was younger I read a lot of subjects that I was curious about and astrology really caught my interest. Not so much of the hype 'What sign are you?' but learning different personality traits, physical features and a lot of other characteristics that were explained. When I worked for a counseling center there was this test that was given to clients called a MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory). I couldn't explain that to you but it basically identifies strengths and weaknesses in one's personality, I think. Anyway, I got to take this test and except for one scoring I didn't agree with it 'hit the nail on the head' with me. After my amazement with the results it dawned on me the similarity to what I had been reading in my astrology books. I think that astrology really has gotten a bad reputation after experiencing this. I know it is thought of as just entertainment but I believe it's much more. What are your thoughts?
I've never read much about it, other than the "telling your fortune" aspect of it. I don't really believe that the stars have an effect on our personalities. This is one of those things like ghosts though, I don't really believe in it, but I don't dis-believe either. My husband's grandmother used to say, "If the moon can change something like the seas, why wouldn't it have an effect on us" - referring to the movement of the tides.
I have looked into the traits different signs have and personality traits of people. I may have taken the test some time in the past, I sort of remember a test of some sort I took that was aligned with my birthdate.I remember itbeing surprised at what it had to say about me and I must say it was correct.
My mother used to get a monthly magizine about horoscopes. I forget what it was called; but it had some very interesting articles about astrology, and I also enjoyed reading it. I am a Capricorn, and many of the attributes shown for that sign do seem to fit with my personality. I know that it involves much more than just which date you are born on, since they look at where the sun was, and the moon, and also the constellations. It is hard to imagine how a star that is so many light years away could possibly have any effect on what kind of person we turn out to be like; but maybe there is more to it than what we see, and we just don't know what all it actually involves. The Bible does say that the sun, moon, and stars will be for signs in the skies; so perhaps it can affect more than just our tides. I was also reading about the Enneagram; which is another type of personality evaluation. It is totally different from astrology; but it seemed to be pretty accurate about me once I took the test. Here is a link to the enneagram website, and if you take the test; we can share some results and say whether we think they did a good job of determining our personality or not. http://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test.php
I used to work with someone who would give readings based on exact time of birth, as well as the date and year of birth. She could not do one for me because I don't know at what hour I was born. When she asked me my star sign she was surprised because she didn't think I was a typical Aries. Actually if she knew me better she would see that I do have some of those traits. In my great grandfather's day there was a lot of interest in phrenology, which involved reading the shape of the skull to determine personality traits. I found his reading among the family archives and he appeared to be very much like me in character, or perhaps those readings, like astrological ones, pick on things that could apply to anyone.
I took two tests and I think I hit the wrong buttons on a couple of those questions for the Chakras. Overall, it was very, very close to my personality as I believe it is. Thank you for sharing this website, Yvonne.
My thoughts on astrology are that it is a great field of study, and somewhat of a miracle for the field to have developed throughout time. Originating from ancient times, where enlightened ones would plot the moving skies and pass down the data to newer generations. In this way other studies, practices, and beliefs developed. For instance, official dream interpreters used to determine the good or ill omen of the six types of dreams according to the sun, moon, stars, and planets.
I never really believed in it until my aunt, whom I never met, sent me about a quarter pound package of charts, "picture" of the stars, etc. and the a synopsis of me. It was as if she knew my all my life. My Mom told me that she only sent my birthdate and nothing else! I was totally amazed.
The one thing that I learned in my indulgence with astrology is that there are a lot of variances to consider such as: the presence of parents or not; a single parent or stepparent while growing up; siblings or not; whether an only child or first, second, etc; all girls, boys or combination just to name a few. Using myself as an example, single parent -mother; all girls; middle child. My mother was an Aries born in late March. She had very strong traits of an Aries too. I was born on the cusp of Aries and Pisces, but am a Pisces with strong Aries traits as my mother did. So I would look at both Aries and Pisces traits to get a better grasp of 'why' I sway between the two. At the core though I have all the traits of a true Pisces. There are many variances to consider though that contribute to your personality and I feel none of them should be ignored. How do you feel about this?
Hi Von! I really don't have enough knowledge to consider very much. I will just have to quote PopEye "I yam what I yam, and that's all that I yam...."
I totally believe in astrology, so much so that I can say that certain plans have been put off because of things going on in the stars. Like wise certain plans are made because of the stars. I know people will say that's just daft, and for the most part I don't share this with everybody. I used to think that a horoscope is just something fun to read in the papers, and for the most part it is. Astrology and horoscopes are not necessarily the same thing to me. Astrology and planetary movements to me... effect vibrations and magnetism. I think all things are about vibrations. All molecules vibrate and just as the moon effects tides... I think the universal vibration effects us as organisms to a certain degree but in the end it is really about our own will. Think of it like this, it can be windy outside and we can choose to walk with the winds to our backs, or walk against the wind blowing in our faces. Knowing where a planet is in relation to what's going on in our lives just makes the decision of which way to walk that much easier. There is something wonderful about the stars, if at the very least we accept astrology as nothing more then folklore passed through the generations, it has a value. Ancient people gave the stars personification in a sense they made the movements in the heavens correspond to life and the ways of the times. Who am I to re-invent the wheel?
Different descriptions of the astrological personality patterns seem to disagree...partly no doubt because so many of them seem to fit just about everybody. Most people have generous impulses but can be irritable at times, get their jobs done but occasionally feel lazy, have friends but like to do some things alone, etc. Our local newspaper prints a paragraph of celebrity birthdays each weekday...never a group that could easily be described as having much in common. But it is fun reading the daily horoscopes at the end of the day. When they predicted anything that really happened, that's always interesting!
My mother-in-law was an astrologist. She wrote a couple of books on the subject but, although I have not looked into astrology carefully, I have never considered it to be valid. That, and the crop circles, are my least favorite subjects that come up on Coast to Coast, which is on pretty much every night while we're sleeping.
When I was young I bought a couple of popular books about astrology and read parts of them, but I never found anything to convince me that what they said was correct. I've never come across anything to suggest that I'm a typical Taurus. Of course a detailed reading based on my date and time of birth may be more accurate, but I doubt I'll ever take the trouble to find out.
I thought that crop circles were pretty much proved to be pranks. I can not see any valid reason for an alien to waste his time on a tractor!