Astrology Instruction Manual, or How to Get the Most Out of This New-Fangled Blog

So, I can understand skeptics' issues with astrology.

"You're saying that the movement of enormous balls of rock and gas, literally light years away, have some sort of symbolic meaning and effect on my life?"

In a word...yes. If I could tell you why it works — if anyone could, definitively — there would be no need for this post, and people would consult their horoscope the way they consult a weather forecast. Which is exactly how they should be used! 

Astrology, in my view, is not fatalistic. You wouldn't walk into a snowstorm wearing a Speedo, and I wouldn't approach my boss with a problem on the day Mars (energy, action and willpower)  is opposing (agitating the hell out of) Pluto (the powers that be.) Or if I had no other choice but to handle it that day, I'd expect power struggles and know that I needed to be extra-prepared to stand my ground. When someone asks me how I think astrology works, I think about how we're more than seventy percent water, and we know how the Moon affects the tides. Is it so outlandish to speculate that nearby planetary bodies exert a similar pull on us?

Is this all Greek to you? (It's actually Roman, if we're going by the planetary monikers — ba dum tiss! OK, I'm sorry. Don't give me that look.) I'd advise tracking your horoscopes and seeing how they have, or haven't, paralleled the events in your life, and make your own determination.

Or, if you have never had your birth chart done, you can order one through me at madeleinesmither@gmail.com (shameless plug!), and get fifteen to twenty pages all about you, calculated down to the minute and meter of where you were born. Almost everyone knows their Sun Sign, but did you know you have a Moon sign, and one for every planetary body in the solar system? Putting all these pieces together makes for a much more layered, comprehensive examination of you.What I'm saying is, it will tell you a lot more than, "Oh, you're a Scorpio. You're intense."

You'll get some keen insight into your personal strengths, and you'll be called out for incredibly specific behaviors such as power plays or daddy issues. Or order a compatibility chart for you and a partner, friend or family member. Pointing out each other's good and bad behaviors can make for a fun evening. As long as neither one of you is an Aries. Just kidding. ^__^