Zodiac sign — my second «I»?

Man — Pisces? Well, no, only Scorpio is worse, but at least they are in bed hoo! .. Sites and forums of astrology fans are full of such revelations. If you study them carefully, it turns out that most often women want reliable Taurus and courageous Lions as partners. But not dreamy Pisces and inert Capricorns. All these characteristics are drawn from the classification of zodiac signs, known today even to small children.

«I’m a Leo, my fiancé is a Taurus, can we get something?» — worried in one of the astrological groups on the social network, 21-year-old Sonya. And the luminaries showered her with advice: from “it’s okay” to “break up immediately!”. “Pisces are doomed to misfortune,” sighs Polina, 42, who was born on March 12. “We come to earth to suffer.” A woman prefers to explain her psychological problems with astrological reasons. And she is not alone in this.

As the British behaviorist Hans Eysenck established back in the 1970s, we tend to identify with the qualities of our zodiac sign. Our sign becomes part of our self-consciousness and personality — almost like the color of our eyes or hair. We learn about the signs of the zodiac in childhood: radio and television, magazines and the Internet talk about them. Whether we like it or not, astrology has become part of our everyday life.

We habitually read our horoscope, just like listening to the weather forecast. We look for happy dates, and if we are accused of superstitiousness, we laugh it off with a quote from Niels Bohr. The great physicist, they say, nailed a horseshoe over the door of his house. And when the neighbor was amazed that the venerable professor believed in omens, he replied: “Of course, I don’t believe. But I heard that a horseshoe brings good luck even to those who do not believe.

Theater of our «I»

For centuries, certain psychological characteristics were attributed to each sign. Partly, depending on what associations the corresponding animal or symbol evokes in us. Partly — under the influence of reasons related to the history of astrology.

So, Aries is prone to rapid attacks, but he is also an energetic initiator of change, since this is the first sign of the zodiac. And the first one is because at the time when the astrological system arose (in Babylon, more than 2000 years ago), the Sun began its annual cycle in the constellation Aries.

Scorpio is sensitive, but at the same time treacherous, jealous and obsessed with sex. Virgo is petty, Taurus is a materialist, loves money and good food, Leo is the king of beasts, powerful, but noble. Pisces is a double sign: he simply has to be incomprehensible, even to himself.

Earth signs live in close connection with reality, water signs are deep but foggy, airy signs are light and sociable, fiery ones are ardent… Conventional ideas help us give meaning to our own (and others too) advantages and disadvantages. And if, for example, I am Libra and indecisive, then I can always say to myself: it’s normal that I can’t decide on anything, because I’m Libra.

This is much more pleasant for self-esteem than admitting your internal conflicts. In a pamphlet on the illusions of astrology, psychoanalyst Gerard Miller explains that the zodiac is a kind of theater in which we find all the masks and costumes that our «I» can put on.¹.

Each sign embodies some human inclination, more or less pronounced. And we simply have no chance not to recognize ourselves in this bestiary. If some Taurus is uncomfortable in the image of a self-serving materialist, he can always define himself as a bon vivant — this is also a trait of Taurus. According to Gerard Miller, the zodiac system fuels our unmet need to know who we are.

When we say “I don’t like such and such a sign,” we admit that we don’t like a certain character trait in ourselves or in others. But we are talking about ourselves. «I can’t stand Libra» is a way of saying «I don’t like indecisiveness»; “I hate Leo” means “I don’t like power and the people who seek it” or “I can’t get over my inability to get a piece of this power.”

Two pictures of the world

The dispute about the truth of astrological ideas is futile, like any dispute about faith. Based on the laws of gravity, any physicist will explain in no time that the physical influence of Mars, and even more so of Pluto, is much less than the influence that, say, the Ostankino Tower has on every Muscovite (we emphasize that we are talking about physical, not ideological impact). True, the Moon is strong enough to control the tides, and therefore it cannot be ruled out that it also affects our psyche. However, this has not yet been proven by anyone.

Psychologists Jeffrey Dean and Ivan Kelly studied the biographies of 2100 people born in London under the sign of Pisces. And they did not find a correlation between the date of birth and personality characteristics. There are many such studies. But they prove absolutely nothing to fans of astrology. Moreover, our desire to identify ourselves with our zodiac sign makes even real astrologers laugh.

They call these representations none other than «newspaper astrology.» Anyone who knows his birthday will easily determine his sign. It is much more important for astrologers to know the degree of the point of the sky rising above the horizon at the time of birth (the ascendant), which often does not coincide with the sign of the zodiac.

And there are also clusters of planets — stelliums. And if a person has the Sun in Aries, and there are five planets, for example, in Virgo, then according to his characteristics he will be more like a Virgo than an Aries. But it is impossible to know all this on your own, and only an astrologer will be able to tell us what and how.

The Circle of the Collective Unconscious

But if astrology, by definition, cannot find a common language with the same physics, then with psychology the picture is different. Carl Gustav Jung was interested in astrology and considered the zodiac symbols and their associated myths to be an important part of the collective unconscious.

Modern astrologers tend to describe the psychological characteristics of their clients. For which, by the way, they get from traditionalist astrologers who believe that their art (well, or craft) should be primarily engaged in predictions.

Germaine Holly, a major astrologer of the twentieth century, developed her own interpretation of the zodiac circle. She considers signs as metamorphoses of our «I», successive stages of self-knowledge. In this reading of the constellations, inspired by the ideas of Jung, Aries is the first awareness of oneself in the face of the world. Taurus, having inherited the initial knowledge of Aries, reaches a level where he can enjoy the riches of the earth and the joys of life.

Gemini embodies the beginning of intellectual life. Cancer is associated with the Moon — a symbol of femininity and motherhood, it opens the door to the world of intuition. Leo is a solar sign, the embodiment of the figure of the father, symbolizes the autonomy of the «I». Virgo comes in the monsoon season (they bring food to people) and stakes on basic values. Libra marks the meeting of the personal «I» with the collective. Scorpio — further movement along the path from «I» to existence in a group.

Sagittarius is ready to find a place for himself among others and opens a transition to a new generous world where wisdom and spirituality reign. Capricorn, realizing his place in the world, has reached maturity. With Aquarius (the one who distributes water), our Self, merged with the fates of others, can finally give up the idea of ​​control and allow ourselves to love. The fish complete the cycle. The «I» can access something greater than itself: the soul.

Thus the zodiac becomes the path of initiation that our «I» takes in the process of becoming.

A Diverse Future

This way of knowing oneself can have a therapeutic effect, although the astrologer is not a psychotherapist: he has neither the education nor the special skills for this. But some psychologists, especially those of the Jungian tradition, use astrology in their work with clients.

“I view astrology not as a predictive tool, but as a tool of knowledge,” explains psychologist Nora Zhane, “and I approach it from the point of view of inner life rather than outer. If a horoscope predicts a certain event, then it may not manifest itself at the external level, but be reflected in the psychological state.

Many astrologers share this opinion, explaining that their task is to help the client to know himself better. “The more a person is in harmony with himself, the less the stars influence him. In astrology, I see one of the ways to achieve this harmony. There is no rock. Astrology explains how diverse the future is and how great are our opportunities to choose one or another of its options.

Have you already read your horoscope for 2021 and found out that global changes await you? Well, perhaps this is an occasion to think about what kind of changes you yourself want. And work on making them happen. However, if they happen, you unwittingly prove that astrology works. But is it really that important?

¹ Author of «Here’s What I Know About You… They Claim» («Ce que je sais de vous… disent-ils», Stock, 2000).

² D. Phillips, T. Ruth et al. «Psychology and survival», The Lancet, 1993, vol. 342, № 8880.