posted August 14, 2009 03:32 AM         

It's starting to feel like it's self-serving prattle every time I read posts these days (yes, including my own...)

I began studying astrology out of interest...and yes, for 'answers'. But all I've found is stuff which has yielded enormous self-reflection, which is wonderful... as well as stuff which feels completely contrived.

For example, all this soulmate stuff. What is up with this, people? Are we all this desperate to rely on numbers and degrees and aspects to determine if something feels right? Whatever happened to FEELING first, and then checking later? What makes you, or me for that matter, think that astrology is going to determine the outcome of a relationship, or that it will tell you if someone is RIGHT for you? It's not going to.

I am tired of these freakin' charts and the comparisons. You like someone, it all looks astrologically peachy, and yet you wonder WHY it's not 'working out'?
HELLO.
Do you really think it's that cut and dry?
You want love, profound love, and yet think you can even begin to glean it by charts and numbers and aspects?
What makes you think the universe works that way?
What makes you think your soul progress is determined by your being a Pisces and their being Sagittarius, so it won't work because of your square suns?
What makes you think that I, I am measured by my sun sign alone? Or that you are? What the hell has gotten into us that we think that astrology is an explanation?
It's not. It's an observation.
A very loose one.
And the problem is that it's easy to project a whole lot onto astrology.
His sun falling into your 7th or vice versa doesn't mean he's a soulmate.
I don't give a $#@&% about asteroids. I mean, can we get any more desperate here? There's either a connection, or there's not.
No asteroid is going to explain the nature of why this person is treating you like crap. You did that to yourself. And don't be all looking at your natal going, Oh see, I have this terrible Saturn thing? And it's like squaring planet X? So that's why I hate myself.
Because No, No, No. Saturn's square or whatever the hell else is going on in your chart is simply a reflection of what's already THERE. The stars don't define us. They reflect us. We are the ones casting the damn image, and so aren't we the ones who are to reflect back, into our selves?

I just don't get it. I don't get why we do this. Think we can have a bad relationship justified. Or a good one.
Our brains are easy to program.
Try this: Look around the room for green objects, and tell me how many there are.
Now tell me how many red objects there are, without looking around.
Your mind's looking for green and you're not seeing the red. You see what you want to. What you look for. This is the main principle for manifest. This is how you do it. It's also the way you talk yourself into believing that a conjunction from your chart to theirs is the reason why it SHOULD work. And it's also the reason why it's not working, because you and I are probably putting all of our expectations onto that damn conjunction or whatever the hell it is that we've projected which has us all excited/worried/whatever.

posted August 14, 2009 03:40 AM         

It's like you've read my mind.

Sadly I think it will fall on deaf ears.

posted August 14, 2009 04:17 AM         

Sadly, she passed away a few months ago, RIP. I finally truly understood what she meant by that afterwards though. The problem with looking at synastry too early is that you start to expect aspects to play out like their inet descriptions when in reality, it doesn't work that way a lot of the time

posted August 14, 2009 04:23 AM         

back to basics...

I met a man who almost knocked me over, spilled my drink with his roudy boyish antics...and he was sorry and wanted to buy me and my 3 friends a drink. He was big and muscular, and alert, and easily distracted. I asked if he was an Aries, and he looked at me in utter shock and said "ok..now you need to get the F##K away from me"....because I was right and it freaked him out. How does that work?

posted August 14, 2009 05:17 AM         

for instance, I met this lady online from Spiritual Singles this morning.

I already felt that she and I weren't compatible
with her Sun and Moon in incompatible signs with my Sun and Moon. only our Ascendants are compatible. I prefer at least 2 out of the big 3 for compatibility

also she and I have Mars square Uranus double whammy....both aspects under 1 degree

my Mars squares her Ascendant too....my Mars squares her Uranus-Ascendant opposition
my Sun squares her Midheaven
my Mercury square her Sun-Mercury conjunction

that's not good for a long term relationship ...especially the double Mars square Uranus

I told her about our compatibility and that she and I are better off just as only friends.

no sense getting into a relationship when you know that it's going to be very challenging,unstable, and not much compatibility.

I have to disagree with not using synastry until the relationship is a year. I think synastry is good insight to help you see how the relationship,chemistry,compatibility stuff can be like before you waste your time with that person when you can save yourself for somebody who is a much better match.

that's just my opinion.

Raymond

------------------
“It is absolutely the perfect name,” Dr. Brown said, given the continuing discord among astronomers and the public over whether Pluto should have retained its planetary status.

In mythology, Eris ignited discord that led to the Trojan War.

posted August 14, 2009 05:39 AM         

I have to admit I had been through that phase where I put too much stock in astrology. It is sad that my mind focused too hard on the negative aspects/placements and what's even sadder is that being very good at manifesting (a talent I wasn't aware of that time) I unconsciously translated the interpretations into self-fulfilling prophecies.

In hindsight I realized that subconsciously I was treating the chart like a sacred script that directed the flow of events in my life. Everytime I notice or experience something in my relationships I would chalk it up to a point in the chart. And instead of doing something to resolve the challenges I was sort of hypnotized by the chart and was acting like an actor very faithful to the script. ("Oh we are having a communication problem. This is ok, the chart said this is going to be an area of difficulty." Blah blah blah.)

I use astrology very differently now. I see it as a tool reflecting potentials and guidance. There is no cosmic script set in stone. The future is plastic, you can mold it any way you want. Life is one big project composed of smaller bits of improvisation; you get whatever you put into it.

***
I saw how misinformed belief could whack out one's thinking when I did a basic synastry reading for someone. Her interest got piqued, she wanted to know more and did her own research. However, in her search through various websites she found out that the mars (or venus?) placement of her BF might have the potential for "cheating". She zeroed in on that and got worried because they're in a long distance relationship. I told her she has to synthesize the whole thing and also trust her gut, and I even pointed out the good points in his chart.

But she wouldn't listen to me. She scoped every forum she could reach and asked the forum people if they think he's the cheating kind. I don't know what they said but when she got back to me she said she's now more convinced that he's going to cheat on her because the people from different forums said this and that.

posted August 14, 2009 10:54 AM         

I am a believer in astrology but I'm also a natural skeptic. As far as soulmates go, my usage of the term soulmate does not denote astrological placements. When I use it, I use it to describe a deep and powerful connection with someone; more powerful and moving than the average connection. I personally don't associate the word with astrological placements. Others do and I absolutely respect that and am not in any way knocking their usage. It's just that I'm used to using the term soulmate my own way since waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before I got into astrology.

Lara, her name over there was MarG (RIP).

posted August 14, 2009 11:11 AM         

also, discussing all that stuff ain't bad or wrong, its astrology, we pick up all the details, and take it into consideration with how we feel, so i agree with what glaucus aka Captain Saturn wrote and i agree that feeling/reality comes first.

i don't think that should mean people can't discuss all the aspects and comparisons, like 'whos the better person for me?', if people want to strictly rely on astrology to determine what person they are gonna have a relationship with, then that is there silly fault, why are you all spitting out ur dummies over it? worry about your own.

and if anyone isn't enjoying them selfs here no more, then you know what to do - stop reading what you don't like, no one is making you. and if your sick of the site, click the red cross in the top right, cause no one is forcing you to read what you don't like,

posted August 14, 2009 12:06 PM         

No words on paper or in a chart would make me leave the one I love, and already loved before. Even if I read that something was wrong and would never work out with a new person, I would ignore it if I liked them.

posted August 14, 2009 12:24 PM         

The appearances and personalities are very similar, with nothing to choose between them.

Without using astrology, which do you choose?
Using astrology, which do you choose?

All for feeling and finding out first, but for Me, that would be cheating as I use astrology even without looking at a persons chart.
As the old mantra of astrology is "as above, so below" the planets will reflect what is happening in the skies, what has happpened down here on an earth level.

Sure you know most of this already.
Maybe we should look at your natal to see what may be up

Whether you have the knowledge of astrology or not, you would make sure that you use whatever skills in life you have learned.

Astrology is a collection over many years of how the planets reflect what happens down here. Even without the discovery of newer planets, many have studied this for years. Sure you knew that too

I look for every colour. Trained myself to

I agree, it can be a bit too intimate and personal, some information which people have used, yet everyone is on here learning this funny LANGUAGE, which breaking it down with pics of semi-nake blokes, talk of nails and the occasional interesting and funny bits, is a bit of relief from all this astro talk..

posted August 14, 2009 03:34 PM         

Astrology is a system of symbolism, and so the information we can get depend on our skills to understand what's available.

The problem is not astrology itself, but people themselves. People often gets too obsessed coz they want confirmation from destiny. Not that this is healthy, yet I would ask, please don't throw rocks and try to be understanding of their feelings too.

Anyways, astrology is a nice tool to achieve a better understanding, whether about ourselves or abut our relationships. But it is just a kind of translation of the reality, meaning that whatever astrology can tell, it's actually already there anyways. So if we don't really understand what's going on in the reality, we wouldn't really understand what astrology tell us anyways.

posted August 14, 2009 03:35 PM         

Astrology is a system of symbolism, and so the information we can get depend on our skills to understand what's available.

The problem is not astrology itself, but people themselves. People often gets too obsessed coz they want confirmation from destiny. Not that this is healthy, yet I would ask, please don't throw rocks and try to be understanding of their feelings too.

Anyways, astrology is a nice tool to achieve a better understanding, whether about ourselves or abut our relationships. But it is just a kind of translation of the reality, meaning that whatever astrology can tell, it's actually already there anyways. So if we don't really understand what's going on in the reality, we wouldn't really understand what astrology tell us anyways.