posted December 13, 2014 11:57 AM            

People who make general statements like that are more often than not neophytes. Letting those statements shake what you've learned to work is the same as letting daily newspapers horoscopes shake you up.

We have to remember that astrology is utterly plagued with bad writing and little critical thought. I cringe at most website's interpretations of singular aspects. I believe this is the case due to astrology being shunned from a formal place in the university system where would be astrology majors/minors would practice their writing as much as a political science major. I mean we've all read an ascendant description that talks about all aspects of the personality except what the ascendant is actually meant to rule.

posted December 13, 2014 12:13 PM              

THEN, you throw in progressed, and transits, synastries, composites, etc. How each of those simultaneously effects us as individuals. Adding to, taking away, and altering our natal chart as a whole, and on individual aspect levels.
The fact that we're emotional beings, etc.

It's not so much that I would discount Astrology. Very much the opposite. I think it's awesome, accurate, and a really, REALLY great tool.
However, I think the fact that it is still in "practice" after thousands of years should tell you just how complex it really is.
It's our lack of understanding of the whole that makes us doubt. It's so huge, and such a massive web of complexities, that one might say, "How can that be?"
I think Astrology is very very valid, but will ALWAYS be in "practice". It's beyond our full understanding with all of the ways to interpret it (which adds new dynamics - varying interpretations), with all of the billions of people who exist today.

It's just such a huge thing that thousands of years later we break it down by aspect to try to understand it. Just to understand our own self.
But it works.

posted December 13, 2014 12:44 PM            

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Originally posted by aquaguy91:
When I first started posting here there was a really knowledgable astrologer that went by the handle SaggieMC (i believe?). Her knowledge of astrology was so advanced that very posters were on her level. She would frequently get agitated when she felt people were being too simplistic and would make it a point to burst into threads and remind the ops that they needed to post their whole charts and reduce orbs to 3 degrees. To her it was a cardinal sin for people to discuss individual placements, in her mind everyone should do things her way. To put it mildly she was an elitist to the 100th degree and alot of people didn't like her because of it. She eventually got banned because she caused so many problems and rubbed so many people the wrong way. The sad thing was she really meant well and had a wealth of knowledge to share with people but she had zero patience and zero people skills. I think she lost sight of the fact that everybody is at their own level of understanding and that should be respected. I think that's something we all have to remind ourselves of from time to time.

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posted December 13, 2014 01:35 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by hannaramaa:
For the past few weeks I've been thinking individual astrology has gotten pretty general. So much so, that I find myself doubting the validity of individual astrology. For example someone says "I'm and Aries Sun Taurus moon, and I don't like going to social functions unless there's free food." I just made that up for my point but the thing is there are a LOT of people who are the same way. Other than a few differences between each personality I don't see the point in dissecting placements anymore (me personally).

Anyone else feel the same way, where can we actually see the nitty-gritty proof of different aspects and signs?

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I think it's human tendency to identify. At university, you'll notice people might identify as psychology major or science major or whatever to make excuses for their behaviors.

I've made statements like that too... I don't necessarily agree with my own statement wholeheartedly as it meant to be tongue-in-cheek. When someone says I do abc because I have this placement or that aspect, it just mean that they *want to do abc and feel the need to excuse themselves.

A jupiter-sun square might be overly confident or insecure ... I mean ther are different level of manifestation of one energy. I have mars sextile pluto exact and the other day I read that this aspect give me energy to go after what I want and in my head, I go like: I just had a sluggish month if just wanting to lie in my bed.., so there it goes.

That's mostly because as human beings we are complex, with contradictory parts about our selves that make us seem inconsistent.

I of course also have taurus Asc and mars-neptune conjunct. So the sluggish month is just these energies being activated.

For every birth report I've read, the caution is always that you might see contradictory explainations.

posted December 13, 2014 01:37 PM            

quote:

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When I first started posting here there was a really knowledgable astrologer that went by the handle SaggieMC (i believe?). Her knowledge of astrology was so advanced that very posters were on her level.

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ha! Good one.

posted December 13, 2014 02:07 PM            

I sometimes think astrology is really accurate, I'm just skeptical about it individually, since everyone can interpret it however they want to. I think astrology is better use for big, national events, or horary, but even then it seems like you could use any aspect to excuse what happens.

posted December 13, 2014 03:10 PM              

I believe it to be a map of our psyche and potential psychical (even physical) energy but it doesn't mean that our psyche is fixed or unadaptable. There are so many ways that an aspect can play out.

I think the example you gave, hannaramaa, was very simplistic. It doesn't truly say much about Aries Sun-Taurus Moon than it would about Sag Sun-Cancer Moon or even any other Sun/Moon combination. Understanding Sun/Moon combinations or aspects, in general, definitely has more to do with psychological dynamics than it does with preference.

I personally think the best way to interpret ANYTHING is to do so in relation to the context. Sun-Venus conjunction in someone who grew up being pampered, spoiled, and over-praised might manifest very differently from someone with the same conjunction who suffered from a family that constantly criticized him/her. The former might appear superficial, attention-seeking, entitled, and snobby while the latter might appear as sensitive, seeking to please, trying to hard to impress others. One comes from a place of over-inflated ego (Sun) and an excessively comfortable sense of social placement and reception, beauty, and taste (Venus) while the other comes from a deflated ego (Sun) fused with a poorly recepted social self, hampered sense of beauty and values and tastes (Venus). This is even a very simple account based on how upbringing affects the conjunction let alone the signs involved.

I really dislike interpretations of aspects that exclude the signs they're in. A Piscean Sun-Venus conjunction nature would greatly differ from a Capricornian one, for example. If it were up to me, explanation of aspects should be narrowed down as much as possible but surely, not many people are willing to do so for free since it is a lot of work.

"I'm just skeptical about it individually, since everyone can interpret it however they want to."

This is the reason why I love astrology. it is so customizable, that you can truly come up with a unique and valid explanation applicable to the native at question but this can never ever ever happen without having a confident and broad understanding of the basics. I can never emphasize the importance of this enough. Which is why most of my threads... Ask really basic questions. Or why I reread my aspects over and over again. The key to astrology is understanding the various manifestations of the planets and their interactions with one another, in such a way that, you can begin to apply it to your life experience and find some sort of correlation between the nature of the aspect and your reality as such.

posted December 13, 2014 03:33 PM            

So very true. People ask me why twins don't live the same exact lives if astrology is true and this is my answer.

"I personally think the best way to interpret ANYTHING is to do so in relation to the context. Sun-Venus conjunction in someone who grew up being pampered, spoiled, and over-praised might manifest very differently from someone with the same conjunction who suffered from a family that constantly criticized him/her. The former might appear superficial, attention-seeking, entitled, and snobby while the latter might appear as sensitive, seeking to please, trying to hard to impress others. One comes from a place of over-inflated ego (Sun) and an excessively comfortable sense of social placement and reception, beauty, and taste (Venus) while the other comes from a deflated ego (Sun) fused with a poorly recepted social self, hampered sense of beauty and values and tastes (Venus). This is even a very simple account based on how upbringing affects the conjunction let alone the signs involved."

Hit the nail on the head again. Nature and nurture is very important in astrology as in most debates. I always felt looking at my own chart that it could of been the chart of someone much darker. But I received a lot of care from my family and made many great friendships growing up. It really does make a difference.

"I really dislike interpretations of aspects that exclude the signs they're in. A Piscean Sun-Venus conjunction nature would greatly differ from a Capricornian one, for example. If it were up to me, explanation of aspects should be narrowed down as much as possible but surely, not many people are willing to do so for free since it is a lot of work."

Very important!

posted December 13, 2014 03:52 PM              

Same could apply to twins who go to different schools and mix with different kinds of people. I believe that fated synastries can influence and change the course of someone's development in drastic ways. There are people who I know have had a tremendous effect on me and who I will have become. Intersubjectivity and relationality plays a massive role as well as the factors I've mentioned in my previous post.

posted December 13, 2014 05:14 PM            

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Originally posted by Vajra:
Interesting. With me it was the other way round; when growing up, I didn't believe in Astrology mainly because I couldn't identify with my Sun sign placement even one bit. Nobody else could see it in me either. I actually started learning Astrology properly one day only in order to disprove it. But then, after studying a lot of charts, I realized it does actually work…. and I discovered why in my case, the Sun sign approach was not very useful in the first place. And funnily, though my Sun is in Cancer, I consistently show up in the charts of my close family and romantic partners as an Aquarius type - even though I have zero Aqua in my chart, and Uranus is in the 12th house, well hidden. My daughter even has an Aqua Moon conjunct URANUS. So much for that...

Later on, same thing happened to me with transits; I thought them negligible until Mr Saturn began to conjunct my natal Sun. After that transit was over, there was no way denying how Saturn transits work.

It's true that the whole chart must be taken as a unity, and that aspects cannot be interpreted completely removed from their sign and house placements. Of course a Scorp-Aqua square has a very different energy than a Virgo-Gemini square. That's what many people forget to consider.

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