Star/Moon Signs

[Erebus]

Ok, I'm not looking for heated debate on this topic, just interested in hearing what people think about zodiac signs.

Do you believe zodiac signs have any effect on a person's life?

Do you follow horoscopes?

Are you similar to any of your zodiac signs?

Are zodiac signs useful at all?

Obviously don't just stick with these questions if you have more to add, these are just examples

Personally I'm skeptical that solar alignment affects a person's personality, I don't see how it logically could affect it. Having said that though I seem to match up to my own zodiac sign almost perfectly (I'm Aquarius in both Star and Moon sign) and so I find that Horoscopes and zodiac websites offer useful advice a lot of the time. I don't buy into the horoscopes that say "today you will acquire a large amount of money" or anything of the like, but I do see some value in the ones that offer behavioural advice.
Even compatibility sites can be useful if your partner happens to be similar to his/her star sign. Again I take a lot of it with a whole heap of salt, but good sites actually give some good tips on dealing with certain personality types. For example, being a very typical Aquarius I don't like to go too deeply into my feelings and don't settle easily (I've not slept in the same place more than two nights for the last 6 months) so I don't do well with somebody who has a Cancerian personality (whether their actual star sign is Cancer or not) as Cancer needs lots of love, attention and stability.

 

[Willamena]

Do you believe zodiac signs have any effect on a person's life?

In that they symbolize aspects of a person's life, they can have a tremendous impact. Symbols are a powerful part of our make-up.

Do you follow horoscopes?

No.

Are you similar to any of your zodiac signs?

All of them. Since they symbolize aspects of a human life, we humans are all necessarily similar to each of the signs/symbols of astrology.

Are zodiac signs useful at all?

They can be; of course, it depends on how they are used. If they are used as a system of divination, which is to say, as symbols, they can "speak" to a person.

Personally I'm skeptical that solar alignment affects a person's personality, I don't see how it logically could affect it.

As well you should be --that's not taking the symbols as symbols.

 

[Noaidi]

I don't believe that the alignments of planets and moons can have any affect on our personalities. It is just another method by which some people try to find pattern and meaning in their lives. Nothing wrong in that, but it is a huge money-spinner, and astrologers have the potential capacity for the exploitation of vulnerable people.

I know some people who swear by astrology, but when you read their horoscope, it is so vague that it can apply to most people most of the time.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Ok, I'm not looking for heated debate on this topic, just interested in hearing what people think about zodiac signs.

Do you believe zodiac signs have any effect on a person's life?

Do you follow horoscopes?

Are you similar to any of your zodiac signs?

Are zodiac signs useful at all?

"If big chunks of rock whirling about in space know more about your day than you do, you're in trouble." - Douglas Adams (roughly - quoted from memory)

 

[Willamena]

"If big chunks of rock whirling about in space know more about your day than you do, you're in trouble." - Douglas Adams (roughly - quoted from memory)

Well said.

 

[Skwim]

Star signs, moon signs, astrology =

 

[gnomon]

Zodiac signs are bunk.

Relying on them is a poor substitute for basic human communication. I say this because a former coworker of mine was raving about how an astrologist gave her a great reading for her in her boyfriend at the time and how powerful their connection was. Less than a year later a relationship that was dragging her down emotionally and financially was finally over.

The whole concept of relying on woo doctors to learn about other people rather than direct personal communication is rather insulting.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Broad, vague astrology, like a description of personality based on your Zodiac sign, is correct in that anything broad and vague enough can be intepreted as personally significant and accurate.

Specific, detailed astrology, like a prediction of specific events that will happen to you based on what date and time you were born, is predatory bullcrap which profits from the ignorance of superstitious people looking for easy answers and instructions.

 

[Mathematician]

The astrological signs as commonly used are wrong, anyway. Earth's tilt is different than what it was 2,500 years ago.

 

[Willamena]

The astrological signs as commonly used are wrong, anyway. Earth's tilt is different than what it was 2,500 years ago.

That doesn't really matter. It's not about the earth and its relative stars, so much as about the symbolism, which is applicable for any moment. You could be doing astrology on Neptune, and it would be the same.