The dreaded "Whats your sign"

      Gibberish is pouring through your ears about the stars and where they are in the sky and how mercury and Mars are in retrograde. Suddenly the person speaking asks "What's your sign?" You raise an eyebrow and shrug your shoulders. "I don't know." They ask about your birth month and day, "Oh you're this, but you'd have to do a birth chart to know the rising and the moon signs." they respond. Leaving the conversation your brain has more questions than you had when it began. So, what is all this zodiac sign stuff about anyway?

    In college, leadership was one of the top things focused on through all of the degrees there, and because of that, the belief that knowing yourself well made you a better leader emerged. I strongly agree with that. It's very important for leaders to be self-aware and to know who they are to be better at leading in any field or situation they're in. For example, the MBTI has become excessively popular in recent years and prior it was the strengths finder book. I'm an INFP meaning, introvert, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving. Basically, I cry about everything and hate confrontation. However, the idea that knowing your zodiac sign could potentially help you understand yourself was not brought up. Partially because I went to a religious college and partially because I don't think it's taken seriously in many spheres. 

Even for me the idea that zodiac signs had any real potential to help me understand myself and life always seemed silly and mythical. The more that I research however the more I think that there may be something to this astrological personality influence. People generally learn the "Big Three" which are the sun sign, moon sign, and rising sign because they have the most influence on who we are and how we interact with the world.

I am a Leo sun, Libra moon, and Capricorn rising. Okay Monica that doesn't mean a darn thing to me. Just go with me here. So July 23- August 22 is the "Leo season" when the astrological makeup of Leo is in the sky.  Leo's are generally thought of as loud, attention-seeking, extravagant, extroverted, and high maintenance. However, this is a generalization because everyone who knows me would never place me as a leo because those qualities of leo are not outright the ones that I show. The Leo is also bold and proud, loyal and fiercely loving. My Leo sign is in my eight house (which I still don't know a lot about) meaning I like to set myself apart by growing and changing. So my personality may not show that I am a leo but my self-expression, the way I dress, shows that. How does this help me understand myself? Well, it shows me that the reason that I get so upset about friendships is that I naturally care a lot about the people in my life because of where my sun sign is. Now, you can use science and say that doesn't make any sense and if that's where you land that's totally fine and valid. This is simply my own opinion through my own research and investigations.  So what is a sun sign? Your sun sign in astrology is where the sun was when you were born. It also represents your personality and sense of self. 

Moving on to moon signs. The moon sign in astrology is where the moon was when you were born. The moon sign is used to describe your emotional life and desires. I am a Libra moon, and this is the sign that I feel I resonate with more. I think it is my personality type more than my sun sign. This means my emotional self is balanced and harmonious, relationship-oriented, and desperate to please. I tend to hide my feelings and needs and can be a little self-obsessed. It's in my ninth house, which means I find security in my faith, philosophy, and education. Reading this for the first time I knew it was correct because everything was spot on. I have also heard that as you grow older, most people tend to relate to their moon sign more than their sun sign. Which is I think a way of showing growth, because honestly we should all, always be growing otherwise our lives become stagnant and that's not good for us in any form. 

Lastly the rising or, ascendant sign. In astrology, the rising sign is the sign that was on the eastern horizon when a person was born. It's how your present yourself to the world, and how others see you. In short your social or outward personality. Mine is Capricorn which is accurate. Often throughout life, I have been told that I am intimidating, or that I look mean when people first meet me. I have really bad RBF even though I constantly try to keep my eyebrows lifted. As a Capricorn rising, I come across as conservative, serious, and rational. People take me as someone who is responsible and good at making decisions. Again, this made sense to me when it was first presented to me. 

Whether you believe in the astrological explanations for personalities or not it is interesting to read and learn about. I think that people make a lot of assumptions based off of generalizations about each sign. We are all still individuals even though we may have certain qualities that relate to us in one way or another. As a leo, I have a hard time receiving gifts without returning the favor and honestly, I do love giving gifts to people to show them that I care, and from what I've seen it is a leo characteristic. Despite the fact that I do not outright seem like a leo, I do have those qualities that relate me to others who are also the same sun sign. There are many fascinating books you can pick up and read on the subject that can tell you much more than I can. I recommend reading more if you found this interesting. As a disclaimer I am not a professional so I don't know everything. There are also some wonderful apps for your phone that you can keep up with and learn about this from. 

Books:

Practical Magic by Nikki Van De Car

Inner Witch by gabriela Herstik

The Astrology of you and me by Gary Goldschneider

Apps

Co-Star

Time Passages

Hope you have fun with this, and maybe learn something about yourself along the way. What do you think? Does the placement of planets and stars really have an effect on our personalities or is it myth?

M