Astrology and Self-Discovery - Katie Proctor

Like the average person, I never paid much attention to astrology or what my star sign meant for my personality for the majority of my life. I was always aware that I was a Pisces (which, for those of you who are well-versed in astrology, will not be a huge surprise!), but I didn’t know what that meant, and I had no idea about the existence of birth charts until a few years ago.

In my experience, people tend to be put off from astrology because they either don’t understand how the stars could have any influence on someone’s personality, or think that horoscopes are purposely generic so they can apply to anyone regardless of zodiac sign. I understand that - given that many people are entirely unaware that there are lots of different star signs that make up their entire birth chart, it’s easy to see how someone might think the horoscopes you find in newspapers based on your sun sign only are just made up nonsense. I can also understand the view that constellations and planets have no relation to our personalities.

In fact, I would probably say that these two views are what put me off learning more about astrology too. It was only when I started to become interested in witchcraft and spirituality at the end of 2018 that I researched it further and began to form my own view of astrology, and how it can be used as a tool for self-discovery and understanding in a positive way. Not only is there much more to it than the average person knows, but there are also many different ways to interpret and use astrology as a whole to achieve your individual goals.

There is much more to astrology than I could begin to explain, which is something else that might deter people from learning about it. However, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to know everything about it to get something out of it. Although I’ve been interested and learning about the science of astrology for a few years now, there’s still so much I don’t know or understand, and I’ve definitely been frustrated by that in the past. Don’t let the big, complicated words put you off. If you know how, you can use even the simplest and most basic aspects of astrology to learn more about yourself and grow as a person.

Put simply, astrology is a way of categorising aspects of a person’s personality. Whether you believe in its origins and its connection to the stars or not can be entirely separate if you want it to be: you really don’t have to believe win astrological transits and Mercury retrograde if that doesn’t work for you, I promise! Your birth chart, essentially a map of the sky at the precise time you were born, is divided into planets and houses, which are each assigned an aspect of life. Learning about what these placements mean can give you a great insight into your strengths, weaknesses, and how you behave in those specific areas.

Given the detail of a birth chart, the sun sign (the placement typically referred to as “your star sign” that most people know about) is probably the least helpful in understanding your personality, as it simply represents your sense of self rather than anything specific. This could explain another common criticism of astrology, the disconnect between a person and the traits associated with their sun sign. It’s very common for people to feel more represented by another placement in their chart, or there may be a large amount of another sign that influences the overall personality.

Let’s take the Venus sign as an example, which dictates how you behave in a romantic context. While I am a Pisces sun, my Venus is in Aquarius. Although holistically I don’t feel very connected to the traits of an Aquarius, when narrowed down to that specific area of life, I start to see words I understand describing me in romantic relationships. If I read more about what that placement means for me, I can identify issues I have had in the past that may have been caused by that aspect of my personality, or alternatively particular strengths I have. In addition, looking at my Venus sign in conjunction with another placement such as my moon sign (associated with emotions), or my chart as a whole may offer insight into a problem I’m facing or a question I have.

Even if you don’t relate to a placement, or you feel another would represent you better, the traits of each sign pose a question to you that you can choose to use as a method of learning more about yourself. That might not be something you’re interested in anyway, and that’s fine! But if like me, you love personality tests that shed light on your subconscious behaviour and the way you work, you shouldn’t dismiss astrology just because you don’t believe in star signs.

Personally, although I initially learned about it in a spiritual context, I see astrology primarily as a tool for self-exploration and discovery. There are so many online resources that allow you to learn about all the specific details, but astrology is a skill that can be as independent or taught as you like. It can be as simple as choosing one placement from your chart to look at, reading about it and asking a question of yourself. You might be surprised by what you learn!

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Katie Proctor (they/them) is a poet from Yorkshire, England. Since they can remember they have loved to write and nowadays, they write freeform poetry and prose often regarding their experience with love, relationships and mental health. Their debut collection of poetry, Seasons, was published in 2020, and their sophomore collection A Desire for Disaster will be published later this year, both by Hedgehog Poetry. They are the editor-in-chief of celestite poetry, a journal of creative writing and non-fiction. They are a student with a passion for literature, history and classics, and are a big fan of Shakespeare. They love to act and plan to study English Literature at university. You can find them on Twitter @katiiewrites and Instagram @katiiewrites.