Everybody has heard the term horoscope before. Most people know what their sign is from looking at their weekly horoscopes in magazines or from the infamous BuzzFeed quizzes. Astrology is fairly well known, but is often written off as a pseudoscience and is never given the full explanation it deserves. While many people only know of their sun sign (what magazine horoscopes are based after), they don’t know of how complex astrology really is. People like to complain that “there are only twelve signs, how can seven and a half billion people fit into only twelve personalities?” The people who make these types of claims haven’t really looked into astrology and don’t know how much more there is to it.

Astrology is the study of the movements of the sun, moon, and planets and how that affects people and events. It’s a lot different than a weekly horoscope in a magazine. In fact, most of the magazine articles and horoscopes are completely fake. The only meaning behind them is the basic traits of each sign. Just your sun sign (based on your birth date) alone can not determine how your week is going to go. There are many other factors involved.

Each person’s birth chart is unique and completely different A birth chart is created based on your birth date, the exact time of birth, and your place of birth. This shows you many different aspects of how the placement of planets influences your personality. Everything in a birth chart matters from the position of planets in houses and signs to the way the planets are set up and what patterns they are on.

What sign the planets are in and what house they are in influence your personality. The houses in astrology are similar to the planets but they don’t move. For example, the planet Mercury could be in Pisces and in the fourth house. Each of the elements in this scenario (Mercury, Pisces, the fourth house) all mean different things and have different traits.

The planets each represent something different in our lives. In this example, Mercury rules over communication, the mind and language. What ever sign the planet is in, the traits of that sign will come through in the aspects of that person’s life that the planet rules over.  They are fixated and the planets move into them. The houses show where in your life the energies of the planet will play out. The fourth house for example is the house of family, roots, home.

Astrology has gotten a bad wrap over the years. Most times when astrology is brought up it is immediately looked upon as fake or superstitious. Personally I believe that astrology is extremely fascinating and so fun to learn about. It is always funny to see the look on someone’s face when you read them a part of their horoscope that is so accurate that they freeze up and are speechless. I used to believe what most do, that it is an outdated belief that makes for great magazine articles. The more I read about it, the more I learn how complex and interesting it really is.