calling bull

I was supposed to be an Aries, so when I was born two and a half weeks late the joke was that I was so stubborn from the start that I was meant to be a Taurus.

Growing up, I took interest in horoscopes. They were exciting hints about how my life would unfold, and I couldn't resist the temptation of a loaded prediction.

Back then, despite liking the horoscopes and seeing parts of myself in the classic Taurus traits, I felt much more complicated and intense than the laid back Taurus stereotype. Taureans are seen as traditional, and I certainly didn't feel that applied to me. My interest wavered, but I still couldn't resist taking a look at horoscopes in any newspaper I came across.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I was reintroduced to astrological signs. I made friends with someone in my program at university and we were both shocked at how similar our lives were. Our heritage was haunting in its likeness, as were our experiences throughout our lives, our identities and orientations were reflections of each other, and to top it off, we were both witches with the same values. They were the one to introduce me to the entirety of astrological birth charts.

Suddenly, all the grey areas of who I saw myself as were filled in with answers and different signs I had never thought to explore. I learned that my sun sign was Taurus, but my moon sign was Scorpio, which aligned with the intensity of my emotions and my dire need to constantly go through personal transformations. This pairing also explained part of the inner conflict I saw in myself.

The introduction of my rising sign was a shock to me, but it seemed like the perfect puzzle piece to the summary of my own experience: Aquarius. Often seen as the oddball of the zodiac, Aquarius is known to question authority and rebel with new ideas. They come across as stand-offish or cold, which I was told a lot throughout my life. I was elated to see an explanation for my own experience as it was written out in the stars.

To further my surprise, the friend who had introduced me to the full chart was in awe of the placement of my planets as well. It turned out that she had the same planets, with a slight variation to the placements. We were a reflection of each other, even in the skies.

From there I began investigating my own chart. I studied it and broke down what each of the different placements meant, what parts of my life they affected, and found shockingly accurate details. I unravelled the parts of my chart that explained what jobs would be best suited for me, and was dumbfounded when I discovered that it aligned with what I had already figured out about myself.

I think I had been slightly skeptical in the beginning, believing that if I knew about the placements of my chart I would subconsciously act as those signs in specific parts of my life. But, uncovering details of the midheaven (the career), and the imum coeli/IC (your roots and family influence on yourself), I came to realize that I had understood these parts of myself long before becoming aware that they were celestially explained.

While I have only just scratched the surface of my own understanding of my birth chart, I am glad that I stumbled upon it later in life. Finding it after I went through the hard work of discovering myself on my own made it feel more like a confirmation of my identity rather than a script for it. I see the Taurus traits in me when I take care of myself. I also feel the intensity of my emotions, and understand that my Scorpio side is working hard. And I recognize that my Aquarius rising seems to run the show in my life as I continue to outwardly challenge the status quo with it to back me up. I guess I always knew I couldn't be summed up with one simple sign, we're all too complex for that.