Astrology as Encouragement

Astrology has been part of my life since I was a 90’s kid with 15 minutes of computer time a day on dial-up. I subscribed to the earliest newsletters with my Hotmail account because it seemed like the thing to do on the internet. One of those mailing lists was a horoscope newsletter. The other one was a beauty newsletter with tips for getting rid of wrinkles, critical for my 8 year old face.

Beauty newsletters aside, I thought it was pretty cool I could enter my birthday and find out what type of animal I was in the universe. I didn't understand the whole stars/astrology thing. What I did know was that I had a white tiger poster in my room and also loved our pet cat Tigger so it fit. I was also a middle child struggling to find recognition in my family. I liked that it described me as a natural leader, confident, and courageous.

Even at a young age I read those things and felt they were true. My teachers often described me as outgoing, friends with everyone, and a natural leader. I felt my family didn’t acknowledge any of those things about me. I could claim the power of the king of the jungle for myself. Thankfully, I was the only lioness in my family so I clung to that identity and used it to feel special among siblings who seemed to get all the attention.

To be clear, my mom will retell my childhood as one of me being a drama queen. So read this with a little side eye, it is a story and I am a Leo after all.

After the newsletter there were horoscopes in Teen magazine and Cosmo. I enjoyed the quick encouragement of the fun horoscopes giving gossipy bright side predictions about friendships, career, and love interests.

Recently I ventured into astrology as a way to understand myself better. Now I have an astrology app and actually found my birth certificate and looked up my birth time to get my natal chart. My understanding of the place I fall in the zodiac has grown along with my self awareness. I wonder if the desire to understand myself lets me see what I already know lies within or if astrology is truly bringing new things forward. Understanding my sun sign (Leo), moon sign (Scorpio), and rising sign (Capricorn) has gifted me external validation for what it's like to be me.

During the pandemic I sought out astrology as a source for more information about myself. If I'm the only one I'm hanging out with, I might as well get to know me better. Working from home is pretty great, don't get me wrong, but I can spin out in my own head.

Astrology has been a source of uncomfortable truths that don't put me on the defensive. When I read astrological predictions of my negative traits it's easy for me to identify what's true and dismiss what isn't. Reading that impatience is the cost of my energy I can accept its truth easily. Reading that I tend toward arrogance and egotism is a bit harder to swallow but rings true.

Examining difficult and painful personal truths in a safe space is something I hadn’t acknowledged I was missing in my personal growth work. I am prideful and egotistical and it’s hard for me to accept even the most loving and gentle criticism. Astrology provides me information written in the stars without malice or ill-intent.

Even this Leo is not self-centered enough to think the entire astrological alignment revolves around me or was out to hurt my feelings.

I'm able to understand the positives that produce truly difficult personality traits. I have a lot of passion, confidence, energy, and integrity for the things I do in life. Those are great things, but they also produce resistance to the ideas of others and an all-knowing attitude.

One of my favorite necklaces is a gold geometric lion’s head necklace I bought myself on Etsy. I wear my lion necklace whenever I have to do something that requires courage like pitching a project, taking author headshots, or giving a speech. It reminds me that I am courageous and confident, that I’m powerful and honest, and that I have fiery ambition.

I love being a Leo, faults and all. Exploring my astrological identity helps me be a better human being.