When figuring out what topic I wanted to research further on, a notification popped up from my phone from the app “Co-Star”. Telling my daily “Your day at a glance”, which is like a quote of the day. Later that day in a discord call, I randomly brought up the topic of astrology. One of my friends, Luke, told us that he grew up with his sister talking about the reason he did certain things was because of his astrology signs. His sister said, “Hey, Luke you obviously did that because you are Scorpio moon”. He said that his sister had read a lot about astrology and Luke had always learned a little bit about himself throughout the years because his sister would bring up his signs whenever he did something out of the “ordinary”. Then, when I was browsing on Twitter, the astrology chart (birth natal chart) of Hoshi from Seventeen (Korean pop group) got revealed and he is all Gemini, for all twelve of the planets. That Twitter post got a lot of attention because having the whole chart as one astrology sign was rare and people called him “chaotic”. Knowing his personality, I could agree with them because he is very hyperenergetic.
For myself, I always knew that my astrology sign is a Gemini because I was born on June 15th. However, one day in middle school, my friend told me to download this phone application called “Co-Star” which told me my astrology chart and daily quotes. The application was able to compare my signs with my friends. Astrology signs in a chart can be known if you know the date and time of birth of yourself. I remember having to ask my parents what time I was born, but of course, they both did not know. So I had to go into locked cabinets in my parent’s room trying to dig up my birth certificate that was covered with loads of papers and folders. After finding my birth certificate, I put the date, time, and place I was born, then it told me my whole astrology chart. I always told people what my signs were when they asked. Usually when people ask me about my signs, they would explain to me bits and pieces of what my Gemini Sun or Aries Moon means. People would always say that the three planets matter the most: Sun, Moon, and Rising. However, I have not dug deep into researching what it means, so I believe this opportunity would really help me understand it. My research question is “What are astrology signs and what can I learn about a person, especially myself?”
Photo Copyright @ numerologysign.com 2020
From the article, “What Is An Astrology Birth Chart? Your Natal Chart Explained”, by TheAstroTwins explains what is an astrology birth chart and how it correlates to your birth. The twins explain that the astrology natal chart is a map of all the planets at the moment you were born and it reveals the type of person you are. The natal chart explains your strengths, weaknesses, and your overall personality. Those attributes can be known just by the ten planets that were rotating around the sun at the time of your birth. Every planet has their own purpose for personalities. One section could be called the “personal planets”, the Sun, Moon, Mercury (Rising sign), Venus, and Mars. The Sun deals with self-personality, the Moon is the emotions, Mercury is communication, Venus is romance and relationships, and Mars is passion and drive. The rest of the five are called “generational planets” which are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Jupiter is associated with luck, Saturn reveals challenges, Uranus is innovation, Neptune is your wild imagination, and Pluto deals with how you act in situations. North and South Nodes are also included within the natal chart because they are known as destiny points. North Node talks about your thrive and what you want to learn, while the South Node talks about your past life, almost like reincarnation. For this chart to be calculated, you need the exact day and time you were born. If you do not know the time you were born, it will be difficult to know your rising and ascendant sign. In the case of twins or triplets, knowing the exact minute helps because even one minute can change a birth natal chart.
The topic of astrology is overall a theory, so it is different in religions and cultures. It was interesting to know that some religions don’t believe in astrology, when I was talking to my fellow classmates, one of them informed me that one of the religions is Catholicism. They briefly explained that Jesus Christ is the only person who they need to believe in and nothing else. While in cultures, Western, Chinese, and Vedic cultures have their own “take” on what astrology is, for example, one article “Astrology in Different Cultures” written by Dadhichi, explains these three different cultures beliefs in astrology.
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For the Western culture, in America, most people often look at the daily horoscopes to start their day and influence their daily lives. One of the core principles explains that Earth is an individual and the planets surrounding help define Earth. This metaphor of Earth pertains to the individual as a human with their different astrology signs to define them. The planets are the twelve astrology signs that are in categories of elements, fire, air, water, and earth. The Vedic (Indian) culture relates astrology to good and bad karma. Each sign has an attribute in nature and a motivation of human nature. For Gemini, the attribute is Sattvic and motivation is Kama. Lastly, in the Chinese culture astrology drives with Confucianism. However, do not get Chinese astrology mixed up with Chinese zodiac signs. Chinese zodiac signs are a 12-year repeating cycle which represents who you are as a person. The principles of Chinese astrology deal with yin and yang, often known as the good and bad of yourself.
One quote I took from the article was “Most Chinese people are still strongly influenced by superstitions that have their roots in Chinese astrology”. This quote resonates with me because I, myself grew up in a Chinese household where our culture was heavily emphasized. It helps me answer my research question on learning about my own personality. Growing up, I always was told by my mom not to do things like look into the microwave while it is heating up my food because it is radioactive or sleeping with my hair wet because I would get headaches. These superstitions always made me scared of little things because I would always think my mom was suddenly going to yell at me. Now that I have grown up, I always wondered why my mother was really overbearing, so I began to research her own astrology sign. She is a Leo Sun because she was born on August 5th. I always knew that she was super overprotective of me and I began to understand that Leos want those around them to succeed without problems. However, growing up, I took it as an opposite feeling, I felt really inferior and afraid. I became more anxious, which influenced me to become an introvert and keep to myself because I was scared to mess up. When researching more, Gemini’s biggest fear is making decisions, especially when someone in the past has influenced you to think a certain way. It helps me understand more about myself because I have been battling an anxiety disorder since I was in 6th grade. Ever since then, I see myself being really indecisive with every choice I make. As well as, if I do something, I will most likely be thinking at night if I chose the right choice and think back on what I have could’ve done better, even though I cannot go back time and change it. When I think back on the times of my past, I realize I did misunderstand my mother, so now I work to be an amazing daughter to her and know that she acted like that in the past because her personality wants only to be best for me, even though it can seem very authoritative.
I began wondering if people around the world understood the topic of astrology, especially if they really understand themselves. For my field research, I decided to do a survey that mainly focused on these two questions, “Do you believe in astrology (if not, why)?” and “Knowing your own astrology sign, if you had to decide between two paragraphs, which paragraph would you relate to the most?”. If people do believe in astrology, I had them pick their own astrology sign, then I displayed two paragraphs, one from their sign and one from the opposite sign, but not telling which sign has which paragraph. The way astrology signs are opposite from each other is on the Zodiac wheel. For example, I am a Gemini and my counterpart sign is Sagittarius; I would give both paragraphs from their “sun” sign personality description and blindly pick the paragraph I related to the most. After all the surveys are finished, I would calculate how many people blindly picked their own personality and does astrology really correlate to personality. My surveys would also be able to see what they chose and see if they actually chose their own sign, furthermore, I gave them connections to learn more about their astrology charts.
I finished conducting my survey, which I ended up capping the responses at 250 people. I had 21% of the 250 people say they did not believe in astrology, while the rest of the 79% did. To start off, the no answers, most of them talked about how they don’t think the day/time you were born defines how you are as a person. I had two responses that said that astrology doesn’t align with their religion. One response that I want to share is:
“A lot of people like to look at something and base astrology as their “personality trait.” I feel as though you don’t need to base your sign as to who you are and it’s just people wanting to have a reference to define themselves. […] It’s like you’re gaslighting yourself thinking “hm…am I really that” and slowly incorporating it into your life”.
Considering that no response, I can understand the idea of “gaslighting yourself” and wanting to believe something you are because you read it. In this way, you are changing yourself to something you want to be viewed as, not how you actually are.
Onto the yes responses, 79% people said they do believe in astrology. Out of 197 people, 120 people (61%) actually picked their own sign. Which meant the rest of the 77 people (39%) picked the paragraph which was the opposite of their sign. Even though it was a blind test, I was surprised that most people had related to their own sign. There were a couple of signs that picked the opposite sign more than their own which were Leo, Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, and Capricorn. Out of those six signs, only two of them are actually negative signs. Meaning that more people leaned towards negative traits within the paragraphs. This can mean a lot of things, one thing I can come up with is that people see themselves less of what they truly are. If people see negative aspects of themselves put one way, they start rethinking if they actually possess those traits.
From my findings, I can conclude that astrology does play a factor in what you think your personality is, maybe not your true personality. I would phrase it as “how you envision yourself to be”, even though it might not be truly correct. When I blindly took the test myself, I actually picked my opposite sign. Realizing this, I began rethinking a lot and wondered if the reason I chose Sagittarius instead of Gemini was because it was “something I wish to envision myself and be presented as” or simply just I did not align with my own star sign’s personality. It opened my eyes to realize I am setting myself up to be this person and if I am not, I am going to be disappointed in myself. The research survey gave me an overall self-awareness of myself that I will continue to research about myself whenever I have time.
Photo Copyright @ JustAstrologyThings.com 2020
Using the website, “Just Astrology Things”, the main three stars I am going to focus on are my Gemini Sun, Aries Moon, and Pisces Rising. Most people often refer to these three signs because they are the main basis for personalities. The Sun sign means your identity and how you express your personality. The Moon sign represents your emotions and your internal thoughts. Lastly, the Rising (Ascendant) sign is how others see you and interpret you. To represent myself, Gemini Sun explains the main traits are being intellectually inclined, constantly curious about the world. Geminis always want to learn more about people and the things they do. We can always see both perspectives within an argument. They like to drive the conversation. Due to the fact that a Gemini is an Air sign, they love communication and are avid thinkers. Onto my Aries Moon, the moon controls the emotions and moods. They are independent, therefore, if their mind is set for a goal, they do not stop until they achieve it. They always want to take control of situations and thrive to be a leader. When others get into their way and have negative feelings towards them, Aries Moon gets defensive. Just Astrology Things says in terms of romance, that they need a partner who can match their activeness and tolerate them. For Pisces Rising/Ascendant sign, it is how others will see you represent yourself. It is also mentioned that others may take you for your Rising sign more than your Sun sign. Pisces Rising signs are their own person, they are not influenced by others. Having a kind-hearted personality helps them be impressionable. On some days they are talkative and hyperactive, but the next day they can be quiet and reserved, it depends on the mood of their day. However, their hardest trait is being hard at making decisions.
For the three star suns, I do believe they represent myself in most aspects. All three incorporate attributes of leadership and trying to take control. Usually in a group dynamic, I always try to take the leadership role and guide my fellow teammates to stay on track and carry out what we are trying to finish. In a friend group, I take the mom role and I believe it correlates together because the “mom” role takes care of everyone and makes sure nothing wrong happens. I am driven by my future goals and always try to aim for the very best. One example is studying abroad. I am trying to study abroad next Fall 2021. Even though we are currently stuck in a pandemic (Covid-19), I am not letting it stop from me learning in South Korea. My first instinct when someone criticizes me is to get defensive, however I am working on that everyday to really understand one’s perspective on what they might have negative feelings towards me. The trait I resonate with the most is being super talkative one day, but the next day I can be very quiet. My friends around me have noticed that too. They have explained that I am drawn by my emotions and depending on how I wake up will determine my feelings for the day. As previously said, Gemini’s biggest problem is making decisions, so is Pisces Rising, so they mix together. It explains how indecisive I am on almost every choice.
For my research paper, I was originally clueless about Astrology and thought it was just something people read for fun. From the readings, I got to understand how astrology is determined and it is by the ten planets at the placement and time of your birth. Also, the whole natal chart is able to determine your personality whether it is yourself, with friends, romantic relationships, and day to day situations. Going back to my first article, TheAstroTwins had phrased astrology charts to be a “roadmap of your soul” and an “instruction manual”. My astrology signs aren’t just something I know and that is it, I now know their purpose and how they define me as a person. It helped me understand myself as well as know how I am represented to others around me. I can continue to work on strengths and weaknesses I have. In addition, I also got to learn a lot of different cultures and how they use astrology to their advantage for simple things like organizing your room because of superstitions. Aside from the positive aspects of astrology, from my field research, not only was I able to see if many other people can relate to their own Astrology sign, but I got to understand different perspectives on why people do not believe in Astrology. Some people cannot because of their religions and some others just simply don’t believe it can represent someone’s personality, but they still love to read about it. For those who are curious and want to further analyze astrology signs, websites like “Co-Star Astrology” and “Astro-Charts” are highly recommended. They both give in-depth breakdown on every sign in the astrology chart. Furthermore, the topic of Astrology is so broad so anyone can constantly go research more about astrology signs and the rest of their natal chart, as well as people around them by simply knowing the birth time, place, and date.
