Andrew / June 3, 2005 4:14 PM

I'm an Aries Rabbit.

As for believing in all that stuff... sometimes.

Shasta MacNasty / June 3, 2005 4:19 PM

Sun--Virgo
Moon--Leo
Rising--Aries
Bottom line: Dramacidal

Do I believe in it? :::sigh::: Yes, to a point. I don't believe it can tell the future. It gives a different perspective into personality types. But ultimately, I think it's all up to the individual.

Maggie / June 3, 2005 5:42 PM

I'm a Gemini and I like to read horoscopes for fun, but I don't put too much thought into it... BUT, Monday is my birthday, and according to my horoscope from InStyle, the wish I am going to make on the 6th will come true. So I've been putting a lot of thought into that wish. Suggestions?

amyc / June 3, 2005 6:30 PM

My life is not controlled by space rocks.

sweetwater / June 3, 2005 9:33 PM

Astrology? No. Like all Japanese, I believe in
judging personalites by blood type.

mike-ts / June 3, 2005 10:43 PM

Taurus, and O+.

I think my life is more influenced by the gravitational pull of passing motorists as I try to walk across the busy street than the gravitational pull of some dot millions of miles away. And the vibe I'm given from the nth-teenth fool I had to suffer on the phone today is of more influence than the cosmic vibe. Still, I faithfully read my future as predicted by Floyd Schummer (sp?), retired machinist and Onion astrologer.

Really, twelve predictions to fit the lives of millions. I don't know. Plus, due to precession of the equinoxes, aren't the actual houses of astrology off from what are defined as the dates of the signs anyway? As in astrology (as charted in 2000 b.c.) might say you're a taurus when astronomy says in 2005 a.D. you're an aries, or the other way around. So I might be reading the wrong fortune anyway. And your horoscope is for when you're born, as if that day the solar system's bodies have more influence, just because you've done popped out, than when you were forming in the womb for the previous 6,7,8,9 months. And wasn't astrology developed when people thought the sun and planets were tons much closer to us, in the sphere of the firmament just over our heads, rather than millions of miles away?

My mind is open, though, to the idea of premonition, knowing deep in your bones that something is going to happen, or something has happened. But I doubt it's related to some star chart.

Emerson Dameron / June 4, 2005 4:20 AM

I'm a Gemini. And no, I don't take it seriously. It's one of the silliest mass superstitions under the stars. I understand the longing for a sense of personal narrative, but if anything's going to poison my relationships, it's my trusty Magic 8 Ball.

It's worth researching, though, if only to know how you'll be preceived by the alarming number of people who "use" it.

Also, Blowfly's "Zodiac" LP is a minor classic.

Sarah / June 4, 2005 11:50 AM

I wouldn't believe in it except that I've been involved with many Sagitarians in my life (romantic and work and both) and they have a lot of similar character traits that affect me the same way.

And then I dated two Picses (not at the same time) and they were both so similar I called them by the wrong names.

So now I date Aries and that is it. I'm Aquarius.

leelah / June 4, 2005 2:26 PM

I'm a Leo, and my birthday is August 8. I love both astrology and the magic 8 ball.

melanie / June 4, 2005 7:19 PM

I'm a taurus sun... libra rising.

For all of you skeptics who feel like the gravitational pull of stars bajillions of miles away couldn't possibly make a difference in your personality -- I absolutely agree with you.

BUT... Here's my understanding of astrology (and I've done quite a bit of research/contemplation/philosophizing about it):

Everything in the universe seems to fall into perfect patterns... Seemingly random occurrences all seem to fall into a greater feeling of "order". This is also not just something that we think about to make ourselves feel better... It's been scientifically studied, and very seriously contemplated by physicists for decades. (See this page for a basic intro to Chaos... especially the part about Lorenz's discoveries.

What has been found, in short, is that seemingly random occurrences fall into a very organized pattern.

What does this have to do with astrology? Glad you asked.

It seems like humans have, for thousands and thousands of years been finding ways to interpret this order... to use the outcome as a mirror of the inherent order in the universe. The stars in the sky don't CAUSE us to be like we are... Our natal charts are a REFLECTION of our personalities and innerworkings that we otherwise wouldn't have access to. Astrology is one of the oldest sciences around -- and until very recently, no one considered that it might actually have some scientific merit.

Whether or not you choose to USE what is known about astrology is a personal choice... It is the same with any form of divination... Carl Jung knew all about "synchronicity"... which is really just another term for "inherent order emerging from chaos"...

So... learning about astrology - REALLY learning about it - not reading your horoscopes in the newspaper (WHICH IS ADMITTEDLY TOTAL B.S.!!), is nothing more than giving yourself (and others, if you want to help them out) a better idea about what comes naturally to you/them -- and what is a result of your own doing. It's nice to have perspective on the parts of your nature that you do or don't like... It makes it easier to "fix things" when you know what you're up against.

::and that's one to grow on::

melanie / June 4, 2005 7:22 PM

By the way, Mike...

You MIGHT be reading the wrong horoscope in the newspaper... But if you have a chart drawn up of the sky, planets, constellations at the moment you were born, you can plainly see where everything falls into place.

In fact, if you all are interested in seeing what the sky looked like when you were born (and to make sure you've got your sign right) a href=http://www.astro.com/horoscopes/">check this out.

Onid / June 5, 2005 12:34 AM

August 8th birthday and I am a Leo.

Mister C / June 5, 2005 1:49 AM

No one has ever been able to convince me that astrology has any validity or relevance, but that's because I'm a Taurus and we tend to be opiniated and inflexible.

Leah / June 5, 2005 12:08 PM

You mean do I get the Free Will Astrology email every week? Do I kick off the month with a visit to Susan Miller's Astrology Zone?

I am an Aries and I check them both out. A friend compares them to the weather report. A chance that these things might happen, but not a 100% prediction. I enjoy reading them and have noticed certain things do effect me (Mercury Retrograde) and certain things don't (Best date nights.)

curtsy / June 5, 2005 2:50 PM

Melanie, ASTRONOMY is a science. Astrology is not.

waleeta / June 5, 2005 4:27 PM

Sagitarrius.

Since I am a practicing Christian, I guess I don't believe in astrology...but I really do encompass everything a Sagitarrius woman is. I mean EVERYTHING. It's weird.

Amy Z. / June 5, 2005 5:35 PM

I am a cancer..goat...And yes I believe wholeheartedly in astrology. You can learn a lot from it.

joe / June 5, 2005 7:48 PM

My sign: Slower Traffic Keep Right. I am a Bright (google brights movement and see). I have a naturalistic worldview, which means I don't believe in anything supernatural, such as the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, God, the devil, heaven, hell, angels, ghosts, reincarnation, spirits (except for the kind you drink) or astrology. And the poster above has no idea what chaos theory is really about, or they would know that it has nothing to do with astrology. What absolute rubbish.

melanie / June 5, 2005 10:09 PM

Astronomy and astrology were one in the same for a few thousand years.

mike / June 6, 2005 2:00 AM

Virgo and Libra.
born on the cusp.

--here's a secret ladies--men only believe in astrology when talking to women who believe in astrology-

amyc / June 6, 2005 6:42 AM

Astronomy and astrology were one in the same for a few thousand years.

Yes, and we used to fondle bumps on the skull to diagnose illnesses and then "cure" them with bloodletting. Humans believed a lot of things for thousands of years that seem silly and dangerous now.

susan / June 6, 2005 8:53 AM

I am a Sagittarius. Do you know about the astrology songs?
I believe in them.

staci / June 6, 2005 9:04 AM

I'm a taurus. I believe in astrology when it suits me. Although, I am both proud and annoyed that I'm pretty much the textbook version of what a taurus should be.

Erica / June 6, 2005 9:19 AM

Capricorn.
Practical and prudent: Neither
Ambitious and disciplined: Ambitious, maybe
Patient and careful: Never patient
Humorous and reserved: Humorous in my own mind. Reserved? Puh-leese ...

You know what's fun, though? Making up horoscopes. I used to do it for my college zine. I just made up a bunch of bunk. I made it sound good, though.

Per the "best job in the city" fuel -- horoscope writer for local newspaper.

kate / June 6, 2005 9:22 AM

According to astrology I am a virgo...but i agree with joe. The whole idea of astrology seems pretty hubris to me.

Steve / June 6, 2005 10:08 AM

Cancer, born in the Year of the Dog. And I don't believe in any of it for a second.

pang / June 6, 2005 10:25 AM

Capricorn. Toddler daughter is a Capricorn too, so we are supposed to have the same sorts of days, right? So wrong. But fun to read in the morning and damned if I don't use the lucky numbers to play lotto sometimes.

Toni / June 6, 2005 11:32 AM

I won't tell you since we Scorpios are so secretive.

LeahW / June 6, 2005 11:40 AM

Libra Goat, Libra moon and Gemini ascending. I'm airy.

Though I match up with my sign a majority of the time, I don't believe in it. It was good fun when I was bored in junior high, though.

Leelah / June 6, 2005 11:41 AM

Onid, you must be fabulous! Were you born in 1970?

steven / June 6, 2005 12:47 PM

Sag/Scorp cusp. I spend the majority of my days very confused. And horny.

vit / June 6, 2005 12:50 PM

Aquarius --- and no, my life is not controlled by space rocks either.

Andy / June 6, 2005 1:14 PM

Sagitarrius. I do like to read through the love signs book by Linda Goodman. It's interesting and I can see with which sign i have the best sex.

Davin / June 6, 2005 2:57 PM

cancer.
no, i don't believe... BUT
it's astounding how much of a cancer i am.

Flynn / June 6, 2005 3:36 PM

Scorpio. No. :)

jen*nee / June 6, 2005 5:01 PM

Not to be humorless, but considering that we live on a big SPACE ROCK, and we are in every way governed/constrained by its physical laws, we are, in a sense, all controlled by a space rock. Free will isn't nearly as powerful as gravity, friends.

Knowing this, a metaphysical force that may be just as strong and mysterious as the physical ones that act upon us isn't beyond the realm of imagination for me.

Brandy / June 10, 2005 6:24 PM

Textbook Aquarius. I belive in patterns, and I enjoy checking in on horoscopes to see if they are aligning with my experience at all. Much more of a way to stop and think about how *I* am doing, vs. how the *astrology* says I should be doing.

Gabe / June 27, 2005 2:14 PM

Aries

They're fun to read.