Tuesday Hobbies: What's in a star sign?

(from www.lcsd.gov.hk)

It's no secret to those who know me that I have my own pseudo-science when it comes to the zodiac. I have an annoying habit of listening to stories, asking for birth dates, and then nodding as if I knew it was possible all along... of course So-and-So did this or that... he/she is a (insert relevant star sign).

Some people just smile and nod when I say this... others start asking me questions that are hard to answer. My least favorite is, "So, what am I like?" You obviously know what you're like... and you could be many things that are similar or nothing like your sign.

I've narrowed it down to a handful of characteristics exhibited in limitless ways across the zodiac. Again, this is my pseudo-science, so it's not exact and it's not infallible. If anything. I find it amusing and often uncanny.

I used to roll my eyes at this sort of talk... I am a skeptical sort. But then my French friend was able to look up a certain event for which I was waiting... that I would get an answer to an emotional question on a certain date... and I did. Obviously, that could be a coincidence, but it was spot-on enough that I started to pay closer attention to people's signs and what makes them tick.

My theory behind why star signs are valid involves environmental factors that influence personalities. Just like growing up in the city rather than the sticks or with a conventional family rather than temporary foster care, I think that the celestial climate may have subtle effects on your personality. People who grow up in North America and then move here to the Virginian peninsula tend to complain a lot about humidity and heat. As a Virginian, I tend to wilt in the cold air of New York City in winter (whereas these New Yorkers are stopped by nothing)! Your living arrangements influence you in ways of which you're not always conscious...

There are legends, plays, stories about people born under good or bad stars. The particularly bad one, if memory serves... I think it's in the constellation Perseus... called Algol, The Demon Star. It's associated with some dastardly characters from mythology and folklore spanning the major Fertile Crescent cultures of the Hebrews, Christians, and Arabs. Even in Chinese astronomy, the star's name is Tseih She (meaning Piled Up Corpses). In Greek mythology, Algol represents the head of the Medusa. This star is associated with the birth of Lilith, Adam's first wife who ran off with the devil. Obviously these are just stories, but I tend to think there's usually a grain of truth somewhere in these tales that helped them to thrive over the centuries. Some mothers were encouraged to hold their children in during the rising of this star to avoid evil personality traits passing to the infant.

What made this star stick out to men studying the heavens is that... well... it resembles a winking eye. Algol is a special type of binary star. A dimmer star revolves around a brighter one causing the illusion of a winking eye down here on Earth. This revolution happens every two and a half days or so. If you'd like to see what this roughly looks like, click here: ALGOL

So, clearly there was some ignorance involved when giving negative attributes to this truly remarkable star... but there may have been an occurrence here and there that lined up with the births of those born on the dreaded winking hour to get the rumor going.

With this handful of wonderment in my pocket, I simply pay attention to people of like signs to see what they have in common. I am frequently right when I guess in my head after observing someone, but I've guessed incorrectly as well. The dominant factor that lines up with the times when I'm wrong, however, are guessing for people born on the cusp (meaning they exhibit personality traits of more than one sign) or people with stronger rising signs. You have your star sign, that's the date and month in which you're born, but the time of day is also relevant to determine your rising sign. For example, I was born right smack in the middle of Libra and my rising sign is also Libra because I was born in my first house (6ish AM). All the signs over a 24 hour period correspond with the signs of the zodiac. So, if I had been born the following hour (I think) I would have been born in my second house, which is Scorpio.

I don't have this perfectly worked out. I'd actually love to read a book on the original dissections of the horoscope and compare notes. The crap you find in the New Age section of B&N is usually inaccurate (though that Linda Goodman seems to have it figured out similarly to the way I later would). The stuff you read in the paper is made up, too. They might know where the planets are, but they don't know what it means. Don't get me wrong - I don't either, but I don't believe everything I read. I just pay attention to people.

I tend to use what I find loosely... perhaps just to adjust my behavior to create the most amiable atmosphere that I can. For a loose example, without being specific, there is one sign that, hands down, if I'm being myself, the feminine of a certain sign will despise me. It's instantaneously irrational, but there it is. Unless I adjust accordingly, I'm doomed to be disliked by women of this sign. So, I make my comments short, sparse, and always in a complimentary tone when addressing this particular female. If I remain somewhat overly complimentary, I can escape our interaction unscathed. Again, this is a loose assumption, but I've seen the results and I'm convinced I've figured out how to deal with these people. It's just like adjusting to anything else... like don't pick on sensitive people or don't make crude jokes in front of a nun. I just seem to have consistent luck with evaluating my interactions based on sign.

I've been asked by some about dating advice... like, what signs to avoid. This is one of the hardest astrological topics for me because I've seen certain human elements beat the tar out of compatibility. In this case, I feel like the sign of a person is lumped in with several other aspects of eligible people... look for someone who is educated, kind to his mother, has goals and ambitions, what have you. I can tell you until I'm blue in the face who you should consider, but we all seem to love whoever it is that we love... like it or not.

So, it's not that I think there is any divining magic in the stars. Even though it's that sort of trait that spurned my study, I only see my astrology as another way to understand people a little better...