Every morning, John Aydin ’20 wakes up to a message on his phone that reads, “Your day at a glance.” These “hyper personalized” messages are meant to give Aydin, who has a Scorpio sun and moon with a rising Aquarius astrological sign, daily advice on how to go about his day.
“Anyone who knows anything about astrology knows that [my signs] mean I’m a mess,” Aydin said. “It’s kind of nice because it gives you a reality check at points you don’t necessarily know you need a reality check.”
When someone downloads an astrology app, they are asked to fill out an in depth questionnaire about when and where they were born. Some apps, like Co-Star, claim to use data from NASA to track lunar patterns, which play a role in determining someone’s astrology. All of this information is then interpreted by professional astrologers and the app’s algorithm to produce a detailed “birth chart” that is supposed to provide insight into different aspects of someone’s life.
“Your chart probably more describes how you would naturally be inclined to act, behave and manifest, if you were free of any kind of outside influence,” Aydin said. “The more I found out how complex the system of astrology is, the more I got into it because it was saying accurate things about me.”
Within pop culture, astrology has seen a resurgence in popularity. Some of this is due to the widespread use of horoscopes and astrology memes, but this is also due to people actually believing in astrology. People have gone from saying, “What’s your snap?” to “What’s your sign?”
Jordan Constantino ’22 downloaded Co-Star and started to understand astrology because his friend wanted to find out if both of their charts matched up. Constantino found that he has a Leo sun with a Gemini moon and a Taurus rising.
While still fairly new in understanding astrology, he already sees how serious some people take it. Constantino realized that those who are truly interested in astrology realize it isn’t the “end-all, be-all of reasoning.”
“People who are into astrology just find it interesting and want to use it to try to explain things that couldn’t be explained,” Constantino said.
Besides Co-Star, another popular astrology app is Pattern. Zoë Welsh ’22 uses both apps to learn more about herself.
Welsh explained that there is surface level astrology that anyone can learn, but if you’re looking for more meaningful insight you’ll have to take the time to research yourself.
“If you know how each planet interacts with my signs, it would make a lot of sense and you could understand how each of these traits that may seem vague are important to who I am as a person,” Welsh said.
Something that people love about astrology are the insights they offer on people’s lives. However, there is no science to prove the accuracy behind these commentaries. Despite this, Welsh still enjoys finding the connections between her life and what things like astrology apps and horoscopes tell her.
“If you don’t know my details then it could seem vague and off,” Welsh said. “If you know how each planet interacts with my signs, it would make a lot of sense and you could understand how each of these traits that may seem vague are important to who I am as a person.”
Having spent years looking into his own astrology, Aydin has come to understand that not everything he reads or is told will be true. Rather, Aydin has learned that astrology is reflective of someone’s life.
“Astrology is more of a way to look into yourself, kind of like introspection with guidelines,” Aydin said. “It’s not supposed to be used to guide your life and make your decisions.”
When speaking about astrology, Welsh gives truth a more personal meaning. Instead of something being true information, she said true is how accurately astrology describes someone’s personal life and values.
“I genuinely think that truth is a personal thing,” Welsh said. “[Astrology] hasn’t proven me wrong yet, so I have no reason to believe that it’s not true for me.”
