If BoMR (Both of My Readers) don’t know me by now, you never will. But everyone should know that I call myself a proud member of the skeptic community. It has already been established that I don’t believe in god so I won’t belabor that point here. I also shun any other paranormal or fringe-science claims.
So imagine what was going through my mind when I was reading the local news online and someone looked over my shoulder and said, “Can you read me my horoscope?” I think it important to tell you that I believe astrology to be junk. Astrology can not be used to determine computability, predict the future, determine personality predispositions or offer daily advice.
So I asked her if she really believed in that stuff and she said the typical “Not really, but sometimes it can be true.” Whatever that means, I have no idea. I then asked her what her sign was and she responded, Aries. Of course, I clicked on the horoscope page and began reading the reading for Gemini, not Aries, which went something like this: “Spend the necessary time making plans before you act but remember to begin with home projects first as they will offer the greatest payoff.”
The first words out of her mouth were “See, I am trying to finish painting the kitchen and I keep getting distracted by interruptions at work.” So despite the fact that she really had no idea why it worked, she did accept the validity of the (wrong) horoscope. Then I told her what I did and she laughed good-naturedly. I read her the correct horoscope that went something like this: “Don’t venture into challenges that are beyond your knowledge because someone will call you on it.”
I was stunned when she then screamed: “See, I knew it! I told my husband that I painted walls before and I never picked up a paintbrush. Now I am screwed!”
Now, I am not so stupid as to believe that the horoscope is some sort of etched in the stars inspiration. You can easily witness this by reading 10 different horoscopes on 10 different websites. But what is the value. For example, if I was searching for guidance through the day, I could randomly pick ANY horoscope for ANY zodiac sign for ANY day of the week and find something to latch on to. Perhaps that is the way it is supposed to be.
I guess I am just being a Virgo.
Tell me about your experiences with astrology.