Astro Profiling

We Are All The Signs

Witches and Pagans are typically a very inclusive group, until people start mentioning zodiac signs and talk astrology. Then it’s “those Geminis!” or “Are you kidding me? A Taurus?” As someone who has their Sun in Scorpio, I have heard all the things about how I’m “such a typical Scorpio…” and think about nothing but vengeance and sex. However, I’ve never been one for vengeance, it’s not worth my magic; and well, sex…sex is good. I mean, it’s a delicious part of life as a human, but I hardly think about it nonstop. My very first astrologic reading (decades ago) was very much what I have come to term as “Astro Profiling.” The reader seemed to pick not just every stereotype about Scorpio, but all the negative ones. Fortunately, I was not about to listen to that.

As we entered Aquarius season, I’m hearing all the things about how Aquarians are this and that. Married to one, I can attest that they are not these analytical, stand-offish creature; nor are they simply some kind of air-headed hippy child. Also, so many people were like “He’s an Aquarius; you’re a Scorpio, it won’t work.” After 15 years, I think we can prove that myth wrong. In short, none of us are the one thing! No two signs are exactly alike. If you know any twins, you know they are not exactly the same. Just because they look a like, they are not the same. No, they are individuals. Each of us is unique. We are not one thing or the other. We are multifaceted. Like any kind of profiling, Astro-Profiling is really not appropriate. I’m working hard to not fall into the trap of it. I’m hoping others will as well. In general, my hope with this post is to help us all spotlight and highlight where we have unhealthy patterns where astrology is concerned and how we might improve.

Now we’re all guilty of it. I mean, as much as I defend for all the Scorpios out there, or for the sun signs of all my loved ones — Aquarius, Pisces, Virgo, Libra… I’ve been known to talk shit about the Capricorns and Aries in my life. They make it harder to defend… but wait, see? That’s not all Capricorns and Aries. I know some pretty bitching people who are Capricorns and Aries. But many of them I’m not related to. Just kidding. Or am I? I mean if I was an Aries or Capricorn, I’d have a hard time believing some Scorpio was kidding. But that’s my point exactly. You have to believe a Scorpio is saying something nice about an Aries, and that Capricorns aren’t always as grounded and all-business as some people think. Think about it, have you used your sign as a crutch? Have you caught yourself saying, “Oh, sorry, I’m a Cancer, I can’t help it.” If you recognize that and your behavior is questionable, um, maybe you can help it.

This past year I decided that becoming even more versed in astrology was a path I needed to walk. What a blessing the Painted Goddess’ Astrologic Lab has been. The first class I attended was called “Everyone is a Virgo!” We happened to be in Virgo season during that, but each “season” our lovely professor astrologist brings that theme forward again: “We are all X sign.” Why is that? Well, of course there’s the influence of your rising sign and your moon sign, too. Then you have to know where the planets were when you were born. Does Mercury in Virgo affect how you communicate? You betcha!. How about where Venus was? Did it sit in Sagittarius when you were born, you better believe that will affect how you interact with people. Each planet, its aspects, how it sits and in relation to other planets and signs, they are a whole other piece of the pie that makes you who you are. So literally we all have more than our sun signs influencing us. There’s also Pluto generations and planetary returns (oh, hello Chiron!), and on and on. (If you want to know more, come join the lab!) You can see that it isn’t all one sided, or one-sign-ed.

I had just finished typing that paragraph and got pulled away from my studio because the familiars needed some outside time (oh my goodness it’s freezing out!), while I was waiting for them, I was scrolling Instagram and BAM! Serendipity how I adore you. @QueerCosmos (Colin Bedell) posted a quickie video about people basically doing the same thing, again RE: Aquarians. That Long Island accent makes it all the more poignant, don’t you think? <3 Ah, the collective conscience. It’s vibrations are everywhere. I felt so validated when I saw that post. Thank you, fellow astrology lover.

I mean it’s fun to see things about our sign we identify with, for sure. I’m guilty of sharing such things. How many of us have giggled and raised our hands and re-shared one of the  tons of cute tik-toks and IG Reels that are like, “here’s my impression of all the signs ordering food in a restaurant”? Again, in the case of many of those, I think, “hey, that’s not me.” And that’s because…yep, you guessed it, it’s a stereotype, generalization, or just a weird interpretation (outlier) of the natal data. I would be remiss, as well, to not point out that our circumstances as we develop into the person we are impact us immensely,  especially where all the “isms” are concerned — racism, classism, sexism, capitalism, and the like. These systems and applications to who we are hugely impact the kind of person we become, without a doubt. It’s not just about our birth date, time, and place.

Instead of astro-profiling, what we learn about tendencies in astrology about a particular sun sign are things we can use to understand ourselves better. Note I didn’t say judge ourselves better. Nope. Understand. Because isn’t that what the goal is of any of the paths we walk: understanding? Understanding of ourselves, our family and friends, our place on this planet and universe? When we reach that understanding we’re able to be our truest selves and live our best lives. So if you understand you’re a Cancer and you’re probably going to “mother” too much, you can check yourself before you wreck yourself. Follow? Understanding those tendencies lets us work towards a healthier way of living.

As with everything in life, as I’ve entered this crone phase, so much of what I deal with daily has become clearer, more focused, and I give much side-eye to anything “established,” except food forests. Established food forests are a good thing. 😉 Astrology and some of the profiling conventions which have been readily accepted are not established food forests. Let’s break that down and dispose of it like last week’s horoscope. If you can compost it, even better.

And let me clear the air right here, I don’t bite, even though I’m a Scorpio. ;P

~Runa