Hayley: One of the many things that Victoria and I have bonded over is the fact that her birthday (August 4) is the same as Meghan Markle’s birthday, and my birthday (September 26) is Serena Williams’ birthday. Meghan and Serena are famous and powerful BFFs, an energy that Victoria and I try to channel into our friendship.
Of course, this means that Victoria is a Leo and I am a Libra. In my experience, Leos and Libras are a pretty perfect friendship pair. Talking about astrology is another major component of our friendship, and I’ve gotten multiple requests to talk about astrology right here at GPG.
My first entry into the world of astrology was when I was in grade school. My mom had this giant old encyclopedia that had a big astrology section at the back. There was a list of every sign, the core traits and personality aspects, as well as a well-known figure that exemplified all of that sign. My mom, my brother, and I loved poring over this and reading about our signs. This is where I learned all about Libra, the charming, diplomatic, lover of peace and little luxuries. This book said that Cinderella was a perfect Libra.
Victoria, what was your entry point into astrology?
Victoria: The most important part of my development into a person who reads their horoscope and cares about astrology definitely came via teen magazines. Teen People (RIP), Cosmo Girl (RIP also), Seventeen, and Teen Vogue all had horoscopes somewhere in their pages. If I got my hands on an adult magazine, even better! There was nothing more important than the September horoscope, of course, because it would tell you how the whole school year would go! My dad would also get the local newspaper every day, and on your birthday they would have a special “If today is your birthday” horoscope that my dad would always read aloud on people’s birthdays.
Because I had brain worms from a young age, I was frustrated by any horoscope that did not predict that someone was going to fall in love with me, and soon. “You’re going to get good grades” pshhh I knew that already, anonymous Seventeen horoscope writer! Who is trying to kiss me?!
In my early twenties, I had a maybe too-intense horoscope routine, and would not only read my full Susan Miller forecast (yike) but would also read my daily horoscopes in Vice and my weekly one in The Cut, written by the great Madame Clairevoyant. Around that time, a coworker showed me my chart for the first time, which is when I found out that not only am I a Leo sun, but my chart is dominated by Leo (Leo sun, rising, venus and mercury, and a Libra moon, for those keeping track).
At first this chart seemed kind of like a burden — like the stars had decided I was going to be needy and dramatic and overly romantic. But now I love it. It feels like permission to be needy and dramatic and overly romantics — a celebration of the things I don’t always like about myself and the things I do! Now I basically don’t read my horoscope, except the weekly one from Madame Clairevoyant, who has the uncanny ability to write exactly what I need to hear. I no longer believe my horoscope can predict if someone will want to kiss me, but I do think it’s a useful tool for understanding myself and my personality.
What has your astrology journey been like?
Hayley: I have always read my horoscope in magazines and I loved it when there was a big feature on that month’s sign. I feel very similar to you in that if my horoscope did not predict that my soulmate would ask me out on the 16th, I would be like well this month now SUCKS.
I have hosted birth chart nights multiple times as an adult, where I would get my friend’s information and print off their birth charts and we would go around and read off each sign and how we felt it pertained or didn’t to our lives. It was lovely, just a bunch of friends, wine, and introspection. My peak astrology engagement came, unsurprisingly, when I was unemployed during the majority of 2020. I bought three astrology books: Chani Nicholas’ You Were Born For This, Mecca Woods’ Astrology for Happiness and Success, and of course, the brilliant Madam Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars. Each of these have very different ways of looking at and interpreting astrology, and I enjoyed each of them immensely. For a while I was paying $12 for the Chani Nicholas app, and listening to both of the weekly readings and writing down where different planets would be and how they would affect me based on different placements. It was the only thing I felt like I could control during a time of great instability.
I have since backed off on a lot of my intense astrology phase, mostly because I don’t have a lot of free time left anymore. Also, I am in less of a place of pure chaos where I’m trying to cling to anything solid. But I thoroughly enjoy the ritual of reading my horoscope, and also getting a sense of where the planets are and how that might be affecting my life. Engaging with astrology gives me a sense of peace that sometimes things are out of my control, and that I have to ride the highs alongside the lows. I don’t want to say that listening to Chani Nicholas describe planet placements is therapy — it’s not, only therapy is therapy — but it helped me feel calm and like everything would be okay even if it’s shit right now.
Victoria: I find it fascinating that we’re in this golden age of astrology memes. It reminds me of when Meyers-Briggs test (certainly more bullshit than astrology has ever been) was really big, circa 2013, and people would put their MB type of their dating profiles, or make charts about which Harry Potter characters were which type (can never forget that allegedly Dumbledore is ENFJ, like me). I do find it wild when people start actually astrologically vetting their romantic partners — “oh I’d never date a Pisces,” or whatever. A lot of the time it feels like people just happened to have a bad ex who was a Capricorn or Aries, and are now projecting that on everyone else. I love that we are an iconic Leo-Libra combo of friends, but I wouldn’t decide to not be someone’s friend because they’re a Taurus or Scorpio. I’m not looking for reasons to be more closed off!
I think a common criticism by astrology skeptics (my brother Ralph, who I assume didn’t even bother to open this issue), is that horoscopes and astrological descriptions are written in such a vague way that they apply to any person who could ever be reading it. But I don’t think this is true! I remember talking to my favorite teacher in high school about it once, and he asked what the Leo characteristics are. I rattled them off: generous, loves to be the center of attention, big-hearted, and driven. He was like, “Oh yeah, that’s you.” And my dis-believing brother is a textbook Virgo, which I love to tell him because it pisses him off.
The uncomfy side of astrology (and the American astrology boom we are currently living in) is, of course, cultural appropriation. Like yoga (another of our favs), a lot of knowledge of astrology has been stolen from Hindu astrology, which has a very long history and a lot of religious meaning for people. A lot of the meaning is lost when converted into, say, a three-sentence October horoscope for teenage girls.
Hayley: Wow, of course we’re the same Meyers-Briggs type!
I think that I’ve always viewed astrology as a means of self-reflection as opposed to anything I would use to move through the world around me, like as a dating criteria (wild) or a potential roommate criteria (even wilder imo!) The best thing about astrology is it gives you common ground to talk about with people that you don’t know very well. The same could be said of a lot of personality tests, but astrology reigns supreme because you don’t have to take any sort of test or assessment, you just have to know your birthday. Talking about astrology is the easiest work icebreaker in the world.
When people say they “don’t believe in astrology” I’m always like, ok have fun ya fuckin’ Capricorn. Just kidding. Astrology isn’t a religion, or a belief system, again, it’s mostly an introspection/personality tool. In her book, Madame Clairevoyant talks about how she never really identified with the traits of her sun sign, and it was only after she learned about moon signs that everything started to click into place for her. I am very much a Libra, but some of my main personality traits stem from my rising sign, Aries, and my moon sign, Virgo. The more I explore my placements, the more I learn about myself. Diving headfirst into new things? Aries. Nerding out over color-coded spreadsheets? Virgo. Diplomatic and charming? Libra.
I will now reveal my secret first-date tactic: ask about astrology. I date men, so this is always very fun. I will ask, “What’s your birthday?” and when they tell me, I will reply “Oh, so you’re an Aquarius.” And then I get to see how they respond. Sometimes they are like dOn’T tElL mE yOuR oNe Of ThOsE AsTrOlOgY pEoPlE, which is a fun way to see how someone responds to a question about something that I clearly like or have an interest in. Sometimes they say “I don’t really believe in any of that” or “yeah but I don’t know what it means” and then I’ll list off some of the qualities and they’ll be like “yeah I guess I’m X, but really I’m more Y. I’m definitely not Z.” And that is how I sneakily get men to talk about their inner landscape.
What Victoria Recommends
- I just finished One Last Stop and it was such a gorgeous romance!
- Ted Lasso is back. Go watch Ted Lasso! Hayley does not watch, which is her only flaw.
- With all the Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck-Alex Rodriguez love triangle news this week, I thought I’d invite you all to revisit our isse about J. Lo from earlier this year.
What Hayley Loves Right Now
- I promise I won’t become a credit card bro, but if you are in the market for a credit card you should get the Chase Sapphire and we’ll both get bonus points.
- If you want a fun distraction, click around this fancy French hotel website. I have it bookmarked for whenever I need a work break.
- I invite you to enjoy my favorite Spotify playlist, The Only Partry Playlist You Will Ever Need, because it is 9 hours of perfect background music.
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