WePresent | Cosmically Speaking: An essay by Holly Murchison

To understand astrology’s appeal is to get comfortable with paradoxes. It feels simultaneously cosmic and personal; spiritual and logical; ineffable and concrete; real and unreal. It can be a relief, in a time of division, not to have to choose. It can be freeing, in a time that values black and white, ones and zeros, to look for answers in the gra... See more

I did not used to be a person who asked the universe questions. I used to be a person who lived in a large and light-filled apartment. That person was very certain that what she saw was, for the most part, what she got. Back then, I didn’t believe in mystical design or preordained plans from the cosmos. I didn’t even know what time I was born, nor ... See more

At best, astrology gives people a sense of control in a chaotic world and helps them relate to others by ascribing personality traits and life’s seeming randomness to star signs and the movements of planets. Users may also learn about themselves in the process, as they’re forced to pause and examine their own behavior and feelings.

Astrology expresses complex ideas about personality, life cycles, and relationship patterns through the shorthand of the planets and zodiac symbols. And that shorthand works well online, where symbols and shorthand are often baked into communication.

These are old languages relearned, not to override but to balance the rational mind. There are plenty of clueless, credulous, and genuinely deluded folks using esoteric ways of living to exacerbate anxieties, avoid confronting personal problems, or shift blame for their personal failings to the cosmos or the spiritually “inferior”. But these tools ... See more

Applying universal logic gives our experiences a certain weight and our lives a certain order. I assume this is why we’re so drawn to recasting our life stories into tidy narratives and lessons to be shared with others. But in doing this we risk underestimating chaos, nuance, idiosyncrasy, and the occasional dose of self-delusion.