Astrology Compatibility: Why Sun Signs Cause Confusion
I have been a practicing astrologer for over 16 years, specializing in astrological compatibility. Being somewhat of a technophobe, I have largely avoided the internet for much of that time. However, all good things must come to an end, so here I am, now an avid online reader and writer. When time allows, I read and answer questions on various relationship astrology forums. Inevitably, I read threads that go like this:
I’m Leo, am I compatible with Aquarius?
Answer 1 — yes!
Answer 2: no! I’m Leo and I dated Aquarius. We separated.
Answer 3: Relationship astrology is stupid. I spent 172 hours researching that every sun sign combination has had a divorce.
Each of these answers is wrong, but each one will generally make people agree with it. In forums where votes are cast, one of these answers is usually selected as correct and archived for future generations of question finders.
So what is going wrong here?
It seems that every time astrology compatibility is discussed on the internet, sun signs are supposed to be the key to astrology. I suspect this is largely due to a desire to simplify, streamline, and condense everything. However, astrology is a subject where simplification often creates problems.
The sad reality is that people are so much more than their sun sign, and if you want a ‘real’ answer to an astrology question, then you’ll need a real astrology reading. Going by Sun Signs alone is helpful to get a rough idea of what to expect, but there are plenty of other planets that can override and trample on someone’s Sun Sign traits. Each person and natal chart is unique.
This has led to an interesting situation where probably 80% of all relationship astrology information on the internet is basically wrong. To qualify that metric, if sun signs could be seen in a vacuum, then the information would be correct. In practice (and people ask that question to make decisions in real life, and not as a hypothetical exercise) it is not so simple.
An interesting side effect of this seems to be a small army of internet astrologers dishing out packages of neat and tidy information on all aspects of the sun signs. Why do they do this? Because the concept of keywords means that a potential visitor is not going to search for “Aquarius Sun, Leo Moon, Aries Mars, etc.”, but “Aquarius”, and woe to any article that dares to lose focus ! getting off topic with grades. Anything more complex than that will cause the browser’s back button to be pressed, and pretty quickly.
Fair enough, maybe this is happening in all subjects. On the Internet, education is clearly being student-driven, and educators are telling students what they ask, not what they need to know. Search engines force websites to satisfy the need for instant gratification.
The problem with astrology is that this obsession with sun signs is degrading the credibility of the subject. People are right to say “wait, I’m a Leo and I don’t get along with Sagittarius! This astrology thing is useless!” Are professional astrologers also guilty of this? Yes, we are. Because otherwise no one would read our articles! However, it would be quite easy for astrologers to put a disclaimer or warning when replying to posts or writing articles, and maybe that’s the solution.
For more information on compatible astrology, see http://www.compatible-astrology.com. Just be sure to read the disclaimers…