Hey.. What's Your Sign? ;)

I don't know about you guys, but whenever I meet someone new I want to know when their birthday is. That is really all you need to find out if you are astrologically compatible. With Valentine's Day coming up, this is the perfect time to wonder how compatible you are with certain people in your life.

Of course there are many different kinds of compatibility. You might be great friends, but be terrible together in a romantic relationship. Or you might be great together in your personal lives but you could never ever, in a million years, work together.

Here's a compatibility website a lot of people might be interested in. All you need to know are your sun signs.

Most websites like the one above will give you a short explanation that is based only on your sun sign. As I suggested in my last post, there is a lot more to it than that. To understand all aspects of a relationship you have to look at all the planets and how they go together. First of all, every sign is also an element:

FIRE: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
WATER: Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio
AIR: Aquarius, Gemini, Libra
EARTH: Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo

The signs in the same element group are the most compatible. Another website you might want to check out for sun sign compatibility is at Tarot.com.

Sun signs definitely offer insight into relationships but the planet that rules love and relationships is Venus. You can find out what sign Venus was in when you were born easily at Astrodienst.com as well as the signs of the rest of your planets. If you and your partner have compatible Venus signs it is even better than just looking at the sun signs. Check out this website to find out more about your Venus sign.

Just like in individual astrology, when it is used for compatibility, it is important to look deeper than the surface to get truly helpful insight.

Don't get too discouraged if you aren't compatible with someone according to your charts. When you know the things you have to work on as a couple it is much easier to recognize why you might be having certain problems.

Just another way to use astrology and get to know yourself and the people close to you. So for now, Happy early Valentine's Day and happy dating!

Hidden Potential Revealed by the Planets

Would you like to understand yourself better? Make sense of the way you react to certain situations and be able to develop certain aspects of your personality that might otherwise lie dormant? Well, those are just a couple of the things astrology offers. And I'm not talking about the mini horoscopes you read every morning in the newspaper.

I have heard a lot of people say something like "No way every Gemini in the city is going to have a misunderstanding at work on the very same day. Astrology is total crap." But the thing is, those horoscopes are purposely written in general terms in order to encapsulate all Gemini's who will be reading it. They are meant for entertainment, not to give you any insight into your own personality.

This may seem obvious, but no two people are the same. It is the same in astrology. No two Gemini's are exactly the same. And that is because your Sun Sign (which is your main sign) is only the tip of the iceberg. To truly find out who you are, you have to address all the planets as well as house positions. This is where it starts to get complicated. This is also where most people decide to brush astrology off as "nothing more than entertainment".

If you don't know your sun sign, that is a good place to start. Look here for a list.

If you only look on the surface of astrology, of course you are only going to get superficial information in return. There is no way for newspaper horoscopes to personalize the information they give you in two sentences. To judge astrology based on this is like judging a person based on how they answer the phone.

So, basically, when you are born, all the planets are positioned in a zodiac sign. Each one affects a different aspect of your personality. For an in depth explanation of each one check out this article.

I'll use my astrological chart to give an example of how this works. Mercury rules anything to do with communication, such as speaking and writing and your communication style. When I was born, Mercury was in Leo which means I have the ability to organize my thoughts well and concentrate for long periods of time. I have an easy going disposition but have the tendency to be opinionated and stubborn.

If you would like to figure out your own astrological chart, the best website is Astrodienst.com. They also offer some free interpretations.

I realize there are a lot of people who look at astrology and see no value in it. But it is so much more than half-assed predictions in the morning newspaper. It is more about understanding your own personality. That way you can work on your weaknesses and promote your strengths. I see it as a way to improve yourself by being more aware.

In my next post I'll talk about how to use astrology for compatibility. All you have to know is the person's birthday and you can find out who they are. Better than googling them and hoping for the best, that's for sure.

The 'Secret' is Out

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of
life's coming attractions"
-Albert Einstein

The Secret was all over the place in 2006. Oprah couldn't stop raving about it. And everyone trusts Oprah, right? She made an appearance on Larry King to talk about her own experience with The Secret and she seems to really believe in it. But judging by the comments under this youtube video, she may not know as much as she thinks she does.
Basically, the Secret is the Law of Attraction. If you think about something you want all the time. If you believe you will one day have it and that you deserve it. If you live your life as though you already have this one thing you really want, then eventually you will have it.
The movie, which was released in 2006, is a bunch of interviews of supposed 'experts' explaining how all you have to do is think positive and believe and you can have everything you ever wanted.
According to the Law of Attraction all thoughts have frequencies that send out magnetic signals to attract things back to you. If you are sending out positive signals, you will get positive things back. If you are constantly worrying about your problems, you will only continue to get problems in return. Makes sense..
At the very least, there is no harm in thinking positive. Right?
One example, shown in the video below, is to visualize and believe that you have enough money to live the perfect life.

In the movie, they discuss something called the "Creative Process" which has three steps:

STEP ONE: Ask - Let the universe know what it is you want.
STEP TWO: Believe - Have faith in the power of the universe. Do not concern yourself with how you will get the things you want, just believe it will happen. Do not have doubts, they lead to disappointment.
STEP THREE: Receive - Be open. Begin to feel the way you will feel when you get what you want.

It is important to be grateful for what you already have and not constantly worry about what you don't have. Whether or not this will get you the new car or your dream job is irrelevant because appreciating what you have can only be a good thing. In the end, thinking positive should be automatic, not a chore you have to force yourself to complete everyday.
Even if you don't believe in the universe listening to your thoughts and giving you what you desire, how can anyone say there is anything wrong with hope, gratitude and optimism? All you have to do is choose to be happy and you will be.

"If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm,
you'll never enjoy the sunshine."
-Morris West

Psychic Fairs.. Not Exactly Cheap

I went to the Psychic Expo in London this past weekend thinking I could get come cheap five minute readings for fun. I was surprised to find out there wasn't a single reading available for less than $30 and that was for ten measly minutes with the woman in the corner booth who could barely look you in the eye, let alone into your future (supposedly).
I decided to skip the psychic readings and just went to a couple lectures some of the psychics were putting on. One was about how to choose a psychic. She mentioned why readings were so expensive which was because these psychics were traveling all over the country. They had to pay for hotels, transportation and food in a different city every weekend. Which I guess is understandable. Still, $120 for a lady to look into a crystal ball and tell me there is money and happiness in my future? I'm on a student budget here.
Crystal balls were only one of the techniques being used. There was also tarot cards, aura reading, palmistry (or chiromancy), reiki, numerology and something called Russian cards which I had never heard of.
All the psychics had a specialty and during the lecture, we were told to know what we wanted before choosing a psychic because if we asked for something that particular psychic was not capable of doing, well of course, we wouldn't be getting our money's worth. Convenient.
Overall, the most important thing when choosing a psychic is to use common sense and be reasonable. There is a little thing called professionalism and a good psychic will follow basic social guidelines by not answering the door in a bathrobe. They are running a business too and they want you to tell your friends about how accurate they were, not that they were disorganized and unfriendly.
They all had pamphlets as well to advertise what it was they do and where you could reach them. A couple examples at the top and to the left.
So, I guess my expections were a little bit unreasonable. I wanted inexpensive readings more for fun than anything else. But it turns out, the people that go to these conventions are seriously looking for guidance. They want to know if they are going to change careers or meet their soul mate in the near future. And these psychics capitalize on that. It's their job. We all need to make a living right?
Of course, the organizers of the fairs guarantee that the psychics are the best in the business, and it is by invitation only. Not any old fortune teller can set up a booth and start charging $100 for a 15 minute reading.
So, in the end, the psychic convention is a good way to find out what all the possibilities are and decide for yourself what kind of thing you are willing to pay your hard earned money for. Better than looking in the yellow pages at least.

The Beginning.. Or Something Like It

Remember those books you used to read when you were younger where you would be given a choice at the end of every chapter.. OPTION 1: follow your friends into the dark forest or OPTION 2: turn around and call your Mom to come pick you up. You always chose option one, or else what is the point in reading the book at all?
The same goes for every day of your life. You might know you are making a choice that will lead to situations most sane people would choose to avoid but you do it anyway. If only to add a little excitement to an otherwise boring existence.
The only difference between those Choose Your Own Adventure books and real life is you can't go back and change things. You can't flip back a few pages and decide to eat the green ice cream instead of the blue ice cream because, whoops, turns out the blue stuff is poisonous.
So what's the harm in looking for a little help along the way? Maybe a psychic reading or two. An astrology chart or a numerological interpretation of your birthday and full name. As long as you take it for what it is.. one possibility carefully selected (according to the way the planets were aligned when you were born of course) out of thousands of possibilities.
I can't guarantee 100% accuracy, but who can? And who wants to know their future without a doubt anyway? The point is, there is always a choice.
I'll be talking about things that reveal not only aspects of your own personality, but ways to become aware of the most important thing there is, your own future. You decide how much or how little you rely on these things, just like you decided when you were a kid if you wanted to follow the path or take the creepy, yet shorter detour.
You'll get through it, but what will you see along the way?