But that doesn't mean I don't read my stars.
Even though I know that they're cut to fit the space in magazines and newspapers. That scene in Paper Giants where a features writer and an editorial assistant wrote them didn't really surprise me. I laughed. When I worked on mags, we always had real astrologers 'do' the stars. But we'd chop out a line or two to make the design work. Who knows what planetary chaos we caused?
So why do I read them? Hope. No matter what thought it is that's top of my mind, the stars can be read to fit. 'You'll have a great day' can mean anything from the sun shining in the morning to my ship finally coming in. Depending on what I'm fretting about most. Even if careful reading of every star sign on the page proves that every single star sign will be having the same great day (and we should all call the same 1500 number for more exciting details). Cynical, me? Not cynical enough to stop reading.
So tell me, what's your sign? And do you read your stars?
[image: MimiLoLo/etsy]
I'm a capricorn. I don't believe in stars, or read stars, but I can randomly guess stars with about an 80% accuracy. My guess is that % will go down from here.
ReplyDeleteI usually start with 3 and work my way down from there.
For you Ms Altait I'm going to say Cancer, Gemini or Sag. I was going to say Taurus but that would make 4. Maybe Aries even. Or Leo. But def not any of the others ;-).
*ducks for cover incase I'm wrong* :)
That is freaky. I just tweeted a happy birthday to you and made mention of the fact that you and I are both Taureans. And then I come here.
ReplyDeleteBizarre.
I read them if I am really bored.
I would have to sit down and work out what my children are - which I guess is a measure of my interest...
There is a Birthday book - have you seen it? It's HUGE - it's not only the star sign, but your specific date. It's CREEPY how spot on mine was. I try not to buy into that stuff too much, but it's really hard not to sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI loved Paper Giants, weren't the Packers played well!! No, never put much faith in stars, i mean, i have a brother & sister born on the same day a decade apart, one is a surgeon, one a ballerina, they are the most opposite personalities you'd ever meet, nothing at all in common in life, love or work. So poo poo to the stars. FYI they are Aries like 10 other immediate family members, all very different, blah. Love Posie
ReplyDeleteMy mother is really into Astrology, she printed out reems of info related to each of my childrens time, date of birth and star sign, and as much as I don't believe in that stuff, it has been surprisingly accurate...
ReplyDeleteTaureans! That's why I love ye all! Was soooo going to be in my top 3 ;-).
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteI studied astronomy at uni and my childhood dream was to be an astronaut. So I have a pretty good idea of the scale of distances between the stars that we see from earth and think make up constellations...pretty big! So 'no' I don't read my stars. I have no interest in knowing what some editorial assistant's assistant may have to say about my future on any given day.
Having said all that I do actually avoid reading them, just in case I make it come true by subliminal influence :-)
xxxCate
PS: capricorn (can u tell!!)
I hope you had some good news on your birthday? Cate is such a Capricorn! I have a household of them so I should know. And Lucy another May birthday. It is too hard to read my stars - being a cuspian, I never know where I really fit and then I just take the good bits from both (cheating?). I think it is a fun concept but rarely look at them. I like the people profiling though and have that Birthday book that Mrs Oestrogen referred to above. You probably gave it to me ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY is in order! No better day than a birthday! Have a cupcake, don your crown and live it up!
ReplyDeleteI used to be an aries, now I'm a pisces. I'm not sure what that says about me? Now, if I come across the horoscopes in a magazine while waiting in the doctors office, I just read both and pick the one I like the best! :)
I'm a virgo.
ReplyDeleteI don't take horoscopes too seriously but they are fun to read and some of the characteristics of virgos do match. (Maybe some truth after all, haha)
I always read any stars that I come across ... and that's despite having to make them up as a cadet journo when the real ones hadn't arrived in the post (way, way before internet or even fax!).
ReplyDeleteAll three of us are Aries - my husband, my little boy and I. (The 10 days our birthdays are squeezed into is a nightmare). But apart from a rather pronounced stubborn streak in all of us, we are definitely different and have good and bad days at different times. That's my scientific proof that star signs are rubbish.
ReplyDeleteOh and happy birthday!!!!!!
Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteI only read them when Im looking for answers. If I dont like the answer I find then I'll check out all the other star signs and pick the one I do (assuming that somehow it's been mixed up and SHOULD have been mine) Ummm, Im Pisces .....
So you're a Taurean eh? I'm a Gemini. Split personality and all that.
ReplyDeleteNo I don't read mine - think it's generally a load of old bunkum. Sure you can twist it to fit anything.
Having said that, Geminis are supposed to get on with Aquarians I think and I do and clash with Scorpios which is also true.
Cancer here. I read them and for the most part the person who writes ours, gets them pretty close as far as the traits of my sign. Can't say though, that it's ever stopped me shopping on one of those "Stay out of the mall" prediction days!
ReplyDeleteRy
Sagittarius ...every once in a while ...when I think I might need a boost ...or a laugh .
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, I am also a Taurean and i dont read my horoscope
ReplyDeleteI'm a Scorpio and I enjoy the whole "what's your sign" convo. I tend to surround myself w/ Capricorns even though they find buttons to push on me that I didn't know I even had.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Pisces. Which supposedly can explain A LOT! Anyhow, I don't really read the horoscopes, but I do like to believe that in some magical way the stars, planets and universe has some sort of spiritual effect on our lives (that's the Pisces coming out in me!)
ReplyDeleteAnd Happy Birthday too :)x
I'm an Aries but I have to tell you I have no idea what my husband or boys signs are. Most of my mum's side of the family are born in April, May, most of my friends have their birthdays in May, and my boys are all June/July. If I ever bothered to read up on horoscopes, maybe this would tell me something about the kind of people I get along with.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday for yesterday. x
The last one I read said "If you get an email from Jetstar or Virgin showing you great specials, click BUY."
ReplyDeleteHow can I NOT follow such wise advice?!
Cancer. Which I always thought was a strange name for something that was supposed to give me hope. Star signs are stupid... tea leaves on the other hand...
ReplyDeleteI read the stars if they are in the paper I have picked up in a cafe or waiting room and am always amazed at how dazzlingly accurate they are. Then I read all the other star signs and see that they are all equally accurate in their portrayal of my day/mood/fortunes so far. Spooky! And a Happy Birthday to you my friend!
ReplyDeleteWell, you know I read my stars, because they're the same as yours and we are always email them to each other if they're spectacularly good!
ReplyDeleteSagittarian, and yes i read my stars. why? because when i read them, i can go: That's right, or, That's so wrong, and it becomes a sounding board for me to measure and assess my life against. kinda like trying on a dress, really: That's me, That's not me … xt
ReplyDeleteIm Virgo. Yup, i read stars. Nothing will go to waste and be lost if we believe such.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Leo and used to read my horoscope every day. I'm disappointed with how often the stars seem to focus on love lives, telling us this is a great week for singles looking for love etc. Clearly they are written for every other Leo in the world, not me!
ReplyDeleteI did read somewhere long ago that Leos are born lucky, somehow always landing on their feet, (we are cats), things generally turning out okay, but Leos never win things like lotteries. Well, that last part has been true for me.
ooh, i like this. I am a Capricorn -I always read my stars. I always claim that i don't believe. So, then, like you, why do I always read???? Good question
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to you!
I'm kinda the opposite. Those stars in the newspaper are just a joke. But something in me seems to think that there just might be something in that astrology 'typing' business... something. x
ReplyDeleteI'm a Taurus. But I can't read my horoscope because I get too freaked out if it's even slightly negative. I'm just a tad too OCD to let something like that pass without fretting for the whole day!
ReplyDeleteHappy Belated Birthday!
xo Susie
I am a pisces and yes I do read my stars. And depending on what mood I am in this will then dictate whether I will take on of what they say. Sometimes the stars are scarily accurate, some times not.It's all personal interpretation.
ReplyDeleteNic xo
Hieee...:) I'm a Sagittarian. and though I would like to say that I don't believe in the daily horoscope, but I like to read the weekly ones:P..haha.I've read about my sunsign, the characteristics, and I do think that they match quite well..But on a second thought, I think the way these people write it, makes it readable in such a way, that perhaps it can fir many people irrespective of their sun sign..but somehow..things do click..how I dunno:P
ReplyDeleteI'm a Leo and while I wouldn't plan my life around them I have gotten pretty into reading monthly horoscopes in the past. Then when the "career opportunity of a lifetime" didn't materialize I got cranky and quit. MY mother still sends me the newspaper clipping If You Were Born on This Day every birthday!
ReplyDeleteLady Estrogen is right about how uncannily spot on the Birthday Book is.
ReplyDeleteI do think planetary orbits can affect us. Just think about how the moon has the power to move the tides on our planet and how police and hospitals say that the full moon is always their busiest time.
But on the flipside, I worked for a media company a long time ago and there was a strike so the just recycled some horoscopes from a couple of months before. Great, huh!
I think a proper horoscope is quite scientific, but the ones in newspapers and magazines are just entertainment.