Comfort in the Stars

Many dismiss astrology as nothing more than a myth. A joke amongst friends. ‘My horoscope says I’m going to win the lottery tonight lol’. For me, I’ve always found the stars to be a comfort. Strangers suddenly seem less ominous, less distant, less like strangers when I find out their sign.

I don’t live by everything astrology illuminates. I don’t believe the newspaper if it tells me my prediction that I’m going to find my dream role, I don’t believe I am in any way limited or defined by the rules of my sign, or that anything I achieve is solely a result of my sign – there are infinite individual experiences and qualities that define us above our born credentials. Yet, there’s something unexplainable, and, without trying to sound too wacky here, magic.

I have a deep connection with my birth sign. I am a Cancerian through and through. Whether it be written in the stars or not, maybe it’s something mental or something in my subconscious – I don’t know, also I don’t care. I am a Cancerian. The positive; creative, loyal, intuitive, empathic, to the negative; moody, clingy, overemotional (is that a thing?). But it goes beyond connecting with traits. I am me, yes, there is nobody else like me, but I am at my root a Cancerian. I’m part of something. The way that we crabs interact with other signs is generally also how I connect, the way that I lead from my emotions is how I live, the way that I deal with tragedy, pain, heartbreak, all stems from my affiliation with the crab and the moon.

Growing up star signs have often been a topic of discussion around the dinner table. I’ll be having lunch with my mum and she’ll strike up a conversation with the server, then like clockwork, she’ll take a beat, ‘Capricorn’. When we watch reality TV, she’ll get me to Google the star signs of the cast, and then throughout the show, she’ll give me a look which I know means typical Leo. She doesn’t read horoscopes like me. It seems I’ve adopted something she can see in traits of the signs. It is undeniable. I have many Leo friends and family members, and there is something prominent about a Leo that cannot be denied in their presence. Aries is the same, something is recurring that means as soon as I discover I'm in the presence of an Aries, I then suddenly know just how to communicate. This isn't a one-time occurrence; this has always been. As my mum says, ‘I told you, it’s clear as day,’ she’ll smirk with pride for getting it right, ‘he’s a Leo’.

I am also a water sign, something else I am a part of. A group of three unstoppable signs, Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. I connect with the water, and that doesn’t mean to say I don’t love the wind, I don’t admire the beauty of fire, or feel the root from the Earth. But water, there’s something unexplainable when I admire the sea or walk by and hear a flowing brook, even more so when I’m encompassed by water. When I swim in the pool or the sea, the world is gone. I almost feel like I’m home. If the water could speak, it would speak back. When I’ve been in moments of darkness, water has circled me and restored me. I understand Scorpio and Pisces more than any other sign. I find that with fellow water signs, there’s no uncomfortable silence, there’s an unsaid understanding. Unite fellow water signs!

I can spot a sign. Some are more prominent than others. And this isn’t a one size fits all approach, there isn’t one personality type that applies to every [Insert Sign Here] out there. But there are traits and an undeniable aura. If I can’t figure it out, then I feel often like I can’t understand who I’m communicating with. Knowing someone’s sign doesn’t allow me to suddenly know their past, present, dreams, hopes, likes, dislikes, but something just clicks, I know how to connect like a puzzle piece fitting together with my Cancerian form, like magic.

I like that there’s something universal that I can see connects us. Of course, so many different cultures have so many beautiful ways to celebrate connectivity. And that’s wonderful. I can’t, and won’t, ever be able to figure out this unspoken connection and understanding I have of my place in the stars. And quite frankly, I don’t want to. It feels like sometimes there is little left to wonder about in this world, but if you allow it, there’s comfort in knowing there’s still so much left to marvel and uncover in the stars.