Constellation Revelation

With full disclosure, it feels against my nature to believe in astrology. It isn’t logical that planetary positioning should have any impact on our predispositions. How could an entire cohort of people share similar qualities, simply by being born roughly around the same time? Shouldn’t genetics or environmental factors play a much larger role in shaping someone’s personality?

…Have you gathered yet that I’m a Virgo?

Even amid my own skepticism, I’ve always been captivated by the concept of astrological signs and the larger speculative unknown as a whole. Who among us hasn’t read a newspaper horoscope, or scanned a paper placemat for their Chinese Zodiac animal, “just to see”?

My friends and I have even hired a psychic medium to foretell our futures over charcuterie boards and pinot noir – and there were some uncanny coincidences that my left brain finds hard to explain. But my captivation with astrology in particular is due in no small part to the fact that my supposed Virgo traits have consistently been spot-on.

To their credit, Virgos are notoriously hard-working, creative, reliable, patient, and kind. Though they also have a tendency to be critical, stubborn, overthinking, picky, and uptight. I check off four out of five boxes on each of these lists, and I’m sure you’ll be able to identify the outliers by the end of this article.

It is interesting that creativity is a Virgo hallmark; it’s one of my most prominent traits, and probably the one that I treasure the most – a bright light among all of my spreadsheets, to-do lists, and red-lined reports.

As a textbook Type-A Virgo, I have of course tried to quantifiably reason whether or not there is any value to astrology. Is it even worth our time?

On one hand, too much stock in preconceived notions of others might cause us to subconsciously – or perhaps, quite consciously – limit our engagements.

Consider the Tinder-ite who swipes left on anyone with a birthday noted between May 21 and June 20. How many well-meaning, and perhaps perfectly compatible Geminis are passed over, simply because of a stereotype?

But on the other hand, there is undeniable value to learning about your star sign, and it doesn’t even matter if the astrological science is sound or even if the traits are remotely accurate.

Here’s why:

Astrology encourages introspection. When we become aware of our star sign and the accompanying qualities, our first inclination is often to look inward.

"Hard-working", oh that’s me for sure. "Critical", "stubborn"?! Well, I guess I do tend to judge from time to time...

Without such a prompt, how often would we actually take time to reflect on our less polished attributes, and even our character in general? …Cancers aside, of course; we know you guys do this all the time.

There is even merit to considering the positive traits with which we don’t so readily identify. “'Patient'? Ha, if only!” In giving pause to reflect upon the characteristics that we wish we had, we can attempt to identify the hurdles that prevent us from achieving such ideals.

In a manner which may well resonate with Virgos, the late psychotherapist Anthony de Mello reasons:

Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance.

These exercises in self-awareness are useful to everyone, especially to those who may not naturally be in tune to emotional intelligence. But acknowledging our weaknesses is the first step to personal growth; and a Virgo loves nothing if not continual improvement.

So in the words of Fox Mulder, “I want to believe” in the validity of astrological signs – they've entertained humanity for millennia. But even if I can’t wrap my data-driven mind around the rationality of astrology, I can nonetheless welcome and grow from the inevitable introspection it brings. We all can.