5 reasons why you are not your sun sign

please stop making sweeping claims.

I couldn’t sleep. The thoughts wouldn’t stop. Remembering regular people, people who don’t study astrology, writing off others entirely based on their birthday was keeping me up at night. What’s most infuriating is that the sun isn’t even always the most important sign in a chart. And what do they even know about that?

It doesn’t take an astrologer to say that one zodiac sign is not always enough to describe life’s complex details. A skeptic can say the same. The sun sign can’t describe anyone enough to pass any important judgements whatsoever. I’m going to need you to stop. 

Stop blaming things on sun signs. Stop denying people access to housing because of their birthday. Stop saying you’re not going to see a therapist because of their sign. You’re using astrology for evil and it makes me embarrassed to tell people what I do for a living.

If you love astrology you should care to know that it extends beyond sun signs. It’s great that many know their “big three” off the top of their head now. But being deterministic about sun signs is not what we’re trying to do with astrology.

The first time I wrote about astrology in 2016, I called it “neoliberal”. That word doesn’t actually mean anything. But by “neoliberal,” I meant it’s a way that we are singled out to be categorized, which insidiously strengthens power sutures. This is why someone tweeted “astrology is just racism for girls.” The way I see people using astrology with zero room for nuance and interpretation is actually so heartbreaking that it makes me want to leave my prestigious media career for a life of organized crime.

So, speaking of neoliberalism, here is a list of 5 reasons why you are not your sun sign. Shout out to listicles, the most neoliberal type of essay.

1. You are your rising sign.

The sun represents our ego, or soul, our life, but the rising sign describes the person. Sometimes the sun sign is the same sign as the rising sign.

The rising sign is one of the most important placements in any chart. The first thing that an astrologer looks at in a chart is usually the ascendant and the ruler of the ascendant. The planetary rulerships are as follows:

Aries, Mars
Taurus, Venus
Gemini, Mercury
Cancer, Moon
Leo, Sun
Virgo, Mercury
Libra, Venus
Scorpio, Mars
Sagittarius, Jupiter
Aquarius, Saturn
Capricorn, Saturn
Pisces, Jupiter

In a recent episode of The Astrology Podcast about the moon, astrologer Israel Ajose mentioned that in India, where the lineage of astrology has not been broken by the church, people will introduce themselves with their rising sign. The rising sign is the most personal.

You can also see what sign the ruler of the ascendant is. Pro tip: combine the rising sign, the planetary ruler of that sign, and the signs of both to describe an individual.

2. If you were born at night, you are more like your moon sign.

Every chart has what’s called a luminary (sun/moon) of sect (day/night). The guiding light in the sky is either the sun or the moon. If you were born at night, your moon sign can be more relatable than your sun sign. It might be hard to tell if you were born during day or night if you were born around sunrise or sunset, with the sun close to the As or Ds, but if it’s above the As, it’s a day chart, and below the Ds, it’s a night chart.

3. Maybe you’re the sign of your most dignified planet in your chart?

There are many placements apart from the “big three” that important. One of the loudest planets in a chart is one that has the most dignity. Astrologers use a complicated looking chart, called the table of essential dignities, to figure out which planet is the strongest in a chart. 

In my chart the most dignified planets are not in the same sign as my sun or moon. People have guessed that I am a “Scorpio” or an “Aquarius.” These signs are not in my big three, but are very important in my chart, and I relate to them. Of course it’s impossible to tell anyone outside of this long essay why I relate to these signs, so I don’t usually talk about my sign with anyone but astrologers.

4. If your luminary of sect is not in a house that’s visible from the horizon, then you might never feel like you relate to any of your big three except for your rising sign.

There are houses that are not visible from the ascendant. I can’t fact check myself right now so I’m not going to list them here. Some houses are stronger or more exaggerated than others. If you have the sun or moon in a house that is angular (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th), then it is more pronounced.

5. Sometimes people who write about astrology actually don’t study astrology.

Astrologers gate keep and argue, but they still are able to tell you who makes sense and who doesn’t. Some people don’t consider themselves to be astrologers and still end up writing for newspapers and blogs because it’s popular content. Or because the publisher doesn’t actually care about astrology and just wants money. Many non-astrologers have created careers in astrology.

All of this being said, there are many people who feel close with their sun sign. No one can discredit the sun. However, there are reasons why not everyone relates to their sun sign.

I would read horoscopes for my sun, moon, and rising sign. Then I would just read my rising sign, because that’s all I had time for. But then I came full circle, realizing that the sun sign horoscopes are actually really accurate for me. There’s no discrediting solar houses, but that’s a discussion for another time.

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good news for the modest

• I am now offering sliding scale or trade based readings for people with low income or other astrologers. You can read more about it on my updated website.

• I also have been doing mini readings for $27 per question, and all April they’re 20% off with the code “aprilshowers”. Send your birth time my way.