Astrology — specifically, a watered-down, easily digestible version of astrology — has taken over the minds of young, TikTok-active teens. 

Admittedly, the astrology fad has been a catalyst for some pretty annoying online and in-person interactions. But under all the compatibility analyses and facile, ignorant astro-dogma, astrology is, at its core, a real practice with real merits. 

We’re proud to say we love astrology, and we firmly believe that those who disrespect or hate it simply don’t understand its true nature.

While many people may misconstrue the entire concept, specifically the writers of an article titled “We hate astrology” that ran in an issue of The Falcon earlier this year, astrology is more than some sort of cosmic delusion, and the perception of it as such damages the integrity of the practice overall. Let us try and correct that perception for you.

When we say “astrology,” we’re not talking about Instagram accounts posting things like “Which Fast Food Restaurant Are You Based on Your Sign?” or TikToks of “The Leo aesthetic” with pictures of New York City taken from Pinterest. We’re talking about the full 9 yards — the planets, houses, transits (motions of planets in real time), birth charts and all the chart geometry between planets.

First off, astrology isn’t supposed to be a way to predict exactly what’s going to happen and when. You can’t look for a “Sagittarius daily horoscope” online and expect to immediately figure out the course of your entire day. Rather, it’s a way to trace and predict the major themes and energies of your life: love, transformation, family, growth, luck and more. 

The predictions you read online about your sign have been interpreted by astrologers who analyze the planets based on their mythos: individual conglomerate myths drawing from Hermeticism, Greek mythology and personal gnosis. For example, the planet Venus represents the mythos of its namesake deity, and indicates the energies of beauty, romance and art. 

Just as everyone has different analyses while close-reading passages in English class, different astrologers draw different predictions based on their own interpretations of the planets and the intersection of the major themes conveyed in them. Does this mean there is no one correct answer in astrology, and therefore, no one correct prediction? Perhaps.

Still, in our experiences, astrological predictions and conclusions have rung true. Even if you don’t completely resonate with astrology, belief in the practice is as valid as any other superstition or faith — if you can believe knocking on wood will shield you from bad luck, you can believe your fate lies in the planets. 

The nature of astrology has been warped through social media and pop culture. Now, on apps like TikTok and Instagram, ill-informed teenagers make ill-devised compatibility predictions and assumptions of signs’ characteristics, tarnishing the reputation of the ancient practice. The writers of the aforementioned article, for example, claimed that your sign is now used to attack you, and while that may have been a tad dramatic, they aren’t wrong. But those faux-astrologers shouldn’t represent the whole of the practice.

Trying to make accurate astrological predictions and conclusions based off of tidbits circulated by dotty #astrology sects online is like trying to read the untranslated “Crime and Punishment” after one Duolingo course in Russian. There are over 10 imperative planets and asteroids, 12 different signs and a whole world of arcane terminology and facets that are pertinent in personal astrology. 

So before you diss astrology, take the time to look into the depth of the practice. It’s more than a fad to allow teens to further silo themselves into boxes — it’s an ancient practice still in use today, and should be as respected as many other beliefs.