Astrology Compatibility: Why Sun Signs Cause Confusion
I have been a practicing astrologer for over 16 years, specializing in astrological compatibility. Being somewhat of a technophobe, I have largely avoided the internet for much of that time. However, all good things must come to an end, so here I am, now an avid online reader and writer. When time allows, I read and answer questions on various relationship astrology forums. Inevitably, I read threads that go like this:
I’m Leo, am I compatible with Aquarius?
Answer 1 — yes!
Answer 2: no! I’m a Leo and I dated an Aquarius. We separated.
Answer 3: Relationship astrology is stupid. I spent 172 hours researching that every sun sign combination has had divorces.
Each of these answers is wrong, but in general each one will make people agree with it. In forums where votes are cast, one of these answers is usually selected as correct and archived for future generations of question seekers.
So what is going wrong here?
It seems that whenever astrology compatibility is discussed on the internet, sun signs are assumed to be the key to astrology. I suspect this is largely due to a desire to simplify, streamline, and condense everything. However, astrology is a subject where simplification often creates problems.
The sad reality is that there is so much more to people than their Sun sign, and if you want a ‘real’ answer to an astrology question, then you will need a real astrology reading. Going by Sun Signs alone is helpful to get a rough idea of what to expect, but there are plenty of other planets that can override and trample someone’s Sun Sign traits. Each person and natal chart is unique.
This has led to an interesting situation where probably 80% of all the information on relationship astrology on the internet is basically wrong. To qualify that metric, if sun signs could be seen in a vacuum, then the data would be correct. In practice (and people ask that question to make decisions in real life, and not as a hypothetical exercise) it’s not that simple.
An interesting side effect of this seems to be a small army of Internet astrologers doling out packets of neat and tidy information on all aspects of sun signs. Why do they do this? Because the concept of keywords means that a potential visitor is not going to search for “Aquarius Sun, Leo Moon, Aries Mars, etc.”, but “Aquarius”, and woe to any article that dares to lose focus. ! going off topic with qualifications. Anything more complex than that will cause you to hit the browser’s back button, and pretty quickly.
Fair enough, maybe this is happening in all subjects. On the Internet, education is clearly student-directed, and educators are telling students what they ask, not what they need to know. Search engines force websites to satisfy the need for instant gratification.
The problem with astrology is that this obsession with sun signs is undermining the credibility of the subject. People are right to say “wait, I’m a Leo and I don’t get along with Sagittarius! This astrology stuff is useless!” Are professional astrologers also guilty of this? Yes, we are. Because otherwise no one would read our articles! However, it would be quite easy for astrologers to put a disclaimer or warning when replying to posts or writing articles, and maybe that’s the solution.
For more information on astrology compatibility, see http://www.astrologia-compatible.com. Just be sure to read the disclaimers…