BY Angela Vivona
According to Horoscopes.com, a horoscope is an astrological chart of a person or a moment in time, which is calculated from the planetary positions. It contains planets, signs, aspects, houses and other points that reflect potential characteristics and patterns.
“I believe in horoscopes to a certain extent. I don’t necessarily believe that everything they say is 100 percent accurate, but some of the similarities in the information is too accurate to not believe at all,” said junior Kathryn Green.
According to Astrostyle.com the zodiac wheel that is used today was created between 2,400-300 B.C. By the Middle Ages, astrology flourished and was practiced by doctors, mathematicians and astronomers. A sudden decline in astrology began after the 17th century. In the 20th century, astrology started to become published in newspapers and magazines which gained popularity by the public and are still used today.
Some students see horoscopes as entertainment rather than a path to follow.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I believe in them because I don’t really follow them or know too much about them, but from what I have read on them, they seem to be very general statements that would fit the characteristics of a pretty normal person,” said junior Tiernan Brady.
Social media applications like Snapchat, a multimedia messaging app, offers a section in their application for users to read up on their daily horoscope.
“I don’t keep up with horoscopes. I used to read up on them on the daily Vice News or on Snapchat now and again,” said junior Giri Idris.
There are applications that are made just for reading and learning about horoscopes, such as Daily Horoscope and The Pattern.
“I use Daily Horoscope, it gives me a notification to check it every morning at 10 am. I also like to look at the app, The Pattern. Here’s the difference: The Pattern gives you a deeper insight into the horoscope trends that influence a person on an individual basis. This contrasts with Daily Horoscope, a site that gives readings to a general population of its readers for its targeted audience. It gives you ‘patterns’ that you are going through, and I find these relevant to the events or situations that I’m dealing with in my life,” said junior Rachel Gladu.
However, Gladu also thinks that there is some vagueness in the readings, and believes that people like to turn to horoscopes to make sense of what is happening in their life.
“I believe horoscopes do have influence on your life. I feel as though it has more to do with one’s personality traits then predicting day-to-day life and how your week will turn out. I am a Scorpio, and I find that I tend to revert to Scorpio thinking without even realizing it,” said Gladu.
Idris believes that horoscopes can have some meaning in your life, but, does not agree that general horoscopes have a significant importance in one’s life. Rather, Idris follows the Chinese zodiac which he believes holds more accuracy.
“I try to follow Chinese horoscopes more than western astrology, as it’s more present in my family. Living in a Chinese-Indonesian family, the older generation tends to have a better hold on the spiritual side of things, especially the Chinese zodiac. The members of my family take it upon themselves to translate the predictions into something that will apply to my family,” said Idris.
Some students at Sacred Heart University said that they have general knowledge on what horoscopes are, but, become skeptical when applying them to their actual life.
“Life isn’t planned out for us by the stars or by Mercury. We don’t know what will happen in the next hour or next day. What you will only know is life will go on and that is how I choose to believe, not by keeping my hopes up and trying to force an outcome because we have a predetermined destiny due to the fate of our birth or whether our stars have aligned,” said Idris.
