#astrology and mental illness

[libbee]

Why I Think That 8th House Placements Are Most Valuable

OBJECTIVITY:

During my 8th house initiation, I met not one but 10+ bad people back to back; they were coming into my life one way or the other as if a bee attack. In the beginning I was very frustrated to see all these narcissists and sociopaths around me, but later on I started peeling my own layers and realized that I was not an angel like I thought. These encounters were like a mirror to me, they showed me what I could not see otherwise in myself. They showed me my own vanity and narcissism. They showed me my own darkness, ignorance and blind spots. I thought I was a normal person until I realized I was actually an emotionally manipulative asshole who had simply not matured yet. And this trickster exists in everyone, but they do not realize it until they go deep within. Most people live their lives on surface levels, while those who do go deeper keep their lives private and secretive so you would not know their affairs unless you are personally involved with them. The reason for keeping their lives private is that the world does not seem to understand them, the world ridicules them and outcasts them.

VANITY DETECTION:

8th housers and scorpio placements have an inbuilt vanity detector in them. They can tell who is being insincere, self-contradictory, manipulative, arrogant, who has ulterior motives, etc. They will physically feel sick and disgusted around people who do and say superficial things. Their disgust pushes them to seek answers that are beyond superficiality. This is why 8th housers run from public eye because they want to stay away from persona as much as possible while being true to their emotions and authentic self. These natives learn from their experience, which is why they try to be the most authentic that they can because they want to be that one source of true light in this blind world of superficial niceness and social performance.

TRAUMA AS AWAKENING:

8th house gives trauma like no others. But these traumas, after you have gone through the duration of it, will show you hidden insights. They will push you away from material life and deep into spiritual layers. You will see deeply materialistic natives turning spiritual and emotional. Nobody knows true empathy like an 8th houser because they have actually known their own narcissism and its impact on others. They know how dangerous they can be because they have seen their own darkness, which is why they show true kindness and empathy towards everyone. These natives know that even if the situation gets very bad, they will still survive and come out on the other side with a bag of lessons to understand and accept. These natives are the type to ask "What if I was in their shoes? Will it still be so funny?" this is why they can be so kind, understanding and empathetic.

DISSOLUTION OF EGO:

Self actualization is their favorite hobby. The thing with 8th house is that it forces you, breaks you, crushes you to your extreme limits. It tests your limits. It tests how much you can bear and still survive. And this house is deeply psychological. So the events and trauma of life really deeply impact the ego of the native. No matter how hard shelled they were, they are forced and crushed to the ground until they awaken. The native suffers so much, so much, so much that the suffering finally breaks their ego attachment and helps them see their own ignorance and blind spots.

In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice. ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

DARKNESS:

While it appears that the rest of the world who do not have 8th house placements can live a conventional life blindly it is the 8th housers that are being faced with revelations and setbacks that are hidden and complicated. These setbacks are so "below the surface" that the 8th housers are compelled to analyze people and wonder how others can live their lives so carelessly and still be highly functional. It is the 8th housers who are being faced with the darkness of psyche again and again until they surrender to it and begin to explore the irrational and unconscious side of the life. There are two worlds: one in which the non-8th housers live and the other in which the 8th housers live. The world of 8th housers is deep, beneath the surface, seeing the hidden patterns between people and situations, seeing the hidden patterns between people and their fate. They are forced to look at the world this way otherwise they keep encountering problems in physical life that have no solutions.

TRANSFORMATIONS:

8th housers go through a lot of revelations and transformations. While other people can live their lives with same set of beliefs, thoughts, perspectives, ideals as ever; 8th housers are always being faced with shocking, manipulative, psychically controlling situations that make them change their whole beliefs and perspectives and start again, only to be challenged again by another psychic complex. Their whole life is a series of complex psychological problems that they have to change their beliefs about people and events from experience all the time. While others can be living their life through a breeze, 8th housers wonder why they are making errors in judgment, why they find themselves in complicated situations though they had good intentions, why they are being tested though others seem to be winging it easily.

8th house placements are not for the weak-hearted. Whoever said that humans are sweet kind angels can take a hard look to all the cruelty, wars, murders, rapes, crimes, genocides that happened in this world. Is that what you call sweet kind angel? There is potential for cruelty in each one of us, no matter how self-righteous and strong willed you claim to be and nobody knows this better than 8th housers/plutonic people. In their own journey of self discovery, they will see the images of their own devil, trickster, all the wrongs they have committed unconsciously in past, all the secret fantasies, the evil dark thoughts they hide from the world. These natives know their darkness, they do not claim to be saints because they are not. Nobody is.

[astrosouldivinity]

Astrological placements in a natal chart that may indicate Bipolar Disorder or BPD 😶 🌊

Part 1:

⚠️ Disclaimer: I am not saying these placements are inherently borderline or bipolar. But they may be more prone to borderline/bipolar behaviors. You can use astrology to observe your subconscious patterns. Essentially, you can use it for shadow work. But these may not apply to everyone so take what resonates and leave what does not.

I want to clarify that I am not demonizing, diagnosing, or generalizing mental health disorders. Astrology & psychology can intertwine with each other. You can use astrology for deeper introspection & pairing both psychology + astrology together can help with healing. But I am simply observing my understanding of specific psychological disorders & how they connect to astrology via shadow work. But you can use astrology to predict certain mental illnesses. But it’s still a prediction so it may resonate or it may not.

You can use astrology to predict pretty much anything though. It’s like forecasting but instead of predicting the weather you are predicting energy. But how I come to my observations/predictions relating to astrology/psychological disorders is by observing my struggles with mental health, plus, taking the knowledge I’ve learned about mental health disorders through college, reading psychology books, and just researching on my own time in general. But also, observing mental health disorders in others, and then connecting it back to having specific placements in a natal chart. That is my process. But I’m also intuitive/AuDHD as well. I feel energy and I include the energy I feel plus pattern recognition into my predictions as well. 🤍

Scorpio Sun/Moon/Rising/Venus/Mars/Saturn- when they feel emotionally slighted they can have a tendency to see things in only black & white. There is no gray area when it comes to how they perceive situations. Can be vengeful & petty when they feel a real or perceived betrayal.

Capricorn Moon- the moon is detriment here. It can be difficult for these individuals to connect to their emotions. They may even suppress them. But they can be emotionally explosive if pushed to that point. Everything they have been suppressing will come to light essentially.

Gemini Sun/Moon/Rising/Venus/Mars/Saturn emotionally unpredictable & chaotic af. They can be multiple different people at once feeling multiple different emotions & perceiving multiple different perspectives/realities. Their brain is always moving & rarely ever still.

Cancer Sun/Moon/Rising/Mars/Saturn can be emotionally explosive especially if unevolved or negatively aspected. They feel things intensely & can be all over the place emotionally. The moon cycles can impact their emotional state too.

Negatively Aspected or Unevolved 12H/8H Stellium/Sun/Moon/Mars/Venus/Saturn. These individuals may feel like they have an unstable sense of self. They can be emotionally volatile as well especially if they are not connected to their emotions yet.

Moon Square Venus- These individuals can struggle with codependency & will display behaviors like emotional suffocation & emotional neediness overall. May struggle with forming relationships with others because of this too.

Chiron Aspects- Chiron in astrology represents our deepest wounds. But essentially, if these wounds are unhealed or just unevovled in general, they can manifest negatively. Like emotional avoidance or emotional volatility.

Uranus Moon Aspects- can manifest as emotional independence. These individuals may find it difficult to ask for emotional support. Which may manifest itself as emotional detachment or mood swings.

Pisces Sun/Moon/Mars/Venus/Saturn or Neptune aspects- may struggle with being grounded in reality & are prone to more escapist behaviors. They can be emotionally self-destructive too. May be prone to addiction-like behaviors. Could have an addictive personality.

Water Dominant Charts: these individuals may be emotionally unpredictable & sensitive in general. They feel extremely deeply which can be intense for them especially if they haven’t learned how to control their emotions yet.

Aries Moon/Saturn: may be prone to emotionally explosive & emotionally impulsive behavior especially if unevovled or negatively aspected.

Empty 1H or Saturn in the 1H- may struggle with feeling like they have no sense of self & it may even feel like they lack one. Which makes it difficult for these individuals to develop & assert their personality overall especially true if they have no planets in the 1H.

~Part 2~

[diagnosed-mess]

It’s my birthdayyyyy, so I’ve been crying for a week and questioning all my life choices 🥰

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Katherine Donlevy

Published: Apr 10, 2024

The killer mom who butchered her boyfriend and pushed her kids out of a moving car before crashing into a tree Monday was a once-prolific astrologer who was terrified of the impending “apocalypse” she believed the eclipse would incite, according to a report.

Danielle Johnson — a popular astrology influencer who went by the name Danielle Ayoka online — warned her 106,000 followers to “wake up” and to “pick a side” in the days before she carried out the twisted murder-suicide that spanned several Los Angeles neighborhoods, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday.

“WAKE UP WAKE UP THE APOCALYPSE IS HERE. EVERYONE WHO HAS EARS LISTEN. YOUR TIME TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS NOW,” Johnson wrote last week in a tweet that was viewed 600,000 times.

“IF YOU BELIEVE A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE RT NOW. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE!!!! REPOST TO MAKE THE CHOICE FOR THE COLLECTIVE.”

Three days later — hours before the eclipse was expected to occur over California — Johnson murdered two of her loved ones and tried to kill her oldest daughter before killing herself in an early-morning massacre, according to police.

Neither the self-described “divine healer” nor her boyfriend had any documented history of domestic violence or calls to police, leading investigators to suspect that the sprawling bloodbath was influenced by Johnson’s crazed end-of-world paranoia, sources told the LA Times.

Johnson urged her followers to protect themselves from the eclipse, which she dubbed the “epitome of spiritual warfare.”

[ Jaelen Allen Chaney was found stabbed to death in the Woodland Hills apartment he shared with his girlfriend and her two kids. ]

Johnson — who offered self-help and healing sessions online for just $2.99 — spewed antisemitic posts and conspiracy theories about natural phenomenon on X.

She also likened the New Jersey earthquake to white supremacy and accused the government and media of trying to cover up what she feared was the impending apocalypse.

“THESE ARE ALL THE WAYS THEY HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMING US WITH LIES!!! LOOK AT THESE TO UNDERSTAND THE AGENDA THIS IS REAL THIS IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE,” she wrote.

WAKE UP WAKE UP THE APOCALYPSE IS HERE. EVERYONE WHO HAS EARS LISTEN. YOUR TIME TO CHOOSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS NOW. IF YOU BELIEVE A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE RT NOW. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE. THERE IS POWER IN CHOICE!!!! REPOST TO MAKE THE CHOICE FOR THE COLLECTIVE pic.twitter.com/NMyuLkBj5l— Ayoka (@MysticxLipstick) April 5, 2024

The healer — who also peddled R&B songs — was once a media darling who was profiled by Refinery 29 and the Fader, both of which applauded her clairvoyant talents.

In 2016, Refinery 29 said Johnson had “a brilliant gift for calling out the nonsense of any sun sign in need of real truths.”

Johnson was apparently last active on social media Sunday afternoon — roughly 12 hours before police say she stabbed her 29-year-old boyfriend, Jaelen Allen Chaney, in the heart while he was on the couch of their luxury Woodland Hills apartment.

[ Johnson was driving “in excess” of 100 mph when she smashed into a tree. ]

Evidence suggests she tried to drag the body out of the unit, but gave up and left his body in the kitchen, sources told the LA Times.

She then piled her two daughters in her Porsche Cayenne, which she drove through a security gate as she peeled away from the scene.

Around 5 a.m., Johnson threw her 9-year-old daughter out of the car and onto a freeway while the girl clutched her 8-month-old baby sister, authorities said. The older child survived the fall and escaped traffic, but the infant was found dead at the scene.

[ Johnson allegedly threw her kids out of the car onto the highway, killing the infant, between killing Chaney and herself. ]

Johnson’s body was found several miles away at 5:30 a.m. inside a crushed car that had been driven into a tree at speeds topping 100 mph.

It was another two hours before police were called to the apartment where the violence broke out and pieced together the horrifying incident.

Investigators found a trail of bloody footprints leading through the open door of the apartment, which was also littered with black feathers and tarot cards, sources said.

Police initially said Chaney and Johnson were engaged in a verbal altercation when Johnson picked up the knife around 3:40 a.m.

The partial eclipse was visible across California about seven hours later.

It is believed the 9-year-old child — the sole survivor of the horrifying attack — had witnessed her mother slay Chaney.

Johnson killed herself more than 30 miles south of the site of Chaney’s murder.

Investigators are also still working to determine if the baby had died before being thrown from the car.

--

==

The world is better off without her. Mourn only for the man and the baby she killed, and the child who has lost her both her father and sister.

Here's a tip for those planning a murder-suicide: do the suicide bit first.

Pseudoscientific bullshit is not harmless. Being utterly convinced by false beliefs has consequences.

[ancientastarwis]

SUICIDE INDICATORS (TW)

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. As I am writing this, many beings are thinking about ending their journey, for one reason or the other. Suic*** has been normalized when happening in certain contexts and forgotten about in many others. The truth is that, for a horrible amount of individuals, the reason was society. It is important to understand that we are all here in the same way, but we are not as strong to take it all in and move on. That's why we need to be respectful and caring towards others. One day it could be you, and it may be for a different reason, but you'd want someone to show you their heart.

You are needed. You are wanted. You are loved. If you are looking for a sign, this is it. You are important and I appreciate your existence. Earth wouldn't be the same without you. Please keep going. You can do it. You are awesome. Show your light. Stay.

The Indicators Project seeks to provide validation to those that have been through the situations and conditions described, as well as to bring awareness to many different issues and ways of being that are usually undervisibilized, misunderstood or unspoken due to still being some sort of taboo.

Indicators should never be used as a tool for self-diagnosis nor against yourself or others in any way, shape or form. Having one single indicator does not mean you will experience the situation described, specially if you never have before. Do not take this as a life sentence but rather as an explanation of the possibility of experiencing something. Use it the events in your journey through a wider perspective.

The ultimate purpose of Indicators is to be eventually used as a tool for prevention and self-awareness by all beings. Indicators signal the likelihood for situations, events, conditions and decisions. There are more indicators that need to be found, so researchs remain open forever. If you would like to participate in this or any other research as a volunteer, write an e-mail with the Subject 'Research Volunteer' to ancientastarwis@gmail.com I'm currently researching many different things so don't be afraid to reach out and introduce yourself. Feel free to tell me your story and as much (or little) details as you wish. Thank you for being you.

[thescorpionmonarch]

Saturn goes retrograde in Pisces today.

Time to review what you have learned so far.

The lessons shouldn't feel so heavy now. Mind of a relief. Just dotting your i's and crossing your t's. Filling in info gaps you missed in the past few months.

The better you fulfill the lessons, the better you deal with saturn when it comes out of retrograde.

This is a great time to review old lessons on psychology, mental health, spirituality, old karma, intuition, any dreams you have had and keep going back to, sleep patterns, hidden/private info about yourself, shadow work, psychoanalysis of the subconcious, enlightenment, and transformation.

[ouachitafolkwitch]

Something funny about being a celto-norse pagan witch living in the US Southern ✨Biiiiible✨ belt (specifically Arkansas) is that in public, when, for example, after checking out with the cashier, you tell them “have a blessed day!”

They automatically usually think you’re Christian; however, did you specify who is doing the blessing?

Nope!

They’re thinking you meant it from YHWH/Jehovah/Jesus/etc. but they don’t know that you actually meant it from yourself or *insert deity here*.

“Have a blessed day!” is a great closeted witch phrase!

[i-yeeteth-and-i-yoinketh]

Normal people: Yeah! Woohoo! Cool eclipse! Pretty moon thing!

Me: yay! An eclipse! I can’t wait to see how this fucks up my sleep schedule! 😀

[jmmeredith]

On Endings

I unexpectedly lost my therapist today. She was fired over some insurance legal issue thing. I feel like I am mourning a break up or death in a way. Death of a relationship. The collapse of that pillar of stability in my mental health game. The number of times my mind has echoed the words End Game. Often in the mornings when I am talking my own son off the cliff I ask, “In this battlefield of our minds we always have three choices. Are we the casualty, the solider or the commander. Which one do you choose? Why?”

Thanks a lot celestial bodies! Looking at you Mercury Retrograde and Eclipse season. 😡 ☀️ 🌙 🪐

[simulation-machine]

Update like, 11? 10?: The Great CC Purge of 2024

I’m on the like, third round of purging CC because now my game won’t load and I’m having such a time trying to find out what tf is causing this problem. I’ll 50-50 and everything loads but the second it all loads together the game is like, lol nah.

So I’ve decided that if this current round doesn’t work I’m just gonna go mostly clean slate. I’ll back up all the CC I have now just in case any other creators quit and delete their stuff, but in the actual game I’m gonna delete absolutely everything except the mods and the Maxis Match CC I know for a fact I’ll use. And I’ll be so much choosier.

I’d be going pretty much pure Maxis Match too.

But who knows, maybe this final purge will be the one and everything will be fine! The Orsons and others will definitely need to be touched up but it’ll be better than not playing the game at all, y’know?

Vagueposting about life stuff below. Gets mildly trauma dumpy? TW: family stuff, parentification, anxiety, freaking tf out about a C-

So, family drama is still proving to be exhausting. I’m out of spoons but being told like, “hey, we’ll accept sporks! Maybe even any butter knives you have too!”

The curse of being the eldest child, I stg. I’m like thiiiiiis close to 40 and it never goes away.

Also I got a C- on one of my midterms. I’ve literally never beefed a test this badly. And it’s in a class that is totally in my wheelhouse. I could make excuses about how the teacher is very hands-off, only offers four tests and a paper and no extra credit, and how stressful family stuff has been. But my head isn’t really in the school game atm and I guess eating shit on this test was the real wake up call?

I’m not gonna dwell on it too much. If I get a B, I get a B. Fortunately I’m doing great on all of my other classes. My GPA won’t even get dinged at this point. I’m just a total try-hard and the bad grade flicked my fragile ego a bit too hard.

Things still stand: no one is dead or dying, I’m not the one going through the worst of it. But as the eldest, (and thanks to parentification that started waaaay too early in life), I feel immensely responsible for my family and worry all the dang time about them. I almost didn’t go to art school when I was 19 because I legit thought my family would fall apart without me. They didn’t, btw, I’m just dramatic. And by dramatic I mean neurotic and anxious.

The Sims have always been a way to hyper control *something* because I went through a lot of life feeling like everything could turn on a dime or slip away from me. Stories can’t do that to me; I’m the boss of my stories.

Anyways. This was supposed to be a quick li’l update but instead turned into a straight up 2006 LiveJournal post. Dang. Off to play some BG3 for a bit!

[sunbaby444]

07/26/2023 - I’m valuable

So I got fired from my job today. I’ve never gotten fired before and the feeling of disappointment is deep. But as I sit here by myself I think- who did I disappoint?

Not myself because I’ve always know I could do better I was just comfortable. Not my bosses because helloo welcome to corporate America where we’re all expendable.

I have value and no matter how much I get paid an hour it will never amount to how much we deserve as humans for our time. My life is worth more then $7 or $12 or $16 or $20 or $30. I have value weather I provide a service or an art or nothing at all.

I deserve to live because I was born.

[libbee]

Falling in love as a water dominant native

Inner planets (moon/sun/venus/mercury/mars) in a water house or water sign - love is different to you. You want to be with someone with whom you can be yourself and just yourself. Truly yourself. With all your feelings and vulnerabilities laid on the table, you are that safe and secure with your lover.

Water house or water sign placements make the native sensitive. Sensitive is to feel the feelings to their extreme. It is like holding a bubble in your palm, worried someone might pinch it, alert someone might blow it. You do not open yourself up to someone unless you trust their character.

Loyalty and honesty means a lot to you. You want someone as transparent as the water. You want to see through them. While other people look with their eyes, you look with your soul. Your eyes are turned inwards and constantly see the ups and downs of your emotions. Being sensitive and emotional, you are drawn to spirituality and choose your own path in life. You strive for a purpose in life. You want to know why you were born here on earth. You need a sense of mission and direction. You are a giver in love, the more you share your love, the more love there is in the world. You strive for higher principles, morals, meaning and values. You are the ones to turn the pages of philosophy books because the exterior life just does not suit your taste.

You fall in love with your soul. You meet someone and they are just the right person. Your intuition (water) tells you, this is it, you cannot reason why or how this person becomes the most prioritized person in your life. You are naturally obsessive. You are thinking of all the things you want to tell them, share with them, listen to them. Their mind, emotions and soul are your adventure place. You want to explore the depths of their mind. You want to merge your soul and identity with this person in your life.

Love is not just a word to you, it is life itself. Men with water dominant energy appear so ordinary from the outside, but oh-the right person will see the glaciers and ocean behind that mask. This ocean contains the secrets of the world. You want to self actualize with your lover. Someone who assists you in this journey. It is not just a material love to you, it is rather spiritual. You value their soul, their spirit, their essence. Love is a sacrifice to you, a noble cause, a martyr.

Perhaps, love is the language of water dominant natives. It is their religion and their philosophy. You will realize that this love trascends personality and unites with God, the eternal and the source. Nobody loves like a water dominant native, especially an evolved and mature one. They make life heaven, understand your emotional needs with their intuition, love you just the right way, be the best version of themselves, do everything to make your life better. Perhaps, nobody talks about water natives' love because very few experience it and those who experience the mature water love are too busy in self actualizing and transformation. They are too detached from self promotion and fakery.

[astrosouldivinity]

Astrological placements in a natal chart that may indicate Bipolar Disorder or BPD 😶 🌊

Part 2:

⚠️ Disclaimer: I am not saying these placements are inherently borderline or bipolar. But they may be more prone to borderline/bipolar behaviors. You can use astrology to observe your subconscious patterns. Essentially, you can use it for shadow work. But these may not apply to everyone so take what resonates and leave what does not. The last mental illness I will be doing is OCD/Anxiety then that’s it for this series. I may revisit this topic in the future.

I want to clarify that I am not demonizing, diagnosing, or generalizing mental health disorders. Astrology & psychology can intertwine with each other. You can use astrology for deeper introspection & pairing both psychology + astrology together can help with healing. But I am simply observing my understanding of specific psychological disorders & how they connect to astrology via shadow work. But you can use astrology to predict certain mental illnesses. But it’s still a prediction so it may resonate or it may not.

You can use astrology to predict pretty much anything though. It’s like forecasting but instead of predicting the weather you are predicting energy. But how I come to my observations/predictions relating to astrology/psychological disorders is by observing my struggles with mental health, plus, taking the knowledge I’ve learned about mental health disorders through college I studied human services. Plus, reading psychology books, and just researching on my own time in general. But also, observing mental health disorders in others, and then connecting it back to having specific placements in a natal chart. That is my process. But I’m also intuitive/AuDHD as well. I feel energy and I include the energy I feel plus pattern recognition into my predictions as well. 🤍

Liz Greene wrote a book on this topic. It’s called “Psychopathology in the Horoscope.” Glenn Perry wrote a book well. It's called “An Introduction to AstroPsychology: A Synthesis of Modern Astrology & Depth Astrology.” Both are available for purchase on Amazon. But research has been done on this topic so there is evidence to support my observations.

Leo Sun/Moon/Mars/Venus/Saturn: They feel things intensely. They are the sun after all. Their emotions burn through them which can be painful for them especially if they don’t know how to control their fiery, & passionate side. They may be prone to a more extremist mindset. It’s all or nothing for them essentially. But these behaviors may intensify especially if negatively aspected.

Libra Stellium: Has a strong desire for equilibrium they may even stress themselves out trying to get to their perceived peaceful state. They are constantly perceiving multiple perspectives trying to choose the fairest one. This can apply to their emotions as well. If they don’t choose they can be self-destructive in their process of coming to their conclusions.

Aquarius Sun: They can be emotionally suppressive & chaotic at the same time especially if negatively aspected. They don’t like to share their emotions & may even ignore them but that usually tends to backfire on them. When pushed to that point everything they have been suppressing comes spilling out. They feel things deeply but it can be difficult for them to connect to their emotions since they try to stay logical vs. emotional overall. These behaviors may intensify especially if afflicted.

Scorpio Saturn: I forgot to add them to part 1 but the same thing applies. Can be emotionally unpredictable when they feel emotionally slighted or vulnerable. This may cause them to be able to see things in only black & white. Essentially, there is no gray area when it comes to how they perceive situations. But they can be vengeful & petty when they feel a real or perceived betrayal.

Moon Square Mars: These individuals fear vulnerability & just intimacy overall. They may even suppress their emotions out of fear of being judged for their innermost feelings. This can be detrimental for them because they naturally tend to have very deep, & intense emotions. But even though they hide them from others that doesn’t stop them from coming out anyway. May be quick to anger & just emotional volatility in general especially if they feel emotionally exposed as well.

Mercury Square Neptune: May be prone to more escapist behaviors. They can struggle with reality & expressing their innermost thoughts to others. They may also struggle with separating their thoughts from their emotions. Essentially, they will both get muddled which creates much confusion for them. However, they may be prone to paranoia because of their difficulties staying grounded in the reality of their emotions/communication overall.

Afflicted Sun: They may struggle with maintaining relationships with others. They can also struggle with low self-esteem & just lack the confidence overall to authentically express themselves. Can be prone to egoistic & moody behaviors. They can get trapped in their ego & may even find it difficult to break free.

Sun Neptune Aspects: Can struggle with having a distorted sense of self & may even find it difficult to stay present in reality. They could feel like how they perceive themselves is not being presented accurately with how others perceive them.

Moon-Pluto Aspects: They have trauma surrounding vulnerability & intimacy overall. They may fear bonding with people on a deeper level. It can be hard for them to emotionally express themselves because their emotions are all-consuming. But they operate comfortably in chaos & can be more prone to self-destructive behaviors. But others may find it difficult to understand & connect with them as well.

7H Moon/Venus/Saturn: Can struggle with maintaining their interpersonal relationships. Their relationships with others might manifest as being emotionally volatile & just karmic overall.

~Part 1~

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"Narcissism was surprisingly the strongest predictor, and intelligence showed a negative relationship with belief in astrology."

Abstract Belief in astrology is on the rise, although the reasons behind this are unclear. We tested whether individual personality traits could predict such epistemically unfounded beliefs. Data was collected for 264 participants through an anonymous online survey shared on social media. The survey consisted of four instruments: Belief in Astrology (BAI), the Big Five personality traits (IPIP-30), narcissism (SD3) and intelligence (ICAR16-R3D). Data analysis was done with multiple linear regression. Narcissism was surprisingly the strongest predictor, and intelligence showed a negative relationship with belief in astrology. Overall, our novel results suggest that something as innocent as astrology could both attract and possibly reinforce individual differences.

1. Introduction

Astrology is increasing in popularity (Pew Research Center, 2018), despite the lack of scientific support (Allum, 2011). It is not clear why this ancient practice of studying positions and movements of celestial bodies, with the conviction that they influence human behaviour, is going through a revival. However, previous literature suggests that when societies or individuals are under stress or threat, people are more likely to turn to astrology and other epistemically unfounded beliefs (Grech, 2017; Keinan, 1994). Previous research further shows a relationship between personal life crises and belief in astrology (Lillqvist & Lindeman, 1998). Currently we are surrounded by stressors such as climate change and, recently, the Covid-19 pandemic, which makes the topic pertinent. Though embracing astrology might seem innocent, it is nonetheless possible that it facilitates uncritical thinking and favours biases. Further, belief in astrology correlates with belief in multiple other pseudosciences as well as with belief in conspiracy theories (Bensley et al., 2020) which indicates that it might not be all that harmless.

The present study set out to explore individual differences regarding belief in astrology. Although there is no consensus concerning what makes some people more susceptible to pseudoscientific beliefs than others, commonly mentioned factors are personality traits and cognitive biases (Bensley et al., 2020; Bouvet & Bonnefon, 2015; Pennycook et al., 2015).

1.1. Big Five, narcissism, intelligence

The most accepted theory regarding individual differences is the five factors of personality traits (also known as Big Five); openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Openness is usually positively associated with belief in the paranormal (Chauvin & Mullet, 2021), as well as apophenia (Blain et al., 2020). Conscientiousness may be the personality trait with the least connection to pseudoscientific beliefs, and weak negative correlations have been reported (Chauvin & Mullet, 2021). Extraversion too has been shown to be related to belief in the paranormal (Thalbourne & Haraldsson, 1980), whereas agreeableness in earlier studies has correlated both positively (Čavojová et al., 2020) and negatively (Swami et al., 2009) with belief in conspiracy theories. At last, neuroticism has been found to correlate positively with paranormal beliefs (Thalbourne & Haraldsson, 1980).

Though the dimensions of the Big Five are valuable when studying individual differences, there are additional so-called dark traits (cf. Kajonius et al., 2015). One dark trait in particular seems relevant in relation to belief in astrology, namely narcissism, due to the self-focused perspective that may be at the core of both phenomena.

In addition to personality traits, intelligence is commonly used in studies of individual differences. Particularly openness has proved to correlate with intelligence measures (DeYoung et al., 2014). In general, intelligence is thought to be negatively related to the acceptance of pseudoscience and paranormal beliefs (Musch & Ehrenberg, 2002), as well as with apophenia (Blain et al., 2020).

1.2. Present study

The present study aimed to investigate whether personality traits and intelligence can predict belief in astrology. To the best of our knowledge, no earlier studies have been conducted on narcissism and intelligence regarding belief in astrology.

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4. Discussion

The present study aim was to investigate how individual differences relate to belief in astrology. The main result showed that the higher the narcissism, perhaps surprisingly, the higher the belief in astrology. The positive association is possibly due to the self-centred worldview uniting them, though this must be examined in further research. Furthermore, cultural aspects of millennials may emphasize the uniqueness of individuals which might lead to a more egocentric view of the world, and thus relate to narcissistic traits. Further, since astrological predictions and horoscopes tend to be positively framed, this reinforces grandiose feelings and thus might appeal even more to narcissists. Note that narcissistic traits correlated with the belief that astrology is supported by science (Table 1), which leads to a speculation that narcissists may generally be more fact resistant.

Other interesting findings was that the higher the level of intelligence, the lower the belief in astrology (see Musch & Ehrenberg, 2002), as well as that agreeable people tend to report believing in astrology more. Seeing how most personality predictors were small in magnitude, this leaves room for many other variables influencing belief in astrology. Speculatively, additional predictors could be cohort-effects, educational levels, occupations, and others.

4.1. Limitations

As with most survey designs, social desirability bias, common method bias, and the use of self-report may be an issue. Another limitation was that we had no control over who participated in the study, thus introducing a potential selection bias. In the same vein, we do not know how much participants know about astrology. Also, since the vast majority were younger women recruited through social media the sample is not generalisable to a broader population. Another possible concern in the present study is the use of short versions of the scales, especially Openness which showed a low internal consistency and did not show expected effects in the regression model. One indication of this is that openness and intelligence did not correlate significantly in the present study (see Table 1). Lastly, most of the reported effects were acknowledgeable small (Gignac & Szodorai, 2016), which leaves room for both type I-errors as well as for the influence of other variables, outside individual differences.

5. Conclusion

Our aim with the present study was to contribute to an increased understanding of individual differences and unfounded epistemic beliefs, such as belief in astrology. The results showed interestingly that narcissism was the strongest predictor of belief in astrology: Even the stars think I am superior.

[troublcmakcrs]

sb: you can't just blame all your shortcomings on astrology!

craig: 🤷‍♂️ sagittarius rising 🖕