Should You Read Horoscopes For Your Sun Sign?
Are We Reading Horoscopes Wrong?
And should you read for your Sun, Moon, or Rising sign? Let’s explore…
Horoscopes were first printed in newspapers in the 1920's. Over the years their popularity hasn't wavered - with eager readers scouring magazines, blogs and social media accounts for their monthly vibe check.
Most people know their Sun sign if nothing else - it is, after all, easy to determine your Sun sign (AKA star sign) based on the month-long period of the Sun's transit. Eg; Taurus season April 20th - May 20th. If you were born within those dates you were a Taurus and would read the Taurus horoscope.
But, no instruction was ever given to the reader by the writing astrologer - back in 1920 or now.
Writing horoscopes is a skill that requires understanding transits and houses.
And if instructions were given, they would say "read for your rising sign".
Here’s how it works:
Every astrologer who writes horoscopes is interpreting any particular transit based on the rising sign - simply because it's the only (accurate) way to do it.
So why weren't and aren’t instructions given to the dear reader?
Perhaps because knowing their rising sign (AKA ascendent) would require one to know the exact time of birth. This is not always available or possible.
Furthermore, the term horoscope actually means ascendent.
The rising constellation (the ascending sign) can change more rapidly than any other astrological indication in the heavens. It marks the particular moment in time, and place on earth, of the birth of an individual.
The word "horoscope" originates from the Ancient Greek word hōroskopos, meaning "hour watcher".
Thus, horoscope originally meant only what we now call the ascendant. Much later it came to mean the entire chart erected for a specific time in place (and this usage continues to stand today).
When writing horoscopes, the astrologer uses the ascendent to mark the review of whatever transiting planet they are interpreting the effects of, through the birth chart.
For example, writing horoscopes for Mercury retrograde in Aries will require the astrologer to place the ascendent in each sign, and locate the Aries house where Mercury is retrograding.
Eg; Gemini rising will place Aries over the 11th house. Libra rising will place Aries over the 7th house.
This then allows the astrologer to understand the themes and subjects Mercury Rx is influencing for each rising sign, as indicated by the Aries house placement.
While Sun sign horoscopes continue to hold their dominance, we must read for our rising sign for the interpretation to ring accurate.
