The Fault In Your Stars
You are real problem in your relationships.
By Brenan Yeo
Stumbling through the internet, one often finds relationship advice in abundance, which offer catharsis for, perhaps, heartbroken and jaded millennials.
Skeptics often scoff at the generalised “readings”, noting that the words could apply to anyone — and particularly those of horoscopes.
Believers of astrology are sometimes mocked for subscribing to these generalisations. “Oh, we didn’t match because our signs are different.” “He’s too much of a Capricorn for me.” “She’s a Scorpio… I don’t think we would work out”.
I cannot deny that at my weaker points in life, horoscopes did seem to make an absurd amount of sense. I sometimes ponder if there is an actual reason, to my Capricorn need for “structure and order,” according to what the internet tells me.
My curious search for the truth behind astrology led me to the heart of Arab Street. Tucked away in the lines of shophouses, stands Selfstrology, an astrology school.
May Sim, founder of Selfstrology, greeted me through the large window overlooking the entrance. Her petite figure seemed almost equal to the table she was seated at, but her air of authority was unmistakable. Walking out, she flashed a full-toothed grin, and greeted me. “Shall we begin?”
WRITTEN IN THE CHARTS
May boasts a formidable list of qualifications: 15 years of practice in the field and a hard-earned bachelor’s equivalent in studies from the International Academy of Astrology. The student-turned-instructor at her alma mater is currently working on a book on psychological astrology.
The biggest question I had was how horoscopes work. Lunar and stellar energies certainly could not derive and profile my personality. May, however, told me otherwise.
“You see, when anyone is born, the stars are at a specific angle and alignment, depending on where you are born on Earth. That’s why I asked for your specific birth time, as well as the location. This lets me digitally generate a chart to see what are the exact angles are of the stars I need to see. The positioning of these is the information I have about you.”
“Personality profiling is about identifying your behavioural patterns. So once we know what you want and how you’re like, we can see how to get there.”
I was still skeptical, but the key to understanding lies within an open mind. I decided to probe a little deeper.
She pulled out my birth chart, which was dominated by a circle, split into twelve sections. It was decorated with handwriting, obvious that she had prepared it herself, and painstakingly so. Unfolding the document, she pointed to one intricate symbol.
“This is Venus, which we otherwise recognise as a symbol for love.”
Her hand traced the circular shape, stopping at the sign immediately below it.
“And this is Pluto, the god of the Underworld. Their close proximity tells me that, unfortunately, your relationships are filled with chaos.”
Okay, my relationships have been all but peaceful. I’ve weathered emotional abuse, conflicting interests and plenty of tears, but still — it could be a coincidence.
The consultation lasted for an hour, growing more intensive with every flick of her pen. Any incorrect readings would have fed the skeptic in me. I was reading into every word she said, waiting for an error.
But there were none.
With pinpoint accuracy, the signs told her everything about me, from my latent scars of a poor childhood to my ideal career choices. All the things I knew about myself intimately, she laid out on the table, bare. I felt naked — stripped, even.
ok
I could have been anyone, of a hundred different permutations of backgrounds and cultural differences. And yet, here I was, with a complete stranger who seemed to know everything about me, from a flimsy piece of paper to boot.
Despite my deep-seated discomfort, May’s cheery demeanour persisted.
“The charts don’t lie. But I’m not here to make you uncomfortable. I’m here to help you piece together what all of these things mean, and give you advice on how to best move forward,” she said.
That is exactly what she did for me. She pieced together my broken love life and identified this curious pattern I never would have noticed alone, especially not through convenient listicles I read through tears at night.
“Most people start their relationships like this: finding someone, sustaining the needs of the relationship and then fulfilling themselves through it. The question here is, how do you find someone if you don’t even know what fulfills you?”
She paused to give me a mental breather.
“So we work backwards instead — find out what fulfills you in a relationship before finding someone who meets those requirements.”
That felt like a wonderful piece of advice for someone constantly heartbroken. I was filled with shock and awe.
“It’s all in the charts. You can’t get this kind of detailed and personal reading from any crappy newsletter online. If you want to get a proper reading done, go to a qualified astrologist. You wouldn’t trust a friend who spent a few days reading medicinal articles and then starts calling himself a doctor, would you? Same thing.”
Astrology is a complex field of study. I could not summarise the years of experience necessary to understand how these charts work, much as I could not do the same for medicine.
Is it accurate? Spine-chillingly so.
Is it for everyone? It could be. Traditional Chinese medicine is not for everyone, but some people do swear by it.
How does this help with relationships? It is a guide, after all, a reference for us to remind yourself what we want and need. Whether you believe in astrology or not, May gave me quality
advice as a person, and it is, and will be, something I remember for a lifetime.