They're Called "Signs" for a Reason

We are stardust, afterall

Oct 21, 2025

They’re Called “Signs” for a Reason

In the late1960s and early 70s, the cliché pickup line was, “What’s your sign?”

The trend was probably ignited by the hit song “Aquarius” from the popular Broadway show Hair. The line, the song, and the play all symbolized the rise of the counterculture.

Considering that, you’d think the counterculture was about bringing in new stuff to override the old. Yet, some of the new trends that mobilized at that time, such as yoga and astrology, had their roots in cultures far more ancient than the “old traditional” ways they were positioned to replace.

Sometimes revolution can be a revival of something that worked in the past but got cast aside when newer, more modern ways evolved.

The thing is, when emerging ideologies show up (like bringing Christianity to the New World), what currently exists must be discredited in order to sway the population’s beliefs.

Of course history and experience have also shown that new and shiny is not necessarily better than what’s currently available. And so it is with many of the ancient traditional practices that modern methods replaced.

Great civilizations were charted, built, and operated using the stars for navigation as well as attention to nature’s seasons for guidance.

Many indigenous cultures relied on the wisdom of the shamans and medicine people for healing and more. The spiritual leaders of those societies often determined optimum times and methods for everything from agriculture and hunting to tribal politics.

And children were named and sometimes raised in specific ways to enhance their gifts based on the star positions at their birth.

Any good astrologer will tell you that your sun sign is only part of what determines your unique makeup. Your rising sign, moon sign, and placement of the various planets at the specific time and place of your birth all contribute to your cosmic blueprint.

Yet not even these celestial combinations mean your fate is sealed or that you have no control over your destiny. Free will always reigns supreme.

However, knowing the traits and characteristics central to your spiritual DNA can prove helpful when navigating your life’s path.

More importantly, this knowledge can assist you in understanding your behavior, likes, aversions, and intuitive insights.

So instead of chastising yourself for being slow to make decisions, for example, you can trust your inclination to process information slowly without allowing disparaging feedback to influence you to do something before you’re ready.

If there’s ever been a time to stand up for yourself and take back your power, it is now.

But where to start?

Know thyself

The famous maxim was inscribed in gold near the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Yet it is most widely known as a quote from Socrates.

I’m going to add a little more context to what you probably already know about the concept of self-knowledge.

You must accept who you are with love, not criticism. Socialization in the modern world prescribes an unattainable model of perfection that sets you up for failure and fuels judgment of both yourself and others.

I say, “Let it go.”

I say, “You are already more than enough, just as you are.” Own it and work towards an image of possibility rather than failure.

“There is nothing good or bad, except thinking makes it so,” said Hamlet (via Shakespeare).

Your quirks can be assets if you see them that way.

In that vein, I wrote the following about myself, using a prompt from a writing group session I attended last summer: I was born with…

OH, MY STARS!