Transcription:
Informant: “What do you want to know about astrology?”
Interviewer: “Let’s start with what is it.”
Informant:”Well…everyone is born under like a star sign…and also a moon sign and a rising sign butt that’s mostly- people typically focus on your star sign which is your zodiac sign. There’s a general belief that it’s like, it influences what your personality is gonna be like and like it can inform you on how to make decisions and stuff. Personally, I think astrology is all kinds of bullshit. And it doesn’t actually influence people but I really like astrology because you can just kinda make up shit and say it with a tone of authority. And that’s really good. So that’s my- that’s what it is to me.”
Interviewer: “When did you start to get into astrology?”
Informant: “I don’t know, I feel like I’ve always sorta been into like the dumb like ‘what’s your personality type’ thing so like…I don’t know I guess it’s always been in like my periphery. I just have fun with it.
Interviewer: “What would your zodiac sign be?”
Informant: “It’s Libra”
Interviewer: “And what does that mean?”
Informant: “Libra is the only…it’s the only zodiac sign not represented by an animate object. It is the scales and it’s sort of about balance and justice. Someone…like it’s typically someone who rationalizes things, and thinks through their actions and tries to find a middle ground in situations. It’s an air sign which tend to be more like…kinda disconnected and carefree and stuff. Uh….it’s from late September to late October-early October. That’s Libra.”
Interviewer: “And do you feel like that reflects you?”
Informant: “Mmm yeah I like Libra. I’m happy with it.”
Interviewer: “So there’s many different sites that can tell you your horoscope and stuff. Are they usually the same or are they different?”
Informant: “Um there tends to be common threads especially with like…I feel like there’s some zodiac signs that like sorta have more like… well-known associations like Geminis are like- everyone’s like oh that’s the two-faced sign so that tends to be pretty consistent and like…Generally speaking it’s the same for most signs like if you look up like…oh…like Cancer is like kinda like emotional and wears their heart on their sleeve and that sort of thing but like there’s some variation but they more or less follow the same metric. That being said, they’re like all kept sorta vague and that’s why people can associate with them so easily. It’s like ‘ah this person likes to have fun’ and everyone’s like ‘I like to have fun! That’s me!’ so yeah. Everyone does, that’s not a defining personality trait but that’s how they kinda get you to be like ‘ah yes I identify with this’.”
Interviewer: “What is something that you know about astrology that most people don’t?”
Informant: “Um…………..”
Interviewer: “If there is anything.”
Informant: “Oh there’s some stuff. Well I know my moon and rising signs too. Your moon sign…well the way it’s supposed to go is your sun sign, star sign, and zodiac sign, are all like the same thing. That’s like the main general one. And I think…I might not be remembering this corre- I can’t remember correctly at all but moon sign is like um…I can’t even remember how it’s determined. That one’s like more along the lines of the time you were born and it’s supposed to be like this is supposed to be your…like your inner personality that doesn’t really show on the outside. And I think rising is what people…Sun is what you project your personality is. Moon is what you are kinda more like internally and rising is what other people perceive you as? If I’m remembering correctly. That’s the…that’s the beans.”
Interviewer: “Okay cool. At some point during the last few years did the dates for the zodiac signs change?”
Informant: “Yeah well they tried to…they tried to insert like um a 13th one. I can’t remember it starts with an ‘O’. It’s like the snake catcher or something. Not sure exactly but it’s a guy with snakes. It’s not Orion, he’s the hunter. And I think…I can’t remember exactly the reason why…but I think the reason they tried to do this was that it was included in some cultures’ zodiacs but not others. And they were like actually…fuck that so as far as I know, most people- like they just tried to stick in this 13th one and then everyone just kinda said ‘actually no thanks. We don’t want that one’. So as far as I know nobody uses that 13 star Zodiac system anymore.”
Summary:
I interviewed the informant about Zodiac Signs. The gist of what we discussed is that there are 12 star signs, aka zodiac signs or sun signs, and your sign is determined by what part of the year you’re born. These signs assign certain the person certain personality traits. There are many different sites that tell you about your zodiac sign, but they tend to say similar things and say them vaguely enough that people can identify them easily. There are also moon signs and rising signs which represent different aspects of your personality and are determined differently. At some point the zodiac signs changed to include a thirteenth sign, known as Ophiuchus. However, people ignored this so it was reverted back to the 12 month format again.