On a soft sunny afternoon, I took an in-depth look at astrology. I did some online research about astrology, the four thousand years old study of the relative positions of celestial movements to divine personnel and events. My knowledge of astrology is limited to the zodiac, and I am neutral about the fact that it can predict the future. But after my interview with Genisis Echevarria, I have a new understanding of astrology.
Conversations with Genisis
Genisis Echevarria, a freshman at The City College of New York, sees astrology as a subculture that can guide her path. It wasn’t that we met for the first time on Zoom that stands out to me. It’s Genisis’s hair, a bright burgundy that jumps out of the screen. She has long and neat nails and piercings on her nose and ears. She is wearing a dark blue sweater, and her background is not overly decorated or furnished, except for a desk lamp emitting a warm yellow glow next to her.
Genisis says she has been interested in astrology since high school, and at first, she only knew some very basic information about astrology, such as that each month has a corresponding sign and its own zodiac. It was only when she started to study astrology in college that she began to understand that astrology is not only about the zodiac and the moon, the sun, and the earth, but also about the close connection between planets and planets, and planets and people.
Astrology and personality
Before this interview, I had researched on the internet about the connection between astrology and people’s personality. Each sign actually has its own traits, but in fact, these are only a kind of advanced psychological hints, but I think these psychological hints change us in a subtle way. When I asked Genisis if she would become a professional astrologer, she said no because she thinks her “three signs present a shy, not outgoing” personality. Then we discussed how astrology has influenced her life. “Many people,” I said, “are not so convinced about the connection between astrology and personalities.” Genisis sighed and took a deep breath and said, “I’ve met a lot of Leos in my life that I don’t get along with.” Whenever she knew the other person was a Leo, she was adamant that they would not get along well and ended the relationship as soon as possible because Leo and her three signs were in conflict. “But, with Virgo’s three signs that don’t conflict, we can be great soul mates.” Although many people do not believe in this statement, for Genisis, astrology changed the way she sees others. Astrology does not have the ability to let you “read” the minds of others, but it does give people like Genisis the ability to understand others’ personalities and their way of doing things through their zodiac, three signs.
Foretell the future
In the rest of the interview, I asked if she felt whether or not astrology can tell the future, and Genisis believes that “it can and can’t at the same time.” We can know the three signs of a person by his horoscope, and we can know his personality and his way of doing things by the three signs. “When I was little I loved to play this little game about astrology to predict love, relationships.” In a relationship, astrology can be a predictor of the direction the relationship will take. If the three signs or horoscopes of both parties are forming a conflict, then the relationship will be broken in the near future because of the discord between their personalities. She pointed out, “Likewise, in a work environment such a theory is practical, I would not feel comfortable working with someone who is not compatible with [my] personality.”
Conclusion
Genisis is a very opinionated person who has her own very unique perspective on astrology. As she puts it “I used to be a very close-minded person.” She doesn’t understand why people would do meditation and learn about destiny, things that are closely related to astrology. As she learned more about astrology, she stated, “In fact, under the macrocosm of astrology, there are actually more microcosms and worlds.” As more and more people around her started to discuss astrology, she became curious and tried to open her mind to this series of ideas about astrology from other people’s ideas. “Before, I had no way to introduce myself to others as a person. But with the knowledge of astrology, I can now share it with confidence and self-opinion.”
In the beginning, my knowledge about astrology was only about the different zodiacs, the different planets, and their connection to the universe. After this conversation with Genisis, I feel that it goes much deeper than that. Astrology is not only about the connections in the universe, but also about us humans. Our signs affect us in a subtle way: for example, astrology interprets our personalities and how our way of doing things affects our lives in the future. I believe that all people who do a little research on and gain an understanding of astrology have an attitude of exploration and knowledge. People should give astrology a chance because this subculture is so fascinating!
Self-Reflection
For this interview essay, I used a narrative approach to tell the exciting things between my informant and me during the interview and the communication between us. In this essay, I used more of a first-person perspective to tell the story. I also used quotes from my informant to give the reader a sense of immersion. I think my curiosity and interest in astrology led me to interview this informant in the first place, and we shared various subcultures at the beginning of the group. When I heard that my informant had astrology as his subculture, I was determined to learn more about this subculture. I thought I could learn more exciting things about this subculture from a more experienced enthusiast than me when he/she came along. Thus I can learn more knowledge and interesting facts about astrology that I didn’t know. As I writeam writing this essay, I had learned new things about astrology when I searched for it on the internet. For example, I used to think that astrology was only about zodiacs. But after I searched the internet, I learned that astrology also includes the relationship between planets and humans. What I want to achieve with this essay is to make readers interested in astrology through this interview essay, to make readers understand more about this subculture, and to clarify some misconceptions about astrology. For example, whether astrology can predict the future or whether it can predict the development of one’s relationship with one’s lover. The audience of this essay should be all readers interested in astrology because they have some interest in this subculture and want to learn more about it.
