If you're a regular horoscope reader (as we are here at Refinery29), you know that there are highs and lows. Sometimes your star forecast is eerily accurate, while other weeks your go-to column reads like someone else's: You're not dating anyone, but all your horoscope wants to talk about is your "new flame." Or maybe you've been killing it at the office, but your 'scope thinks you've been in a bit of a professional slump.
An inaccurate horoscope can be dismaying, and even make you want to give up your weekly practice for good, but it's normal if you aren't perfectly aligned with your sign every week (or month, for that matter). Before you give up on the stars' insights, you might want to consider a couple of key elements of horoscope reading.
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First off, astrology is an imperfect practice. Every astrologer uses their past experiences, as well as years of study, to interpret the planets' activities, so their readings are bound to be at least a little subjective. It's unfair to expect their predictions to hit home with 100% of their readers every single time, especially when they're only discussing how the heavens will affect our sun signs (a.k.a. the sign most people associate with their horoscope).
That brings us to another possible solution: Go beyond your sun sign.
To do this, you'll need to have your birth chart drawn up. That can tell you more about yourself than any horoscope can — and it illuminates more than nine other planetary signs that make your astrological identity complete. It may be hard to keep track of them at first, but reading the horoscope for more than one of your signs can be useful when it comes to seeing yourself reflected in your readings.
If you give that a try, you may realize that you actually identify more with one of your other planetary placements than you ever did with your sun sign. The next time you feel out of step with your regular horoscope, why not read the one associated with your rising or moon sign instead? At the very least, you can use these as your Plan B 'scopes when the one for your sun sign doesn't feel like it's meant for you.
If you still feel out of touch with your horoscope, feel free to take a break and check back after some time has passed — maybe at the start of a new month or lunar cycle. When you're ready to come back to it, you just might find that your horoscope is, once again, unsettlingly on-point.