Astrology: a not so professional profession

Astrology has become a fun and interesting hobby for me to learn more about. I enjoy learning about the planets and signs and what makes them unique. My favorite part, I am a little ashamed to admit, is when I see an astrology meme on Instagram (such as “how would the signs react to *insert any type of situation*) I am able to really understand it. I love astrology, but it never really clicked that people did it for a job. Every horoscope you read is written by a professional astrologer whose job it is to analyze what planet each sign will be moving into that month and interpret it into the prediction-esque paragraph you can read. As I’ve mentioned in my earlier posts, Astrology isn’t a science. That being said there isn’t a college course all about what traits are specific to a gemini, so I began to wonder how an astrologer even gets the title of Astrologer? How do you get the proper training to be considered a professional when most professionals go to college and get a degree?

A simple google search of “how to become an astrologer” surprisingly brings up little good information, or at least information from a credible source. The first story I found was from Refinery29 about a woman named Alice Bell who quit her job at vogue in the fashion department to pursue a full time job as an astrologer. Based on the article it looked like Bell simply got interested in astrology, wanted to do it full time, and just quit her day job and started her own astrology based website (on which you can get your birth chart read for the hefty price of $100). She never talked about any form of education having to do with astrology in the interview, but I wondered if she maybe just skipped over it. But, after a quick stop at the “about” section of her website it states “teaching herself how to read her own birth chart” so I assume there really is none. By teaching herself how to read a birth chart she went on to become the resident astrologer for British Vogue. I know astrology isn’t scientific, but I figured someone giving horoscopes to millions of readers for a magazine with Vogue’s prestige would need some sort of education, at least to establish credibility. I recognize how hypocritical I sound right now, running a blog and now a podcast all about astrology while also not having any formal education on it, but come on Vogue is a whole new ball game.

Moving along from a literal self-made astrologer, I figured that there was no way she was the rule but instead the exception. I decided to look into the stories of Tali and Ophira Edut, better known as the Astrotwins. They write for Magazines like Elle and Refinery29 and have almost 85 thousand followers on Instagram alone. Their story looks very similar to that of Alice bell. According to their “Our Story” page on their website, they both have degrees in the Fine Arts and Journalism, got into reading birth charts for themselves and their friends, and then eventually found themselves leaving the magazine they created together and starting a horoscope column in Teen People. Once again, I was surprised.

The closest thing I found to receiving an education in Astrology was a plethora of online courses that probably overcharged for an education that, as we can tell, you don’t really need. It makes sense if you really think about it, because many people who go into the astrology field are all-in. They eat, sleep, and breathe for it and that’s what makes anybody good at their job, no matter what it is. Having passion is what makes someone's work effective to other people, and when you’re writing twelve separate horoscopes weekly you need a lot of it! Like I’ve already said, Astrology isn’t a science and considered just plain nonsense to some people, so I can see why many of the astrologers I read about just happened to come across their passion for it and pave their own way. Since there’s no formal classes or curriculum to follow, each astrologer is able to offer their own unique perspective on what your horoscope means for that month. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still taken aback that you can be considered a professional in something without getting any formal education on it, but I guess that’s the beauty of it. You can decide to take up astrology at any point in your life and not be closed off to opportunities that were available to those who started younger than you (like college courses). With so much information available with just a click of a button, anyone can become an astrologer.