How the horoscope has changed over the years

«GLook what your horoscope says today? A dear friend of mine has gotten into the habit of sending me, every day, what should be the predictions for my sign: Aries (I reveal this to you with a certain pride). I have always believed that the zodiac signs are reliable when drawing human types.

I thought so even before discovering that someone before me had made it the subject of very serious studies: Carl Gustav Jung, father of analytical psychology, compared the archetypes of the collective unconscious to the zodiac signs. Even more: he used it «in cases of difficult psychological diagnoses to acquire a further point of view from a completely different perspective».

As for astrological predictions, I have always gone in alternating phases, like everyone else. When we are in doubt about some decision or situation in life, reading the horoscope can provide us with hope, with light.

Thanks to my friend, though, I have discovered that horoscopes have changed a lot since the days when I used them extensivelythat is, in that age in which possible partners were questioned with foresight first about their zodiac sign and then about much more important things.

Try reading the horoscopes that are popular: more than predictions, they are hip massages. Let me explain: the horoscopist has become a coach, a soul coach, a motivator. So, instead of telling you: «Today you will win the lottery», he tells you: «You are very strong, you can do it: nothing can resist you. And if he resists you, there will be a reason.”

Now, a pragmatist like me, faced with these haphazardly given pushes, should have a sincere outburst of annoyance. If someone really needs to motivate me, it’s better to rely on those who know me. Yet, I confess to you that little by little I gave in too.

The encouragements of these horoscopes, as well as the predictions once upon a time, are based on the peculiar traits of each sign. Therefore I will hardly read: “Dear Aries, do as always: sit on the shore and wait.” But rather: “Jump in, swim and win.” And this is how, after a century, Jung ends up being right. The stars can’t tell us anything that our psyche doesn’t already know.

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All articles by Antonella Baccaro

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