"Those statements can apply to anybody," and "I don't believe in that fictional bullsh*t," are two phrases that I have heard countless times. The first time I really studied astrology was after my friend, Paulina, read my birth chart for the first time. Here's how the astrology I research is different from your typical horoscope from Cosmopolitan.

A birth chart is an in-depth analysis of the position of the planets at the exact time you were born. Most people only know their Sun sign, which represents your personality and self. However, there are nine other planets and 12 different houses that make up your life. The Moon represents emotion, Mercury represents communication, Venus represents love, Mars represents energy, Saturn represents life lessons and hardships, Jupiter rules luck, Uranus rules revolution and society, Neptune represents dreams and imagination and Pluto represents transformation and power. Therefore, there are many factors that make you, you.

Looking at someone's birth chart can tell you a lot about how they react to certain things, how they deal with their feelings and how they think. It is not meant to predict future events, or when you will get married. Astrology is best used to understand human motivation and feelings. Since there are many planets acting on you at the time of birth, not every Aries or Pisces for example, is going to be the same.

By studying the birth chart, you can learn things like the relationship between a person and their mother. The moon sign represents our mother and it will characterize our relationship based on the specific sign in that planet. Personally, I use astrology to figure out why people act in a certain way. It is almost a form of sociology in the way that you can figure out what makes people tick. When I read somebody's chart, I feel like I know them a lot better. When reading your birth chart, you need to take in the information as a whole because some planets can have a stronger influence than others depending on the sign that rules it.

Astrology has helped me accept myself and accept negative things that happen in my life. Astrology helps you look deep into yourself and is a lot more helpful than going to therapy and talking to a psychologist. Reading your chart allows you to see explanations as to why maybe you have crazy anxiety, or why you have trouble expressing your emotions. It is comforting to know that the planets do have an effect on us in some way and there are some things you cannot control about yourself. Many times I have helped my friends who were feeling down and lost, simply by explaining their chart to them. It is almost a form of therapy.

I will always defend astrology because it makes the most sense to me. I respect when people do not believe like I do, but I encourage everybody to read their birth charts. You can go to this website and find an in-depth interpretation and for easier to understand concepts, search Alyssa Sharpe on You-Tube. Alyssa is an astrology blogger who explains many aspects of astrology in easy to understand ways.