Why Alice Bell Lets Astrology Lead the Way in Her Life

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During my freshman year of college, I went to therapy for the frst time. I had started of our Skype session by crying about a boy when my therapist asked me “What is your exact time, date and place of birth, Alice?” She looked up my astrological chart and read me like an open book.

Up until then, I had thought that astrology was as simple as reading your weekly horoscope in the back of a magazine. I’d learned that, as an Aquarius, I was kind of weird and that was really the extent of it. Thinking about external forces and how they shaped my personality wasn’t really for me. I’d grown up going to church every Sunday, but organized religion didn’t really resonate with me either. In fact, I spent my teens and early 20s believing in nothing. Instead, I let other people’s views of me shape my personal beliefs. I lived with constant anxiety that stemmed from trying to control everything around me in order to create the image I wanted others to see. It caused me to become a habitual nailbiter and hair puller. A natural strawberry blonde, I used to sit in class and yank out the reddest strands of hair so that I wouldn’t be called a “ginger”.

Being left alone to deal with all of my emotions was a huge fear, which was only intensified when I got to college. To numb any stronger feelings I would either spend hours vegging out in front of the television or get blackout drunk during nights out. If a guy I went on a couple dates with was suddenly no longer interested, or if I was having trouble making friends, I always blamed myself. I believed that I could have tried harder or done better, which eventually led me to that frst fateful therapy session. 

Listening to my therapist go over my birth chart (which is a blueprint of what positions the planets occupied in the sky the minute a person was born), I was fascinated by how she was able to ascertain very personal aspects of my life. She saw that the relationship with my mom was difficult, that I had a love for reading and writing, and that I had difficulty showing afection. It was cool hearing someone else explain my life to me, but I still didn’t really know what to do with that information.

I pushed astrology to the back of my mind until a couple of years later when I found myself unfulfilled, working at what I had thought to be my dream career in fashion. Once again, I had expected some outside factor, such as a job title or a relationship, to bring me happiness. It never did. Remembering the insightful visit with my therapist, I revisited my birth chart that winter, doing further research into each planetary placement on my own. This time around, something clicked and I found myself more interested in incorporating astrology into my life. 

Instead of having just one sun sign to look to for explaining your personality traits—what you normally see in magazines or online—everyone actually has a full chart which is made up of “twelve houses” and “twelve planets”. It’s super detailed but here’s the overall idea: The sun, moon and rising signs are the three core elements to the chart, but there are other planets to take into consideration as well, such as Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Pluto. In addition, the “house” a planet falls into shows what area of life the energy of that planet becomes apparent. It explains why someone might have better luck with career-related matters, while someone else is a serial dater.

Here’s what it means for me. By looking into my Pisces moon and Venus in the 8th house, I realized that my frst instinct when I was upset was to keep quiet about how I felt and retreat into my own little world. However, with this Pisces energy, I needed to be engaging in activities that brought a sense of mental calmness and helped me to feel like I was connected to something bigger than myself. I started doing yoga videos on Youtube and eventually incorporated a morning meditation into my daily routine.

I learned that my 12th house, Mars in Cancer, coupled with a 7th house, Aquarius sun, meant that I should be putting more efort into relating to other people, and that maybe by working through someone else’s problems I could gain a better perspective of my own. I also became aware of even the most minute details of my chart, such as having Jupiter in the 3rd house, revealed that I’m prone to overthinking. Even my beauty routines are mapped out. I have a Leo rising that indicates that I have a thick mane of hair that needs constant tending. Now, my self-care routine involves nourishing it with hair oil and a leave-in conditioner, and making time for blow drying.

Though there is a challenging side to all of these planetary placements, my birth chart ultimately represents my natural talents and what I would be the most fulfilled doing. As a fulltime astrologer, I’ve been able to master old behavioral patterns that were no longer working, in favor of bringing new, healthier routines into my life. Everyone has their unique traits, it’s just a matter of tapping into these qualities and using them to your advantage—strawberry blonde hair and all.

Self-Care by Astrological Elements