The Astrology of… Personality Traits
Many people believe that astrology is more helpful than a personality test to understand yourself. Most tests focus on behavior. Astrology is about motivation. In other words, standard tests focus on symptoms, not the root cause.
I don’t want to take anything away from personality tests. They have their purpose. But knowing “why” someone does something is heaps more informative and useful, than “what” they do. You can get much deeper insights about someone when you know their “why.”
Typical personality test questions like, “Is it important for you to take care of your friends?” or “Do you prefer to act immediately, rather than think of other options?” are interesting. But with astrology, you’ll know why you’re concerned with your best friend’s health or why you’re quick on your feet. This knowledge is much more insightful if you ask me.
At the end of the day, both personality tests and astrology have similar goals of helping you understand yourself better. They share many parallels, but no real direct translation from one to the other. The good news is that using both methods can refine how you understand yourself.
Nine versus Twelve
One of the most popular personality tests is called the Enneagram. It’s based on the concept of people having nine psychological types. The word enneagram comes from the Greek word for nine. We don’t know where the system came from or what it’s based on. It’s a bit mysterious.
Maybe you’re an Enneagram #2 – The Helper. You’re compassionate, caring, and probably a people-pleaser. In astrology, you may be a Pisces. Pisces strive for a deep connection with others.
Knowing your enneagram can round out your knowledge of yourself. But if you use the Enneagram alone, you still may not know why you’re always in achievement mode. The Enneagram won’t tell you, but astrology will.