Astrology Memes

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About

Astrology is a pseudoscientific discipline in which the time and date of birth partially determine the events occurring within someone’s life through instances of planetary alignment. It relies on a system of Zodiac signs to determine personality traits, compatibility, and more. It has been a subject of memes around the internet for many years due to many dissenting opinions on its validity.

Origin

Astrology is believed to date back to the ancient Babylonian calendar. For thousands of years, it was considered to be within the same discipline as astronomy.^[1] Now, it is often regarded as a non-scientific belief system with no real basis beyond historical significance. It is frequently associated with the modern stereotype of a young white female, and believers of astrology are often perceived as close-minded and likely to judge someone based on their Zodiac sign.

It is unknown who created the exact first astrology meme, but early examples date back to the mid-2000s. In 2004, a blogger known as Maddox posted an article to their site, thebestpageintheuniverse.net,^[2] where they expressed frustrations with the discipline of astrology. These beliefs on the subject (quoted below) are now widely shared among many internet users making memes today.

Ever notice how people ask you what sign you are and always say "I knew it" only after you tell them which one? That's because they're full of shit. It doesn't matter what sign you tell them you are, they'll always say "yeah, you're totally a [fill in asinine symbol], I can tell." No, you can't tell because you're an idiot.

To demonstrate his point, he created and posted an early two-panel meme (seen below). This became the earliest known astrology meme.

Spread

In the following years, memes referencing astrology as their subject matter continued to spread online across numerous sites and platforms throughout the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

One particularly widespread astrology meme that has become popularized over the years has been seen online since September 4th, 2017, when it was first uploaded to Facebook^[3] by the page 8Shit (seen below). This meme has been reposted on numerous meme pages and subreddits, as well as recreated with new formats while delivering the same punch line.

As of July 10th, 2021, the most upvoted astrology meme of all time on Reddit (seen below) was posted by /u/Joker_0017 to /r/memes^[4] on July 9th, 2021, receiving over 22,900 upvotes and 374 comments in only 14 hours.

Stock Market Boyfriend and Astrology Girlfriend

Stock Market Boyfriend and Astrology Girlfriend is a meme that portrays two character archetypes beside one another, implying that the "quirky" female is an astrology fan while the boyfriend is a "professional" working in the investment field

Fuck Your Zodiac Sign

Fuck Your Zodiac Sign is a phrase used to shift personality identifiers away from astrology and towards other basic preferences one may have in life, implying these joke-based categories are better representations of character.

Mercury in Retrograde

Mercury in Retrograde, or Mercury Retrograde, is a phenomenon in astrology in which Mercury orbits the sun faster than the Earth, making it appear as though it is moving backwards when viewed from Earth. In astrology, Mercury is the planet most associated with communication, so when Mercury moves in retrograde, those who believe in astrology blame the time period for misunderstandings and malfunctions in communication devices, such as electronics.

What Time Were You Born?

What Time Were You Born? is a phrase that is often asked by those who believe in astrology in order to build a person's natal chart and check for compatibility. Starting in November 2020, memes about the question, the process of finding out one's time of birth and those who ask about it gained popularity online.