#WhatsWrongWithMySign Challenge - Bonus Edition

You’ve definitely seen it by now: people are posting their Sun sign to social media using the hashtag #whatswrongwithmysignchallenge. What results runs the gamut of sentiment from light-hearted roasting between friends to... well, maybe some of you all have bad memories of each other, because, um — ouch!

It’s a fun little meme, sure. (My personal favorite sun sign and response pairing to date was said to a Leo: “Nothing’s wrong with you, just that woman who wouldn’t share the raft with you.” It took me a minute, but this was admittedly pre-coffee.) But is it accurate, and more to the point, as a challenge, what should we then feel challenged to do?

A challenge needs a goal, after all - but if the goals exist anymore, they tend to get lost to time; everyone remembers the Ice Bucket challenge, but who remembers what it was really about? (I see you, Gemini with all the tabs open and your hand up in the back of the room, and yes I do know it was ALS. I did also know it was Lou Gehrig’s disease, yes. I'm okay. I don't need his career stats. Thank you though!)

See what I did there? If you’re a Gemini Sun who knew that immediately, you’re feeling vindicated and super seen. How the heck did I know that about you?! Conversely, it’s equally likely that you’re a Gemini Sun who had no idea about those things - and if so, you might be feeling a little thrown. Aren’t you a Gemini too? Why would I say things that are so not you and refer back to them as though they describe all Gemini?

When we only focus on the broad interpretations of a sign, essentially we split the population into twelve groups whose members are all expected to be roughly alike. Now, sometimes it’s fun to be part of these groups - you’ll often find that other people with their Sun in the same sign as you will operate in ways and on levels that make intuitive sense to you. But it’s important to remember every sign has benefits and drawbacks, and that the sign your natal Sun falls under is only one small part of the complex and fascinating constellation that graced the skies the night you were born.

Try this challenge: you don’t have to learn and draw your full natal chart right away, but if you can get an accurate birth date, time, and place, try an online service (like astro.com, or an app like AstroFuture (iOS) - there are a few more but that one is the most user friendly in my experience) and determine three of the most crucial parts of your chart: not only your Sun sign, which you probably know, but also your Moon sign and your Ascendant or rising sign. If you’ve been reading through some of the posts and just not feeling like your Sun sign, there’s a good chance that your Moon sign (your inner life and emotions, in a very condensed nutshell - otherwise this article would be super long!) or your rising sign (the face you present to the world) will resonate instead. Knowing these three aspects of your chart not only gives you three times the chances to have fun with pop astrology on social, but can also give you insight into what you might need to fix or alter in your own life so you can live in harmony with the various energies at play in your birth chart. I’d say that’s worth the effort!

So: have fun with the memes, of course, but if you haven’t yet taken some time to learn your Moon and Ascendant signs, give it a whirl! When the next zodiac meme takes us all by storm, which will probably be next Tuesday judging by how fast things move online, you’ll have three times the laughs... and three times the self-knowledge. Win/win/win.