Feeling lost isn’t an unfamiliar state of mind and soul to college students. In my not-so-spare time, I’ve been doing a little searching of my own through the mystical, complex world of astrology and tarot cards. Although completely relying on these methods are totally against my religion, it never hurts to look at them for fun and maybe learn a thing or two about myself and the people I’m surrounded by (with a grain of salt, of course).
The late nights that consist of my mind going a hundred miles a minute have been happening more often than I want them to. For someone who loves sleep so much, I haven’t had a lot of it. Every time I remember I will soon be leaving the iconic era of being a teen, my anxiety triples. As a little girl, I naively thought that by the age of twenty my life would somehow be put together. I imagined myself having the best possible college experience: surrounded by crowds of wholesome friends, GPA skyrocketing to a 4.0 for my dream to get into medical school, and meeting the love of my life. Sadly, none of these have happened. I have two friends at most (who are the best people ever), my GPA is average, and I unfortunately haven’t met the love of my life. Did I mention I’m no longer pre-med? So, you can see why I’m a little confused. My expectations did not and probably will not line up with the reality of things… and that’s okay. That’s the beauty of life. If the future always turned out to fit our expectations, wouldn’t it be so boring? It’s easy to think this way in retrospect, but in the frequent moments when my anxiety comes knocking, I’ve strangely found peace in watching “Pick a Card” tarot readings on YouTube.
If you’re not familiar with what “Pick a Card” readings are, it’s basically someone placing “random” tarot cards in several decks and you’re supposed to choose one of the decks for yourself using intuition (or how pretty the crystal on top of the deck is). Because it’s a general reading, the deck you choose may not always line up with your concerns, or you can pick multiple decks if you feel like you connected with others before their reveal. I get a good night’s rest whenever I pick a deck and the reader gives some sort of vague explanation that I can relate to for thirty minutes. Honestly, I only ever click on “Pick a Card” readings when I’m feeling down about my non-existent love life because those are the best ones to watch. It’s interesting and almost scary how detailed some card readers can be about your future soulmate or “twin-flame,” if you’re lucky enough to have one of those relationships in your life. In the rare case that the deck is spot-on and resonates completely with my situation, I get the smallest ounce of hope in the universe that maybe good things will come for me, eventually.
“Pick a Card” readings are closely knit with astrology, or zodiac signs. Usually tarot card readings incorporate your sign and describe energies of other signs with the hopes of the viewer connecting them to people they know with that sign. Through astrology, I’ve gotten a better sense of myself and friends who I desperately ask for their birth day, time, and place in order to look up their birth chart. Birth charts tell you everything. From the way you are to who you’re compatible with, birth charts don’t leave out any aspect of your life and the crazy thing is, it’s completely based on what position the sky was in when you were born. Most people are very familiar with their sun sign, easily known by just recalling someone’s birthday. But of course, as humans we aren’t one-dimensional, and the birth chart addresses that through your moon sign, ascending or rising sign, and others I don’t even know the full meaning of. For example, my sun sign is Aries, my moon sign is Gemini, and my rising sign is Aquarius. If you’re confused about these terms, don’t worry. They just all provide various aspects to my personality, which you can easily look up for yourself here.
Astrology and tarot cards can simply be a fun way to pass time, or it can be a way to find hope in life when everything seems a little off. I especially look into them when I feel stagnant, like I can’t do anything to change my situation. I don’t completely believe in it, but I don’t think it’s entirely wrong to take what I want from it either. Similar to taking a personality quiz, knowing my birth chart has simply given me a more stable sense of who I am or who I could be. So, when your life feels like a jumbled mess, you can always rely on the stars to give you some possibilities about the way things can go.