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Astrology & tarot21 categories

Sort a reading into psychological or predictive

Working out which kind of astrology you are actually practising.

Longastrologycritiquemethod
Take the reading or interpretation below and sort every claim in it into one of four piles:

1. **Descriptive symbolism.** A statement about what a symbol traditionally means. Not a claim about the world.
2. **Psychological framing.** A statement about inner life offered as a lens to reflect on, which I can accept or reject.
3. **Predictive.** A claim that something will happen, or that a placement causes an outcome.
4. **Unfalsifiable flattery.** A statement true of almost anyone, phrased to feel personal.

Quote each claim before classifying it. Then:
- For everything in pile 3, rewrite it as a pile 2 statement.
- For everything in pile 4, say what it would take to make it specific enough to be worth saying.
- Name which mode the reading is mostly operating in, and whether it is consistent or quietly switching between them.

Be blunt. Most readings contain more of pile 4 than their author thinks.

Reading:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Questioning the tradition. Where sources disagree, what separates symbolic from predictive, and the sceptic's honest case.

Related prompts

Compare two interpretations of the same placementTwo books say opposite things about one placement and you want the disagreement made explicit.Explain astrology to a sceptic, fairlyA friend thinks it's nonsense and you want an honest account rather than a defence.What would a sceptic say?Testing a reading against the strongest objection to it.Set these two interpretations against each otherTwo sources say opposite things and you want the disagreement made explicit.Explain a birth chart placement properlyYou have a placement written down and no idea what the tradition actually says about it.What does this house actually mean?Learning the twelve houses and finding every source says something slightly different.

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