Hooked on Horoscopes

Hooked on Horoscopes

Text by Lena Gidwani Translation by Emma Xu Illustration by Haolun

Whenever I pick up a newspaper, I'm drawn to the horoscope page. “It's just a bit of fun,” I tell myself, justifying this harmless pastime. For those that don't know, 2017 is the Year of the Female Fire Rooster.

As luck would have it, it's also my year.

According to Chinese astrology, people in their zodiac year are believed to upset Tai Sui, an almighty star personifi ed as a highly respected and feared deity. Legend has it that if offended, he will bring you misfortune and bad luck. Every year, two of the Zodiac animals must take steps to appease Tai Sui because one is directly affl icted whilst the other is directly in confl ict with him. Now, deep down, my intellectual, sophisticated and logical side (and a decade and a half of living in China) tells me there is no such thing as Tai Sui. He is imaginary,

COLUMNIST'S PROFILE

Lena Gidwani is a resident of Guangzhou for 13 years, selfconfessed networker, magazine editor and an avid writer.

Lena Gidwani，網絡工作者、雜志編輯、作家，在廣州居住13年。and exists to explain Jupiter's position to our planet, as it changes by 30 degrees each year in its 12 year orbit of the Sun.

Yet why am I, like so many others, so seduced by Chinese astrology? Why do I feel an entirely irrational surge of optimism when told that there are things that I can do to fend off bad luck in my zodiac year and determine the annual fortunes of all of us mortal beings? Is it because I'm female, as we are more statistically proven to believe in this junk?

In the last month since reading my 2017 prediction, I asked just about every family member and all my friends to buy me red clothes. You do know that wearing red drives away bad luck and evil spirits, right? My expensive jade bracelet is my newest and most extravagant purchase this year, and the shopkeeper has promised that it will result in that much-coveted pay rise. And just to cover all bases, I've even adjusted the position of my desk and bed to face away from the dreaded wrath of Tai Sui.

I cannot help it. I'm hooked on my horoscope.

Interesting, as seasoned psychologists tell us, there is a reason for this. This temptation (and human tendency) to apply vague, general and favorable statements as representative of ourselves or of our personal situations is called the Barnum Effect. The term was coined after American circus performer, businessman and infamous hoaxer P.T Barnum's famous line: “We've got something for everyone.”Simply put, the vagueness of predictions amplify subconscious desires and encourage you to consider them without questioning, which makes them great for discovering what you actually want and calming your anxieties. Genius, isn't it?

I am completely aware that I should probably close the window on my zodiac addiction forever. I know that my future is as likely to be written in the stars as it is to appear on a banner attached to the tail of this airplane. But it's hard to break a habit. Especially when red looks so darn good on me…

中式占星術

每每拿起報紙，我都會被生肖運程的專題吸引。挺有趣兒，我寬解自己，權當是無傷大雅的娛樂。2017是火雞之年，恰巧，是我的本命年。

中國的占星術有個說法，人過本命年時會犯太歲。太歲是主宰全年運程的神明，可敬可畏。傳說要是犯了太歲，會遭遇不幸。可經過我理性的分析，太歲是人虛構的形象，實際指的是木星，木星每12年繞太陽一周，每年移動30度。

然而，為什么我和很多人一樣，癡迷中國的占星術？為什么得知本命年里有辦法趨吉避兇時，我會盲目樂觀？難道是因為女人更容易迷信？

看了2017年的生肖運程，我求親朋好友送我紅色服裝。據說穿紅裝可以趕走霉運。我新買了昂貴的玉鐲，售貨員允諾我，戴上必會佑我大漲薪資。為保萬無一失，我還調整了書桌和床的位置，以免沖犯太歲。

我不能自已，迷上了生肖算命。

心理學家指出，迷上生肖算命是有原因的。這種把戲會用模糊、普適且討喜的表達來分析人的運程。預測具有模糊性，總會切中人潛意識中的某些渴望，讓人深信不疑。預測發現了人的真實需要，安撫了焦慮情緒，因而顯得神奇。

我自知應戒掉對生肖算命的癮，也明白自己的命運不大可能被刻在哪顆星上，但打破一個習慣太難，特別是發現紅色如此襯我之后……