I really don't know the meaning of life

Day 6: Your zodiac sign and if you think it fits your personality

I've written 2 blogs on the zodiac before, and, hilariously enough, a great number of people have stumbled upon my blog looking for "life meaning" and "what does my zodiac sign mean"

So, to play along, here's another blog about my zodiac sign. Plus, I love throwing Google off. SEO is great when it throws things off a bit. Of course, I don't think it's funny when I'm seriously looking for something and stumble upon a blog that has nothing to do with what I"m looking for, but nevertheless...I'm gonna do it. Just for shits and giggles.

Sun Sign: Sagittarius.

Similarities: There are few things I have in common with a Sagittarius-one is the longing to be free from this environment because I feel stuffed up and confined. That is, I don't like living in this place. I want my own place. They typically have a thirst for knowledge and are very intellectual. Like other Sagittarians, I'd also like to travel- my destination would be Australia. Sagittarians are typically free-spirited (I'm not) and like to roam (I'll admit I do that, on occasion). Honestly, I'd like to find a place to stay, but I'd like it to not be in the confines of my parents' house. They say no rules but really? If I'm not home by 10 my phone is blowing up with texts and phone calls wanting to know where I'm at. Reality check. There is one more- Saggys are open and tolerant in their views- that I am, very much so. It's not my place to judge you, so I won't. People will have different opinions, and I respect that, and I won't try to change or hate on you for it.

Differences: Well, for one thing, Sagittarius is a mutable sign- that is, they are open to change. By God, you try to change anything on me and I will lose it (emotional- see below, where I relate my moon sign). I don't deal with change well at all. Sagittarians are generally outgoing and extroverted- I am one of the most introverted people you might meet- I can put on an introverted front for work, which is why I can be a social worker, but as far as being extroverted, I am FAR from it. My Myers-Briggs typology puts me on the extreme end of introverted. Apparently, they also don't care much for details, but I'm all about detail, baby, all about detail. 

Moon Sign: Pisces (insert SEO identifier that will bring people in flocks to this specific entry)

Similarities: I kind of think I have more in common with my moon sign, ping SEO, the Pisces. Generally, the moon sign is more related to emotion, and by goodness am I an emotional person; not to mention that Pisces is generally more of an emotional sign. My emotions have emotions! Yes, I am very emotional, so emotional that...well, it's difficult to control all this emotion. They, too, dislike discipline and confinement (so perhaps I just get it from both ends of the deal, eh?). They're not 8-5 people (because really, those times suck, unless you're some sadistic creature that likes waking up before the sun comes up...). They're creative, and they reach out to help other people (social work? Ring a bell?). Not always a good thing, but they always worry that they're going to fail (I can't help it, but I do worry about that) and, like the Pisces, I don't have the motivation to actually rebel, despite my dislikes.

Differences: Not many. I don't live in a dream world- I've been slapped by reality a few too many times. I'm not as artistic as I used to be, although I could probably pick it back up if I took the opportunity. I would give a lot in relationships, which I didn't add in my similarities simply because I don't have relationships. I did find that in friendships, though, I was often giving more than receiving, and this chased people off. Annnnd that ends my differences section.

CHINESE ZODIAC

I add this simply because a lot of people don't know a lot about their Chinese zodiac or what it means. The Chinese actually have 2 parts to the zodiac, not just the animal. There is a second part, which is an element, which many people don't know about.

My Chinese zodiac is the Fire Rabbit. Ironically enough, this is almost identical to my Western zodiac- Sagittarius is a fire sign, and the Rabbit is the Chinese equivalent to the Pisces as far as characteristics go. The first time I looked this up, I was taken aback because- how could this have worked out this way? How could I happen to have exactly the same signs/meanings in both the Chinese and Western zodiac, when they are measured in different ways? The Western zodiac is measured by the time, date, and location of your birth in relationship to the location of the planets, while the Chinese is assigned first by month to determine the element, then by year to determine the animal. There are also deeper determinations- by day and hour of day, which are the inner and "secret" self. Not knowing much about the Chinese zodiac myself, and having only just read tidbits here and there, I will leave it at this, just knowing that it's interesting that my "element" and my animal happen to fall in line with the Western zodiac. There's my day 6!

Now I can have more people come through SEO trying to find the meaning of life and happen to fall into my blog...sorry guys. I don't know the meaning of life.

The Ash and the Bluebonnet

Given my personality, I've got a tendency to look at the details of things, and make connections where others might not. My thirst for knowledge led me to make (over a period of time) the connections that I describe below- some of the symbolism of astrology, I described in a much earlier blog, which I wrote near my birthday. A bit of it is repeat, but I described it (a little bit) differently. Without further adieu....

Driving down the highway, I see an ash tree standing alone, aside from the field of bluebonnets which turns the ground into a indigo-like color, both covertly full of  symbolism- and the idea for my next blog topic arises. From a distance the tree appears thin, for the base of an ash tree is not thick itself, in comparison to other trees. Inside, though, the wood of an ash tree is strong and hard, yet flexible and highly elastic.

The bluebonnets, only around for a short time each year, are the Texas state flower. They are said to represent the bonnets that one would have to wear to block out the Texas sun. They are also said to symbolize forgiveness, grace, and mercy. In Spanish, the name for them is el conejo- meaning "the rabbit"...I will discuss more on this later. (Picture attributed to http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/ )

The ash was a very symbolic tree in ancient mythology; for instance, in Greek Mythology, the world tree Yggdrasill is often referred to as an ash tree, and the first man (Ask) was made from an ash tree. It also was also held to have many special powers.

When looking at my name, of course, one doesn't see all this hidden meaning. Even if one looks up the meaning of "Ashley," they don't come up with this detailed a result. This actually took a lot of digging and research, to discover these things, and I like the results I got. for one, æ is one of my favorite letters/letter combinations (depending upon where you reside), so I kinda like sharing a name with it.

"Ash" itself has a deeper meaning- the letter æ, as mentioned, is called an "ash," and in some languages, such as Danish or Norwegian, is the singular pronoun "I." Almost absent in some modern languages, it is hard to understand the importance of this letter as it stands alone, but it is used in the structure in many words we speak.

I also like that in Norwegian and Danish, the abbreviation for my name is the singular pronoun "I". It gives pronunciation to the fact that I am a very independent person, liking to do things on my own, without any help. No matter that my name is masculine, probably with its roots coming from the first man in Greek mythology bearing the name Ask, and being made from the ash tree.

No matter because I am, overall, not very feminine. I wear pants (in fact, I don't own a skirt [that fits], rarely wear makeup or paint my nails, I don't like pink or overly girly things. I'm not very masculine- I don't play sports or like cars or action/adventure movies [usually], but I'm not quite ladylike (one of my favorite bloggers, Amber (view her blog here) kind of inspired me to look at how ladylike I am) (or, in my case, am not). This, though, I doubt has anything to do with my name and its origin. I think it's just because I grew up in the south, with very few "girly" influences. And I am a little girly- I wear jewelry (never take it off actually), I love chocolate and music...but mostly, I'm really not much of a girly-girl.

Regarding astrology, which hasn't been mentioned yet, there is another symbolism that happened to be a coincidence. In Celtic astrology, I've seen 2 different applications of the ash tree- one is that each week is assigned a "tree," and, coincidentally, according to the calendar that was shown with this, I was born in the week of the ash tree (last week in November). I don't think that was planned. Another strand of Celtic Astrology divides the trees into months, which so closely coincide with modern Western astrology that the majority of the time that the ash tree covers is in the realm of Pisces (mid-February to mid-March)- my moon sign! Indeed, another interesting coincidence!

The moon sign kind of guides emotion and behavior, if anyone is interested in the meaning of the moon sign. It symbolizes the "inner self" that not many people get to see. The person with a Pisces moon sign is very emotional and empathetic. They tend to care a lot about others, and what others are feeling. They are also imaginative and creative, a downside being that they easily take on others' emotions, making them often melancholic or moody. This description is, not ironically, similar to the description for those born during the month of the ash tree (seeing as it is the same month as the sun sign, Pisces).

For more on what the moon sign in Western Astrology means, (click here). To find your own moon sign, you can fill in the charts here and get your entire natal chart. I've provided these links because I found them interesting, and wanted to provide them for anyone else who might find them interesting, even if they don't believe in astrology. (I find it fun to look at, but not a guiding factor in one's life- just entertainment for me).

Connecting the bluebonnet with astrology, I was born in the year of the Rabbit in Chinese astrology- ironically, the spanish name for the bluebonnet flower that fills Texas fields in the late spring of each year. The rabbit, if converted into Western Astrology, would be the best match with the Pisces- my moon sign! (Another [off-topic] fact- my element in Chinese astrology is fire- and Sagittarius, my sun sign, is a fire sign...ironic?)

For me, at least, this gives a little bit more of a connection to the flower, and I love seeing them bloom in the spring in the grassy fields of Texas- where I've spent 17 of my whopping 23 years of life. There is also a Comanche story of a "girl who stands alone," the singular, individual, who is attributed as the reason that bluebonnets came to being.

Another favorite about the ash tree is the blue/indigo dye derived from the tree. To those who don't already know- blue is my favorite color!! My room is done in shades of blue and tan, which is my favorite color combination. I also like that it is presented as strong and tough, yet elastic. I know that I've been through a lot- even if others don't think so- but I tend to (at least try to) be very flexible. I try to accommodate as much as I possibly can, because I don't want to neglect anything, and I try to work my schedule around everyone else's, instead of asking them to be flexible. So, describing the wood of the ash tree is something that I feel I can kind of relate to.

All in all, I've grown to love my name and the symbolism that it has, even though I hate that such a high percentage of people born after 1980, and especially during the 80s in particular, have been given that name. Not all of them, though, would fit this closely to the symbolism given with this name, and very few would actually take the time to make these connections, as I have.

Take a look at the stars

So, as I mentioned, a potential topic is astrology, which, although I'm deeply interested in, I do not believe in. I do, however, find it fascinating and entertaining, and I find nothing wrong with looking into it. Keep in mind, this blog is not some sort of preaching, or to convince anyone of ANYTHING, I just wanted to look at astrology because it is amusing and entertaining. There's more to it than what I depicted, which are the basics associated with Celtic, Western, and Chinese Astrology, which also are not the only types of astrology, just the ones that I've been in contact with. Remember- purely entertainment.

First off, I am a Sagittarius. My birthday was 2 weeks ago :D I'm 23. If you go to THIS SITE or THIS SITE you can build your natal chart, which tells where each planet and the moon were when you were born. You can also google natal chart and find a site you like, if you want. In addition, there are sites that explain the elements of your natal chart and the temperament that go along with them.

In my case, my sun was in Sagittarius. Here's the inner conflict. There are 4 types of signs- air signs, fire signs, water signs, and earth signs. We all know about fire and water, right? Sagittarius is a fire sign. My moon was in Pisces----wait for it----a water sign. Every site I've seen has mentioned inner conflict with this combination, and I'm the poster child for inner conflict (well, poster adult now, lol). To add to that, my "rising sign" is Aquarius, an air sign. What a combination to those who believe in astrology!!

For the most part, my planets and stars align in Sagittarius and Scorpio (fire signs), Capricorn (earth sign), Pisces  (water sign), and Aries (air sign). A little bit of everything and a LOT of fire. But, the strange thing is, I'm not a fiery personality, I relate more to my moon sign of Pisces; they are considered to be very emotional and empathetic. The moon sign is the one that, in astrology, is associated with emotions; according to www.astrolabe.com "The Moon represents the emotional responses, unconscious pre-destination, and the self-image.". So, that is a very conclusive sign that I'm nothing like a Sagittarius. Pisces are giving and caring, too, which is something that (I think) I like to associate with myself.

There are a lot of interesting elements in my natal chart that (coincidentally or not) I can relate to, and that describe me very well. That was a look at Western Astrology- Now for a look at Chinese Astrology. If you go to THIS SITE you can figure out the combination of your element with your animal.

I'm a fire Rabbit (does that surprise you? Another conflict?). In fact, one site equates the rabbit with the Western astrological sign of.....Pisces, my moon sign. Isn't that great? Some of the traits- such as the need to avoid conflict, and the varied interest in a billion different things that are unrelated- are dead on. Chinese astrology is a bit more limiting, as it doesn't consider the planetary arrangements, and thereby isn't quite even "astrology".

Now for a turn to Celtic astrology, one that in particular amuses me. I wasn't able to find the site I used to last determine my "tree," but my tree is the Ash Tree. Because they divide the calendar and assign trees to certain weeks, is it merely a coincidence that I was born in the week of the Ash Tree and my parents named me Ashley, which means "meadow of Ash Trees"? Just a tad bit of interesting information, I thought.

There are many types of astrology out there, each with their own methodology of determining signs and assigning them traits. It's kind of fun to know about this stuff, and look at the descriptions, and go "oh my gosh, that sounds like me!!"