Does Astrology Trump Graphology In Describing Personality?

47 Responses to “Does Astrology Trump Graphology In Describing Personality?”

1. Becca says on 8/8/08 at 6:18 pm:
   

   Since becoming a supervisor at work I’ve had to sign a lot more paperwork and I’ve actually been grumbling lately that I need to develop an autograph instead of a signature. But my signature, and my handwriting generally, remain stubbornly legible.

   At least, I think they do. I had a coworker complain that she couldn’t read my writing, and I was quite hurt. She tried to make me feel better by saying she can’t read anybody’s handwriting: another consequence of typing all the time!

   I’ve got Mercury in Libra, in the middle of my stellium in that sign.

2. Jilly says on 8/8/08 at 6:20 pm:
   

   Mercury Sextile Pluto and Venus, trine Chiron, and Conjunct Neptune and I have OOOOGLY handwriting. Illegible, and frankly kind of disturbing.

   If I want something handwritten, that does not look like psycho wrote it, I have my husband write it for me.

3. satori says on 8/8/08 at 6:26 pm:
   

   I think I have rather pretty handwriting and I used to have a legible signature. however, I always liked the look of a stylized signature, one where it’s recognizable if you already know the name but not so much if you have to guess. so I consciously adopted that style. I like it.

   mercury in pisces.

4. joana says on 8/8/08 at 6:42 pm:
   

   My handwriting is very neat and simple, which matches my Mercury in Capricorn in the 10th. My signature is very clear as well and I’m sagittarian-honest

5. joana says on 8/8/08 at 6:44 pm:
   

   I such also add that I love handwritting, grabbing a pen is like a therapeutic process to me, unlike stubbing fingers at computer keys, which I hate. (you wouldn’t think so, cause I’m always here lol)

6. Claire says on 8/8/08 at 6:47 pm:
   

   I have a nice eligible handwriting but I rarely write these days as I much prefer to use a keyboard. It makes things easier with online transactions i.e. paying your bills and also sending e-mails to friends and family, etc.

   I have an Aquarius ascendant - with a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in this sign - the high tech - and astrology - sign.

   By the way, did you know that graphology is ‘recognized’ in France as a valid character profile method to help track potential murderers or other cases - and is widely (and openly) used in court cases…?

7. s says on 8/8/08 at 6:54 pm:
   

   My signature has always been a little on the flashy side, but it’s legible (Aries Moon/Cap Merc). My handwriting has almost always been noted as very distinctive and good, so eventually I began training myself in formal calligraphy. I LUURV calligraphy, love finding that exact balance within the gesture to create a beautiful form. Love to look at it, too! Love words as art. Practicing it is a bit like meditation for me–if I haven’t had too much caffeine that morning! AND I’ve made a bit of money off of it here and there, but few people are willing to pay what the time for that kind of artistry requires. Alas, life with a small child is not charitable toward such hobbies. But tomorrow is another day, yes?

   Merc. in Cap/Mars in Libra(in the 10th)

8. Becca says on 8/8/08 at 6:58 pm:
   

   Joana, I keep handwritten journals because I find the physical process of writing so soothing. And I just seem to think better with a pen in my hand.

9. s says on 8/8/08 at 7:01 pm:
   

   PS–I’ve studied graphology a bit, too. While I wouldn’t say that graphology will tell as much about a person as astrology (transits are the trump card there!), a good graphologist can glean much about personality from a handwriting sample–even if the sample is someone’s attempt at copying a form manuscript, like at school. But that’s where it stops, I think. At the personality level.

   I once heard that Brown University required students to hand write their entrance essays because a graphologist looked at them. Most likely an urban legend.

10. Elsa says on 8/8/08 at 7:12 pm:
    

    For the record, I have a lot of respect for handwriting analysis. I just think to judge from a signature is definitely going to give lousy result.

    Further, in the case of someone like me who never ever writes… I have not written more than a person’s address (which I would print) in at least 10 years…. well I think this would skew the result.

    I mean you either use a sample from 10 years ago or you have write something now and I can barely form letters anymore. Hand writing is just something I have abandoned.

    Not that I won’t relearn the skill if necessary…

11. kashmiri says on 8/8/08 at 7:15 pm:
    

    My earliest memories of cursive writing involve me learning much earlier than every kid in my class (I had perfect printing by 8, and was writing by the time I was 9). Since everyone ‘needed to be at the same pace’, I was strictly forbidden to write until grade 4.

    Then it was forbidden to print. It was highschool before I got to write (actually, print) like I wanted.

    I had many gals in highschool compliment, and then emulate my printing style.

    My handwriting was the only thing I was envied for, actually…no one envies being pimply and poor and this side of ugly (aww….poor lil kashmiri, lol)!

    I write a lot for my job (hand written call slips for a very big courier company) and I am always offended when asked to explain something i’ve written!

    Ass for my signature, it’s morphed greatly over the years and I’ve gotten routinely into trouble for not having the same signature…I swear it’s different every time. Having a 10 year British passport sucked, my signature when I was 19 was impossible to copy when I was 25, and as it was my own form of picture ID for most of a decade I was called on it by everybody (being refused to cash travellers cheques was a highlight).

    I guess I can attribute this to Mercury opposed Uranus!

12. kashmiri says on 8/8/08 at 7:16 pm:
    

    Oh yeah, and my ass is my signature too, LOL. Nice typo!

13. Jilly says on 8/8/08 at 7:21 pm:
    

    I’ve read that some schools are not teaching kids how to write cursive anymore.

14. Elsa says on 8/8/08 at 7:23 pm:
    

    Well they are also not teaching them math and science, at least not in this country (US). We are now ranked 23rd in math and 25th in science scores. In other words, we’re a bunch of idiots.

15. kashmiri says on 8/8/08 at 7:32 pm:
    

    Really???? That’s so crazy they wouldn’t teach kids that!
    (BTW joana I love your writing, it’s very cool!)

16. ebay says on 8/8/08 at 7:45 pm:
    

    My mercury is in the twelfth conjunct mars I don’t know what that says. I thought it would mean my handwriting be ugly, but I think it’s rather neat. Then again my Gemini says sometimes it’s neat and sometimes it’s not. Mercury also in cancer says it depends on how I feel? Maybe I get this a little more than I thought.

17. june says on 8/8/08 at 7:58 pm:
    

    I still handwrite, but it’s mostly for notes. I have trouble focusing when I’m typing sometimes since all of the characters are exactly the same and need to physically write something out in order to see what I’m trying to say.

    I’m not sure how to describe my handwriting. It changes depending on the type of pen and what I’m writing. I print all of my letters, but they run into each other in places, especially when I’m in a rush, so it does have an odd appearance of half-cursive, half-print. If I had to write in actual cursive, I’d never write again. I can’t even read cursive without seriously stressing out my brain.

    I once wrote a note for someone in a hurry, and they told me my handwriting looked “gothic”. Not sure what that means.

    My mom, sister, and my sister’s daughter all have the same ugly handwriting… very little variation. It’s so weird. My dad writes in almost all capitals, with vertically narrow block letters… what the hell.

18. june says on 8/8/08 at 7:59 pm:
    

    Oh yeah, and the astrology… no idea. Mercury in Gemini, 9th house, trine saturn, wide trine mars/ascendant.

19. SaDiablo says on 8/8/08 at 8:15 pm:
    

    What an interesting topic! I love it!

    I like to think my handwriting is big, bold, (Leo Merc) and distinctive (conjunct Leo sun) while being legible (conjunct Virgo Saturn), but in reality it morphs all the time depending on the variables (trine Neptune).
    Interestingly enough, like s. I’ve also studied calligraphy, although not formally. I wonder if that’s a Saturn/Capricorn thing?

20. kashmiri says on 8/8/08 at 8:24 pm:
    

    June I don’t know why it made me laugh out loud thinking of your family’s writing! Your Dad’s especially! Ha ha!
    My dad still writes my name incorrectly when he writes me cards, it is spelled with a ‘C’ and ‘I’ and he’ll write ‘K’ and ‘Y’. It’s soooo silly…then again Uranus (weird) is in my 10th (Dad) opposing my Mercury!

21. Loonsounds says on 8/8/08 at 8:59 pm:
    

    “By the way, graphology if you sign your name legibly then that means you are honest.. guess the same thing applies with email addresses…”

    I have no idea what would make someone put forth a theory like this? It’s a bunch of HOOEY! Who created this theory anyway, I’m betting it was someone with beautiful handwriting and no other skills to brag about.

    I guess there are no “honest” physicians, probably the only people with nice legible signatures are the evil lying politicians, but of course that isn’t true either.

    The astrology chart will show handwriting tendencies if anyone should think it’s important, but I don’t see why anyone (past grammar school) would, given that its legibility (or lack thereof) is meaningless as far as major traits like “honesty.”

    Now I’ll click the link to see what was said about e-mail addresses, that might be some other bizarre theory which is not based on actual research.

22. Sargon the Magnificent says on 8/8/08 at 9:03 pm:
    

    My money is on astrology.

23. Loonsounds says on 8/8/08 at 9:07 pm:
    

    The theory is a bunch of HOOEY. Hopefully my post on this topic will show up because I think it is totally important that no one be judged on something like handwriting.

24. wyrdling says on 8/8/08 at 9:09 pm:
    

    when i had to initial things countless times a day my signature became a scrawl… I emphasize the capitals and try to make sure all the lines are there but i don’t care if it’s legible….

    mercury opposite uranus square saturn. trine ascendant.

    science teachers have great job security in this country. something about demand far outpacing supply… maybe because a professional scientist can make a whole lot more money.

    math is similar.

25. Charlotte says on 8/8/08 at 9:34 pm:
    

    Pisces Mercury and I have never in my life had a consistent handwriting style but I looooove trying out different styles. A graphologist would say I was either unsure and confused about myself or a psycho killer. I always try to be so neat and fluid but usually I revert back to all-over-the-place and cramped. In highschool I had people ask me to write out things for them they loved my handwriting so much. My history teacher actually said “Charlotte’s in-class essays are my favorite to read, she just ha the coolest handwriting.” I don’t know what it was but I want it back!

    I think graphology is pretty neat and I’ve studied it a bit. I disagree that handwriting has no “transit” equivalent as you can really tell what someone is going through in their life by how they write something. Examining the little things, like how the hooks on Gs, Js, Ys morph or become more choppy or pointy through time or how they are connected to other letters, or how they aren’t or how high the crossing line on Ts are. uarenteed when you’re feeling confident, your crossing lines and dots over Is and Js gets higher as well. Or vice versa. It’s one of those things, the more you study it the more there is to learn.

26. Heather says on 8/8/08 at 9:36 pm:
    

    On the subject of education…here in Texas they do not teach cursive handwriting anymore…it’s not on the TAKS(a standardized test) so not deemed important. My son had to learn anyway because his teacher this year couldn’t stand their printing and his writing is so much nicer. My dad teaches AP Physics and actually got reprimanded for teaching nuclear physics because it wasn’t on the TAKS and the principal thought my dad was wasting his time. Geesh louize! I teach underground…like letter writing skills. Not on the TAKS, but I’m thinking someday these kids might need to write a business letter that didn’t end thanx u r gr8.

    And my handwriting is so unattractive my maid of honor at my wedding wouldn’t let me address any of the invitations. But like Becca, I handwrite all my journal stuff…it just feels better as if all the emotion is exiting through my pen.

27. Loonsounds says on 8/8/08 at 9:48 pm:
    

    I think handwriting is a lot like painting or art. Some people have a knack for it, for making things pretty, others can’t draw for beans. Same as singing. People either can sing beautifully, cannot carry a tune whatsover, or something in between. But you can’t link ability to draw, sing, or write nicely to character traits such as honesty.

28. goddess says on 8/8/08 at 10:02 pm:
    

    my handwriting is reasonably attractive and legible (merc in virgo - it communicates) but my signature is illegible. I developed the stylized signature when i signed a whole bunch of charts every day and now it’s mostly a scrawl.

29. Dina says on 8/8/08 at 11:13 pm:
    

    I always thought neat handwriting meant you were boring and organized, the Hufflepuff of the group. I had a little prejudice against girls’ intelligence/individuality when they had bubble handwriting. I couldn’t help it. I’ve always had super messy handwriting that I’ve slowly tamed, but I’ve glorified in the weirdness (Aquarius Rising) and it definitely changes with how I feel (Mercury in Cancer). I was always proud when people pointed out my messy handwriting.

    I mean, this is Paris Hilton’s handwriting. http://abbymims.blogspot.com/2007/06/um-things-i-thought-you-should-see.html

30. Sonia says on 8/9/08 at 3:39 am:
    

    Loonsounds, I think the idea is that if someone takes the time to write their signature legibly at the bottom of a letter then that does say something about them, they’re kind of saying they have nothing to hide, here I am. Graphology was much more important when people used to write. I don’t think it works so well now.

    It is true they use graphology a lot in France. Whe I was looking for a ob in Paris I had to handwrite all the application letters, all the companies asked for it. I can see why though, in an age when you an print 100 application letters in half an hour a handwritten letter lets the recruiter know you’ve made some kind of effort for the company. And you can take one look at a handwritten letter and see if someone is meticulous and organised or flamboyant and extrovert.. you don’t even need to be a graphologist to do that!

    I have Sag ASC so my signature is very Sag honest and my handwriting style is large and bold..

31. s says on 8/9/08 at 7:57 am:
    

    TAKS aside (TAKS sucks), the loss of penmanship skills means we are losing an opportunity to develop certain fine motor skills in young people. But more than that, the practice of penmanship exercises parts of the brain that govern visual-motor processes and spacial discrimination. In plain English, when we eliminate teaching skills like penmanship and then reduce (or eliminate) art, we are cutting little brains off from powerful lessons in observation and replication. What does art or penmanship have to do with your future doctor? A lot. The success of science (or astrology, for that matter) is in the power to see what IS there, not what is expected to be there. The power to slow down and look for detail, the power of discriminating observation–the power to catch the thing you didn’t expect.

    Don’t expect “keyboarding” to do that for your kid.

32. Elsa says on 8/9/08 at 8:12 am:
    

    “…we are losing an opportunity to develop certain fine motor skills in young people.”

    s - that’s an excellent point. It just seems loss on top of loss on top of loss and not to be dramatic but:

    It seems to me the end of our (US) civilization as it’s been for a couple hundred years.

33. wyrdling says on 8/9/08 at 9:01 am:
    

    kashmiri- my signature does all kinds of silly fluctuations, too must be the mercury/uranus.
    nobody’s called me on it, though.

    it’s really mood sensitive, in my case- i can tell how i’m feeling based upon what comes out of my pen (but my moon’s in aquarius, so it’s tied up in that uranus/mercury thing, too.)

    …the fine motor thing is sad… though i hated being told how to shape and form my letters and being graded on it. (angle and tilt and making everyone’s writing look like everyone else’s.) that’s nothing compared to a family member of mine with dysgraphia (fine motor control deficiency) which made homework miserable for him until he was diagnosed in his junior year and allowed to use a laptop for writing assignments. and his english teacher told him he was “too smart to have a disability”!!!

    then again, i have to badger high school students to not pull out their calculators for simple computation (multiplying single digit integers, for example.)

    fine motor skills can be developed in other ways… particularly through art. but it’s not like we fund that all too well, either!

34. kashmiri says on 8/9/08 at 9:07 am:
    

    Sonia–interesting note about France (my friend, a French teacher, told me this), handwriting IS a very big deal there, and in the education system children are (were? no idea if this still stands in 2008 in all schools) taught to write in the same way…
    this is also true for other European countries.
    Very, very similar groups of handwriting in different places.

    I’ve also noted (as I work with handwritten docs. all day long) when I receive things from asian clients (I know they are; I speak to them on the phone) written in english, their handwritten seems to be very uniform as well.
    I wonder if this is because if you write in Mandarin, for example, the emphasis isn’t on your style–it’s on writing the character correctly. It only makes sense this would carry on to a 2nd language.
    (And I never have to ask ‘What does this say?” of a client who has learned English as a second language).

35. Loonsounds says on 8/9/08 at 2:52 pm:
    

    Without a doubt, the smartest kid in my elementary school classes had the most illegible handwriting; he was always being called out on the handwriting, which was very hard to read. Yet a friend of mine who was an artist with a beautiful and obviously legible signature made a steady stream of C’s and D’s and was always trying to cheat of me on tests. In fact she got me in trouble (got us both in trouble) by doing her little cheating thing when I didn’t realize it.

    Physicians are notorious for their illegible signatures and their brilliance, and I think its pretty much the opposite with lawyers who, most of them, make flashy and/or perfect signitures. Everybody knows that lawyers are rightly reputed to be major liars and physicians not so much.

    If anything I would guress that there is a correlation between high intelligence and terrible handwriting including signiture.

    Assessing ones honesty based on the legibility of their signature is a form of discrimination with judgmental overtones and that is why I take such a strong position, Sonia.

    As to the fine motor training, beautiful handwriting can no more be taught than artistic natural talent or melodic singing voice, and to suggest that people who write poorly don’t take the same amount of time and care as people who wrrite well is another judgment call which I think is wrong and dangerous.

36. Sonia says on 8/9/08 at 3:19 pm:
    

    Mmm, think John Hancock. When he signed the Dclaration of Independance he did it with the clearest and biggest signature he could. He was making a statement, saying, “Here I am, this is what I believe in and I’m not afraid to put my name to it.” That’s being straight.

    It just wouldn’t have had the same effect if he had put an illegible scrawl, would it?

    I think that’s the idea, nothing to do with how beautiful a person writes..

37. Elsa says on 8/9/08 at 3:30 pm:
    

    “It just wouldn’t have had the same effect if he had put an illegible scrawl, would it?”

    Sonia - I agree with you. My signature says, “I have total contempt for being forced to sign my name”. ::smiles::

    Mars Mercury, what can I say?

38. Loonsounds says on 8/9/08 at 4:06 pm:
    

    I am talking about legibility. Good example of a politician.

39. joana says on 8/9/08 at 4:45 pm:
    

    S - I completely agree and feel the same way about handwriting and guess what - I’ve got Merc. Capricorn/Mars Libra too, except it’s my Mercury that is in the 10th.

    Becca - I agree wholeheartedly.

    Kashmiri - did you find my handwriting clear enough? Sometimes I think so but my mother comes behind me and asks: what is this letter?! Is this an A?! No way.

40. kashmiri says on 8/9/08 at 4:50 pm:
    

    Yes, I did!! and I missed the post office AGAIN today! bleh!

    I wonder if the capital A is a Mars in Capricorn assertion? lol

41. llama says on 8/9/08 at 6:56 pm:
    

    My handwriting or cursive starts out neat, but quickly turns into scrawl. The letters start to get big and the writing gets crooked. My Mercury is conjunct Saturn in the 12th. Maybe it starts out serious and then disappears into the ethers?

    I also attribute this to keyboarding.

42. Loonsounds says on 8/9/08 at 7:48 pm:
    

    I relate to this handwriting problem as described by llama. I believe that it is linked to the affliction of Mercury by Saturn. In my case I have Mercury/2nd Saturn/8th in 8th with a 3 degree orb mutually applying opposition. There are such major inconsistencies in my signiture that (when I wrote my mother a check for 10 K) the bank wouldn’t clear it until I called them.

    Inconvenient and totally astrology based, as Mercury is also combust by the Sun, which gives it two strikes just for starters.

43. Loonsounds says on 8/9/08 at 9:05 pm:
    

    Also, my mercury is weak by both sign and house.

44. Foxxy says on 8/11/08 at 9:06 am:
    

    This is interesting to me because I read a bit about graphologyin highschool.

    My merc is in Capricorn, cnj my sun and square Jupiter and Saturn.

    I usually sign casual notes with just my first name and its usually big and legible (Jupiter sq BIG! and the cnj sun). Formal notes I sign first initial last name, and the legibility goes down even when I try to write clearly. Partially because aside from the first initial it tends to be smaller and restricted/restrained . . Saturn.

    Despite my best efforts I am told that almost all of my correspondence is illegible.

    In grade four my teacher made up these dry erase handwriting things so that I could practice making my letters ‘correctly’ and refused to mark anything I hand wrote.

45. Naresh Kokal says on 11/28/08 at 9:06 am:
    

    Folks, i am from india, and follow vedic astro. 3 house is for documents communication lower brain etc. Planets in 3rd, 3 lord point to H W. Signature is comm. about yourself to the world. 3, Lagna(1) can be considered. Karak for writing is mercury and for self (ego) sun. All these planets should point to nature of H W. Graphology can be justified on the grounds that 3 is also lower brain. BTW my vedic chart is Cancer asc. jupiter in 1 , mars in 3, ketu 4, moon 5, sun merc 6, venus 7, saturn 9, rahu 10. Dob 7.1.67, 20.30hrs, 19n00 72e52.

46. Reality says on 11/28/08 at 11:08 am:
    

    Hmmm how does this relate to being a really bad typist ?

    Or I always write in huge big letters but it was something I started doing because everyone in the family where glasses and if you write small they can not read it.

    Now it is a habit…

47. Reality says on 11/28/08 at 11:09 am:
    

    Gees wears glasses

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