Love affairs and friendships may come and go—but our co-workers are who we spend our days with (whether we like it not!). Needless to say, we have a very different relationship with the people we work so closely with, which can border somewhere between knowing all the details of their relationship woes and not knowing what the inside of their house looks like. Although astrology is generally used to dictate affairs of the heart and who our best comrades are, we can also use it as a method to better our understanding of our coworkers. Especially when you’re anticipating a little ~office drama~ or struggling with how to best communicate with your team members.
Looking at basic Sun Sign compatibility can be a superficial level of cosmically connecting—and often doesn’t yield reliable outcomes, as we need to look at the whole astrology chart of a person to make judgements about their personality traits. To understand why we have awkward water cooler run-ins with some officemates and turn others into work wives, we have to delve deeper. And it’s not just about reading your co-workers’ natal charts (plus, there’s no subtle way to ask someone, “So, what time were you born?”), it’s about understanding how the stars and planets are affecting everyone.
Look to astrological trends
Girlboss resident astrologer and host of Ghost of a Podcast Jessica Lanyadoo suggests, “Understanding the current astrological trends, AKA transits, can help you manage your whole life—including your relationship to your work life!” This kind of research can also “help navigate our relationships more effectively.” If there are tense celestial movements, we might be snarky with our colleagues. But, if there’s a lovely cosmic connection, then we might graciously applaud our co-workers who receive a promotion, rather than giving an eye-roll behind their backs.
Lanyadoo adds, “Transits give you a sense of what you, and everyone around you, is likely to be dealing with; for instance, when Mercury is Retrograde (as it will be again October 31-November 20), miscommunications are common, and totally not personal. Don’t use astrology to minimize or pathologize others, but do use it as a resource for better collaborating by understanding yourself and others more deeply.” How can youstay informed? Regularly research the latest transits, read horoscopes daily, and listen to astrology podcasts to understand the current planetary retrogrades and luminaries.
Examine your own chart
Can we really get any tea on our colleagues’ working styles from their astrological charts—particularly whether or not they’ll add major drama to the office? Can it help you predict whether or not your personalities will clash? While there’s no exact formula to accurately predict someone’s attitude while creeping their chart, we can look to our own chart for answers. Hot tip: The sixth house of daily routine also governs coworkers.
According to Annabel Gat, Senior Editor at Vice’s Astrology Guide and author of The Astrology of Love and Sex: A Modern Compatibly Guide, “You don’t need to know anyone’s Sun Sign to get along better with them. Simply studying your own chart will lead you to the self knowledge you need to form better relationships.” While we may be tempted to ask Becky from accounting what her rising sign is, or Chad from HR where his Moon resides, Gat sternly advises to keep the workplace 100 perfect profesh. “Don’t introduce the very intimate art of natal chart reading to someone who you hardly know or who you can’t hold space for in that way,” she says. This means, according to Gat: No astrological readings about coworkers from their chart and no discussing charts during business hours.
Keep astrology OOO (if you can help it)
Astrologer and journalist Janice Williams echoes the earlier sentiments, saying, “At the end of the day, we’re all here to get a job done, and that needs to happen whether we’re on the same astrological wave or not, although I do find it easier to deal with certain people when I personally am aware of their sign…Overall, knowing or not knowing your colleagues’ sign could deter the office environment from flowing productively.”
Our charts, which are a map to understanding ourselves and relationships, hold the key to our relationships with our coworkers. When we look to the stars, we must also look to ourselves to get along with our colleagues.
