‘MY HOROSCOPE OBSESSION STOPPED ME MOVING ON FROM A BREAK-UP’

Hiranya De Silva, 24, PR executive, Libra

I turned to astrology in my last year of university after I’d been dumped by a guy I’d been going out with for 10 months. I hadn’t previously been into hippy or esoteric stuff but, desperate to know if we’d reunite, I spent hours looking up the compatibility of our star signs online. My searches revealed that as a Gemini (him) and a Libra (me), we were a perfect match. So how come we weren’t together? I tortured myself with this question, eventually paying online astrologers £30 per half-hour session for answers. They’d ask for the time and place of my birth and use my birth chart to predict my romantic future. The comfort I took from them telling me that we’d be together was enough to get me to part with hundreds of pounds. I didn’t tell friends or family because, deep down, I knew I was clutching at straws. Astrology fed my obsession to the point where I wasn’t able to rationalise my situation – and it probably meant I took longer to get over him. In hindsight, I realise my approach was misguided on two counts: taking advice from random people online without checking to see if they had studied astrology; and taking it all too literally. I stepped away from horoscopes for about a year, but then began learning about astrology from books and reputable astrologers, particularly the way in which it intersects with spirituality. I’m confident that my belief and the information astrology has taught me about my personality (decisive; craves balance; fond of life’s finer things) have led me to the place I’m in now. Stronger, self-aware – and, bonus, happily settled with a new partner.