Astrologer: the preferred title
It's time to add astrologer as a professional title.
Astrologist or Astrologer?
Recently, The Astrology Podcast released an episode on the usage of “astrologer” vs. “astrologist” as a personal designation for practitioners of astrology. If you haven’t listened, check it out here. The gist of the episode was this: most astrologers prefer the term astrologer and astrologist is usually a tell that an individual is being disingenuous in some form. It could be an uninformed skeptic discussing astrology, or a person scamming others under the guise of providing astrological services. However, social-media corporations do not allow for the title of astrologer, only astrologist.
I’d like to talk about this from an anthropological perspective.
If I were an anthropologist interested in conducting an ethnography of astrologers and wanted to encapsulate what being an astrologer consisted of, I’d learn the basics. What do they call themselves? What is an appropriate label to call someone who practices astrology? And, at what point does one transition from being interested in astrology into being an astrologer? How does this differ from being an astrologist?
Professional and amateur astrologers alike prefer the term astrologer. More often than not, those who use the term astrologer are doing so to provide a signal to others that they are a genuine part of the astrological community. There are other ways to describe your relationship to the astrological community: astro-enthusiast, astro student, astro-mage - to name just a few.
Social media corporations are pushing the term “astrologist”, when the in-group phrase is by and large “astrologer”. To be clear: in the episode, Brennan and Schaim clarify that they are not speaking to astrologers who prefer the term “astrologist”, but moreso to social-media corporations, and are questioning why they do not allow for an “astrologer” option. By using the out-group title of astrologist, it highlights how social-media companies didn’t quite do their research when adding in occult-related terms.
One of the crux grievances I have about the term “astrologist” being used by social-media companies is the fact that astrology is becoming big. Astrology is experiencing a resurgence and renaissance. Various companies are using astrology in its advertising campaigns. It seems like they’re skimming off the top of astrology - using its aesthetics and associations with pop-astrology to generate revenue and sales (though, perhaps not for much longer), while simultaneously not acknowledging the preferred designation by the community.
Astrologist comes off as science-y. Biologist, socioligist, psychologist are all titles that denote someone is an expert in a field that involves research. So, I could see the argument for those who prefer it. But also, within the astrological community, the term gives the connotation of someone who is not actually all that knowledgeable in the field of astrology. It’s a little bit of a paradox.
Presumably, though, that is how social-media companies chose the title of astrologer. They’d heard of many -ists in various field, and assumed the same for astrology. Though, it’s not necessarily clear why and how social media companies chose astrologist over astrologer.
There are many questions an anthropologist would ask regarding the nature of what an astrologer prefers to call themself. The answer they would come to is this: the majority of those who practice astrology prefer the term astrologer. Astrologist has its place, but why is it companies that decide that astrologist is the default title? The astrological community should be able to choose its own titles.
Interestingly, my friend Amanda (@MadMaxFlapper on twitter), a linguistic anthropologist, pointed out to me that tattooers seem to have this issue as well. Their preferred term is tattooer, while those not in-the-know for tattoo lingo will say tattooist. She also noted that the suffix -er denotes someone who does something. Colloquially astrologers will say they’re doing astrology, and this can mean a myriad of activities: consultations, astro research, translations of old texts, and observing transits. To practice astrology, one must do something.
Ultimately, why does this matter? It’s kind of like being called the wrong name. Maybe your name is Laura, and an acquaintance keeps calling you Lauri. Is it a big deal? Yes! Your name is a part of your identity. For many astrologers, professional or otherwise, astrology becomes a part of you. It takes a lot of time and dedication to become proficient and fluent in astrology. There aren’t main stream methods of study; it’s not as if you can enroll in a degree program at a state school for astrology. One must seek out the information - it takes a degree of dedication. There’s a certain amount of astrology that becomes embedded in your identity once you begin your studies. Having the wrong title used after putting all the time and energy into learning and becoming a part of the community is disappointing.
My goal with writing this piece is to increase the conversation around using the widely preferred term astrologer. If the astrological community would like to see the title added, we need to apply pressure to these platforms to incorporate the terms we prefer to use. Astrologist doesn’t have to go away, astrologer just needs to be added.