Aaron Vehling

Don’t be afraid to admit it. A lot of people read their horoscopes in the newspaper. Sometimes it’s the first thing they do when they get up in the morning. And sometimes, they believe them.

But astrological counselor Cathy Zornes said there is more to our signs than what is written in the daily horoscope.

“You’re not that simple,” Zornes said Saturday during her presentation “Astrology: Beyond the Sun,” at L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, 400 Eau Claire St.

The sign you read for your horoscope is your sun sign, she said. Other things, such as biological, psychological, era, sociological, cultural and personal experiences also shape who we are.

Astrology is science- and math-oriented, she said. The latitude and longitude of where one was born, and the date and time of birth are important in calculating one’s natal chart.

She began with a diagram of the solar system. The zodiac belt is the farthest ring away from the sun.

“All planets affect some part of you,” Zornes said. “All 12 signs have what we call a planetary ruler.”

Your sun sign and the moon influence your behavior depending on where the planets are in relation to the sun. For example, Leos are ruled by the sun, which deals with developing one’s sense of identity. One of the characteristics of a Leo is the need to learn to love themselves, or else it’s hard for others to love them. This reinforces the idea that everything is interrelated, she said.

This information is key when creating charts for people, she said. It used to take Zornes hours to make a chart, but now she can do it in 10 seconds using a computer program.

Zornes also discussed the characteristics of each sign and their compatibility with others. The signs are grouped by the elements (earth, air, fire and water) and by modes (cardinal, fixed and mutable).

“Air fuels the fire, fire scorches earth, air ripples water and water nourishes earth,” Zornes said. Signs in the air and fire groups can get along, as can those in water and earth. It is more difficult for signs in the fire and earth group to get along, but it can be done, she said.

Zornes became interested in astrology as a teenager. It became her life-long passion, she said. Zornes teaches classes and workshops for personal and business clients. A chart can be made for anything – even a new business, she said.

Senior Trever Hagen attended the program. He said he thought it was interesting because he didn’t realize how much one’s sign can influence a person. He said he plans to explore astrology further after attending the program.

Shu Cheng, who organizes programs at the library as a service to the community, heard about Zornes in The Edge magazine. She contacted Zornes to mix up the types of programming the library sponsors.

“It helps to serve part of the population that hasn’t been served before,” Cheng said, adding that these programs tend to bring in people from out of town and those she hasn’t seen before.

All of the programs are free and are held monthly in the fall and spring. Every June they sponsor an outdoor concert. The library’s budget pays for the expenses.