Cinderella’s Hearth: Did Cinderella Watch the Stars? By Kate Wolford

Cinderella lends herself to so many situations, it’s no wonder that her story shows up all over the world and is much older than you may realize.

Today, as I idly glanced over a horoscope, I asked myself, would Cinderella have consulted astrologers? Obviously, she would have been too broke to pay for a service like that before marrying the prince, but maybe her fairy godmother had a natal chart drawn up for our heroine and saw the whole story coming. Almost certainly Cinderella would have had a court astrologer after marrying the prince.

Anyway, these stray thoughts got me thinking about my own belief/ambivalence about astrology. The thing is, I’ve never been able to truly get an accurate horoscope cast, because the time of my birth is unknown. I’ve tried every avenue, including trying to buy a long-form birth certificate with no luck. (I never tried to find answers until my parents were gone, so no one knows!)

As you probably know, if you follow astrology, the only way to get a really accurate reading is by knowing the day and time of your birth. I do know that there are people who will do a chart rectification for you, but I don’t fancy giving a stranger the information needed to do that.

So that brings me to belief. I suppose part of my skepticism lies in the fact that I can never know if my horoscope could really be useful to me, because of the birth time conundrum. Also, I must admit that over my 63 years, I’ve seen an awful the lot of predictions based on astrology be dead wrong.

And yet …

I love the stars, the Milky Way, the universe. I’m a sucker for the moon and understanding its pull on our planet. (I even make moon water!) So I’ve often asked myself, Why wouldn’t skies have an effect on events on Earth? We know so little about the universe and our place in it, that people who subscribe to astrology may be on to something.

I also think that if our fairy tale protagonists had had someone telling them “Today is not a propitious day to walk in the forest in a red cloak,” or “Today is a great day to catch a magic fish that grants you wishes you’re going to regret,” they might have avoided a lot of trouble. But then, of course, we wouldn’t have these fantastic stories.

I wonder what you think about astrology. Are you a hardened skeptic? Unsure, like me? A true believer? What’s your sign? I’m an Aquarian, which may account for the unrelenting flow of ideas I have every day not to mention my many eccentricities.

Let me know what you think @fairytalecrone.bsky.social, and keep watching the heavens. They may not influence events, but they still seem as magical as any fairy godmother.

Kate Wolford was the publisher and editor of The Fairy Tale Magazine for many years. She’s now enjoying being Resident Fairy Godmother.

Image from Pixabay