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The Occult | Period 1 | Tuesday

Paige arrived early, taking her time to settle in at the desk and make a few notes on some different topics before the class arrived. Nothing too strenuous but it was always good to stay ahead of the game. Once the students filed in, she stood up.

"Good morning," Paige said once everyone was seated and settled. "Glad to see everyone came back for the second class. We'll be getting more into things today so hopefully we won't have any sleepers. Though again, I just ask that you don't snore."

No one needed to hear that.

"Today, we're going to be talking about astrology," she said. "Some of you may know what it is and some of you may now. To put it simply, astrology is the study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs. It's the search for answers in the sky. The easiest example of astrology is horoscopes. Horoscopes claim to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict future events in their life based on the positions of the sun, moon, and other planetary objects at the time of their birth."

She paused for a moment and held up a chart listing the various astrological signs. "Astrology has been labeled a pseudoscience though as it has no validity or explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientists basically said there's no way that the position and motion of the planets and stars couldn't affect those of us on Earth without contradicting basic biology and physics."

She crossed her arms and shrugged. "But, I'm going to guess a lot of the scientists who say those things would be pretty shocked if they ever walked onto an island like this. Just because something is discredited doesn't make it true. Just because someone can't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. Today, the activity is simple. I want you all to take a peek at your horoscopes. Read them and then tell the class if you think they're on the right track or if they have any merit at all. Feel free to share the reasons why, if you'd like. Let's get started."

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With stars in your eyes!

Alec Lightwood

Stiles Stilinski

Celia Bowen

Toby Logan

Isabelle Lightwood

Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar

Anna Korlov

Listen, read, talk to each other, sleep (don't snore), or have a snack. Whatever you'd like.

Sholeh raised her hand, though she still wasn't sure she actually wanted to attract much attention in this class. "Will it still work if you weren't born on Earth?"

Edited 2014-01-14 20:34 (UTC)

Paige considered that. "Do you have a birthday? Or no?"

She never thought she'd have to ask that question of someone.

"Well...sort of?" Sholeh shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "We're--" She coughed, embarrassed by the mistake. "I'm not exactly sure how the months and days line up here compared to home, but I use January 22nd. I was born the twenty-second day of the first month of the new year back home, but we keep a different calendar."

If she'd caught the slip, Paige didn't push it. Not today. She nodded once.

"You're more than welcome to give it a try," she said. "I didn't actually plan for those that might not be Earth born and I apologize for that. But, astrology is generally an invalid study anyway so it probably doesn't work for those that are born on Earth either."

"It's okay," Sholeh said, offering a tentative smile. "It's probably not anything you ever had to worry about before and I don't think I, umm, mentioned it last class."

There'd been all that important hiding behind her hair that she'd been doing, you see.

"But even if it doesn't work for me, that doesn't mean that it's complete hogwash. I might just not have the right date."

"And even if it doesn't work for you, sometimes the horoscopes are good for a laugh," she said easily. "A few times, they're absolutely ridiculous in nature so it provides a good laugh for the day."

Zeela, at least, would be proving her right in a moment. She would find everything highly amusing.

"Maybe I can look up a few," Sholeh said, her smile becoming a little less tentative and a little more genuine. "See if I can't find one that fits. Maybe that one is closer to where I'm supposed to be anyway."

Find your horoscopes (http://www.horoscope.com/), read it and then let the class know if it's right or wrong. Optionally, feel free to let the class know the reasons for the right or wrongness.

Celia was a Gemini, so she read through it quickly and raised her brows.

"I suppose it's true enough," she offered. "But I don't know if I'm the best judge of my own character."

Which, really, was a very Gemini reaction for her to have.

Paige agreed and smiled at Celia.

"What makes you think you're not the best judge of you?" she wondered. "Does anyone else know you better?"

"No," Celia said slowly, "but I think that means my bias is more significant."

She didn't know who else she even would ask.

"It's good that you can recognize that," Paige complimented. "And unusual that a horoscope seems to hold some truth. Most people either find nothing truthful or they rationalize different things in their life just to give them some belief in the written words."

"I don't know," Toby said dubiously. "I mean, I suppose it's possible that a world exists where astrology really does influence people, but most of this?" He indicated the papers with the horoscopes, "like, there are things in all of these that could describe me, depending on how I choose to interpret them."

"That's how most people tend to look at it," Paige said with a nod. "Believers will twist and spin the words until it makes sense when it comes to their lives. It's really how a lot of psychics work too. They tell you vague things and leave it up to your mind to make it right."

She paused for a second. "That's not all psychics though. Some do have genuine abilities." She knew Toby was able to do something but didn't call him out on it. "Though, I don't know if that's due to the position of the stars or something else entirely."

And Toby used his own particular skill to tell people what he knew they wanted to hear. It was something of a self-defense mechanism.

"A lot of people here who can do... stuff... say it's something inherited. So, genetics plays a part for some people," he mused thoughtfully.

Paige nodded. "I can believe that. I think that's where what I can do came from even if manifested late in childhood. The alignment of the stars and planets had nothing to do with it unless I've truly been misled."

Turns out that they were, roughly, Aquarius..es? Aquarii? She had no idea what the plural form of that was.

::This is not the day to do in-depth research of any kind...Your mind is not as focused as it usually is, and it might temporarily be difficult for you to grasp new concepts that you've never encountered before. This doesn't sound right at all.::

=Maybe it's for me,= Zee suggested.

::It's never a good day for you to do in-depth research of any kind,:: Sholeh retorted. ::You hate research.::

*And besides,* Zhahar argued, *it's supposed to be relevant to all of us, not just one of us. Check the other one, Sholeh. The love one.*

Dutifully, Sholeh looked up the Aquarius love horoscope. ::This one says The planetary lineup brings a special encounter in your life. You may not be able predict just where you will meet this person, but be assured that they will be there at just the right moment. What you gain from them may have a powerful repercussion at more than one level, and you will certainly want to meet up with them again very shortly. That doesn't seem right, either. I already have a boyfriend.::

*Yeah, but Zeela and I don't. Besides, it just says a special encounter.*

=Pfft, but I don't want a boyfriend,= Zee snorted. =But I could totally be down for a 'special encounter.' Aww yeah.=

Sholeh was having trouble not rolling her eyes. ::Yeah, well, Zhari and I don't want to deal with 'powerful repercussions,':: she snarked.

=Depends on the type, doesn't it? There are a couple of repercussions I wouldn't mind being of the powerful variety.=

The Mother only knew what kind of faces Sholeh was making through this entire conversation ~~but feel free to comment on them~~.

Even if the girl wasn't talking, she was clearly doing something as evidenced by the way her expression seemed to change. Paige watched her for probably too long a time, trying to figure out what might be occurring.

The aura there was still unusual but not something she could pinpoint either. So, while Paige didn't say anything aloud, she did find herself keeping an eye on Sholeh.

Having Zeela for a sister didn't make it easy to keep one's composure, especially for someone like Sholeh who wore her emotions where anyone could see them.

=You know, if you and Evan ever got past the--Mother's tits, you guys aren't even light petting, you're, like, barely grazing, that's so sad--stage, you could find out if his fancy shape-shifting powers give him advantages to powerful repercussions...=

Sholeh started choking at that, turning bright red in her seat and immediately burying her head in her arms. ::Toby is in this class and he can hear you talking. Why are you the worst person in the history of ever?::

Toby could totally hear you, Zeela.

Annnnd that would be why he was most pointedly not looking over at Sholeh, while also biting down hard on his lip in an attempt to keep from laughing.

"I don't think this is accurate for me," Sholeh mumbled into her arms. "Calling it right now, either I am not an Aquarius or this is all bogus."

She's around before, during or after class, if needed.

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The Occult | Period 1 | Tuesday

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