Hi Emily! I'm sorry you're disappointed, but I do hope you'll reconsider. One of the reasons I became fascinated by astrology is because studying it in earnest gave me a new lens through which to view the psyche and my unconscious—a lens that helped accelerated my healing after years of therapy, antidepressants, you name it. I think of astrology as an interpretative art and a language, which gives form to unconscious psychological phenomena—Carl Jung found it quite useful, as did many inventors and scientists we consider geniuses today. You can read here about how more and more therapists are finding value in using these modalities in their clinical work: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/style/therapy-psychology-astrology-tarot-ayahuasca.html

But there is a persisting stigma (which I do understand to an extent, newspaper columns and piecemeal internet articles are not equipped to represent the full scope of the tool; one has to really want to learn about it, and it is a commitment). I go more into popular misconceptions about astrology here, if that interests you. https://gen.medium.com/astrology-critics-dont-even-know-what-they-re-criticizing-69b44c795b4b

One of the things I love about Medium is that there's space for conversations like this; as an open platform, there's room for people to posit ideas that are not widely accepted as mainstream. I know I paint myself in a certain light by seriously engaging with the subject, but I'm OK with that, because it's helped change my life and broaden my perspective, to question my assumptions and recognize my limiting beliefs, and to better understand my gifts, shortcomings, opportunities, etc. If I can tune other people into that, I feel I have a duty to do so. Too many of us are focused outward and find ourselves without purpose, and I think that largely has to do with what we in the west prioritize and consider valuable. There's an over-emphasis on left-brain thinking and an imbalance of feminine-masculine energy in society more broadly, that I think we all suffer from to some degree.

As for your broader point, I hear you that it's hard to identify who's who; it's true that an open platform will require some discernment on the reader's part. We do have a curation team that is on the lookout for content that violates our rules, guidelines for what we consider dangerous content, and an amazing Trust and Safety team that is deeply thoughtful about when and how the rules are applied. You can read more about the rules here: https://policy.medium.com/medium-rules-30e5502c4eb4

If there are particular issues you're interested in, I can recommend some publications that are staffed by career journalists and producing stories I think you'll find trustworthy—at least to get you started. There are many wonderful, independent writers and journalists on the platform that I'm sure you'll discover on your own in time, too.

Thank you for sharing your concern here—I hope you stick around!