Believe it or not, Broadly turns three today! Yes, we're a Leo. It's been a lovely and wild three years of learning and growing alongside you, our wonderful readers. We've brought you stories that have made us laugh, cry, fume with anger, and ponder our futures through an astrological lens. And because you all have proven so devotedly loyal to our horoscopes and astrology content at large, we've decided to finally and formally introduce you to the woman behind it all: our incredible staff astrologer Annabel Gat.If you read our site, you're probably already very familiar with Annabel, who has told you all about your astrological relationship to weed, what to do when your relationship is doomed, and how to handle every retrograde and eclipse—on top of writing both our daily and monthly horoscopes and an advice column called Dear Annabel! Yes, she's a legend.We interviewed Annabel on her three year anniversary of writing our horoscopes, so that you all could get to know the woman behind your beloved daily and monthly astrological predictions. In case you're wondering, she's an Aries.BROADLY: How did you first get into astrology?
ANNABEL GAT: I always loved astrology, but I got my first very own personal astrology book the summer before fifth grade, the weekend that Princess Diana died. I will never forget that weekend. I spent that entire year obsessed with astrology. I was very into it in like fifth, sixth, and seventh grades, but then in high school I was very skeptical. Then, when I was 19, I went to a ghost hunting meet-up and while I was there I was like, "You know what? It's time for me to accept my fate: I just love paranormal shit!" I stopped trying to be this skeptical, scientific person and followed my heart and my interests, even if it meant people might make fun of me. I ended up going to an astrology meet-up and I loved it so much.Did you ever think it could be a career?
I thought of it more as an interest or a hobby until I met my teachers, Anne Ortelee and Mark Wolz, at 21. When I saw it was their careers I was like there's no reason why this shouldn't be mine!I know you studied astrology very formally and rigorously, can you talk about that?
I am an Aries and Aries people tend to rush through things and they often don't finish what they start. That's been true for me in many ways, and it wasn't until I found astrology that I found something I could stick to. I studied it with many different teachers for many years, and I decided I wanted to get certified because within the astrological community that's one way to show everyone else how committed you are and that you have a certain standard of knowledge. The test is extremely difficult. I think it's six hours long. It's so hard that most people don't pass anyway. I took this test the same way I took the SATs, which is that I didn't study for it once. I felt like this is going to be a reflection of my knowledge and if I don't do well, [then] I deserve to fail, and if I do well, [then] I'll know it's because this knowledge is already within me. I'd studied astrology for 10 years—there was no more studying I could do. So I took the test, and I was the first person done. I think I left an hour early and I was, out of 25 people, one of five who passed.What were you doing before you were writing our horoscopes?
Before I was writing horoscopes for Broadly, I was a consulting astrologer for clients who were interested in learning more about their natal chart. I also wrote articles about astrology for MTV News. Broadly's editors had heard about me through the Brooklyn occult scene. I came in knowing what I wanted to do: I knew I wanted to do something daily—something that people could connect with every single day in the morning—and I knew that I wanted to have really long-form monthly horoscopes because that's what I liked reading.What's your process like for writing horoscopes?
I take a look in my calendar to see what planetary aspects are going to take place and I outline them for usually the whole month, so I can really see how everything is going to unfold. I like knowing the big picture, so when I write the little picture stuff it makes a little more sense, it's part of something greater. I'll outline everything, and I really focus on simply translating what the planets are doing. I don't rely on my intuition too much for the horoscopes because I think what people love about astrology is that it's not a psychic reading. It's metaphorically talking about the moon in a certain sign and what that sign means. People like those little factoids. Over the years, what has changed is that I have inserted a little bit more of my intuition, but I always make sure it makes sense in the context of the big picture astrologically.How is your process different for the monthly horoscopes?
For the monthlies, I will take a look at the entire year and while I don't write a yearly horoscope, I do like to look at the whole year and just sort of see the big picture. So I have a sense of what's going on in the entire year and I always do outlines first. What's really important to me as a writer and an astrologer is to read books that have nothing to do with astrology and to read articles that have nothing to do with astrology because keeping your mind varied and fresh helps you drop in anecdotes into your horoscopes that are actually relatable, fresh, and different. No matter what you're writing about, if you just spend your entire time immersed in that subject, you're going to hit creative blocks really quickly.What have you learned in the past three years?
Prior to writing horoscopes, I wasn't really into horoscopes. As an astrologer and someone who studies birth charts, for much of my astrological life I was like, why would you read horoscopes when you can just look at your entire birth chart? But as I started writing more, I realized that there can be immense value to horoscopes if they're written by someone who really cares. The thing is, horoscopes should be a guide about what's going on in the cosmos tailored to a sign, and there are so many ways to do that while still respecting that there's more to a person's birth chart than just their sun sign. Once I realized that I became really excited about the prospect of writing horoscopes because I really wanted to show people how horoscopes could be more than just fluff. The other thing I've learned is people love being dragged just as much as they love a forecast, and that people become very dependent on their horoscopes.What's your favorite part of communicating with our audience through horoscopes?
I think anyone who's a writer loves writing because we love connecting with people. I love hearing feedback from people and knowing that I'm part of people's routine and ritual every day. It's so rewarding and it brings so much meaning to my life. When you bring so much fun to so many people around the world—if I find myself feeling sad, it's hard to get too lost in it because I just remember that people fucking love the horoscopes. I think the best thing about my job is so many people love and appreciate it and that just feels so rewarding. It just keeps me going.
That I love them so much and throughout all of the highs and lows of life, knowing that people appreciate my work is the most satisfying thing anybody could ask for and I'm eternally grateful. I feel so incredibly blessed. When I'm writing my horoscopes, I spend the majority of my time thinking about how much I love [our readers] and that I am sending them blessings as I write it. I put my entire heart into it, and I hope everyone who's reading it feels good and has an okay day and is going to be fine.What else do you have going on?
I have a love, sex, romance, and compatibility astrology book coming out fall 2019, it doesn't have a name yet. I also have a sex and spirituality podcast called the Serpent Cast.
Advertisement
ANNABEL GAT: I always loved astrology, but I got my first very own personal astrology book the summer before fifth grade, the weekend that Princess Diana died. I will never forget that weekend. I spent that entire year obsessed with astrology. I was very into it in like fifth, sixth, and seventh grades, but then in high school I was very skeptical. Then, when I was 19, I went to a ghost hunting meet-up and while I was there I was like, "You know what? It's time for me to accept my fate: I just love paranormal shit!" I stopped trying to be this skeptical, scientific person and followed my heart and my interests, even if it meant people might make fun of me. I ended up going to an astrology meet-up and I loved it so much.Did you ever think it could be a career?
I thought of it more as an interest or a hobby until I met my teachers, Anne Ortelee and Mark Wolz, at 21. When I saw it was their careers I was like there's no reason why this shouldn't be mine!
Advertisement
I am an Aries and Aries people tend to rush through things and they often don't finish what they start. That's been true for me in many ways, and it wasn't until I found astrology that I found something I could stick to. I studied it with many different teachers for many years, and I decided I wanted to get certified because within the astrological community that's one way to show everyone else how committed you are and that you have a certain standard of knowledge. The test is extremely difficult. I think it's six hours long. It's so hard that most people don't pass anyway. I took this test the same way I took the SATs, which is that I didn't study for it once. I felt like this is going to be a reflection of my knowledge and if I don't do well, [then] I deserve to fail, and if I do well, [then] I'll know it's because this knowledge is already within me. I'd studied astrology for 10 years—there was no more studying I could do. So I took the test, and I was the first person done. I think I left an hour early and I was, out of 25 people, one of five who passed.What were you doing before you were writing our horoscopes?
Before I was writing horoscopes for Broadly, I was a consulting astrologer for clients who were interested in learning more about their natal chart. I also wrote articles about astrology for MTV News. Broadly's editors had heard about me through the Brooklyn occult scene. I came in knowing what I wanted to do: I knew I wanted to do something daily—something that people could connect with every single day in the morning—and I knew that I wanted to have really long-form monthly horoscopes because that's what I liked reading.
Advertisement
I take a look in my calendar to see what planetary aspects are going to take place and I outline them for usually the whole month, so I can really see how everything is going to unfold. I like knowing the big picture, so when I write the little picture stuff it makes a little more sense, it's part of something greater. I'll outline everything, and I really focus on simply translating what the planets are doing. I don't rely on my intuition too much for the horoscopes because I think what people love about astrology is that it's not a psychic reading. It's metaphorically talking about the moon in a certain sign and what that sign means. People like those little factoids. Over the years, what has changed is that I have inserted a little bit more of my intuition, but I always make sure it makes sense in the context of the big picture astrologically.How is your process different for the monthly horoscopes?
For the monthlies, I will take a look at the entire year and while I don't write a yearly horoscope, I do like to look at the whole year and just sort of see the big picture. So I have a sense of what's going on in the entire year and I always do outlines first. What's really important to me as a writer and an astrologer is to read books that have nothing to do with astrology and to read articles that have nothing to do with astrology because keeping your mind varied and fresh helps you drop in anecdotes into your horoscopes that are actually relatable, fresh, and different. No matter what you're writing about, if you just spend your entire time immersed in that subject, you're going to hit creative blocks really quickly.
Advertisement
Prior to writing horoscopes, I wasn't really into horoscopes. As an astrologer and someone who studies birth charts, for much of my astrological life I was like, why would you read horoscopes when you can just look at your entire birth chart? But as I started writing more, I realized that there can be immense value to horoscopes if they're written by someone who really cares. The thing is, horoscopes should be a guide about what's going on in the cosmos tailored to a sign, and there are so many ways to do that while still respecting that there's more to a person's birth chart than just their sun sign. Once I realized that I became really excited about the prospect of writing horoscopes because I really wanted to show people how horoscopes could be more than just fluff. The other thing I've learned is people love being dragged just as much as they love a forecast, and that people become very dependent on their horoscopes.What's your favorite part of communicating with our audience through horoscopes?
I think anyone who's a writer loves writing because we love connecting with people. I love hearing feedback from people and knowing that I'm part of people's routine and ritual every day. It's so rewarding and it brings so much meaning to my life. When you bring so much fun to so many people around the world—if I find myself feeling sad, it's hard to get too lost in it because I just remember that people fucking love the horoscopes. I think the best thing about my job is so many people love and appreciate it and that just feels so rewarding. It just keeps me going.
What do you want our readers to know about you?To Get Your Horoscope in Your Inbox, Sign Up for Our Newsletter
That I love them so much and throughout all of the highs and lows of life, knowing that people appreciate my work is the most satisfying thing anybody could ask for and I'm eternally grateful. I feel so incredibly blessed. When I'm writing my horoscopes, I spend the majority of my time thinking about how much I love [our readers] and that I am sending them blessings as I write it. I put my entire heart into it, and I hope everyone who's reading it feels good and has an okay day and is going to be fine.What else do you have going on?
I have a love, sex, romance, and compatibility astrology book coming out fall 2019, it doesn't have a name yet. I also have a sex and spirituality podcast called the Serpent Cast.