Astrologer Aliza Faragher, known to most as Aliza Kelly (@alizakelly), is known for her astrology memes on social media, her monthly horoscope column at Allure magazine, her intriguing BuzzFeed videos discussing celebrity birth charts and relationships, and her book The Mixology of Astrology, a delightfully cheeky book of cocktails for each zodiac sign.
BUST sat down with Aliza to discuss her book and gain boozy astrological insights for the holidays, and learn about her current and upcoming projects.
Your book The Mixology of Astrology: Cosmic Cocktails for Every Sign curates cocktails. Which cocktail most represents your personality?
My book features sixteen cocktails for each sign—that’s 192 recipes in total! I wanted to make sure there was truly a drink for everyone, so both astrology lovers and cocktail enthusiasts can find new, fun beverages that reflect the multidimensionality of their person. I’m a Leo, which means I’m playful, performative, and dramatic. For fellow lions, cocktails are more than just boozy beverages—they’re also chic accessories, so drinks need to look as good as they taste. My personal favorite is the classic Piña Colada, because it’s one part delicious and one part fabulous.
Which cocktail would you serve for the holidays?
There are so many wonderful winter cocktails, but one of my favorites is the Brandy Alexander, which can be found in Capricorn’s chapter. A luxurious blend of cognac, dark crème de cacao, and heavy cream, the Brandy Alexander is a decadent, velvety treat that’s perfect for holiday season indulgence.
What’s your next book, Starring You: A Guided Journey Through Astrology, about?
I’m so excited to share Starring You with the world! It’s a book for tweens—young adults between the ages of 10 and 14 who are going through life-changing transformations. Astrology provides an incredible language to help understand yourself, so I wrote Starring You to help readers explore the full range of their experiences as they move through life’s most challenging moments.
Why did you decide to write Starring You?
Going through puberty sucks. Everything is shifting, hormones are raging, and it’s hard to feel comfortable in your own skin. Personally, my early teen years were extremely tough. Looking back, I truly believe that my experiences could have been mitigated if I had an understanding of astrology during that time. Fundamentally, astrology is a practice in empathy and self-love. Astrology gives us permission to be exactly who we are, celebrating all the complexities, nuances, and conflicts of our unique spirits.
Your other forthcoming book, Love Signs: Your Perfect Match Is in the Stars, is about compatibility. What is the most important thing about comparability?
The most important aspect of romantic compatibility is understanding yourself!
What inspired you to discuss celebrities’ charts in your BuzzFeed videos?
Celebrities are characters in our modern-day mythology. The same way our ancient ancestors gossiped about Zeus, our society loves to sip the tea about public figures. I love archetypes, and celebrity culture offers a common language that helps us understand personality attributes.
Which celebrity’s chart is your favorite?
My favorite celebrity charts are obviously the ones that resemble my own. Lucille Ball is one of my idols, and she is also a Leo sun and Capricorn rising, so I feel a deep connection to her.
Why is astrology important for everyday life?
Astrology helps us understand the incredible multidimensionality of our experiences. By studying the planets and stars in the sky, we can see the world through a much more empathic lens. Each person has a unique cosmology, and through astrology, we learn that all our individual universes are eternally intertwined. It’s extraordinarily beautiful.
Would you consider yourself an empath? Why?
Oh, yes, I’m a serious empath. I’m a highly sensitive person, which makes it easy for me to see the world through different sets of eyes. This makes me very compassionate, but I struggle with boundaries. This is something I work on every day—especially now that, as a professional astrologer, I develop very intimate relationships with my clients. Over the years, I’ve adopted some techniques that help me create energetic thresholds. Little things like dialing into a conference line for phone readings instead of using my personal number, or setting up an online booker on my website so I don’t have to manually schedule everything has profoundly improved my quality of life.
How do you connect your work as a writer and astrologer?
I studied art history in college, which taught me how to communicate abstract concepts in digestible ways. I love that astrology blends science and mythology, and I try to incorporate these elements into my work as much as possible. I think it’s important that my clients understand that their natal chart is an actual snapshot of the sky at their moment of birth, but how the planets are interpreted is the craft of an astrologer.
Top photo courtesy Aliza Kelly Faragher
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