Your Deepest, Darkest Fears, According To Your Zodiac Sign
Everyone's afraid of something.
weheartit “Phobia” is the ancient Greek word for “fear.” More specifically, in today’s lexicon, it refers to an irrational fear: something that you can’t bear to even think about, a situation that gives you an anxiety attack even when your logical mind is telling you that there’s absolutely no reason to worry. An uplifting horoscope can't even help.
Under normal circumstances, a little fear can be healthy. It keeps us aware of dangers and helps us make safe decisions.
A true phobia can really ruin someone’s ability to enjoy life, though. Just imagine a hydrophobe (someone who’s afraid of water) at the beach — this person can barely take a bath without getting the shudders, and here they have an entire ocean to contend with. They’ll miss out on sailing, swimming, and even pool parties.
Just because something makes you nervous doesn't mean you have a phobia. You might not like the little spider on the ceiling, but a true arachnophobe wouldn’t be able to stay in the same house with the creature.
(Personally, I like spiders, and with my agoraphobic tendencies, I’m perfectly happy staying in the house with them.)
Psychologists have named hundreds of different kinds of phobias, and some of them seem pretty weird. Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) has been a big topic these days, with all the scary clowns showing up in movies and TV shows.
But why would anyone have turophobia — a fear of cheese? Or geniophobia — what’s so scary about chins? On the other hand, I think we can all relate to the modern-day condition called nomophobia, the fear of being without mobile phone service. (Yikes!)
Every zodiac sign has its own “flavor” of energy, and we seek out people and experiences that reinforce that energy. If someone is going to develop a real phobia, their sign can sometimes indicate what kind of energy would interfere with their own, and predict what they’re most likely to avoid.
So, here are the zodiac sign phobias and what they absolutely fear the most.
ARIES (March 21 - April 19)
Thaasophobia: Fear of being idle or bored
Aries is a sign of action and movement. They can’t stand staying still for very long. If there’s nothing going on, Aries gets jittery and anxious. They’d rather go explore a dangerous place and stir up trouble than just sit around waiting for the action to come to them.
TAURUS (April 20 - May 20)
Peniaphobia: Fear of poverty
Taurus craves earthly comforts: money, luxurious surroundings, valuable possessions. The driving force behind Taurus’ goals isn't simply a love for the finer things in life, but a genuine terror at the very idea of not having enough.
GEMINI (May 21 - June 20)
Isolophobia: Fear of solitude, being alone
Gemini has a lot of nervous energy to begin with. They need an outlet, and as this is the sign of communication and speech, that means connecting with other people. A Gemini left alone too long starts to feel like she’s going to explode if she can’t find someone to exchange ideas with.
CANCER (June 21 - July 22)
Autophobia: Fear of abandonment
Cancer is shy and emotionally vulnerable, so they don’t let a lot of people in to share their deepest feelings. It’s hard for them to trust anyone but their closest friends and family.
When Cancer does form a strong bond with someone, their greatest fear is that that person will go away, leaving a big empty space in their hearts that they don’t know how to fill.
LEO (July 23 - August 22)
Athazagoraphobia: Fear of being forgotten or ignored
Leo loves being in the spotlight, but they don’t just enjoy the attention — they need it. Their self-image is based on how their audience reacts to their daily performances.
Of course Leo (usually) prefers praise and applause to criticism and confrontation, but any reaction is better than no reaction at all; playing to an empty house is Leo’s greatest nightmare.
VIRGO (August 23 - September 22)
Antaxophobia: Fear of disorder
Looking for an efficient and organized partner for your next project? Get a Virgo on board. But be warned, they can be inflexible micro-managers.
Neurotic Virgo can’t stand to see anything out of place, and will spend all day making sure the spreadsheet columns are perfect and offering “helpful” critique to everyone else who falls short of perfection.
LIBRA (September 23 - October 22)
Cacophobia: Fear of ugliness
Libra is known for their love of beauty, but this isn't limited to physical attractiveness. “Ugliness” can also refer to conflict, negative energy, and imbalance, all of which give Libra a stomach-ache and an urge to either fix the problems or get far away from them.
SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21)
Aphenphosmphobia: Fear of intimacy
That’s an odd fear to ascribe to sexy, sultry Scorpio. But there’s a difference between sex and intimacy, and Scorpio draws a line between those concepts that few can cross.
Scorpio guards their secrets carefully, burying them deep beneath their cool exterior, so it’s going to take more than good sex to convince them to trust you enough to forge a real bond.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 - December 21)
“FOMO”: Fear of Missing Out
There’s no Greek word that corresponds here, but FOMO is a common term that describes Sagittarius’ main worries perfectly: what if something even more fun is going on somewhere else, and I’m not there to experience it?
Sagittarius is always looking for the next adventure. If they give into this fear, they’ll never stay in one place long enough to really enjoy anything.
CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19)
Atychiphobia: Fear of failure
Serious, goal-oriented Capricorn puts so much effort into making their dreams a reality that they often dedicate their entire lives to one idea, if that’s what it takes.
Capricorn is a rationalist — they’re aware that life isn’t fair and not everything is going to succeed, even if you do everything right. But if Capricorn fails, they may have wasted years of effort, and the thought makes their blood run cold.
AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18)
Koinophobia: Fear of being ordinary
Aquarius is, by nature, the most eccentric sign of the zodiac. They know it, they love it, they use it to their advantage.
But sometimes, for a sign that’s associated with heroic humanitarianism, they seem to be trying too hard to separate themselves from the rest of the humans. Aquarius’ independent streak makes it hard for them to even think about blending in with the crowd.
PISCES (February 19 - March 20)
Aporripsiphobia: Fear of rejection
There’s no official Greek term for this fear in the psychology books, so I coined this one. No one likes to be rejected, but Pisces’ need to form emotional bonds with others makes it especially important to them.
Pisces reaches out to people with all their heart, and when someone refuses the connection, it can cause them nearly physical pain.
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Trudi Mentior is a writer who grew up in Great Falls, Montana, where she spent her formative years wondering just what might be beyond those vast plains, on the other side of those distant mountains.