>>> So are you not the star sign you thought you were?
As you may have heard, the old “Has your star sign changed?” chestnut is doing the rounds again. (I am getting barraged with emails about this subject!)
Below is a post I wrote 5 years ago!
Before we get to that, I just want to say, it’s times like this I really miss my old astro-pal, the late, great Jonathan Cainer. In response to this story doing the rounds again, I think he would probably say something like:
“Everyone just calm down, your star sign hasn’t changed! Ophiucus is a furphy, wheeled out by astronomers and scientists from time to time, whenever they want a bit of publicity!”
In fact, come to think of it, I am pretty sure he did once say that on his site and maybe to me personally as well…
>>> So are you not the star sign you thought you were?
Unless you’ve been living on planet Uranus over the past few days, you’ve surely heard this uproar about the zodiac signs you read about in the paper and on the Net, not being in proper alignment with the constellations in the sky.
An astronomer in Minnesota managed to get himself a lot of publicity with this “revelation” – which is in fact, nothing even remotely resembling a revelation but rather just a piece of misinformation that hard up astronomers release every now and then, just to keep the conversation lively. So are you or are you not the sign that you think you are? Don’t panic. You surely are!
The’new’ sign in question, Ophiuchus
Here is the news; humans have been watching the skies forever. The world’s oldest free-standing building in the world, Hagar Quim, and its surrounding temples, on the Mediterranean island of Malta, appears to have been built 5000 years ago, expressly to align with the stars (read Francis Xavier Aloisio’s Islands Of Dream for more info). The structure of Stonehenge, parts of which date back 3000 years, appears to have been built with the lunar cycles in mind. The Great Pyramids of Egypt (c 2500 BC) align with the belt of Orion and the start Sirius. Around 5th century BC, in Babylonia (a country in Mesopotamia) prototypes of what we now call a horoscope began to appear. These earliest astrologers divided the sky into twelve 30 degree divisions, loosely based on the constellations and very strongly based on the seasons.
The Wheel of the Year
The Sun enters the sign of Aries (the first sign of the zodiac) on the March equinox each year – the first day of autumn in the southern hemisphere and the first day of spring in the north. And so the wheel of the year begins. Winter (in the southern hemisphere) traditionally starts when the Sun enters the sign Cancer, on the winter solstice. The entry of the Sun into Libra marks the traditional start of spring Down Under, while the entry of the Sun into Capricorn each December, marks the traditional first day of summer, Down Under. This isn’t just astrology, it’s also astronomy. Take those four cardinal points –Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn – and divide them equally and you have the 12 signs of the tropical horoscope. These points were loosely “decorated” by the constellations thousands of years ago.
However due to what’s called precession of the equinoxes, the points have shifted. So whereas what was once upon a time Aries now is 5 Pisces. However, the division of the circle and its relation to the seasons and equinoxes is what Western astrology uses to dictate your Star sign and for that matter, the sign of all the planets in your chart. And if you think that doesn’t make sense, read on. But before we go further; short answer again. You are still the same Star sign today that you were when you woke up last week, regardless of what some astronomer in Minnesota might be trying to say. (And PS this story get trotted out every ten years or so. I first read it back in the 1990s in a UK paper).
Astrologers always knew that the circle would become “misaligned” with the constellations. That wasn’t the point. Precession of the equinoxes is why we get a new pole star every few thousand years. The Stars were really just a backdrop to the Babylonian concept of the 360 degree circle. As for Ophiuchus, it’s a pure furphy. There is no need for a new sign.
Having said all that
So that’s the official version. And for what it’s worth, I do follow the rules of astrology very carefully when I am writing horoscopes. I was taught astrology very early on by a real stickler who wouldn’t have brooked any personal interpretations. But I am also very much of the opinion that astrology is a mystery. On many levels, the astrological play of the planets is like a symbolic cosmic clock. And as horoscope fans will tell you, it just works. The zodiac is one of life’s mysteries. Just as the Law of Attraction is. I believe we create our own reality. A positive astrological reading could be the best thing that ever happens to you. Even if humans are ruled by the Stars to an extent, ultimately, the Stars are surely ruled by God/dess/the Universe/All That Is. Moreover, we are not the only solar system. Surely it’s hubris to think that Western astrology can understand and decode the entire galaxy let alone Universe? The cosmic messages of our horoscopes resonate with people around the globe every day, in ways that are sometimes hard to comprehend! No one knows how the synchronicity of astrology works. No one has all the answers, least of all astrologers or scientists. Scientists regularly have to admit that the Universe is actually billion of years older or billion of light-years bigger than they thought, see here. We all have a lot to learn.
There is more to life than meets the eye and there are just some things we cannot know! Life’s mysteries are part of what makes life beautiful.
