Has your zodiac sign changed?
Astronomer Parke Kunkle says that due to changes in the Earth’s alignment the dates of many zodiac signs have changed, according to NBC.
Kunkle says that as the Earth and Sun slowly move the signs gradually change, as expected.
The 12 signs were designated to different periods of the year almost 3,000 years ago, when astrology first began. Since then, the Earth’s position in relation to the sun has changed.
While the sign many people were born under may now be different, it shouldn’t affect horoscope readings, according to NBC.
But, an assertion in a Minneapolis Star Tribune article that our understanding of the zodiac is off by about a month caused a huge stir on the internet on Thursday and people are in an absolute panic!
If you considered yourself a Libra under the tropical zodiac yesterday, you’re still a Libra under the same zodiac today!
There are two zodiacs and there always has been! The tropical which is fixed to seasons, and which Western astrology adheres to; and the sidereal zodiac which is fixed to constellations and is followed more in the East.
Two zodiacs. That’s nothing new!
“This story is born periodically as if someone has discovered some truth. It’s not news,” said Jeff Jawer, astrologer with Tarot.com.
The hubbub was started by the article in Sunday’s Star Tribune, which said the following: “The ancient Babylonians based zodiac signs on the constellation the sun was ‘in’ on the day a person was born. During the ensuing millenniums, the moon’s gravitational pull has made the Earth ‘wobble’ around its axis, creating about a one-month bump in the stars’ alignment.”
“When [astrologers] say that the sun is in Pisces, it’s really not in Pisces,” Parke Kunkle, a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society, told the Star Tribune.
“Most horoscope readers who consider themselves Pisces are actually Aquarians,” the article reads.
It says Scorpio’s window lasts only seven days, and that a 13th constellation, Ophiuchus, used to be counted between Scorpio and Sagittarius but was discarded by the Babylonians “because they wanted 12 signs per year.”
This is nothing new to astrology. It is true, however, that the sun doesn’t align with constellations at the same time of year that it did millennia ago.
But that’s not relevant for the tropical zodiac which is what is used in Western astrology.
“Astrology is geocentric. It relates life on Earth to the Earth’s environment, and seasons are the most dramatic effect, which is why we use the tropical zodiac,” he said.
This is what were being toted as the “new zodiac sign dates”:
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Capricorn: Jan. 20 – Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 – March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20
