Yes, you read that right...in addition to all those nifty and nice New Year's resolutions you've made (and possibly already broken) you also get a whole new horoscope! Well...maybe, the debate is still ongoing on this one...
But yes, we all know our signs...or we did if they actually manage to change things on us. And by they I mean the Minnesota Planetarium Society.
Horoscopes as we know it today:
Aries: March 21 - April 19
Taurus: April 20 - May 20
Gemini: May 21 - June 20
Cancer: June 21 - July 22
Leo: July 23 - August 22
Virgo: August 23 - September 22
Libra: September 23 - October 22
Scorpio: October 23 - November 21
Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21
Capricorn: December 22 - January 19
Aquarius: January 20 - February 18
Pisces: February 19 - March 20
This makes me a Taurus. But if what is being said is true and the Horoscopes actually change, I won't be a Taurus any more but instead an Aries.
The Horoscopes of Tomorrow:
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. 23-29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20
So why change now? I mean WTF? Right?
Astrological signs are determined by the position of the sun relative to certain constellations on a person's day of birth. These positions were determined more than 2,000 years ago so that nowadays the stars have shifted in the night sky so much that horoscope signs are nearly a month off. This shift is caused by precession, the wobble in the Earth's axis caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon to the Earth's equator.
We're just now hearing about this thanks to Minnesota Planetarium Society board member Parke Kunkle who just happened to mention to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the gap between the astrological and the astronomical view. Of course this being the Internet, there's wildfires and the quickness of spreading going on. Funny enough, this isn't breaking news...it's actually old news.
Apparently around 280 B.C. there was an known astronomer named Aristarchus of Samos, perhaps you've heard of him? Yeah me neither..but I only dabbled for fun in the whole astro fields for awhile. But this known astronomer recognized and assessed the movement of precession and I guess just decided not to let the head of the astrology department know that things change....
Scientifically speaking: The Earth is a wobbly top that as it rotates, its axis swings in a circle, pointing in different directions. As the Earth's position shifts so does our perspective of the night sky.
Example: The North Pole Polaris so called because its the star most closely aligned with Earth's North Pole. But when the great pyramids were constructed, the star that aligned with the North Pole wasn't Polaris but a star in the constellation Draco called Thuban. In 12,000 years, Earth's North Star will be Vega the brightest star in the constellation Lyra.
What that means: It will be another 26,000 years before I'm a Taurus again. Not sure I can wait that long and there's no guarantee I'll get my old sign back either.
The good news: There's no evidence the stars have anything to do with peoples day-to-day existence. A study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences used data from more than 15,000 people and found no relationship between date of birth and personality...this was back in 2006. Be that as it may, 25-30% of us still believe in it according to a recent Pew survey.
Did you notice the newly re-added Ophiuchus sign? This constellation is located near the celestial equator and is typically depicted as a man wrangling a serpent. No, not his own serpent...I don't think... anyway, Ophiuchus means serpent-bearer in Greek; The different characters from Greek mythology that Ophiuchus is thought to represent are Asclepius the healer, Trojan priest Laocoon who was killed by sea serpents and Phorbas who saved the people of Rhodes from an infestation of serpents. This sign is already found in the Sidereal Zodiac used by Jyotish (or Hindu) astrologers. Sidereal Zodiac is based on the moving Zodiac that we should have been using all along apparently instead of the fixed Zodiac we have been using in Western astrology. This poor sign was discarded by the Babylonians two millennia ago because they wanted 12 signs per year not 13. So what does this mean for those falling under this sign? Well, those under the Ophiuchus sign seek higher education and enlightenment and are expected to achieve a high position in life (like a doctor much like Imhotep of the 27th century BCE Egypt) and is an interpreter of dreams and vivid premonitions and is envied by their peers and favored by their father and authority figures. (much like the biblical Joseph). Fun Fact: The Asclepius and the Caduceus (the medical staff that represents all things medical) are based on this constellation.
Part of the debate being tossed around is that this new horoscope only effects those born after 2009 also that this does not effect the western world (despite the western world being the only ones who use the fixed zodiac) and that the zodiac depends on position of the sun and stars at the time of birth and not at the Earth's movement.
I don't live by the horoscope and like I mentioned earlier I slightly dabbled in both astrology and astronomy (and archaeology but that's a different story) so I understand the big deal all this is making and just why people are up in arms about it. Personally I think of it as growth. We all change as we age, why not have our sign change with us? I mean yeah okay it is a little silly since apparently I was suppose to be born an Aries not Taurus and I've always considered myself a Taurus at heart but I've added traits to myself knowing or unknowingly so perhaps I am more like an Aries than a Taurus now anyway or some strange mix of the two. I just don't know and possibly will instead when asked my sign (cause unlike our horoscopes that opening line never changes) I'll say "I'm an Arirus." This will hopefully kill two birds with one stone...one showing the guy who actually asked me this question that there are other things beside my sign I am interested in and that I don't take myself too seriously...no matter what an Aries is suppose to be!
If you would like to learn more about this new Horoscope just Google or Bing 'New Horoscopes' and have fun reading! I only got about 125,000,000 results....lol Not bad for the "news" being out for only three days. It was released Thursday January 13 2011
And if you are one of the many who are having a personality breakdown over this, have a cuppa and take a deep breath. You're still the same person you were a few days ago. Nothing is going to change that but you.