Astrology: Did your zodiac sign change?

Horoscope addicts are panicking! The BBC among many other media outlets have been talking about this news for the last few days: the sky maps are obsolete and there are, in fact, 13 signs of the Zodiac instead of 12! Say hello to Ophiuchus, a.k.a. the Secretary bird. Its existence would result in moving everything as Pisces would become Aquarius, Libra would be Virgo, and Taurus, Cancer… So, should we believe it or not? Actually, this is an old debate, regularly revisited by the astronomers, who are too happy to offend the astrologists. Except that astronomers and astrologers do not speak about the same thing. So did your star sign change? Here is the answer and the following explanations.

Tropical astrology and sidereal astrology

There are two types of astrology. The tropical astrology and the sidereal astrology, used in Asia, particularly in India. The tropical Zodiac, favoured in the West, refers to the rhythm of the seasons. It gives us a mark of the movement of the earth in relation to the sun. The Greeks established the signs of the Zodiac based on the constellation in which the Sun is on the day of our birth. The solstices and the equinoxes mark the debuts of the season. Spring begins on March 21st, autumn on September 21st. The radiant Leo is connected symbolically to the full summer; the explosive Aries corresponds on the sap rise of the spring; the cold Capricorn, to winter. For centuries, men observed the role of the seasons in shaping the personality of human beings. The astrology is an empirical science made by long-term observations. Instinctively, because we also live on Earth, according to the rate of the seasons, we recognise ourselves in the symbolism of the tropical Zodiac. This is why we do not like the idea of astrology signs changing. A Pisces cannot suddenly feel like an Aquarius, as his/ her astrological sign is a part of his/ her identity.

The other astrology, sidereal astrology, takes into account Ayanamsa, the precession of the equinoxes, which roughly alters the astrology signs. I worked, with an Indian astrologer, Jai Krishan, and we sometimes compared our techniques. In fact, except for the gap of degrees, aspects between planets are identical and the Indian astrology uses the axis of the lunar knots, Rahu and Ketu much more than the tropical astrology. For this reason, I did not continue to use the sidereal astrology, because the differences were not significant enough and because the tropical astrology speaks to me more. Besides, the Hindus also use only 12 constellations, because 12 profiles speak better to them too.

Forget the constellations!

Astronomers speak of constellations, which are a gathering of stars serving to find a way in the sky. But as there are 88 constellations in the sky, there should also be 88 astrological signs! Dragon, Whale, Eagle… But neither type of astrology uses the constellations. We have never heard about 88 signs of the Zodiac! This is the proof that astrology does not refer to the constellations.

The astronomers’ perspective is that, for millennia, the force of gravity which the Moon exercises on the Earth made it ‘oscillate’ on its axis, creating a small gap in the alignment of stars. These oscillations, called ‘precessions of the equinoxes’, are slow: a cycle lasts 26,000 years. When the Greeks established the Zodiac, the constellations and the zones of the ecliptic coincided perfectly. But since Antiquity, the precession of the equinoxes caused a gap of approximately one month between the theoretical sign and its reality in celestial bodies. It is an astronomical reality but the tropical astrology does not refer to the constellations, rather it to the zone of the ecliptic corresponding to the season. It’s as if every constellation had a property in the sky and decided to go to have a walk in the universe; the property is located in a certain place which allows us to determine the astrological sign of each of us on Earth. We are referring to the localisation of the property (localisation of the astrology sign) rather than the owner (the constellation), which actually moved. For this reason, European astrologers use mainly tropical astrology.

Thus, as long as we celebrate the seasons using the same dates, there is no reason to upset our Zodiac profile.

The conclusion

Keep thinking of your astrology sign the same way! Aries are not going to be forced to become Pisces, they really don’t have that profile. And certainly any Gemini – who likes variety, fantasy and change –  would not feel good by being transformed into a Taurus, who is concentrated, stubborn, and only likes stability!

Rosine Bramly