Before you ask a new acquaintance who he is according to his zodiac sign, or answer the same question, remember this: your zodiac sign was determined in accordance with the position of the sun relative to the constellations as much as 22 centuries ago!
Astronomy and astrology
The science that created astrology undoubtedly had its roots in astronomy, but the two disciplines should not be confused. Astronomy can tell you the position of the stars in the sky, but only you can decide and believe in how their position and ratio affects your life, love and financial situation.
Read this article if you want to make sure that all horoscopes are lying to you, and your zodiac sign was most likely determined incorrectly.
Constellations of the zodiac
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The ecliptic, or the path of the Sun, observed from the surface of the Earth, passes through the constellations that have formed the zodiacal circle familiar to us: it begins in the constellation Aries and ends with the constellation Pisces. Modern astrologers, along with their colleagues, have decided throughout history to miss the 13th constellation, which is also located in the path of the ecliptic: Ophiuchus. The horoscope does not mention it, as do most of the astrologers who compose it.
Babylonian astrologers, and later the Greeks, initially determined the zodiac sign depending on which constellation the Sun was in on the person's birthday.
Early astronomers watched the Sun pass through the zodiac signs over a period of one year, spending about a month in each. Thus, they calculated that each constellation extends approximately 30 degrees along the ecliptic.
The elements
The ancient astrologers grouped the 12 signs of the zodiac according to the classical elements. The elements explain certain traits of a person's character and are interpreted together with the signs of the zodiac, as well as the position of the Sun, Moon and known planets, to compose a horoscope.
Classic elements include:
Fire - Sagittarius, Aries and Leo (spontaneity, impulsivity).
Water - Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio (creativity, emotionality).
Air - Gemini, Libra and Aquarius (agility, a tendency to intellectualize feelings and emotions).
Earth - Virgo, Capricorn and Taurus (calmness, constancy).
However, the phenomenon known to astronomers as the anticipation of the equinoxes, or precession, changed the position of the constellations in the ecliptic and led to a change in the constellations of the zodiacal circle.
The first zodiac circle
The first day of spring in the northern hemisphere was once marked by day zero of the zodiac. Astronomers call it the vernal equinox, and it occurs when the ecliptic and astronomical equator intersect, which occurs around March 21st.
Around 600 BC. e. zodiacal zero was in the constellation Aries and was called "the first moment of Aries." It is this constellation that spanned the first thirty degrees of the ecliptic; Taurus occupied the next thirty degrees of the sun's path; then there were Gemini. Each of the 12 constellations of the zodiacal circle occupied thirty degrees of the ecliptic. It is not clear only where Ophiuchus went.
Precession and astrology
Unbeknownst to the ancient astrologers, the earth's axis changes its direction all the time, about once every 25,800 years. This wobble, called a precession, is caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and partly the sun.
Over the past two and a half millennia, this wobble has caused the intersection between the astronomical equator and the ecliptic to move 36 degrees along the ecliptic westward, toward the border of the constellation Pisces and Aquarius. This means that the signs of the zodiac have shifted by one tenth (or almost an entire month).
For example: people who believe they are Aries are most likely Pisces. Currently, from mid-March to mid-April, the sun is outside the constellation Aries.
The "real" zodiac sign
According to the clarified boundaries of the constellations, the amendments introduced by the displacement of the earth's axis and taking into account the thirteenth sign of the zodiac, the zodiacal circle today looks quite different from what we are used to.
Most likely, taking into account the anticipation of the equinoxes, your zodiac sign is different from the one whose horoscope you are carefully studying in the newspaper or waiting in the morning shows. And if you were born from November 29 to December 17, you are Ophiuchus, and your zodiac sign has never appeared and will not appear in the horoscope.
Check your "real" zodiac sign based on the current path of the Sun and compare it to the date still used by astrologers. It will be interesting for you to know that Gemini, familiar to everyone, for the most part, is Taurus - these are two signs of the zodiac, which the usual horoscope describes as radically opposite people to each other. If you firmly believed that you were born under the sign of Capricorn and were proud of it, then you will be disappointed: in fact, you are a Sagittarius!
Hope Chikanchi