The Sun’s actual position in the sky (correct) Here’s where and when astrologers pretend the Sun is in the sky, thereby defining what most people think their birth star sign is: Here’s what astrology says happens in the night sky, which are the basis of its line-of-sight “insights” into the moods and fortunes of humans: The Sun’s position in the sky according to astrology (wrong) Sadly, as well as ignoring Ophiuchus, the dates assigned to star signs by astrologers are wrong. There are 12 signs of the zodiac according to Western astrology-which literally means the “circle of animals”-but 13 constellations that the Sun travels through each year:Īries, Taurus, Gemini (where the Sun is presently), Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. It was merged into Sagittarius and Scorpio.
The Babylonians divided the ecliptic-the apparent path of the Sun through the sky-into twelve 30° sectors and assigned each one equally to one of the twelve constellations or “signs” that intersected it.ġ3 was considered an unlucky number, so one of the constellations was dropped from the mythology-the massive constellation of Ophiuchus. It’s a belt of “animal” constellations across the sky either side of the ecliptic where the Sun (and the planets and the Moon) appear to move through.Īncient Babylonians, and many other civilizations before them, observed what the Sun was apparently doing, but unfortunately for us they hugely over-simplified what they saw. The result? Not only your horoscope, but your star sign-as meaningless as that is-is completely wrong. The Sun is not even in front astrological star signs when horoscopes say they are, not only because the boundaries are badly defined by astrology, but because Earth has precessed in the last 3,000 years (more on that below).It’s way, way in front of the background stars. anything? Besides, the Sun isn’t “in” anything. How can the apparent (not actual) positions of the Sun, planets or the Moon-according to an imaginary line from Earth to the Sun and beyond-have any affect on. Western astrologers believe that line-of-sight observations affects people’s lives.There are a few key things you need to know about astrology: However, it’s not just old science that diverged from astronomy-a modern observational science-around the 17th century. Specifically, the science of the ancient Babylonians that lived in Mesopotamia in present-day Iraq and Syria about 3,000 years ago. They’re best completely ignored.īut let’s not be any more harsh on Western astrology than we need to be. If you want to annoy an astronomer, call them an astrologer. Then you can go find Ophiuchus in your night sky tonight and wax lyrical about the wonders of precession and the beauty of zodiacal light.
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