Astrology and horoscope reading is a popular mode of entertainment around the world, however many who practice in the West do not actually understand it - or realize that Western Astrology is and was only ever meant for entertainment. Despite the fact that the stars and celestial bodies have moved over the past couple millennia, that the calendar has changed several times, and that different cultures have different interpretations, the modern astrological and spiritual community can't even agree on how many Zodiac signs there are. Current followers of Astrology have been pre-programmed to believe there are only twelve: because there are twelve months of the year, and twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the "theme of twelve" becomes instilled early on. While both modern Astrologists and even NASA have confirmed there are indeed thirteen signs, many practitioners still believe there are only twelve, while a smaller group believes there are actually fourteen. The problem further grows when presented with the fact that the constellations themselves have physically moved and changed, thus making current Western horoscopes incorrect and obsolete. If going about it only for humor and entertainment, then it is virtually harmless, but many people believe in these horoscopes and model their entire lives and existence around it. This is why they become so offended when one informs them they are not actually the star sign they thought they were.
How Do Horoscopes Work?
The basic idea is simple: whatever star constellation the Sun is passing through at the moment of your birth is your Zodiac sign. This is your physical undeniable sign - you can't change the location of the stars. If the Sun was not physically passing though Aries when you were born, then you are not Aries, no matter what mainstream media might tell you. So if that can't be argued where does the debate come in? The main division seems to come between the physical actual zodiac, and the symbolic traditional one.
The current twelve-sign horoscope has been around a long time - nearly three thousand years. Originally starting in Babylon, the location of the stars and planets were recorded and the plan for Astrology was plotted out. Western Astrology evolved from that ancient Babylonian Astrology, however it hasn't been modernized much. So the current list of months and dates corresponds to the placement of the stars thousands of years ago, however due to an event called "Precession" that combines multiple factors made up of the Earth's orbit and wobble, the movement of stars, and disappearance and appearance of stars and celestial bodies, the sky has changed. This was again recently reconfirmed by NASA. There are still even more factors that contribute as well, but the bottom line is that what the Babylonians saw in 2500 BCE is different from what can be seen now. On top of everything changing, everything in the sky also shifted by about 30° between then and now. This would translate to about 1/12th of the Earth's total 360° yearly orbit, meaning that everything shifted by about one month. However, the Sun does not change location, as our entire galaxy revolves around It. So that means the Sun is now "passing through" different constellations at different times than it did back then when the Babylonians recorded it. For true Spiritualists who depend on the actual physical placement of the stars, then an updated Zodiac is necessary. While modern Western Astrologers have updated horoscopes with the correct dates, it still has yet to take hold in the mainstream.
How Else Did Western Astrology Change Things?
In ancient traditional Astrology, there were deep spiritual interpretations tied to the placement of the stars and planets. When the Western World got ahold of it, they began to change and simplify things. A lot of this was due to the combination of uneducated and illiterate people of the time as well as pompous kings and noblemen wanting Astrologers to predict their futures. Astrology was never meant for this purpose to begin with, but we'll discuss that later..
Traditional Astrology was based on the actual signs in the sky. Naturally, some signs were bigger or smaller than others, thus creating different lengths of time for each Zodiac sign. When being brought to Europe, it was simplified by reducing the number of signs and splitting the sky equally into twelve sections, regardless of how big or small the original star sign was. This is known as the Tropical Zodiac, and what is still currently used in mainstream media. While this form of a Zodiac seems easy to manage and calculate, it poses a lot of physical issues. Such as with the size of the sign, what may have been originally a smaller sign, only lasting a couple-week period, thus signifying a special or rare event, has now been expanded to a four-week sign, making it less significant, and also now overlapping into the next sign's original time period. By now the twelve-month calendar had taken on in the Western World, so that was also taken into consideration. In this iteration, the thirteenth sign was dropped for the above reasons, and also because of superstition, believing that thirteen was an evil or unlucky number. In the spiritual world however, thirteen is one of the most magickly powerful numbers, and in everything else there are thirteen houses in the sky. The signs have correlation with the houses, so eliminating a sign caused a lot of theoretical and practitional issues among the spiritual community. By now, Western Astrology has become so far disconnected from its roots that many followers will argue that the actual constellations have nothing to even do with the star signs anymore. Even the word "Zodiac" is incorrect, although we've been using it in this article all along as well. A true Zodiac is the cycle of life represented through animals, whereas Western star signs are not all animal.
Can Astrology Predict Things About Me?
No. Astrology was never meant to tell you about your love life or whether or not you will prosper. These were inventions by European kings and noblemen who wanted their fortunes told. Fearing for their lives, Astrologers would make up false readings and connect fake omens to please their boss. Later on, other forms of Astrology and reading the skies would come about for those purposes, but in reference to this article, the common horoscope as we know it was never meant for personal divination.
The original purpose of Astrology was to predict events and happenings, not personality traits or emotions. For example, Astrology could predict a happy event happening around you, but it can't predict that you personally will feel happy. Events such as famines, storms, war, and fertility were all predicted using traditional Astrology, it was later in the Western World that all of those little definitions and personality traits were invented. Because of superstition at the time, this practice took off. Now modern Astrology may say that someone who is born under a certain sign may be "brave" or "loyal", but upon closer inspection most of these characteristics are interchangeable and could apply to anyone in some aspect. And, of course, the sky has changed anyway, so even if the definitions were correct the dates are still wrong.
Either way, Astrology does not, and can not, predict an individual's characteristics or personality. This makes 99% of mainstream Astrology false, but because there is an entire industry and all of its unknowing followers behind it, it will never go back to it's pure or intended form.
So What Are the Correct Dates and Signs?
The common Tropical Zodiac that was adapted from the Babylonians gives these signs and dates:
Aquarius: January 20 - February 18
Pisces: February 19- March 20
Aries: March 21 to April 19
Taurus: April 20 - May 20
Gemini: May 21 - June 21
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
The new updated Zodiac as confirmed by NASA, including the thirteenth sign should be:
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
Capricorn: Jan 20 - Feb 16
Notice how in the updated list, some signs are different lengths than others. That's because this depicts the true amount of time the Sun is passing through that house, rather than a generic parameter given for easy math.
Does it Really Matter?
Yes, for the most part. For true spiritualists and Astrologers, to help preserve the integrity and longevity of the practice, the updated Zodiac should be put into place. Especially for those who conduct rituals or put other faith in the placement of celestial bodies, it is absolutely important that the current system be updated. Although to be fair, those who already know are already following the new system anyway. Some argue that it doesn't matter where the stars actually are, that it's all symbolic, but that defeats the whole purpose of Astrology to begin with. For those who just read their horoscope for entertainment value and don't put much stock in it, then it really doesn't matter overall. However, wouldn't one rather know the truth? It also could help save from potentially embarrassing or other conflicting situations down the road, knowing the difference between the Tropical Zodiac and what your true star sign actually is. To delve deeper into Astrology, one should consider looking into Chinese and Hindu Astrology, which is more true and accurate to the current skies.
To basically sum this up, most of Western society has been duped into believing a fake astrological system. And most are so far bought into it that they refuse to believe or accept that it is fake, or at the very least severely out of date. Astrology was never meant to predict one's future to begin with, but even if it had the sky has changed and moved, so all of that old information is now incorrect. It is not often that actual scientific data can help back up a spiritual topic, but even with some of the world's top agencies confirming the movement of the sky and additional constellations, people still remain stubborn and close-minded to the idea. Most actual spiritualists however understand the need for being open-minded, and at least accept the possibility of this other system, and some even follow both Zodiacs. But for the majority of mainstream fans, and even some of the part-time and fair-weather spiritualists, it is a hard concept to grasp, partly because one would have to admit they were wrong all their life. One should not be ashamed though, even this writer spent the first half of his life believing he was Sagittarius, although he never truly felt or identified with it.
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