It’s old news, but it probably went viral this time because of social media. The dates of the zodiac used for telling horoscopes that so many people in the Western world follow are completely off! Astrology has been using a system that has been constantly changing for 3,000 years so that it’s about a month off now. But now that the world knows about it, what are people going to do about it? An explanation and some things to consider follows.

The Babylonians invented the zodiac system about 3,000 years ago. They noticed the sun passed through 13 constellations of the many they had mapped in the night sky. Passing through is a visual perspective as the Sun does not literally pass through any of the constellations. That needs another whole article if you don’t get that so I’ll pass given it doesn’t have relevance here. Yet, despite the 13 constellations the Sun looks to pass through, the Babylonians opted for 12 in creating the zodiac system we know today. Guess trisdekaphobia, the fear of the number 13, has been around for a while. The Babylonians left out Ophiuchus, with the Greek name given later to be the “serpent-bearer”, that is placed between Scorpio and Sagittarius.

So the zodiac system was a sham from the start. More of a sham was the roughly equal time division throughout the year for the 12 signs. The sun spends a little time in some constellations while grazing them, and takes a long time to pass directly through the middle of others.

Finally, there is the constant changing of the Earth’s rotational axis. The Earth spins like a top while traveling through space. However, that top is constantly wobbling due to the gravitational pull of mostly the Sun and the Moon. Think of being in a spinning chair that wobbles so that your perspective of everything changes a bit as you look in the same direction while spinning and wobbling. The original zodiac was created from a certain perspective the Babylonians had on Earth of the Sun passing through the zodiac, which is what determines your sign. As your perspective changes with the wobbly axis, the Sun passes through these constellation a little differently. That wouldn’t matter too much if the Earth actually just wobbled like a top on a floor, but it wobbles in such a way that it would turn upside down in 26,000 years, relative to how it is now. So every so many years, the days of the signs under which people are born actually changes, and if you waited long enough, your sign would be the opposite of what it would be today (across the zodiac circle as you often see drawn out with the 12 signs)!

Problem is nobody in astrology has cared to account for any of these changes, or the accurate initial settings, for about 3,000 years and now, their old sign chart dates are hopelessly off! They have actually been way off for several thousand years but never did much to tell you and admit their mistakes. It’s all been a sham!

The proper (not new!) dates of the zodiac are:

Constellation   Dates                # of Days
Sagittarius	Dec 18 - Jan 18		32
Capricorn	Jan 19 - Feb 15		23
Aquarius	Feb 16 - Mar 11		24
Pisces		Mar 12 - Apr 18		38
Aries		Apr 19 - May 13		25
Taurus		May 14 - Jun 19		37
Gemini		Jun 20 - Jul 20		31
Cancer		Jul 21 - Aug 9		20
Leo		Aug 10 - Sep 15		37
Virgo		Sep 16 - Oct 30		45
Libra		Oct 31 - Nov 22		23
Scorpius	Nov 23 - Nov 29		 7
Ophiuchus	Nov 30 - Dec 17		18

Unfortunately, I doubt people who follow their horoscopes, seriously or not, are going to give up their horoscopes for the sake of science. There is this point about how people use tropical astrology based on the zodiacs as seen from the tropics, but last I checked, the tropics were still on this wobbly twirling planet. The truth about the tropical astrology is it’s a dumbed down cover-up explanation for why astronomy doesn’t matter. It is essentially telling you who cares what sign you were actually born under, we’ll just pin you to one according to a system we invented that roughly divides the year into 12 segments cause we liked it that way. To deny the real zodiacs would be equivalent to saying Jesus was just a guy who told good stories, but we’ll just keep believing in Him as if he were Divine.

There’s a great sales pitch if I’ve ever heard one, but that is the truth folks.

My question now with the newfound realization of the true horoscope dates, is whether people will adapt to the new dates and change their identity, like how I was a Cancer but am now a Gemini, and read their new horoscope sign?

Now, if you’re completely shattered about all this scientific change in your astrology, may I recommend Chinese astrology? They were way better with math, astronomy and wisdomous advice anyway. 😉