What’s Your Sign? …No, it’s not! -Astrological Nonsense

Blog Post from Luke Laurie’s Teacher Blog: https://lukelaurie.wordpress.com/

The location of the Sun, mid-June, 1973. Around the time of my birth.

Your Sun sign isn’t what you think it is, and your daily horoscope is as accurate as a cluster bomb.

Introduction

New age mysticism was at least as prominent as Christianity in the community in which I grew up. Anything having to do with crystals, meditation, Mayans, or astrology was seen as holding greater wisdom than common sense, in part because it appealed to the youth immersed in drug culture. To the mind of a stoned teenager, finding truth in apparent patterns of stars invokes that “whooaa” sentiment that goes well with a Pink Floyd soundtrack.

I was never sold on astrology, and when I began to study astronomy in college, I discovered many things that made clear that Astrology had some false premises and confused logic. Expressing doubt of astrology in small town hippy America was blasphemy.

I was born in mid June, 1973. According to any reference on Astrology, my sign is Gemini. This is my “Sun Sign.” The purported significance of the Sun sign is that somehow the location of the Sun relative to the “Signs of the Zodiac” can determine your general character and personality. This Sun sign then becomes your reference point for consulting your daily horoscope.

The Sun Signs Are Wrong

Bad news: All the Sun signs are wrong. The Sun was not where Astrology says it was when you were born. Not only are the signs wrong, but they are becoming more wrong with each passing year, to the point that at some time in the next few thousand years, the Sun will not even appear to be within any of the signs of the Zodiac.

The problem results from a phenomenon called “Precession.” The seasons and the apparent path of the Sun, Moon, and other objects across the sky is due to the tilted axis of rotation of the Earth, relative to the relatively horizontal plane of the Solar System. That is, the orbits of the planets around the Sun are mostly along a single plane, but the Earth is tilted about 23.5° relative to this plane.

This tilt of the axis points almost to the star “Polaris” known as the North Star, and is constant all year long.

In the short term, this angle, and its effect on the seasons and the path of objects in the sky appears to be unchanging, but over thousands of years, the Earth experiences a wobbling effect, called precession, by which the axis itself actually rotates.

For the Earth, this wobble takes about 26,000 years. Which would have no impact on astrology in our lifetimes, except…

Ancient Astrologers Were Smarter than Modern Ones

Ancient Astrologers were the Astronomers of the time. They charted the locations of the Sun, Moon, and Planets, and made careful observations in order adjust calendars, predict eclipses, as well as to make their prophesies. It would take quite a bit of calculating, measuring and observation to determine what Constellation the Sun was in on any given day, because without modern technology, they could not possibly observe the Sun and the stars at the same time. Nonetheless, they accurately charted the location of the Sun relative to the stars, and identified which constellation the Sun would be in front of on each date of the year.

Modern astrologers have no such scientific bent. Instead, when building 20th century astronomy, they used the same old Sun Signs from astrological charts that were used two-thousand years ago. After all they were “ancient”, so they must be right. And to mystics (as well as the adherents of most religions) things that are ancient just seem to hold more mystical power.

But those charts are now 2000 years off. The Earth has wobbled on its axis and shifted the apparent location of all the celestial objects. And, quite shockingly, the Sun Signs are all off, by about one whole sign.

What’s my Sign?

According to Astrology, I am a Gemini because I was born in Mid June. The picture below shows where the Sun would have been in the sky, had I been born in the year 1 AD.

In the Year 1, the Sun was clearly in Gemini in mid-June.

So had I been born in 1 AD, I most definitely would have been a Gemini. But I wasn’t. I was born in 1973. So where was the Sun then?

By 1973, the precession of the Earth had shifted Gemini to Taurus.

So the Sun was actually in Taurus when I was born. I am a Taurus. All the preconceptions, labels, generalizations, and horoscopes based on my Sun sign are based on THE WRONG FRICKEN SIGN.

So what’s your Sign

It’s possible you still may be on the cusp of the sign you think you are. It’s also possible you are fully one Sun sign from the one you thought. In general, the Sign before the one you thought it was. You can use a chart like the one below from http://www.whats-your-sign.com/ and go back one.

Which is quite hilarious, because I’m supposed to have the following traits as a Gemini:

Communication, Indecision, Inquisitive, Intelligent, Changeable

But as a Taurus I should have:

Security, Subtle strength, Appreciation, Instruction, Patience

Zodiac Sign	Symbol	Date	Quick Characteristics
Aries		March 21 – April 19	Active, Demanding, Determined, Effective, Ambitious
Taurus		April 20 – May 20	Security, Subtle strength, Appreciation, Instruction, Patience
Gemini		May 21 – June 20	Communication, Indecision, Inquisitive, Intelligent, Changeable
Cancer		June 21 – July 22	Emotion, Diplomatic, Intensity, Impulsive, Selective
Leo		July 23 – August 22	Ruling, Warmth, Generosity, Faithful, Initiative
Virgo		August 23 – September 22	Analyzing, Practical, Reflective, Observation, Thoughtful
Libra		September 23 – October 22	Balance, Justice, Truth, Beauty, Perfection
Scorpio		October 23 – November 21	Transient, Self-Willed, Purposeful, Unyielding
Sagittarius		November 22 – December 21	Philosophical, Motion, Experimentation, Optimism
Capricorn		December 22 – January 19	Determination, Dominance, Perservering, Practical, Willful
Aquarius		January 20 – February 18	Knowledge, Humanitarian, Serious, Insightful, Duplicitous
Pisces		February 19 – March 20	Fluctuation, Depth, Imagination, Reactive, Indecisive