WHAT'S MY SIGN?

By Carl Klimuk, Astrologer, Master Herbalist & Wholistic Practitioner at The Divine Mine

There has been recent news that has created a stir around the subject of astrology in the past few weeks.  This news that purported that there was a "shift" in the signs & that the old system of astrology no longer is valid due to these shifts. It also stated that people who thought they were a specific sign based on the traditional astrological systems were no longer that sign & that they would need to shift their signs based on new dates of the astronomical positioning of those constellations of the Zodiac.  Unfortunately this has created a great deal of confusion & must be clarified.  It is also unfortunate to note that there are political agendas at play by those who would like nothing more than to discredit astrology who may have very little or no real knowledge of the subject whatsoever.

This story began as astronomers attempts to discredit astrology based on variances of astrological constellation positions created by changes of the Earths tilt over thousands of years known as precession. Suffice it to say western astrologers have known about this variance for over a few thousand years & take these shifts into account whenever a birth or natal charts are being calculated. 

The astronomers argument is that astrology does not use the correct position of the sun through the actual positions of their background stars which is known as the Sidereal Zodiac in astronomy. This is the Earths orientation relative to the galaxy. In fact there are many schools of Sidereal astrology primarily found in India & China. Such a zodiac "shifts" based on the Earth’s precession...a 26,000 year revolution in the Earth rotation axis or "wobble" that causes the equinox points to move around the celestial sphere. This also produces a change in the coordinates of stars over the span of time.

Modern day western astrologers employ astrological calculations based on a different system known as the Tropical Zodiac. The Tropical zodiac is a system whereby the signs of the zodiac are fixed relative to the vernal equinoxes regardless of the actual position of the constellations. In other words the signs of the zodiac are fixed to the seasons.  This looks at the orientation of the Earth relative to our Solar System & not the galaxy.

Suffice it to say there are many branches of astrology that employ both systems & they are indeed both valid relative to their base philosophies & principles. There are many reasons as to why each system has made their choices, far too many to describe in this article. Astrology’s history is vast and ancient. To create such confusion about a subject that the people in question have created without having a clear understanding on the subject that they are questioning is in this author’s opinion both an unprofessional & irresponsible act of their profession & discipline.

So your sign is still your sign, there is no “new” system of astrology; there are no changes worth mentioning. But in the end of the day whether you choose to study the subject or not be content in the fact that you are who you are regardless of your sign. Astrology has been & always will be an extremely effective tool for personal growth & self awareness.

To close I would like to remind people in the astronomical community of an event that took place when our two great disciplines clashed:

When the astronomer Edmund Halley (the discoverer of the famous comet which bears his name) scorned Sir Isaac Newton’s interest in astrology, Sir Isaac replied, “Sir, I have studied the subject, you have not.”

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