Professor Kunkle has recently created online and mainstream media havoc by arguing that those of us who have all our lives considered ourselves as born under one zodiac sign may have been reading the incorrect sign all along.
"When astrologers say that the sun is in Pisces, it's really not in Pisces. ... Historically, people looked at the sky to understand the world around us. But today I don't think people who are into astrology look at the sky very much."The zodiac (Greek: ζῳδιακός, zōdiakos) refers to the ring of constellations that lines the ecliptic, the imaginary path that the Sun traces during the year, although more accurately it is the Earth that orbits around the Sun. The word ecliptic is used because when the path of the new or full Moon is close to the Sun's "path," eclipses occur. The division of the zodiac into 12 celestial signs originated in Babylonian times, in the first half of the first millennium BC, although some sign names can be traced back as far as the Bronze Age. This system entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC. Horoscopic astrology, on which the overwhelming majority of us have based our star signs, first appeared in Ptolemaic Egypt, with the Dendera zodiac being the first known depiction of the classical 12-sign zodiac. In 1999, HWMBO and I visited the temple of Hathor at Dendera, where this bas-relief can be found on the ceiling of a chapel dedicated to Osiris.
The 12 signs of the zodiac, with their English, Latin, Greek, Sanskrit and Sumero-Babylonian names, can be found here. According to that system, I was clearly born under the sign of Sagittarius (the Archer). In Babylonian times, when the system originated, the constellation Sagittarius was lined up with the Sun on what would have been my birth date. During the thousands of years since that time, however, the Moon's gravitational pull has made the Earth shift on its axis just enough that there has been a one-month shift in the alignment of the stars. To allow for this shift, at least some astronomers, Professor Kunkle among them, are now proposing to add a 13th star sign, Ophiuchus (the Serpent-bearer), to help readjust the zodiac calendar.
If this proposal carries the day, many of us would feel akin to discovering that we were adopted after believing all our lives that the parents who raised us were our birth parents. In some cases, the "shock" may not be too significant. For example, I would now find myself under the sign of Ophiuchus, instead of Sagittarius. Apparently, those born under the sign of Ophiuchus are characterized as having lofty ideals, enjoying longevity and being inventive, things with which many Sagittarians can identify. Still, I do not feel "right" in my skin as a "Ophiuchian." Even worse, my very characteristically dominant and creative spouse, born under Leo, would suddenly find himself to be a moody and sensitive Cancer. Oh, the horror!
But even if astronomers like Professor Kunkle do persuade other astronomers to include a 13th sign, that need not affect me or others at all. Astronomy and astrology are, after all, different disciplines. Astronomy is a science. Astrology is not. It is merely a system of traditions, practices and beliefs. Astrology, as practiced most widely in North America and Europe and known as "tropical astrology," actually relies on 12 mathematically equal divisions of the sky. Under this system, the actual positions of the constellations in the sky are irrelevant. Apparently, even the Babylonian astronomers "way back when" realized that changes in the positions of the constellations could result. They still chose not to include a 13th sign. So, I am in good company if I choose to remain a Sagittarius. Which I do.
Still, it is interesting to note that "sidereal astrology," as practiced by Hindus and a minority of Western astrologers, already includes 13 signs and that a version of this was first introduced in 1944 by the Irish astrologer, Cyril Fagan. So Professor Kunkle's proposal is not entirely novel, nor need it be taken seriously. In fact, at least one professional astrologer, Jonathan Kainer, reacted vehemently to it.
"He is right that the Earth has moved but astrologers have not for years based their predictions on the constellations. The star signs are named after the constellations of stars but they are not based on them or their positions in the sky. For thousands of years we have used mathematically equal divisions of the ecliptic. This is either wilfully ignorant or mischievous and malevolent and shows that the scientific community reacts in a bigoted way when faced with mysticism. There is no need for people to adjust their star signs or for a 13th star sign to be introduced. This is just a load of nonsense."Never fear, Sagittarian Dreams will stay as is!
What do you mean: the scientific community reacts in a bigoted way when faced with mysticism. Have you considered the Inca calendar, with no connection to the western one you have chosen? Our present day December, this month's festival was the Capac Inti-Raimi, or the Great Feast of the Sun. Many rituals took place during this month. Gold and silver was sacrificed to the Sun. Gruesomely, five hundred children, boys and girls, are buried alive, standing upright as another sacrifice to the Sun. After the sacrifice, a great feast is held at which they eat and drink to the Sun and dance in the public squares of Cuzco and throughout the kingdom. Those who become too drunk, or who turn their heads towards the women, or who blaspheme and use bad language are all put to death. This does not seem to be bigoted and scientifically is a more exact calendar.
ReplyDeleteHey there, rayblog! "I" didn't say that the "scientific community reacts ...." The post merely quoted what a "professional" astrologer had said, as per the on-line article linked to. The 12 signs of the zodiac were developed in the Middle East, then spread to Greece and from there to Asia, Africa, Europe and North America via the European immigrations to the New World. The post was very tangentially about differences between astronomy, the science, and astrology, not about calendars generally, and certainly not about which calendar is more scientifically correct. As noted in the post, astrology is not a science. I am not at all sure how your comment relates to that.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure the Inca calendar pre-dated the immigration of those from Europe. And they did a much better job of it to throw in some festivals to fill up the space required to the extra month now being highlighted.
ReplyDeletei wouldn't agree with excluding the 13th sign mainly because some people of the past chose not to use it. All information is valid and excluding information on any stance is freaking out exactly like adopted scenario hints. When it gets now to it however, if you need a kidney or any organ for that matter, your actually parents would be the most fitting to give it to you. So the moral is, embrace where you come from, but still love those who have guided you for so long.
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