Dr Z's Looks at Ophiuchus, the Wobbling Earth and the Moving Constellations

The Sky is Moving, The Sky is Moving
Okay, Chicken Little, remain calm... none of this information about the shifting constellations or the constellation of Ophiuchus is new.

Nope... never fear... if you went to bed last night thinking that you were an Aries, you're still an Aries this morning.

Every 5 years or so, a flavor of the month astronomer trots out on stage with a shocking pronouncement about the Precession of the Equinoxes - and that the constellations in the sky are moving.

This recycled, wornout edict is declared in order to warn the unsuspecting masses that we aren't really the Zodiac sign we think we are, and besides (as part of this pronouncement), astrology is bunk.

And, better yet, during the past 20 years or so they've started combining this proclamation with the frightening possibility that there's allegedly a new 13th Zodiac sign called Ophiuchus.

You likely don't remember any of this (the shifting constellations and Ophiuchus), because this astronomer's announcement normally gets less than zero attention.

This time - thanks to Social Media - it for some unknown reason caught everyone's imagination and went viral...

And even my sainted Significant Other, who should know better, asked me about it... after receiving a stern lecture on the matter, she was sorry that she did...

Here's the Scoop
Trust me, folks... the flavor of the month astronomer passing judgement - whose agenda is to discredit astrology - doesn't get to make the rules.

Most astronomers (not all) hate astrology... and the fact that people pay any attention and/or lip service to astrology, drives them nuts... bonkers... some are literally obsessed and consumed with debunking astrology.

The discovery that constellations in the sky are moving (the Precession of the Equinoxes) is typically attributed to a fellow by the name of Hipparchus. He was a Greek guy that lived from 190 BC to 120 BC.

So, duh... yes, we Western Tropical astrologers have known about this astronomical phenomenon for quite some time. We don't care, as it has nothing to do with Western Tropical Astrology.

However... for the person now making the "discovery" that the constellations in the sky are moving... they start wondering if we naughty Western Tropical astrologers have been jealously guarding this deep, dark secret and hiding it away from the general public...

Not so... I started this site in 1996 and one of the inaugural articles published at that time addresses this very issue.

Western Tropical Astrology Zodiac Based on the Seasons
So what in the heck is "Western Tropical Astrology?"

Relax, and remain calm... Western Tropical Astrology is the same astrology you're likely already semi-familiar with (via the daily Horoscopes in your local newspaper). Western Tropical Astrology is the type of "Western" astrology you most likely grew up with (if you're from that part of the globe considered to be the Western world) - and you probably already know if you happen to be a Sun Sign Gemini, a Sun Sign Virgo, or a Sun Sign whatever...

Tropos - in the Greek - literally means "turning." For the past 2000 years, Western Tropical Astrology is, was, and will always be based on the "turning of the seasons" (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) in the Northern Hemisphere.

Western Tropical Astrology is based on the path of the Sun traversing the Earth (the ecliptic) in relation to the "turning of the seasons." For Western Tropical astrologers the exact moment when the Sun passes over the vernal equinox (spring) is calculated as being 0 degrees of Aries (the first sign of the Tropical Zodiac).

What the above statement means (restated) in "semi-plain" English is that the Western Tropical Zodiac is not based on the positions of the Fixed Stars and/or the zodiacal constellations in the sky.

Western Tropical Astrology is, was, and will always be based on the "turning of the seasons" (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) in the Northern Hemisphere.

And What About Ophiuchus?
Many Western Tropical astrologers take the position that the 12 archetypal images and content of the Western Tropical Zodiac (i.e. the 12 signs of the Zodiac) were created first, and then later the configuring of the 12 constellations (and their naming) was based on these (already) preexisting 12 archetypal symbols of the Zodiac. (See Walter Sampson's - The Zodiac: a Life Epitome, 1928 1st Edition)

Regardless, the fact that the poor old constellation Ophiuchus was snubbed and not included in astrology as being one of the 12 Western Tropical Zodiac Signs? Big whoop! Again, modern day astronomers don't get to make the rules for astrology.

In the early 1900's, depth psychologist Dr. Carl G. Jung agreed with Western Tropical astrology's position on the matter:

"We are born at a given moment in a given place and like vintage years of wine we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything else."

And also - "I dare say that we shall one day discover in astrology a good deal of [psychological] knowledge that has been intuitively projected into the heavens. For instance, it appears that the signs of the zodiac are character pictures, in other words libido symbols which depict the typical qualities of the libido at a given moment."

Related Topics :

See the Unus Mundus and the Astrology and Jung sections of this site for more on Dr Carl Jung and his fascinating theories regarding the human psyche, and for more of his correspondence with Sigmund Freud regarding astrology.
Ever heard of the term: the Age of Aquarius? The Precession of the Equinoxes may not have diddley squat to do with the 12 Zodiac signs of Western Tropical Astrology, but it is intrinsically involved in the determining Western Tropical Astrology's 12 Astrological Ages.

See the connection: Dr. Carl G. Jung and the Age of Aquarius and again Mayan Countdown To December 21, 2012