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The New Zodiac: What Is All The Hype

Updated on February 17, 2011

Ophiuchus as the 13th zodiac sign

You know, it wasn't but a week ago, I signed into my favorite social network site only to find out I had a new zodiac sign. Scrolling down through the most recent posts, it seemed nearly everyone and anyone was referencing or pointing out that they were no longer a Taurus, or Aquarius, or Capricorn, etc. To my surprise, I was a bit shocked to find out that, I, King of the Jungle, was no longer a Leo, but rather- a Cancer. Here are the new dates:(Darn, I missed still being a Leo by only two days).

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius:
Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces:
March 11-April 18.
Aries:
April 18-May 13.
Taurus:
May 13-June 21.
Gemini:
June 21-July 20.
Cancer:
July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo:
Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra:
Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus:
Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.


To be quite honest with you, my sister was born a Cancer ( and by the time I am done writing this, will remain a Cancer). I always envied her astrological sign, as it clearly depicted me better than it did her. To say the least, the Leo personality traits just never really fit me, except the whole part about being fiercely loyal. However, I did pride myself on being a ferocious lion. Yet, I never really came to the plate of being a good Leo: I wasn't flamboyant, the life of the party, eager to spend my money and appeal to the higher tastes. In fact, I would generally say I wasn't naturally bossy either.

But oh, those Cancer traits! Now, those traits were really something I could wrap my head around. Water loving, a great cook, intuitive, loyal, and even empathetic; often times to the point of helping everyone else and foregoing oneself. Yes, yes- now that was me.

I must admit though, that needless to say, I have always followed the Leo sign. Why? I was born a Leo according to Western Astrology. Though I may have grumbled and groaned and secretly wished I had been born a Cancer, with the new zodiac- I am a Cancer. Yippee, right? Wrong.



What happened? Why is there a New Zodiac?

The truth of the matter is, most people don't enjoy change. So why the hype, and what happened?

It began with Parke Kunkle of the Minnesota Planetarium Society. According to the the Minnesota Planetarium Society, the moon's gravitational pull on the Earth moved the alignment of the stars by a whole month, forcing movement of everyone's astrological sign due to a squeezing in of the 13th sign: Ophiuchus. Due to the Ophiuchus being squeezed in between Scorpius and Sagittarius, the entire Zodiac sign became unbalanced- forcing former Leos to become Cancers, and so on. Furthermore, they decided that because the Earth had wobbled, in order to keep up with the new alignment of the stars, the Ophiuchus constellation was now important.

Are you following that? I wouldn't be upset it you weren't. To make matters a bit more interesting, Nay Sayers jumped up immediately with statements anywhere from: "this is ludicrous" to "Ophiuchus is nothing new, its been known about for quite some time but disregarded to keep an even number of Zodiac signs." To make the situation a bit more of a fiasco, some claim that the new Zodiac only applies to those born after 2009, some claim it does not exist at all, and Wiki has a different calendar for the New Zodiac as compared to most of the other sites. Still with me? Great.

Does the New Zodiac even matter?

As with change, most people will effectively question, hash and decide an answer to that said change. As fast as websites, blogs, tweets, facebook pages, etc., were popping up with information on the new zodiac, just as much was fastidiously entering the web on why the New Zodiac doesn't matter.

The prominent argument against the New Zodiac is that it applies Eastern Astrology. Eastern Astrology depicts and graphs the Zodiacs according to alignment of the stars and constellations and the sun passing through same. Astronomy researchers, ( whom has always known about Ophiuchus, by the way) realized that the sun was entering Ophiuchus before entering Sagittarius from Scorpius, thus generally upsetting the entire balance of the Zodiac sign. Whew! However, most Astrology is based off of Western Astrology, whereby the equinoxes and solstices position in regard to the planets is all the matters. Western Astrology discounts and disregards constellations when mapping out the 12, and only 12, Zodiac signs. In other words, Western Astrology is seasonally based, hence it being called the Tropical Zodiac, and Eastern Astrology is star/constellation based.

So Now What? Does the Zodiac Pertain to Me or You?

As fantastic as it was for me to be told I was no longer a Leo; I am going to have to assume that the "now what" pretty much boils down to: "well, now- nothing!" I'm not startled to find out that I share that view with such an enormous crowd either. The fact of the matter is, most people don't like change, especially when that change pertains to something so fundamentally and characteristically ... "them". (cough... gee I really want to be a Cancer, but that would totally negate my being a Leo and my boyfriend being an Aquarius and trust me when I say our love profile is pretty accurate...we hate each other).

Did the New Zodiac affect everyone? Yes, technically speaking, if you follow or apply Eastern Astrology, it did. However, I cannot discount the enormous amount of people that just really didn't care. But, we should care, at least to some extent. I cared to the extent that it was hype and took it like a grain of salt. I mean, I was born a woman. Perhaps some ten years from now, the internet will catch fire with a new species and I will become 1/3 woman, 1/3 male and maybe 1/3 hyena. Who knows. I would then have to raise my hands, throw them down and resort to what I know: I'm a woman!

And, you can add to that that I am a Leo Woman. Hear me roar.

How to You Relate to the New Zodiac Signs?

If applying the New Zodiac signs to yourself, as a person, do you feel you better relate to your new Zodiac sign or not?

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