I went to bed a Pisces one night a few weeks ago and woke up an Aquarius.
Yes, I realize astrology is not a science. Still, as a child of the ’70s, it was quite the blow.
I liked being a Pisces. Or, at least, I liked having the characteristics many astrologers applied to a Pisces — a water-loving dreamer who is poetic, artistic and, yes, indecisive. I don’t know if the description affected my personality or if I just used it as an excuse for hating math, loving boats and not being able to make up my mind at a restaurant.
You probably think you know your sign but you may not know there are really 13 constellations in the zodiac calendar. There always have been. We only recently starting recognizing Ophiuchus but it’s always been there, according to NASA and the International Astronomical Union.
Here is the accurate calendar:
Capricorn: Jan. 20 to Feb. 16;
Aquarius: Feb. 16 to March 11;
Pisces: March 11 to April 18;
Aries: April 18 to May 13;
Taurus: May 13 to June 21;
Gemini: June 21 to July 20;
Cancer: July 20 to Aug. 10;
Leo: Aug. 10 to Sept. 16;
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Virgo: Sept. 16 to Oct. 30;
Libra: Oct. 30 to Nov. 23;
Scorpio: Nov. 23 to Nov. 29;
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29 to Dec. 17;
Sagittarius: Dec. 17 to Jan. 20.
Abbey Donaldson, NASA (www.nasa.gov) spokeswoman, said, “NASA studies astronomy not astrology. We didn’t change any Zodiac signs, we just did the math.”
Astrology, Donaldson said, is not astronomy. “It was a relic of ancient history.”
Yes, yes, we know: Astronomy is a science and astrology is, well, not.
Still, for explanation into this zodiacal “tweak,” we turn to Art Maurer, our local astronomy expert. Former director of the Trackman Planetarium at Joliet Junior College, Maurer lives in Crete and spends his retirement enlightening people on all things space related.
His mission is encouraging people to appreciate astronomy. Astrology, he said, is just for fun. These days anyway.
More than 3,000 years ago, the Babylonians created the zodiac calendar, according to the IAU (www.iau.org). They “noticed that the sun moved through 13 constellations, but decided to leave one of them out (Ophiuchus) to be more consistent with their 12-month lunar calendar.”
The IAU states there are 88 recognized constellations. Thirteen of them fall on the ecliptic plane, along with the sun, the moon and the planets, Maurer said. As Earth travels along this plane, it moves in and out of these zodiac constellations. Capricorn and Libra are on this plane but other constellations, such as Orion or Ursa Major, exist outside of it.
Throughout history, Maurer said, many cultures blurred the distinction between astronomy and astrology. In fact, there was a time when astrology was so important it could be a matter of life or death.
For centuries, he said, people could not distinguish between stars and planets and many attributed personal successes and failures on Earth to what was happening in the heavens.
“They wanted something or somebody to blame for bad luck,” he said. Hence the saying, “It wasn’t in the stars.”
This went on until 1610, when Galileo built a telescope and realized that Earth was not the center of the universe but just a planet going around the sun. Because of this revelation, Maurer said, astronomy and astrology began to part ways.
Despite its downgrade in the scientific community, some people continue to acknowledge astrology, even if just for insight into what makes a sibling so quirky. Horoscopes remained an integral part of newspapers until recently. Some newspapers — this one, for example — still run them, but not based on the more accurate calendar. Even First Lady Nancy Reagan employed an astrologist at the White House.
But, for the longest time, astrologers only recognized the 12-month calendar when they should have been acknowledging 13 signs.
Maurer said nowadays most people consider astrology to be flip. Still, even if you don’t believe in its “power,” you likely know which zodiac sign you were born under.
Or thought you did.
The validation of Ophiuchus may have pushed you into another constellation and thus, raison d’etre. In case you’re wondering, those born under Ophiuchus, a serpent-like formation, are considered to be curious, passionate, even meddlesome. This, of course, makes me wonder if I wasn’t really born in early December, regardless of what my birth certificate says.
The acknowledgment of Ophiuchus means Maurer is no longer a Capricorn but now a Sagittarius.
Being a man of science, the change is no big deal, he said.
Does any of this matter? The fact that horoscope predictors were following an incomplete map for centuries likely undermines the accuracy of said map. Right?
So maybe I never was a dreamy poet, with artistic tendencies and an inability to make up my mind. Maybe all this time I was an opinionated person who hates boredom but likes to try new things.
Maurer said let it go.
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“Instead of wondering about your horoscope,” he said, “go out on a clear night and look at the constellations, many of which you can see with binoculars.”
They’re fantastic, he said, and they’re real.
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years.