Admin note: There will be more of this posted either as future blog posts or as separate articles on the main website and the Facebook page throughout the next few weeks, as I find I am so inspired right now, I have enough material for quite a while. I admit – I was going to give little mention to this thing…until I started getting e-mails, FB messages, and text messages with questions about this “what’s my sign now” stuff. So to address your inquiries, here is this week’s first post. I was originally going to blog about this week’s coming Full Moon before all of this came up, and the Full Moon post will likely be a second blog post later today – a “bonus” post of sorts.
All of this week’s craziness regarding whose astrological sign changed to what actually gives me a chance to get into some of the history of astrology, and gives me an opportunity to delve into a large part of why I personally love astrology – its practical origins and application. (And to think that all of this is inspired by that now-infamous article that came out earlier in the week which implied that everyone’s Astrological Sun signs changed. Go figure!)
To the point of the afore-mentioned folly, there is some progression of the signs, but it is very minimal, and frankly, there have always been adjustments to be made which have always been incremental and minimal at best. In crafting an astrological chart, the positions and calculations are done based upon the positions of the astronomical bodies at the time of one’s birth or at the initiation time of an endeavor or event. For example, it’s not because Aquarius is “supposed” to begin on January 21st. In fact, Aquarius doesn’t always begin on January 21st. Sometimes, it happens on the 20th. Sometimes, it’s on the 22nd. It’s not the date – it’s the positions of the astronomical factors that determine one’s (or something’s) blueprint. Once you understand that, you can understand how this sign-changing stuff is feasible yet unlikely to the purported extremes. It simply does not make that much of a difference for that many people. No more than it usually does, anyway.
As for the 13th astrological sign, this idea of 13 signs would not be as far-fetched though, especially since there are 13 phases of the moon which occur in a Julian 12-month calendar year. In fact, the most ancient forms of astrology were based upon the Moon’s phases (which was considered to be a feminine energy, henceforth the idea of “Mother Nature” or “Mother Earth” was born of this belief). Astrology was developed out of ancient and native civilizations’ observations of the positions of the astronomical constellations and the Sun and Moon for practical reasons – mostly farming purposes and the migration patterns for both animals and humans (especially when nomadic tribes were more the human thing than staying in one place). The positions of the astronomical bodies (the Sun, Moon, and star patterns or ‘constellations’) were “signs” guiding people and letting them know exactly what time of season they were in (along with the natural changes of season, of course), when to plant and harvest crops, when the caribou or buffalo were coming through, etc. Not all, but most ancient religious beliefs were built around and centered upon these practical aspects of their lives, and astrology was crucial to those cultures as it brought time, order, and structure to their daily lives. So a 13th sign isn’t really that “out there”…unless you’re trying to fit it into the 12-month Julian calendar or the traditional 360° Zodiac wheel. And since the 12-month year is what civilized humanity at large has chosen to adopt as its structure and system for measuring time, the mass implementation of a 13th sign could be possible but would be unlikely based upon the measures of time we have chosen to abide by.
It’s not just the natural seasons and astronomy, but also mathematics we get to give credit for the 12-sign structure to, as the zodiac is based upon a circle (since no one at the time, nor does anyone now know the real shape of the Universe). The circle originally represented the whole of the Earth, as from a very early time, the Earth was believed to be round (even before it went through its “flat” belief phase). Due to the ultimate fact that the Earth was round, and also due to the outdated and fictional belief that the Earth was the center of the Universe, the round circle that represents the Zodiac made since and continues to make sense today, even if for slightly different reasons or beliefs. And mathematically, true circles always have 360°, so each one of the 12 astrological signs is representative of 30° of the total. This basic math is actually where a lot of numerical cultural and religious tradition (and some Numerology application) begins. The 360° doesn’t lend itself well to be easily divisible to 13 mathematically…and so the Moon-based astrology gave way to Sun-based astrology. Another major factor in this shift from Lunar to Solar Astrology is that as the Greeks and Romans spread their massive influences and made their major impacts upon the world’s cultural perspectives and beliefs, their respective worships of Apollo(Greek) and Zeus(Roman) – their “Sun Gods” – made it natural to focus astrology on the position of the Sun and its masculine energy and focus (the idea of “Father Sun” and man being “more powerful” than woman), making the Moon (or feminine) the secondary and complimentary factor. (There’s definitely more to this aspect of the history…definitely for another time.) And for all that being said, there is also a little symbolic irony in this area, as for all the Roman Empire did to influence culture and belief, the 12 astrological/Zodiac months do not and never have directly aligned with the initiations of the 12 months of the Julian calendar.
Anyway, I hope that addresses and answers the questions most of you asked me this week. If you have any further questions or have any comments, feel free to comment to this post or to start a discussion under the discussion tab on the Life By Soul Facebook page ( in other words, start a discussion: http://www.facebook.com/lifebysoul?v=app_2373072738&ref=ts ). Thanks!
More to come later today…focusing on what’s going on now and later this week. 😉
Until then…
~ Light Love, and Blessings,
Grace
