Ophiuchus: Nothing New Under the Sun



courtesy of Arlenew.com


Ok everyone breathe… deep breath. Your astrological signs are NOT changing. Got it?


First a bit of self promotion – anyone in the Washington DC area – check out News Channel 8/TBD tonight I am taping a piece about this new Astrology chart brew ha-ha around 4:15 PM today.

The Minnesota Planetarium Society has apparently suddenly realized that there is a constellation called Ophiuchus or Serpentenius which sits between Libra and Scorpio and that the Sun moves through there for a bit in December. Well, guys can you tell by those names that the ancients knew about this constellation that has been sitting there for oh say 80 gazillion million years? Ptolemy wrote about it. The ancient Babylonians who are credited with being the parents of Astrology wrote about it. Ok here comes the trite saying. “There is nothing new under the Sun.”

Sidereal astrologers have been using it in their charts for millennia. Sidereals use constellations not signs to cast charts.

It is true that due to the shifting of the magnetic poles – which is always occurring* and the Moon’s small but steady pull on the Earth our orientation to the Sun has changed. From Earth it appears that the Sun is staying longer in Ophiuchus (pronounced O FEE u KUSS). However, Tropical Astrology which is the basis for what we do in the West is based on signs not constellations. The Babylonians, who by the way knew the Earth was round -- sorry Columbus, chose a system of twelve signs of 30 degrees each.

This is not to stay Astrology doesn’t change. For years the furthest known planet was Saturn. However, as others reveal themselves the archetypical energy is incorporated. For instance Scorpio shared Mars with Aries for millennia until Pluto popped up. Taurus is still searching for its own planet and Virgo is just now being assigned by some to the asteroid Vesta. However, we aren’t reorienting the whole thing because of something the ancients were well aware of. Perhaps in another few millennia if things change to the point that the Sun appears to skip a sign or two this might happen but it won’t because of a press release from a group who doesn’t know anything about Astrology.

The funny thing is that no astrologer worth their salt looks at the Sun as being all that important in a chart. It certainly doesn’t do much to define a personality. For that we look at the Ascendant and the South Node.

So relax. If you were born a Capricorn you are still a Capricorn. No one is changing the whole archetypal energy of the system because of the Minnesota Planetarium Society. They may know planets but with all due respect they don’t know didly about the stars.





*The Tampa airport closed their biggest runway last month so that the markings used by pilots could be redrawn. The poles had shifted to the point making the old ones no longer compatible with compass markings.