Your tropical astrology zodiac sign corresponds to the position of the sun relative to constellations as they appeared more than 2,200 years ago.

The zodiac is like one big gigantic clock. This clock moves backward through the zodiac at the rate of 50 seconds a year. There are 30° in a zodiacal sign and 12 signs in the zodiac (30 x 12 = 360° in the circle). It takes 72 years for this celestial clock to move backwards 1°. So that in 2,160 years, this clock will move through an entire sign of the zodiac and that 2,160 year period is called an age.

There would not be a change of ages if the zodiac was fixed forever as the tropical astrologers make it seem. In other words, if you were born in 3 BC, or 2001 A.D., or 2359 A.D., on March 21, you are supposed to be Aries. But nothing in this world stands still!

The ancient Egyptians were well aware of the fact that the earth changes its tilt or “wobbles” on its axis. Without the aid of telescopes or modern technology, they calculated that the orientation of the equinoxes to the fixed stars precedes or moves backwards through the zodiac at a rate of about 50.3 seconds per year, or about 1 degree every 72 years. This phenomenon is known as the “precession of the equinox." Astrological systems that account for this are following the Sidereal system.

Over the past two-and-a-half millennia, the Earth’s wobble has caused the intersection point between the celestial equator and the ecliptic to move west along the ecliptic by 36 degrees, or one-tenth (almost one whole month!) of the way around the sky to the west, relative to the stars beyond.

For instance, those born between March 21 and April 19 consider themselves to be Aries. Today, the sun is no longer within the constellation of Aries during much of that period. From March 14 ~ 1:00 PM to April 13 ~9:27 PM, the sun is actually in the constellation of Pisces! Based on tropical astrology’s fixed system, this means the zodiac sign of about 77% of people are misclassified!

This is one of the reasons why astrology is often inaccurate and not taken seriously in the western world. Most “mainstream” literature on astrology, provides very general and ambiguous explanations of the signs and predictions, which is why many scientists have attempted to delegitimize the science altogether. For instance, world-renowned Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson said on Sway In The Morning, “Every experiment you do to test rather your personality is influenced by anything cosmic…Any controlled test you do it just fails… When you go to the horoscope for the day… Get someone else at random, to pick one of those horoscopes and read it to you… [Better Yet], do it in an entire room. I’ve done this experiment. [I] picked one at random in a room of about 100 people and said, ‘Did I just read your horoscope, 70% of the people hands went up.” The reason why this happens in “controlled experiments” is due to the reasons stated above.

The other major reason for this inaccuracy and ambiguity is due to the over emphasis on the sun sign in the western world. The sun only explains a fraction of your personality, mainly in the form of your aspirations or the characteristic that one needs to acquire in the adult years of life. The sign that has the strongest impact on your personality is the moon sign. However, explanation on that will be left for a later discussion.

Below is your "real" zodiac sun sign, based on the sun's current path for 2018, and compare it to the date still used by Western astrologers (in parentheses) *times are approximations:

Note: To accurately identify your sun sign, date, time, and place of birth is required.

Capricorn — Jan. 14 ~ 3:08 AM to Feb. 12 ~ 4:05 PM (Dec. 23 to Jan. 21)

Aquarius — Feb. 12 ~ 4:05 PM to March 14 ~ 1:00 PM (Jan. 22 to Feb. 20)

Pisces — March 14 ~ 1:00 PM to April 13 ~ 9:27 PM (Feb. 21 to March 19)

Aries — April 13 ~ 9:27 PM to May 14 ~6:20 PM (March 20 to April 20)

Taurus — May 14 ~ 6:20 PM to June 15 ~1:00 AM (April 21 to May 21)

Gemini — June 15 ~1:00 AM to July 16 ~ 12:00 PM (May 22 to June 22)

Cancer — July 16 ~ 12:00 PM to Aug. 16 ~8:10 PM (June 23 to July 22)

Leo — August 16 ~8:10 PM to Sept. 16 ~ 8:05 PM (July 23 to Aug. 22)

Virgo — Sept. 16 ~8:05 PM to Oct. 17 8:05 AM (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22)

Libra — Oct. 17 8:05 AM to Nov. 16 ~ 7:53 AM (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22)

Scorpio — Nov. 16 ~ 7:53 AM to Dec. 15 ~ 10:33 PM (Oct. 23 to Nov. 22)

Sagittarius — Dec. 15 ~10:33 PM to Jan. 14 ~3:08 AM (Nov. 23 to Dec. 22)

-B. Mitchell,

edited by HAR