ZODIAC SIGNS AND THEIR DATES
Did you know that there are 88 constellations in the night sky? Over the course of several thousand years, human beings have cataloged and named them all. But only 12 of them are particularly famous and continue to play an active role in our astrological systems. These are known as the zodiac signs, 12 constellations that correspond to the different months of the year.
Each of these occupies a sector of the sky which makes up 30° of the ecliptic, starting at the vernal equinox – one of the intersections of the ecliptic with the celestial equator. The order of these astrological signs is Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Here are all the zodiac signs and their dates. If your birthday falls within one of those date ranges, that’s your zodiac sign.
Granted, modern science has shown astrology to be an ancient fallacy, a way of connecting patterns in celestial movements to events and behaviors here on Earth. But for ancient people, such patterns were necessary given the fact that they lacked an understanding of human psychology, astronomy, and that Earth was not the center of the universe.
The concept of the zodiac originated in Babylon in the 2nd millennium BCE, and was later influenced by Hellenistic (Ancient Greek), Roman, and Egyptian culture. This resulted in a mix of traditions, where the 12 zodiac symbols were associated with the 12 Houses – different fields of experience associated with the various planets – and the four classical elements (Earth, Wind, Water and Fire).
The zodiac signs and the symbols of their associated planets. Credit: what-is-astrology.com
In essence, astrology maintains that celestial phenomena are related to human activity, so the signs are held to represent certain characteristics of behavior and personality traits. What we know today as astrology comes from the 2nd century AD, as it was formally described by Ptolemy in his work,Tetrabiblos.
This book was responsible for the spread of astrology’s as we know it across Europe and the Middle East during the time of the Roman Empire. These traditions have remained relatively unchanged for over seventeen centuries, though some alterations have been made due to the subsequent discoveries of the other planets in our Solar System.
Naturally, the birth of the modern psychology, biology and astronomy has completely discredited the notion that our personalities are determined by birth signs, the position of the stars or the planets. Given what we know today of the actual elements, the movements of the planets, and the forces that govern the universe, astrology is now known for being little more than superstition.
What’s more, the dates of the ‘star signs’ were assigned over 2,000 years ago, when the zodiac was first devised. At that time, astronomers believed that the Earth’s position was fixed in the universe, and did not understand that the Earth is subject to precession – where Earth’s rotational and orbital parameters slowly change with time. As such, the zodiac signs no longer correspond to constellations of stars that appear in night sky.
The constellations Ophiuchus, represented as a man grasping a snake. Credit: chandra.harvard.edu
And last, but certainly not least, there is the issue of the missing 13th sign, which corresponds to the constellation Ophiuchus. Over 2000 years ago, this constellation was deliberately left out, though the Sun clearly passes in front of it after passing in front of Scorpius (aka. Scorpio) and before reaching Sagittarius.
It is unclear why ancient astrologers would do this, but it is a safe bet that they wanted to divide the 360° path of the Sun into 12 equal parts. But the true boundaries that divide the constellations, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), are not exact. And Ophiuchus actually spends more time behind the Sun than its immediate neighbor (19 days compared to Scorpius’ 12).
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