Definition: [Zodiacs] The
thirteen signs / constellations against which the Sun is seen to move, as seen
from the Earth.
Real Solar Zodiac Dates - Sun
Sign Dates:
|
Real |
Sun |
Signs |
Conventional* |
Sun |
Signs |
Pisces |
12-Mar |
to the |
18-Apr |
19-Feb |
to the |
20-Mar |
Aries |
19-Apr |
to
the |
13-May |
21-Mar |
to
the |
19-Apr |
Taurus |
14-May |
to
the |
19-Jun |
20-Apr |
to
the |
20-May |
Gemini |
20-Jun |
to
the |
20-Jul |
21-May |
to
the |
20-Jun |
Cancer |
21-Jul |
to
the |
9-Aug |
21-Jun |
to
the |
22-Jul |
Leo |
10-Aug |
to
the |
15-Sep |
23-Jul |
to
the |
22-Aug |
Virgo |
16-Sep |
to
the |
30-Oct |
23-Aug |
to
the |
22-Sep |
Libra |
31-Oct |
to
the |
22-Nov |
23-Sep |
to
the |
22-Oct |
Scorpius |
23-Nov |
to
the |
29-Nov |
23-Oct |
to
the |
21-Nov |
Ophiuchus |
30-Nov |
to the |
17-Dec |
|
|
|
Sagittarius |
18-Dec |
to
the |
18-Jan |
22-Nov |
to
the |
21-Dec |
Capricornus |
19-Jan |
to
the |
15-Feb |
22-Dec |
to
the |
19-Jan |
Aquarius |
16-Feb |
to
the |
11-Mar |
20-Jan |
to
the |
18-Feb |
|
This table is accurate for 2002 AD.
* Conventional if you follow the Western
Tropical Zodiac, not the Eastern
Sidereal Zodiac.
NB If you were born on the cusp of a Real
Solar Zodiac sign you should note that these dates vary - by a maximum of a day
- within the four yearly leap year cycle.
The Real Solar Zodiac dates also move
forward by about one full day every 70 years because of the Movement of the
Ages. |
If you follow conventional Western
astrology, the Tropical Zodiac dates on the
right of the table will form the
Zodiac Wheel you are used
to. Unfortunately the dates are not correct. The real Sun Sign dates are given
on the left hand side of the table. As you can see there is not much overlap
between the two. In fact for 326 days each year the Sun does not appear
against the constellation that the Tropical
Zodiac says it is in. If you always felt that your Sun Sign doesn't
really describe you, there is an 89% chance that you are right! This
also means that the Moon and
Planets are not usually in the sign that the
Tropical Zodiac says they are, and that
Rising
Signs are inaccurate 326 times out of every 365 if the
Tropical Zodiac is used to find them.
Why are there Two Zodiacs in
the Table and Why is One Real?: To answer that
question I'll define exactly what the Real Solar Zodiac is. As to why it is
described as real, this is because it is based on an accurate description of
the heavens as seen from Earth.
What is the Real
Solar Zodiac?: The heavens contain many
constellations. Many of the ones we use today were originally mapped, perhaps
three millennia ago, by the Ancient Greeks. The Sun, as seen from Earth, passes
in front of thirteen of these constellations in one year. So the wheel of the
Real Solar Zodiac contains these thirteen signs: the real Sun Signs. The sign
we are not used to seeing in the Tropical
Zodiac Western tradition is
Ophiuchus, the
Serpent Bearer, 30 Nov to 17 Dec.
Why are the Dates so
Different Between Reality and the Tropical Zodiac?: There are three reasons for this.
Firstly, the Greek
constellations - the figures the Greeks saw in the stars - are all different
shapes and sizes. Hence these thirteen constellations are not all the same
size. Scorpius, for
example, is very small and the Sun takes only seven days to pass across it, as
seen from the Earth. Virgo
is much larger.
Secondly, because
of the Movement of the Ages, the Tropical
Zodiac is now shifted by almost a month in comparison to the heavens - the
Tropical Zodiac is tied to the calendar.
Thirdly, the
Babylonians never included Ophiuchus within their
Zodiac. See the
Zodiac Wheels link for a
description of how the Zodiacs evolved.
|
Two Zodiac Wheels. The inner wheel is
the Tropical Zodiac, the conventional
Zodiac in Western Astrology. The outer wheel is the
actual Zodiac: the real Sun Signs. There is little
agreement between them: only 39 days out of 365. The Vernal Equinox is marked
at the top. In the Tropical Zodiac this is
traditionally the start of Aries. In fact, the Sun can be
seen against the sign of Pisces at Vernal Equinox.
Hence we are in the Age of Pisces. [Oph. =
Ophiuchus] |
The "Signs and
Constellations are not the Same" and Other Arguments: All of the above has been known for a long time. So why do most of
we Western astrologers continue to use the inaccurate
Tropical Zodiac?
Good question. I think the
answer is simply tradition. We've been using it for a long time. However, many
of us are aware that tradition is not a very good argument. It doesn't stand up
against the fact that if you look at the night sky the
Tropical Zodiac is obviously wrong. The Sun
Signs are not where the Tropical Zodiac
indicates them to be.
If you look around the web
you will, however, find a statement along the lines of "the constellations
and the signs are not the same". This is meant to be an answer to
the question. However, it doesn't actually help very much. The
Tropical Zodiac signs and the real Sun
Signs do not have the same Solar Zodiac dates,
but this is simply because the signs in the Tropical Zodiac are inaccurate.
I can not imagine what
exactly the signs are meant to be if they are not constellations: all
that is left for them to be is dates - a set of twelve dates used to mark the
year. There is, however, an answer to this question also to be found on the
web. It is that signs are just a "short hand to describe degrees of
Ecliptic" e.g. Aries is
0 to 30 degrees of the Ecliptic.
Again, how can the amount
of degrees along an imaginary line marking the Sun's path as seen from Earth
have any significance, if not related to anything else out there? Like the
stars for instance! Imagine an ancient Babylonian priest-astrologer going to
see his king. "I have invented a great new system of divination, my King" he
says. "Forget the stars completely. [You know, the things we've spent the last
one and a half thousand years carefully observing.] All we have to concern
ourselves with is the number of degrees away from the Vernal Equinox that the
Sun is in the heavens. That controls everything!" The king would doubtless soon
be looking for a new priest-astrologer. No priest-astrologer ever did any such
thing of course. They were star-gazers, looking at the real
sky. |
The Sun Sign Ophiuchus. A star chart
of Ophiuchus, the
Serpent Bearer - here called Serpentarius - in Ignace-Gaston Pardies'
Globi Coelestis in Tabulas Planas Redacti Descriptio, Paris, 1674. The
lower black and white line is the ecliptic.
Ophiuchus holds the
Serpent, for which he is named. Beneath him the head of
Scorpius clearly crosses
the ecliptic making it a Solar zodiac sign.
However, so do the feet of Ophiuchus - clearly making
the Serpent Bearer a Solar zodiac sign.
Libra, the Scales, is to
the right of Scorpius.
The tip of the arrow of Sagittarius, the
Archer, is to the left of
Ophiuchus' left foot. It
is also very clear from this representation of the heavens, how different the
sizes of the signs can be. Libra is notably smaller than
Ophiuchus.
Click on
the above picture for a larger version 191 kB. |
What Would the Real Solar
Zodiac Look Like from Another Planet, Venus for Example?:
The constellations are so far away that being on another
planet would make us virtually no nearer to them. Therefore, the lengths of the
thirteen constellations, in degrees of Ecliptic, would be virtually the
same.
However, the Sun Sign dates
of the real solar zodiac are geocircumspectus, i.e. only as seen from
the view point of the Earth. When the Sun or a planet would be seen
against a constellation could be completely different from the point of view
of, for example, the planet Venus. The difference in view point would
depend on where Venus was in its path, relative to the Earth, in its orbit
around the Sun.
This is illustrated below for the
inner solar system Real Solar Zodiac chart using the example of the moment of
Prince William's birth. From
Earth the Sun is on the Taurus-Gemini border. From Venus, at
the same moment, the Sun is seen against the constellation of
Virgo. It will be several
months before Venus changes its position - to the same angle with the Sun that
the Earth had at William's birth - to make the Sun appear on the
Taurus-Gemini border from the
Venusian point of view.
Venusian Astrology. The Venusian
view of Prince William's Inner Solar System Chart at the time of his birth.
[The Solar System viewed from above the Celestial North Pole.] The rings on the
chart are the paths of the planets around the Sun. The 'pie segments' of the
chart show which constellation a planet is seen against as seen from Venus. The
Earth and the Moon are in the sign of
Libra. Mercury and the Sun,
as seen from Venus, are transiting
Virgo. As Venus orbits the
Sun in 224 days, rather than the Earth's approximately 365 days, the Sun would
be seen to transit each sign in about two-thirds the time it would take as seen
from the Earth. [Note: the orbits have been scaled slightly to separate out the
planets. The positions of the planets in their orbits are accurate.] |
Earth Astrology. The Earth view
of Prince William's Inner
Solar System Chart at the time of his birth. [The Solar System viewed from
above the Celestial North Pole. The Vernal Equinox is at the 12 o'clock
position.] The rings on the chart are the paths of the planets around the Sun.
The 'pie segments' of the chart show which constellation a planet is seen
against as seen from Earth. The two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, are seen
from Earth against the constellation
Taurus. The Sun is on the
cusp between Taurus and
Gemini. The Moon is seen
against the constellation of Gemini. Click on the chart
above to see the
Outer Solar
System Chart for Prince
William. [Note: the orbits have been scaled slightly to separate out the
planets. The positions of the planets in their orbits are accurate.] |
The Zodiac and
Astrology:
© Dr Shepherd Simpson, Astrological
Historian |
|
Historical Astrology
See the new
Astrological Index
for the meaning of other astrological words and phrases
Galactic
Zodiac |