Oh, great. I'm a Leo. All those people and their "oh, yeah, typical Virgo" comments can SUCK IT.
Of course, since these sky changes have taken thousands of years, it's not like things have suddenly changed. Every astrological chart that's been produced in my lifetime is not just full of shit for the obvious reasons, but BY THEIR OWN RULES as well.
I call bullshit as people have told me before that I'm a textbook Sagittarius. I'll stick with my own personal cosmology and nonsensical theories, thank you very much.
I stand by my previous level of beleif in astrology: Half-heartedly, tongue firmly planted in cheek, and read the details.
Funny, I don't feel much different with the possibility that I may be a Leo instead of a Virgo. I don't feel any sexier.
Doesn't matter, I still share a birthday with Freddy Mercury, Bob Newhart, Jesse James, and Jack Daniel (yes, the Tennessee whiskey maker).
Fnarf, give me my Leo back!! According to this, I am now a Cancer, pfft! Cancers are sensitive and indirect, whereas Leos are obnoxious exhibitionists...I can't become indiscreet at this late stage of the game...trade?
Isn't your sign dependent on the day you were born, and the position of the stars on that day and year are what determine what you will always be? Shouldn't this only affect those born now? I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about thought.
I guess I changed from some old geezer that carried buckets of water around into a capricorn. WTF is a capricorn anyway? Some sort of unicorn or something?
The fact that I'm simultaneously thinking "astrology is total bullshit" and "thank God I'm not a Virgo!" either makes me a complicated person or an idiot. Glad I'm still a Leo, not that it matter. (I could do this all day)
I've mentioned this shift from time to time to astrology followers who are always horrified at first, but then just go back to identifying with their previously-thought sign.
If anyone cares, there are no constellations called Capricorn or Scorpio in astronomy... but there are contellations called Capricornus and Scorpius.
And astrology is geocentric, so it really doesn't matter where the stars are (relative to the earth), just the sun, moon and planets of our solar system.
The. FUCK. I am an Aquarius. A Pisces I was born and a Pisces I will DIE. So yeah, for some unknown reason part of me is really upset by this, but the other part of me is tickled because it's going to make my ex husband stealing ex girlfriend's, head explode, because according to her it's ALL TRUUUUUUUUEEE. God I wish I could be there.
Yes astrology is bullshit, but the precession of the equinoxes is not news. It's been known for thousands of years, and the astrologers account for it. I think they even discovered it.
On that astrology website how come that every choice I make in the "Love Match" section always ends up as a good love match? Any astrologers want to explain that?
Damn Humps, now I have to waste a bunch of my precious time reading about sidereal and freakin jyotisa astrology? THANKS, no really THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! I'M JUST SOOOOO GLAD THAT I KNOW THAT I'M A FUCKING SEA GOAT NOW!!!
I liked "Hair" why did you do this to me? Why!?!
I must admit, the description of Sagittarius fits me way better than Capricorn ever did. Except for the "prefers moody colours like rich maroon and navy" bit. So Sags dress like a bunch of math teachers? Great.
But wait! Capricorns prefer "earthy brown and khaki, much like the classic, relaxed slacks they like to wear". Okay, then, it's decided! I'm out to buy navy and maroon underthings.
As Iridius @10 points out, there are 13 constellations along the ecliptic. But of course, that would be unlucky, so astrologers oh-so-honestly just stuffed the Serpent Bearer down the memory hole. Babylonian mystics: the original Faux News!
@23, my thoughts exactly. Astrology is 100% pure bullshit, but I'll admit to a small feeling of relief to see I was still a Leo. I think it's like when a sports team changes cities or names; totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, but the fans don't like a piece of their personal history being broken. Most of us learned our "sign" as children and have joked and carried on inane conversations on the subject all our lives, even as we knew it was and is bullshit. I think for the Leos especially, having such a self-serving and ego-stroking sign (ruling "planet" - the Sun, no less) makes it harder to let go of, even as we know it's fictional.
@61, I'm sorry if it was confusing. To be clear, I most certainly do NOT believe in astrology, or any other kind of magical thinking for that matter. What I was attempting, and perhaps failed, to convey is how you can feel an emotional attachment to something even as you fully understand that it's purely arbitrary.
Think of it this way. Our birthdays are totally arbitrary. There is no objective value in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. In fact, because our calendar isn't too precise, the position of the Earth on our "birthday" wobbles from year to year. Yet many many people, if they were told that in fact their birthday was 2 months later than they had thought all their lives, would probably not be happy about it. Especially at first, celebrating the birthday at a totally different date would feel "wrong". This doesn't mean you attach any ultimate meaning to it, just that you have emotional associations to a given date. I hope that clears it up.
#64 you know, that was actually one of the more well voiced explanations for why we take on deep affection for, and care about, so many rather arbitrary things: they may or may not be actually relevant to much of anything, let alone magic, but in some corner of our minds, they take on an arbitrary magic of a sort, and we fall in love with perhaps the idea of that lesser magic? Like I wrote above--I really do have a lot of the stereotypical Sagittarius traits, but for all we know my birthday is +/- 60 or 90 days of when it was, and I may have been either an Ophicuious or a Scorpio all my life. So -- are the traits there from a cosmic scheme, or just who I am? Does it matter, if I have a bit of fun with the idea?
If a person says what sign they are, it's very easy for a believer in astrology to then fit what they know about that person to their sign, which is what typically happens.
If astrology believers who were also "experts" spent a lot of time talking to and observing the behavior of a group of 1,000 people and then concluded what sign each person was, their correct conclusions would be no greater than chance.
@65, thanks, though just FYI I'm female, for the record ;-)
I visited a comments thread on OK! magazine about this. There's a bit of a pitched battle between, apparently, people with or without lobotomies. http://www.okmagazine.com/2011/01/new-zo…
64/Lynx: Yet many many people, if they were told that in fact their birthday was 2 months later than they had thought all their lives, would probably not be happy about it. Especially at first, celebrating the birthday at a totally different date would feel "wrong". This doesn't mean you attach any ultimate meaning to it, just that you have emotional associations to a given date.
In my experience, people who believe in astrology go way beyond that. They don't simply have an emotional attachment to their sign. They make assumptions about other people -- what their interests are, how they behave -- based on their signs.
It's one thing to be unhappy if you found out you were actually born in Cleveland instead of Seattle. It's quite another to believe that what city a person is born in determines who they are.
fuck, I'm still a Leo, even on the new changed chart. I've never felt any affinity to Leo. Fortunately I don't believe in Astrology, but still, it'd be cool to have another option...
Hmmm... I'm a Capricorn/Aquarius cusp, and fall into a perfect combination of those stereotypes. According to this I'd become a Capricorn/Sagittarius cusp, and the latter is really not me at all.
On the other hand, my boyfriend is currently a Leo and under this would be a Cancer... and neither of them really suits him at all.
On balance, I reckon I'm going to go with the current-likeness-is-coincidence, astrology-is-bullshit point of view.
No idea about Taurean men, tho.
But at least you can buy a car with your star sign on it from Ford ...
Of course, since these sky changes have taken thousands of years, it's not like things have suddenly changed. Every astrological chart that's been produced in my lifetime is not just full of shit for the obvious reasons, but BY THEIR OWN RULES as well.
Funny, I don't feel much different with the possibility that I may be a Leo instead of a Virgo. I don't feel any sexier.
Doesn't matter, I still share a birthday with Freddy Mercury, Bob Newhart, Jesse James, and Jack Daniel (yes, the Tennessee whiskey maker).
Actually, I never even considered that until this very second.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badast…
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/ast…
I've mentioned this shift from time to time to astrology followers who are always horrified at first, but then just go back to identifying with their previously-thought sign.
And astrology is geocentric, so it really doesn't matter where the stars are (relative to the earth), just the sun, moon and planets of our solar system.
Choose free will.
http://scepticon.wordpress.com/2008/10/1…
I've gone from Libra to Virgo. What will I ever do now?
I liked "Hair" why did you do this to me? Why!?!
But wait! Capricorns prefer "earthy brown and khaki, much like the classic, relaxed slacks they like to wear". Okay, then, it's decided! I'm out to buy navy and maroon underthings.
As a now sappy, sensitive Cancer, I feel it is my duty to paste in this heartwarming picture. (Sweet.)
FUCK YOU! NO WE'RE NOT!!!
PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! I'LL DO ANYTHING IF YOU'LL STAY!!!
Librans are so indecisive.
I mean. I think I like it
Maybe Virgo's not that great.
Or better...
And what about the great Julian/Gregorian calendar realignment of 1753?
BTW, why is everyone who is calling it bullshit saying what sign they are?
Think of it this way. Our birthdays are totally arbitrary. There is no objective value in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. In fact, because our calendar isn't too precise, the position of the Earth on our "birthday" wobbles from year to year. Yet many many people, if they were told that in fact their birthday was 2 months later than they had thought all their lives, would probably not be happy about it. Especially at first, celebrating the birthday at a totally different date would feel "wrong". This doesn't mean you attach any ultimate meaning to it, just that you have emotional associations to a given date. I hope that clears it up.
Well written, dude.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/astr…
If astrology believers who were also "experts" spent a lot of time talking to and observing the behavior of a group of 1,000 people and then concluded what sign each person was, their correct conclusions would be no greater than chance.
I visited a comments thread on OK! magazine about this. There's a bit of a pitched battle between, apparently, people with or without lobotomies.
http://www.okmagazine.com/2011/01/new-zo…
In my experience, people who believe in astrology go way beyond that. They don't simply have an emotional attachment to their sign. They make assumptions about other people -- what their interests are, how they behave -- based on their signs.
It's one thing to be unhappy if you found out you were actually born in Cleveland instead of Seattle. It's quite another to believe that what city a person is born in determines who they are.
I used to be a Gemini on the cusp of Cancer... but now I'm a Taurus on the cusp of Gemini...
Which means I still get to read two horoscopes and then choose whichever I like better.
So yay, I guess.
On the other hand, my boyfriend is currently a Leo and under this would be a Cancer... and neither of them really suits him at all.
On balance, I reckon I'm going to go with the current-likeness-is-coincidence, astrology-is-bullshit point of view.