Do with this what you will
Offline Astronomer tears the heavens asunder with ‘news' the zodiac is out of whack
JOCELYN NOVECK AND CHRIS WILLIAMSaPs="t1"; var t1AC=fnTkt('a'+'ai',120,240,ai,'j',nc); document.write(t1AC);
Sofia Whitcombe began her day with the startling realization that she might not be exactly who she thought she was.
“My whole life, I thought I was a Capricorn,” the 25-year-old publicist said. “Now I'm a Sagittarius?
“Capricorns are diligent and regimented, and super-hard-working like me. Sagittarians are more laid back. This is all a little off
I read it, but just for kicks.globe.poll.display({'id':'1868430','context':'sidebar'});
Ms. Whitcombe was among countless people reacting on social networks
to the “news” that the stars have shifted alignment, astrologically speaking.
No matter that the astronomy instructor who started it all in a weekend newspaper interview said it was an old story – very old, 2,000 years old, actually – and that astrologists were insisting it wouldn't change a thing. The story had travelled around the blogosphere like a shooting star.
Astounded by all the kerfuffle was the man who started it, astronomy instructor Parke Kunkle.
In an interview Sunday in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Mr. Kunkle explained that the Earth's wobbly orbit means it's no longer oriented to the stars in the way it was when the signs of the zodiac were conceived. That means, Mr. Kunkle said, that when astrologers say the sun is in Pisces, it's really in Aquarius, and so on.
“Astronomers have known about this since about 130 BC,” Mr. Kunkle said Friday in his office at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, his phone ringing constantly, as it has since the article came out. (One person had even demanded: “Give me my sign back.&rdquo
“This is not new news. Almost every astronomy class talks about it.”
New news or old, most people have never heard it before. And one of the more fascinating elements of the story was talk of a new sign altogether. By the reckoning of Mr. Kunkle and other astronomers, astrologers are not only a month off in their zodiac signs, but they are neglecting a 13th constellation, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, for those born from Nov. 30 to Dec. 17.
That caught the attention of Mary-Iris Taylor, a writer in St. Louis. She had seen the story on the TV news, but on Friday, she read a link a friend had posted on Facebook, and realized she was an Ophiuchus.
And what, she wondered, did that mean?
“I'd just like to know what I'm supposed to be like now,” she said. “As a Sagittarius, I was supposed to be the life of the party – at least, that's what I wanted it to mean,” she laughed. “Now what?”
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Understanding that there is no purpose in the Universe frees us all to find one.
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Ok, I have lived my whole life being told I behaved like a typical Scorpio. I even read all those vague definitions of what a Scorpio should be (even though they could have applied to anyone they sure SEEMED like they applied to me) and thought I was a Scorpio and now I find out I am a Libra ? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ? LOL.
Like I stated on another thread awhile back :
! lived with my grandmother, many years ago, who had bad eyesight and would often ask me to read her certain headlines from the newspaper early in the morning. The first thing that she always wanted me to do was read the horoscopes. I would read hers and then read mine and we would both marvel over how close this stuff came to actually describing our current situations. Then one day, just on a whim, I decided to read ALL of the horoscopes. Oddly enough, any one of these things could have applied to me or my grandmother and any one of them could have been used. Just to prove my point, rather than read mine for a whole week I read a different one, and they all could apply.
Reminds me of this co-worker that loaned me this Dan Millman book about adding up your birthdays and coming up with this number. You then flip ahead to the chapter and WOW, your birth number says ALL THAT THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU. Only problem is, you can select any chapter and any number and it applies. (Supposedly, Dan Millman claimed that this number system came from some sort of ANCIENT SPIRITUAL SYSTEM). I never understood why so many of these people that sell this stuff to the masses convinces people that it must be somehow authentic because it is "ANCIENT". Notice they always use that term, ancient. Hmm, ancient superstition to me would be just as invalid as modern superstition, but that could be because I am just one of those evil atheists that believes in nothing and lives without purpose.
Richard Dawkins demonstrates the absurdity of astrology in his Enemies of Reason documentary. Well worth a watch to see the "astrologers" exposed for the frauds that they are.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
HEY! I'm a Scorpio, too!...and I'm sticking with it to the day I die.
I don't understand all the details of why the change has come about but, it seems to me, if you were born a Scorpio, way back when, and since that time, the zodiac has shifted somewhat, you are still a Scorpio. Those who are born after the shif would have a new astrological sign, right???
It's like, if I were born in NY 53 years ago and this year they change the state boundaries, that doesn't change the fact that I was born in NY, when it was NY.
I don't think this change is retro-active.
'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein
Ahh, I think you missed an important detail - this is not a recent change, it is because the alignment of the orbit has changed significantly since the original charts were made thousands of years ago. It would be not very different now from when you were born, but Scorpio is not in the position it was when the original charts were made.
Doesn't actually mean the chart is more or less accurate in relation to your life, because it is the actual season of the year and location on the Earth which are going to have what effect there could be that has been attributed to Astrology. The constellations in certain positions in the 'celestial sphere' were ultimately just a marker of the time of year and geographical location.
So as long as you were born at the same time relative to the seasons as Scorpio was lined up in the original charts, your chart should be just as relevant as it ever was.
Favorite oxymorons: Gospel Truth, Rational Supernaturalist, Business Ethics, Christian Morality
"Theology is now little more than a branch of human ignorance. Indeed, it is ignorance with wings." - Sam Harris
The path to Truth lies via careful study of reality, not the dreams of our fallible minds - me
From the sublime to the ridiculous: Science -> Philosophy -> Theology
Any serious authoritative source will tell you that it depends on whether it is tropical or sidereal. If it's sidereal, you're fucked!
There are twists of time and space, of vision and reality, which only a dreamer can divine
H.P. Lovecraft
Wow, we have two atheists, both from the Northeast, both living in Tennessee, both Scorpios, and both that found this site looking for quotes for a debate ?
THIS PROVES IT ! THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES ! THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE AN INVISIBLE SPIRITUAL REALM WANTED IT TO HAPPEN ! I FINALLY FOUND HARD EVIDENCE !
Well, maybe not.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
I saw that one like the day before yesterday. It was rather frightening how much we still have to change before humanity becomes to it's senses.
Why do people want certainty so much they invent lies as to be able to rely on something?
I'm aquarius, or another one. Some horoscopes have aquarius end on January the 20th, and others start the next one on that date (but I don't know which one).
That is an unusual amount of coincidence...
Gee, I wonder what else we have in common?
'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein
Yea, I know how you feel. I saw a commercial the other day and it was talking about one of those ghost hunting shows, the line was, "150 million Americans belief in ghosts, and WE INVESTIGATE THEM! Dum-dum-daaaaa!"
My first and only thought was, "We're boned".
We've got a long way to go. Usually, I try to pretend people aren't so out of touch with reality because it helps me get through the day. Knowing the person in the next car probably thinks they've been haunted isn't conducive to trust in their judgement.
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.
My 7 year old nephew's favorite show is "Ghosthunters." I'd have no big problem with that, except that his parents seem to believe in that stuff. At least, they are encouraging him. He's also pretty stuck on the god-talk. They don't seem to encourage it too much, but they certainly don't try to encourage skepticism.
Skepticism...isn't that just such a big thing? Vastly more important that simple atheist versus theist, is skeptical versus non-skeptical.
For a lot of these kids the only chance they'll have to see the world like it really is comes from public school and Myth-Busters.
Everything makes more sense now that I've stopped believing.