CONJECTURE ALERT!The zodiac ignites a positively primeval memory. Could it be connected to the idea that the stars align with us on the day we are born and solidifies our personalities? Is the universe the Ultimate birthdate Calendar with a snapshot of the time-space continuum?
Astrology is a theory that the position of the stars and planets affects daily life. As a result, our birthdate determines much of our personality. The waltz of celestial bodies across the heavens provides us with opportunities and obstacles.
The Babylonians first developed the idea in 2500 B.C., researchers suggest because of a pronounced link in the second millennium B.C. made between the season of pregnancy and the health of the child.
A woman pregnant in August in the northern hemisphere, who worked outside for much of the day absorbing the benefits of sunshine and gobbling fresh fruit and veggies compared to a pregnancy in January that was exposed to illness and hormone deficiencies were in both cases susceptible to seasonal shifts. There were no prenatal vitamins or central heat and air for the January baby and mother. A child born in the spring had a few lazy months to grow hardy before the cruel winter began but the January-born baby had to be tough, they are the winter-borns.
It is important to remember also that the concept of astrology was first developed in areas of the world that had summer year round - unless the climatology was radically different in the second millennium. And also, astrology is less about the time of birth and more about the time of conception. If the planets can cause measurable tides in a teacup then they can equally affect the body chemistry of a creature of 85% water. The body chemistry programs the time of birth of the fetus, therefore the horoscopes of people born by C-section are never accurate having been "born" at an arbitrarily chosen time, rather than on their physiology programmed date.
Researchers believe environmental influences shaped personalities. For our ancestors, the birthdate-personality connection was real and the obvious result was the zodiac.
The Babylonian zodiac calendar, which originally had 13+ horoscopes signs, seeped into other cultures. The Egyptians adopted the idea.
Egyptian decans were star clocks with 36 constellations that rose and fell, marking a new phase. Decans were associated with diseases and healings and each new phase held positives and negatives for health. They have been traced as far back as 2100 B.C., appearing on coffins around that time.
Indian cultures welcomed the theory too. Hindu nakshatras divide the ecliptic into 27 or 28 sectors. Each sector governed by a lord fated with forecasting the life path of individuals within that sector. Hindu astrologers believe children should be given names that please their nakshatra. These calendars started appearing around the beginning of the last millennium B.C.
The Chinese zodiac is based on the lunar calendar and appoints one of twelve animals to guide the children of that year. Pottery crafted in China depicts the Chinese zodiac as early as 475 B.C.
The Greeks and the Romans both adopted the theory. The Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, A.D. 90 -A.D. 168, is credited with developing the modern-day zodiac or tropical zodiac. Although now the flaw of Ptolemy’s idea has been revealed. In a space shift, the tropical zodiac does not account for equinoxes and after so many years, the zodiac signs have no direct relationship with the zodiac constellations.
Ptolemy is remembered for two seemingly different theories: the model of the heavens in the Almagest and his equally enormous work on astrology: the Tetrabiblos. The latter was his more famous work at the time and until recently scholars were puzzled that he penned both. Most had misinterpreted the nature of the model in the Almagest. Another work of Ptolemy was found recently, the Planetary Hypothesis, in which he describes the model and demonstrates that he thought of it as a physical, rather than a mathematical device.
The important point is the Planetary Hypothesis uses a Stoic model of the heavens. The basic idea is that the heavens as opposed to Earth, which is composed of the four terrestrial Aristotelian elements, are made of pneuma, a life-giving substance that can self-differentiate and form the rotating spheres in the Ptolemaic model but pneuma also exists on earth as the substance that gives us life.
The ancients knew that the universe was much bigger than Earth, an important point. Using these two facts, the only ancient model of the heavens where astrology makes sense is the Stoic one. It is reasonable in this model that the vast realm of pneuma in heaven influences the smaller realm within our world. In the Platonic and Aristotelian models, the heavens are made of different substances or in Plato's theiry, live in an entirely different world.
The important influence of Stoic philosophy through the years is often forgotte in lieu of more significant ones including Plato, Aristotle and various Christians versions.
And still, others say that the zodiac is much older and that the Lascaux cave paintings show how the stars are aligned.
Should the popular tropical zodiac remain? Or should we revert to the sidereal zodiac more closely aligned with both constellations and the long-forgotten Babylonian version? Does the zodiac apply to us anymore in light of fast food, air conditioning, 4-D ultrasounds and prenatal healthcare? Should we debunk it all?
Tropical 12-Sign Zodiac
Aries: March 21- April 19
Taurus: April 20—May 20
Gemini: May 21—June 20
Cancer: June 21—July 22
Leo: July 23—August 22
Virgo: August 23—September 22
Libra: September 23—October 22
Scorpio: October 23—November 21
Sagittarius: November 22—December 21
Capricorn: December 22—January 19
Aquarius: January 20—February 18
Pisces: February 19—March 20
Sidereal 13-Sign Zodiac
Aries: April 19—May 13
Taurus: May 14—June 19
Gemini: June 20—July 20
Cancer: July 21—August 9
Leo: August 10—September 15
Virgo: September 16—October 30
Libra: October 31—November 22
Scorpio: November 23—November 29
Ophiuchus: November 30—December 17
Sagittarius: December 18—January 18
Capricorn: January 19—February 15
Aquarius: February 16—March 11
Pisces: March 12—April 18
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