The zodiac is a belt-shaped section of the sky that stretches approximately 8 degrees north or south of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year (as measured in celestial latitude). The Moon’s and visible planets’ paths are all within the zodiac belt.
The zodiac is divided into twelve signs in Western astrology, and formerly astronomy: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each sign occupies 30 degrees of celestial longitude and roughly corresponds to the star constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn
These astrological signs make up a celestial coordinate system, or more specifically, an ecliptic coordinate system, in which the ecliptic serves as the origin of latitude and the vernal equinox serves as the origin of longitude.
In This Article...
Are zodiac signs genuine or fictitious?
Is astrology accurate? Reading horoscopes is a popular pastime, but is there any scientific evidence that they are accurate?
When you’re enticed by a familiar interruption and your willpower weakens, problems can occur.
Every day, up to 70 million Americans consult their horoscopes. At least, that’s what the American Federation of Astrologers claims. According to a Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life poll conducted twenty years ago, 25% of Americans believe that the positions of the stars and planets have an impact on our daily life. In 2012, the General Social Survey indicated that 34% of Americans think astrology is “extremely” or “kind of scientific,” with the percentage of individuals who think astrology is “not at all scientific” dropping from two-thirds to about half.
Astrology is the concept that astronomical phenomena, such as the stars over your head when you were born or the fact that Mercury is retrograde, have the potential to influence our daily lives and personality traits. Of course, this is distinct from astronomy, which is the scientific study of celestial objects, space, and the physics of the cosmos.
A particular facet of astrology, the foretelling of a person’s future or the provision of daily counsel via horoscopes, is gaining in popularity. The Cut, for example, recorded a 150 percent rise in horoscope page views in 2017 compared to 2016.
Clearly, a lot of people are trying to figure out how to read the stars for guidance. Understanding the positions of the stars is the foundation of astrology, which appears to be a scientific discipline in and of itself. Is there any scientific evidence that astrology has an impact on our personalities and lives?
But, since I still have five minutes of this six-minute podcast to fill, let’s take a look at how astrology has been put to the test.
Who is the creator of the zodiac?
According to NASA, the Babylonians had already constructed a 12-month calendar based on the phases of the moon when they created the zodiac. Despite the fact that they identified 13 constellations that make up the zodiac, they decided to leave one out so that the zodiac signs would coincide better with their 12-month calendar.
But, before all of you Aries, Cancers, and Leos start making fun of your new Ophiuchus friends, keep in mind that the addition of this 13th constellation shifts every zodiac sign’s time frame slightly, which means that, while I’ve loved my life as a textbook Pisces, I discovered that I’m now an Aquarius after doing my research. (Gasp!)
Although 3,000 years old, this information reappeared this year when NASA disclosed scientific data regarding the Earth’s axis, which has moved and no longer points in the exact same direction as it previously did, affecting the amount of time each constellation is visible in the sky.
The astrology community (and Twitter) went crazy, and many ardent followers assumed NASA was involved “added a sign to the zodiac, causing havoc with the signs we’re all familiar with. That, however, is not the case. NASA omitted an astrological symbol from the design. They wrote a Tumblr blog entry about it “I’ve just done the math. If you want to point the finger, it should go to the ancient Babylonians for leaving Ophiuchus out of the picture in the first place.
Who created the signs of the zodiac?
The constellations that represent the 12 astrological signs each take up a quarter of this belt in principle, although they aren’t properly proportionate in shape or size in reality. They’ve also moved around since the Babylonians initially recorded the zodiac sign system around 450 BCE.
What exactly is Ophiuchus?
The constellation Ophiuchus (/fijuks/) straddles the celestial equator. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ophiokhos, which means “serpent-bearer,” and it is frequently shown as a man holding a snake. Serpens is the constellation that represents the serpent.
What is the best way for me to locate my star?
The following are the 12 zodiac signs and their symbols:
- The Ram of Aries (March 21-April 19)
- The bull Taurus (April 20-May 20)
- The Gemini twins (May 21-June 20)
- The crab Cancer (June 21-July 22)
- The lion Leothe (July 23-August 22)
- Virgothe Virgothe Virgothe Virgothe Virgo (August 23-September 22)
What is the age of the Zodiac killer?
- Joseph aka Giuseppe Bevilacqua, former manager of the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, was named as a suspect in both the Zodiac and Monster of Florence murder cases by Italian journalist Francesco Amicone in 2018. According to Amicone, Bevilacqua confessed to being the killer in both incidents on September 11, 2017. The investigations into Bevilacqua emanating from Amicone’s inquiry were closed in 2021 at the request of the Attorney in charge of the Monster investigation, Pm Luca Turco. “This journalistic inquiry is marked by ideas, assumptions, stated intuitions, and it does not contain any factual element likely to rise to the dignity of a clue,” Turco said in defending his request. Pm Turco also filed a lawsuit against Amicone for defamation of character against Bevilacqua.
- Richard Gaikowski, a newspaper editor, was the subject of a 2009 episode of the History Channel television series MysteryQuest. Gaikowski worked for Good Times, a San Francisco counterculture publication, at the time of the murders. His look matched the composite sketch, and a tape of Gaikowski’s voice was identified as the Zodiac’s by Nancy Slover, a Vallejo police dispatcher who was contacted by the Zodiac immediately after the Blue Rock Springs Attack.
- In his book The Black Dahlia Avenger, retired police investigator Steve Hodel claims that his father, George Hodel, was the Black Dahlia perpetrator, who murdered Elizabeth Short. The book prompted his father’s Los Angeles district attorney’s office to produce previously concealed files and wire recordings, revealing that the senior Hodel was certainly a main suspect in Short’s murder. In a letter published in the amended edition, District Attorney Steve Kaye stated that if George Hodel were still alive, he would be prosecuted for the crimes. In a follow-up book, Hodel suggested that his father was also the Zodiac Killer, based on a police sketch, the Zodiac letters’ closeness to the Black Dahlia Avenger letters’ style, and a questioned document study.
- Kathleen Johns, who claimed to have been kidnapped by the Zodiac Killer, identified Lawrence Kaye, afterwards Lawrence Kane, in a photo lineup. Don Fouke, a patrol officer who may have seen the Zodiac Killer after the death of Paul Stine, said Kane looked a lot like the man he and Eric Zelms saw. Kane worked at the same Nevada motel as Donna Lass, a suspected Zodiac victim. After sustaining brain injuries in a 1962 accident, Kane was diagnosed with impulse control disorder. He was arrested for prowling and voyeurism. In 2021, Fayal Ziraoui, a French-Moroccan business expert, claimed to have cracked the Z13 cipher, claiming that the solution reads “My name is Kayr,” a possible misspelling for Kaye. Others questioned Ziraoui’s ability to crack the code.
- Richard Marshall was accused of being the Zodiac Killer by police informants who claimed he had informally hinted at being a killer. Marshall lived in Riverside, California, in 1966 and San Francisco, California, in 1969, close to the Bates and Stine killings. He was a silent cinema buff and projectionist who screened Segundo de Chomn’s The Red Phantom (1907), a picture whose title was allegedly borrowed by the author of a 1974 Zodiac letter. “Marshall makes good reading but not a very good suspect in my judgment,” Detective Ken Narlow said.
- Louis Joseph Myers confessed to a friend in 2001 that he was the Zodiac Killer after learning that he was dying of liver cirrhosis, according to a story in February 2014.
- Upon his death, he demanded that his friend, Randy Kenney, report to the police. Kenney apparently had trouble getting cops to participate and take the allegations seriously after Myers died in 2002. Myers went to the same high school as victims David Farraday and Betty Lou Jensen, and apparently worked in the same restaurant as victim Darlene Ferrin, therefore there are multiple possible links between him and the Zodiac case. Myers was stationed overseas with the military during the years 1971-1973, when no Zodiac letters were received. According to Kenney, Myers admitted that he targeted couples because he had a horrible split with a partner. While cops involved in the investigation are suspicious, they believe Kenney’s allegation is plausible enough to examine if he can offer reliable proof.
- Robert Ivan Nichols, also known as Joseph Newton Chandler III, was an identity thief who killed himself in Eastlake, Ohio, in July 2002. Investigators were unable to identify his family after his death, and it was determined that he had stolen the identity of an eight-year-old kid murdered in a vehicle accident in Texas in 1945. The efforts to which Nichols attempted to conceal his identity fueled speculation that he was a dangerous criminal on the run. On June 21, 2018, the US Marshals Service announced his identification at a press conference in Cleveland. Some Internet sleuths speculated that he was the Zodiac Killer because he looked like the Zodiac in police sketches and had resided in California, where the Zodiac operated.
- Ross Because of the suspected link between the Zodiac Killer and the death of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside, Sullivan became a figure of suspicion. Coworkers suspected Sullivan, a library assistant at Riverside City College, after he went absent for many days after the murder. Sullivan wore military-style boots with tracks similar to those found at the Lake Berryessa crime site and matched sketches of the Zodiac. Sullivan was admitted to the hospital several times due to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
- Dennis Kaufman claimed his stepfather Jack Tarrance was the Zodiac back in 2007. Kaufman handed up many artifacts to the FBI, including a hood identical to the Zodiac’s. According to news reports, the FBI’s DNA analysis of the objects in 2010 was judged inconclusive.
- Former California Highway Patrol officer Lyndon Lafferty claims the Zodiac Killer was a 91-year-old man named George Russell Tucker from Solano County, California. Lafferty located Tucker and presented an alleged cover-up for why he was not pursued using a group of retired law enforcement personnel known as the Mandamus Seven. Tucker died in February 2012 and was not identified because authorities did not believe he was a suspect.
- Gary Stewart claimed in his book The Most Dangerous Animal of All, published in 2014, that his quest for his biological father, Earl Van Best Jr., led him to the conclusion that Van Best was the Zodiac Killer. The novel was converted into a documentary series for FX Network in 2020.
What is the zodiac’s age?
2,500 years ago, during the “Age of Aries,” the zodiac system was created in Babylonia. It is assumed that the precession of the equinoxes was unknown at the time. In modern use of the coordinate system, the option of interpreting the system as sidereal, with the signs fixed to the stellar backdrop, or tropical, with the signs fixed to the point (vector of the Sun) at the March equinox, is offered.
The tropical technique is used in Western astrology, but the sidereal approach is used in Hindu astrology. As a result, the once-unifying zodiacal coordinate system is gradually drifting apart, with a clockwise (westward) precession rate of 1.4 degrees each century.
This means that the tropical sign of Aries is currently located somewhere within the constellation Pisces, according to the tropical zodiac used in Western astronomy and astrology (“Age of Pisces”).
The ayanamsa, ayan meaning “transit” or “movement,” and amsa meaning “little part,” or the movement of equinoxes in small sections, is taken into account by the sidereal coordinate system. It is unclear when Indians first became aware of the precession of the equinoxes, but Bhskara II’s 12th-century treatise Siddhanta Shiromani contains equations for measuring the precession of the equinoxes, and claims that his equations are based on some lost Suryasiddhanta equations plus the Munjaala equation.
Hipparchus is credited with discovering precession in 130 BC. In the seventh book of his 2nd century astronomical literature, Almagest, Ptolemy draws from Hipparchus’ now-lost work “On the Displacement of the Solstitial and Equinoctial Points,” in which he describes the phenomena of precession and calculates its importance. Ptolemy stated that in Greek mathematical astrology, the zodiac was always started at the vernal equinox, and this point was always referred to as “the first degree” of Aries. Because its starting point travels across the circle of backdrop constellations throughout time, it is known as the “tropical zodiac” (from the Greek word trpos, turn).
In Geminus of Rhodes’ 1st century BC astronomical book, the principle of the vernal point acting as the first degree of the zodiac for Greek astronomers is described. In contrast to the previous Chaldean (Babylonian) system, which placed these points within the zodiac signs, Geminus says that Greek scientists of his period correlate the initial degrees of the zodiac signs with the two solstices and the two equinoxes. This shows that, contrary to popular belief, Ptolemy just defined Greek astronomical conventions and did not invent the tropical zodiac theory.
In his astrological text, the Tetrabiblos, Ptolemy demonstrates that the principle of the tropical zodiac was well known to his forefathers, explaining why it would be a mistake to associate the seasonally aligned zodiac’s regularly spaced signs with the irregular boundaries of the visible constellations:
The equinoctial and tropical points are used to determine the beginnings of the signs, as well as the starts of the terms. This rule is not only stated explicitly by writers on the subject, but it is further demonstrated by the constant proof that their natures, effects, and familiarities have no other origin than the tropics and equinoxes, as has already been demonstrated. And, if other beginnings were permitted, it would either be necessary to exclude the natures of the signs from prognostication theory, or impossible to avoid error in retaining and employing them, because the regularity of their spaces and distances, on which their influence is based, would be invaded and broken into.
Which Zodiac signs are warriors?
Are you the one who always gets into fights and gets into trouble? While there may be a variety of reasons for your rage, your cosmic stars have a huge impact on your mood and aggression, and can cause a part of the protagonist to drag you into potentially dangerous situations. Take a deeper look at what astral element your sign belongs to to learn more about where you stand when it comes to rage, disputes, and arguments! It’s acceptable to claim that you were born to lead the conflict if it embodies power or aggression. According to astrology, there are five zodiac signs based on combative forces that fight frequently.
1. The astrological sign of Aries
Aries is one of the most aggressive zodiac signs. They are not only impulsive, but also easily frustrated, which leads to further difficulties and conflict. Furthermore, an Arian never harbors a grudge; once enraged, they will irritate you with their fiery debates and hitting. Aries has little patience and will always start a battle in order to win, whether it’s verbal or physical.
Taurus (the Bull)
Taurus are fierce and unyielding, but they never initiate a fight! When you disagree with them, though, boy-oh-boy! No one can save you from the arduous journey they put you on. They normally discuss things calmly at first, but eventually escalate into a full-fledged brawl. It’s tough to get them to admit to their wrongdoings because they have that ‘always right’ personality trait. A Taurus will battle to the end because they are self-assured in their deeds.
3. The sign of Gemini
When someone gets in their way, Geminis don’t like it, and when their path is blocked, they aren’t content to just sit back and watch the drama unfold; they are desperate enough to start disagreements, followed by a conflict. Because they believe that “words may be exceedingly destructive,” they always utilize words as their first weapon. Furthermore, Geminis are notoriously unpredictable, as their actions are based on their mood, making it difficult to predict their responses.
Leo (number four)
Leos are intelligent and can guide you through even the most difficult verbal fights. When it comes to their ego, they are the prideful egoistic maniac that can make you cry like a baby. If something offends them, they will take the matter very personally and drag you back down by any means necessary. What’s great about them is that excellent communication can quickly cool them down!
Cancer is number five.
When speaking with a Cancer, take extra care because anything can damage their heart. They are normally calm and emotionally intelligent, but if you insult them, they will not back down. They can even recall previous clashes and use them as a point of reference in present discussions, fighting as if they were a proud monarch.