But the precession of the Earth’s rotational axis, which causes astrological signs to diverge from the zodiac, is the fundamental cause. The Earth’s equator gently bulges due to its rotation, much like how a skater’s skirt fanned out as she spins. The Earth quakes like a top because to the gravitational force of the Moon and Sun on the bulge. Over a period of 25,800 years, the wobble makes the Earth’s axisthe line around which it rotatesswing slowly in a circle.
The constellations appear to slide to the east by around a degree per human lifetime, changing how the zodiac appears to us on Earth. Hipparchus of Nicaea made the slow discovery of precession with the naked eye in about 150 B.C.
The vernal equinox, or the first day of spring, was in Aries in ancient times. It entered Pisces due to precession approximately 100 B.C., remained there until 2700 A.D., when it will enter Aquarius, and so on. It will finally return to Aries and the cycle will start all over again in 25,800 years.
Astrology may be entertaining as a game with its predictions of destiny and personality. The topic, however, has no scientific foundation. What Monopoly is to the real estate market, science is to the subject.
Astrology draws attention away from the planets’ very real influences, particularly their gravitational interactions, which actually modify the sizes, shapes, and tilts of their orbits. Past ice eras on Earth were probably brought on by such shifts. Direct impacts between Earth and celestial bodies can result in extremely quick changes, as was the case 66 million years ago when an asteroid hit the Yucatan Peninsula and had global consequences, including the extinction of dinosaurs and the emergence of mammals.
Astrological prophecies will lead you nowhere at all, but astronomical studies will eventually enable the prediction of such events.
