I had a bit of spare time last week, so while I was out and about I dropped in to a local New Age shop, just to watch some cognitive dissonance in action.
The guy running the place was a Libra (had it tattooed on his wrist), so I raised the subject of the zodiac and mentioned that my sign is Aries. We talked about matters astrological for a while before touching on what qualifies as a Sun sign and what doesn't. Put simply, the path that the Sun takes across the sky during the year, determines which constellations (Houses of the Zodiac Signs) are considered to be zodiacal. If the Sun doesn't pass thru that constellation, then it's not a bona fide zodiac sign. Simple, right? That's why nobody is ever an Orion or Ursa Majoran. The Sun doesn't track thru these constellations (as seen from Earth! The Earth goes round the Sun, not vice versa) so they're not legitimate Zodiac Houses. You can be a Capricorn or a Sagittarius or a Pisces or any of the twelve official Zodiac signs. See here... http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac So that's settled then?
Ummm...no, not really.
If you scroll down the Wiki page to the heading, 'The Twelve Signs' everything looks just dandy.
Just don't go down any further and let those inconvenient historical
facts
get in the way of your astrological beliefs! (Bad facts! Naughty facts!)
The heading, 'Zodiacal Constellations' clearly states that Virgo covers five times more of the Ecliptic Longitude than Scorpius. That's just a fancy way of saying that the Sun stays five times longer in the House of Virgo than in the House of Scorpio. Hey, but what does that matter? All of the Twelve Signs have an equal influence on the lives of us down here on Earth, right?
All of the TWELVE signs?
The next heading down ( 'Table of Dates') shows THIRTEEN signs. Go on! Count 'em!
So wtf's
Serpentarius
when he/she/it's at home? http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpentarius Please click on the link, 'Ophiuchus (astrology) to see more.
Also, if you look at the seventh column in the Table of Dates, you'll see exactly how long the Sun stays in each Zodiacal House. 18.4 for Serpentarius/Ophiuchus and 8.4 for Scorpius. Huh? You mean that a largely unrecognized and mostly unknown star sign hosts the Sun for ten more days that a supposedly real and bona fide one? Yep!
...and it gets worse!
Now click on the name 'Libra' in the fifth column, not the first. The first gives you the standard Astrological understanding and meaning of that Sign. Now, click on the
other
Libra in the fifth column, to see those (bad!) facts again. Now look at the names of Libra's three brightest stars - Alpha, Beta and Gamma Librae. What do you see?
Zubenelgenubi - the Southern Claw.
Zubeneschamali - the Northern Claw.
Zubenelekrab - the Scorpion's Claw.
These stars are the chelae - the claws of the scorpion. In Libra?
So what the hell's going on here? Scroll down to the heading, 'History and Mythology' to find out. To the Arabs, there was no star sign of Libra. It was an invention of the Greeks and Romans and has since been generally adopted by European and now our current, global culture. So the myth has been handed down and passed on, growing stronger and more persuasive with each generation.
Just like the Horns of Moses... http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moses_San_Pietro_in_Vincoli.jpg
Because the great Michaelangelo showed the Biblical patriarch looking like Satan, other sculptors felt obliged to follow his lead. I mean, if it's good enough for Michaelangelo, it's got to be right? Right?
Wrong! It's a mistranslation of Exodus 34: 29 -35, from the original, ancient Hebrew into Renaissance Italian. 'Rays of light coming out of Moses' head' became 'Horns coming out of Moses' head. See here... http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+34&version=NIV
...and the Canals of Mars...http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canals_of_Mars
How many dumb f***s are still arguing that one?
JFK's assassination by the CIA, UFO coverup's, 9/11 conspiracies etc. are just modern expressions of the same willingness to believe in half-truths, rumors, heresay, misinformation and plain garbage, rather than that the facts.
Sometimes... no, a lot of the time, I wonder how the human race ever made it this far!
Ok, rant over.
BAA.
p.s.
I told the guy in the shop, "Sorry friend. You're a actually Scorpio, not a Libra!" Then I explained why, using the above info. His reaction? Blank incomprehension at first, then discomfort when he realized the 'facts' and finally rejection. He just
knew
he was born under the Sign of the Balance and he'd had his horoscope cast many times to prove it. Goodbye!
_________________ Nietzsche was wrong - god never lived.
MockingGods Master of Logic
Joined: Nov 14, 2002
Posts: 5691
Location: Planet Earth
Posted:
Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:43 pm
BAA wrote:
Sometimes... no, a lot of the time, I wonder how the human race ever made it this far!
Me too my friend... me too
BTW, great story
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:06 pm
BornAgainAthiest wrote:
That's why nobody is ever an Orion or Ursa Majoran. The Sun doesn't track thru these constellations (as seen from Earth!
Nice one, B_A_A!! I'm an Orion from now on if anyone asks - I prefer to be off the eliptic
I wonder about that fish... y'know the one on all those bumper stickers? Piscean Pagan Jesus? Hmmmm? Although I know better (yes I know what the letters stand for) I thought a quick goog might reveal some tidbits. And sure 'nuff... heard about the pooch?
And for those with their own faster-then-light spaceship (or, try Celestia) take a trip outside the solar system and switch on 'Constellations' - which keeps lines drawn between stars in the constellations and watch the divine plan mess unfold
Prediction, no [other] spacefaring race holds a belief in astrology.
*
as at the time of posting, there was no response to the request linked to... nor should there be...
_________________ I take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance, any day... - Douglas Adams
BornAgainAthiest Graduate Thinker
Joined: Jun 16, 2008
Posts: 669
Location: Here.
Posted:
Thu Mar 04, 2010 1:57 pm
Thanks guys!
Btw, if you think the Scorpio/Libra transition is weird, try this page... http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_constellations .. to see more about the whacky world of sky names!
For some reason my eye was drawn to Mons Maenalus, when I first found this page. After a while I realized why.
True story, follows...
Apparently the late, great Carl Sagan was part of a committee charged by NASA with the responsibility of naming the surface features of the terrestrial planets (those with solid, rocky crusts) and the icy moons of the gaseous giant planets. This was the era of the Viking and Pioneer probes, so a systematic method for naming craters, canyons, mountains and plains was needed. In the past, the honor of naming rested squarely with the astronomer looking thru their telescope at the given planet. However, this ad hoc system was unsuitable, given that these robotic probes would be taking 1,000's of photos of many planets and moons and would therefore discover many, many new features. Hence the committee.
Anyway, during one meeting a certain person (not named by Sagan in his books) put forward an idea for naming the highest mountain on a given planet or it's moon, using the Latin language. Therefore the highest mountain on Mercury would be called Mons Mercuris, the highest on Mars would be Mons Martus, the highest on any moon of Jupiter would be Mons Jovis and so on...
Mons Saturnus, Mons Uranius, Mons Neptunis and Mons Plutonis. Remember that Pluto was still considered to be a bona fide planet at the time!
At this point Sagan spoke up, saying that he detected a problem with this system. What about the planet Venus? If this system were adopted, wouldn't that mean the highest mountain on Venus would have to be called,
Mons Veneris
?
Also, wasn't this name appropriately used in another area of human activities that had nothing to do with planets or astronomy?
The idea's proposer said he hadn't heard of this usage of the words and the whole 'Mons' system of mountain-naming was quickly dropped by the committee.
Bye!
BAA.
_________________ Nietzsche was wrong - god never lived.
iPondR Graduate Thinker
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
Posts: 534
Location: Aussie Prawn Facility; District 10
Posted:
Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:58 pm
BornAgainAthiest wrote:
If this system were adopted, wouldn't that mean the highest mountain on Venus would have to be called,
Mons Veneris
?
Also, wasn't this name appropriately used in another area of human activities that had nothing to do with planets or astronomy? :wink:BAA.
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You mean that a largely unrecognized and mostly unknown star sign hosts the Sun for ten more days that a supposedly real and bona fide one? Yep!
