There will be those who believe in the horoscope and there will be those who read it for fun. Some see traits of their personality in their sign, and others, skeptical, resort to prediction to make a joke. But the truth is that everyone knows which zodiac sign corresponds to them according to the day they were born. And, for years, every January the appearance of a supposed new sign goes viral again, but what about the truth?
a recurring mystery
The story is not new. In 1995, Jacqueline Mittonof the Royal British Astronomical Society, announced in a BBC disclosure series that the zodiac was not made up of 12 signs, but 13.
Years later, in 2016, a NASA statement It generated such confusion that the appearance of a new horoscope sign returned to orbit. In that year, many interpreted that the organism had introduced a new sign of the horoscope. Little or nothing to do with reality, although the seed was already laid.
In 2020, NASA itself made a publication referring to Ofiuco and launching a categorical statement: «We study astronomy, not astrology. We have not changed the zodiac, we have only made calculations». Thus, he established the difference between astronomy, which studies the celestial bodies of the universe, and astrology, which is nothing other than the interpretation derived from the study of the position of the stars.
In their explanation, NASA made it clear that the Babylonians, following their myths, they divided the zodiac into 12 parts -“like a pizza”- and each of these parts was attributed a constellation. And since Babylon had a 12-month calendar, based on lunar phases, each month was assigned a constellation.
???? We see your comments about a zodiac story that re-emerges every few years. No, we did not change the zodiac.
When the Babylonians invented the constellations 3,000 years ago, they chose to leave out a 13th sign. So, we did the math: https://t.co/DQOs5VSjT7 pic.twitter.com/WlblguobGT
— NASA (@NASA) July 17, 2020
Now the stories of old Babylon they spoke of 13 signs and not 12, so they decided to leave out Ofiuco. A constellation that, at the time of the forging of the zodiac myth, was not visible, but today it is. As NASA indicated in 2020. The explanation is simple: more than 3,000 years after the Babylonians created the horoscope, the Earth’s axis is not the same.
the constellation of Ofiuco, known as the snake carrier, really exists. Its position in the firmament is between Scorpio and Sagittarius. According to Greek mythology, Ophiuchus represents Asclepiusthe son of the god Apollo and Coronide, a mortal.
Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing, according to the legends of Greek mythology possessed the gift of healing and resurrection. This was the reason why Zeus ordered to kill him.
There are several versions of this myth: in one, Zeus kills Asclepius with lightning after he revived Hippolytus (son of Theseus, king of Athens), and, in others, it was Hades -god of the Underworld- who ordered the death of Asclepius because he did nothing but steal souls from the Styx Lagoon.
Once killed, the myth tells that Zeus brought him back to life with a single condition, that of living on high. Something that Asclepio accepted, but he asked to carry two snakes to distinguish him on Olympus. That is why the Ophiuchus constellationespecially visible between December and January, is represented as a man entwined with two snakes.