Signing off the celestial

A hurried internet frenzy followed a Minneapolis Star-Tribune report,in which an astronomer Parke Kunkle,a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society,said that a “wobble” in the Earth’s rotation has altered the sun’s placement from the time of the ancient Babylonians,creators of the original zodiac. And thus,the 13th sign,earlier thrown out by the creators,has found its space again. Twitter snowballs,Facebook applications urging one to find their ‘new’ sun-sign and online blogs commenting on the new shift were but expected.

Yet,the truth about the feasibility of a new sun-sign is still clouded. Pallavi Ranade,an IT professional,says that she will not accept the existence of the 13th sign. “I am a stereotypical Virgo. I am meticulous,practical and fussy — everything a Virgo is supposed to be. Just because Ophiuchus has been discovered,I’m being told that I’m not a Virgo anymore! I cannot accept that.”

Seek out the professionals to defend the sign,and one finds none. Astrologer Anand Soni says,“Ophiuchus is often mistakenly called the ‘13th sign of the zodiac’ because the sign is thought of as an addition to the 12 Tropical or Sidereal signs. In fact,Ophiuchus is an ancient Greek constellation.” The Serpent Bearer is one of the original Ptolemy constellations,appearing in Al Magest Star Catalogue [c 130 – 170 AD,he says. “It is not seen in the commonly used western zodiac because it is not a member of the standard astrological zodiac. This is because the tropical zodiac is an inaccurate oversimplification of the heaven’s dating from a time when we did not have telescopes or computers.”

Similar debate had hit the Indian astrology readers with the apparent discovery of the 28th nakshatra,called the Akshay Nakshatra. Says astrologer Sanjay Kelkar,“When the Akshay Nakshatra was brought into discussion,there was a similar confusion. Today,the effect of the Nakshatra is considered whenever required in our predictions.”

Though identities seem to be in a topsy-turvy state now,this isn’t stopping the flow of information about Ophiuchus. And even though its entry is facing acceptance roadblocks,there are some people showing signs of approval. Student Jayshree Pillay’s birthday is on December 10. By that,she now falls under the new sign. She shrugs,“I don’t possess all the traits that the zodiac calendar says I should. Perhaps,with the new order of signs in place,my sun-sign will hold true for me.”

There are some who prefer not to delve too much into this identity whirl. Ritwik Sen,a mechanical engineer,shakes off the worries. He jokes,“Now that I’m a Gemini,I should start working towards getting rid of my Cancerian characteristics!” On a more serious note,he says,“It all depends on perception. I relate to Cancer,so I will continue to consider myself a Cancerian.” Well,one thing’s for sure. Scanning through one’s everyday forecast isn’t going to be same again. Not for a while,at least.