Just as everything is beginning to return somewhat to normal, we've seemingly been thrown a curveball by the space giants.
The 13th sign, known as Ophiuchus, would mean that for many of us, our star signs have changed.
Stemming today in a resurfaced blog from 2016, NASA explained how ancient Babylonians originally divided the zodiac into 12 equal parts. However, there were actually 13 constellations in the zodiac, so they decided to leave one (Ophiuchus) out, in favour of giving each sign an equal span of days over the year.
Medium.com provides a full reading on the Ophiuchus sign, stating that they are known for their attractive physical appearances, are information seekers and are typically very smart people.
The Ophiuchus is known as the serpent or snake bearer, with the sign being symbolised by a man carrying a snake.
For those of us born between the 29th of November and the 17th of December, Ophiuchus would be your new star sign, with the rest of the signs shuffled accordingly.
Thankfully, though, Ophiuchus is not an official sign of the zodiac, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief that we haven’t been reading the wrong horoscopes for our entire lives.
Capricorn: 20th January - 16th February
Aquarius: 16th February - 11th March
Pisces: 11th March - 18th April
Aries: 18th April - 13th May
Taurus: 13th May - 21st June
Gemini: 21st June – 20th July
Cancer: 20th July – 10th August
Leo: 10th August – 16th September
Virgo: 16th September – 30th October
Libra: 30th October – 23rd November
Scorpio: 23rd November – 29th November
Ophiuchus: 29th November – 17th December
Sagittarius: 17th December – 20th January
With these, you’ll notice that Virgo has a huge span of 45 days, with Scorpio only having 7 days, so you can see why the Babylonians wanted to ‘even it out’ a little.
There are also inconsistencies with the overlaps of each sign, for example; if you’re born on the 10th of August, this would make you both a Cancer and a Leo, and if you’re born on the 29th of November, you would be both a Scorpio and an Ophiuchus.
While it certainly makes interesting reading to know what star sign you might be if Ophiuchus was an official sign, it’s reassuring to know that in reality, there are still 12 signs.
We haven’t been living a lie, after all.
Aries: 21st March – 19th April
Taurus: 20th April – 20th May
Gemini: 21st May – 20th June
Cancer: 21st June – 22nd July
Leo: 23rd July – 22nd August
Virgo: 23rd August – 22nd September
Libra: 23rd September – 22nd October
Scorpio: 23rd October – 21st November
Sagittarius: 22nd November – 21st December
Capricorn: 22nd December – 19th January
Aquarius: 20th January – 18th February
Pisces: 19th February – 20th March
Written by Lauren, Digital Marketing Assistant
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