"I was born of the brilliant and magnificent egg, and my substance is of the same nature as that which composes light."
"I was born of the brilliant and magnificent egg, and my substance is of the same nature as that which composes light."

There Is No 13th Sign (In Western Astrology)

 

Despite what some New Age circles and astrologers might say, Ophiuchus is not the 13th sign of the zodiac. You will not find any ancient tropical or sidereal astrology systems using 13 signs.

This New Age idea started in 1970 when Stephen Schmidt wrote a book called “Astrology 14” in which he advocated a 14-sign astrology that included both Ophiuchus and Cetus. However, the idea of Ophiuchus being a 13th sign became widespread when Walter Berg published his book “The 13 Signs of the Zodiac” in 1995. This inclusion of a 13th sign was due to the fact that the IAU constellation boundaries show that Ophiuchus is situated behind the Sun from November 30th to December 18th.

What should be understood however is within tropical and sidereal astrology, the Ecliptic is divided into 12 equal parts rather than within the IAU constellation boundaries. The zodiac signs are named after the constellations, but do not correspond to the constellations, especially in tropical astrology’s case where the divisions are fixed relative to the equinox and moving relative to the constellations.

A 13th sign would cause an imbalance to a system of divination that’s existed for generations. It simply wouldn’t work. You would have to add a 13th house, a new ruling planet, traits for the sign when each planet is within it, not just the Sun. You would need to add a lot of new innovations to an ancient system.

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