Zodiac Shift!

THIS JUST IN: Never mind, I didn’t bother to do enough research. Feel free to read this post anyway, but scroll down to Ishana’s comment to catch the real deal.

Despite sounding like the formation command for some sort of giant robot, this is actually some business both serious and trippy. Some important scientists have declared that, as a result of moon shenanigans messing with Earth’s orbit, the conventionally held dates for the Zodiac signs are in fact HELLA WRONG [sic]. Here’s what the old dates were:

Aries: March 21 – April 19
Taurus: April 20 – May 20
Gemini: May 21 – June 20
Cancer: June 21 – July 22
Leo: July 23 – August 22
Virgo: August 23 – September 22
Libra: September 23 – October 22
Scorpio: October 23 – November 21
Sagittarius: November 22 – December 21
Capricorn: December 22 – January 19
Aquarius:January 20 – February 18
Pisces: February 19 – March 20

So that’s the classical system, passed down to us by the Babylonians. Tried and true, right? Apparently not. Here’s what the Washington Post declares is the setup now:

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11
Pisces: March 11-April 18
Aries: April 18-May 13
Taurus: May 13-June 21
Gemini: June 21-July 20
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23-Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20

Setting aside the fact that this schedule puts a bizarre overlap day between every sign, it’s pretty jostled, eh? BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. Either because of the tumult already happening, or for reasons unknown, there’s talk of officializing Opiuchus, the Snake, as the thirteenth Zodiac sign. It would fit in Nov. 29 – Dec. 17, squashing Scorpio down to 6 days, and coming before Sagittarius. Now, players of Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, or any other Ivalice game will already be familiar with fair Serpentarius, but it’s quite a shift for the rest of the world.

So, what do you think? I really don’t know at this point. The shift would throw me from Virgo to Leo, which is weird. Ophiuchus being added seems largely pointless, but I’ve played too much Final Fantasy to not be amused by it. There’s some precedent for the opinions of our regular commenters, though; Thaumaturgist has established her view on the Zodiac, and Ishana has mentioned on two occasions her views on arbitrary dates versus concrete ones. What do you think, though? Will this shift send you to a new sign, or stay the same? Is your new one better in your eyes, or worse? Leave a comment.

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