Torq, you’ve practically got it. At some point, long ago, a similar concept to longitude and latitude was applied to chart the heavens. It’s known as Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (Dec.), respectively. RA is measured in hours and Dec in degrees.
The origin (0hr, 0 dgr) lay within Aries.
However, since the earth is not a perfectly smooth sphere, the earth slowly gyrates as it revolves…kinda like the gyrating of an unbalanced tire or the wobble of a spinning top. (Neither analogy is 100%, but ok here.)
Slowly, due to the gyration, the earth’s orientation in space has changed slightly. This is known as precession of the axis. Any unbalanced spinning body will precess - a term used to describe the gyration action.
Anyhow, over time, the precession has caused the orientation of the earth’s axis to change slightly. Today, the origin (0hr, 0dgr) lies in Pisces.
Now follow me: Somewhere along the line, the constellations along the ecliptic (zodiac) were divided into 12 “bands” called “signs” each 30 degrees wide (12 x 30 = 360).
The signs stayed put, but the constellations didn’t. So when we speak of the Tropic of Cancer, it refers to the sun being in the “sign” of Cancer (not the constellation) since now the constellation of Gemini has shifted into the “sign” of Cancer.
Simply put, say you had 12 framed pictures on the wall with their titles on the frame. And then, one day, someone placed the pictures into different frames. The names on the frames (“signs”) are still the same, but the pictures (“zodiac constellations”) have changed!
I think the shift takes 1,000 years per sign, so it’ll take 12,000 years to complete. This gyration is the same reason why the Earth’s North Pole used to align with Vega (in Lyra, the Lyre) at one time.
As for astrology, I have always heard they go by your “sign”, so no impact!
Whew! Didn’t think the 5th Dim. would have heard this phrase - even if they DID take it to mean free love or free VW buses, whatever!
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy - Hawkeye 4077th