# Zodiac signs are 2000 years out of date! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862 "2025-09-08T19:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/1 "2025-09-08T19:09:55Z")
What’s your sign? No, it’s not. (Disclaimer: Your Z-sign’s effect on your daily life is your option. I make no judgements on the matter. Okay?) According to an article in the NYTimes, sign charts were set up 2000 years ago, according to what constellation was “behind the sun” during what part of the year. Well, it has changed, because of Earth’s wobble and yadda, yadda, yadda. Those constellations are now behind the sun at an earlier time of the year. I went from being on the Leo-ish end of Virgo to being smack dab in the middle of Leo. Eh, big deal. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/2 "2025-09-08T19:15:09Z")
I’m not a big believer in astrology, but this description of Ophiuchus (Nov. 29 - Dec. 17) resonates more with me than Sagittarius. It was part of the original zodiac before it was simplified to 12 signs. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/3 "2025-09-08T19:21:31Z")
I thought this was well known. It’s even in the musical “Hair”. “When the moon is the 7th House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars” and so forth. You know? “Age of Aquarius” ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/4 "2025-09-08T19:26:51Z")
Exactly what I told my wife when she mentioned this NYT article. And the constellations have changed in the last 2,000 years too. Well, the stars’ positions in the so called constellations has changed, to be preciser, some more than others. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/5 "2025-09-08T19:28:06Z")
Luckily, California hasn’t seen any signs of the Zodiac since the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/6 "2025-09-08T19:32:01Z")
Everybody has a different take on what to make of astrology. My lovely wife went through life thinking stuff had to balance and come out even 'cause she was a Libra. She even got a degree in accounting. Nope. It’s just because that’s the kind of person she is. I never took my sign seriously, and to this day I can’t tell you what kind of person Virgos are supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/7 "2025-09-08T19:36:57Z")
30-some years ago at work, I got to hear such things as “Typical Scorpio!!” and other such comments from a couple of people I’d have lunch with. It took all I had not to roll my eyes and snort derisively. These were people in technical positions at an aircraft overhaul facility. And they weren’t just being silly or snarky - they were serious. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Oh, that would be me - Aquarius! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/8 "2025-09-08T19:46:13Z")
Are you saying “You will learn something new today” was not accurate for me?? Instead, it’s “Someone will do say something positive around you”? How can that be? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/9 "2025-09-08T19:56:13Z")
I used to be an amateur astrologer. I found most signs, whether they are not progressed, are obviously as predicted. Virgos are critical, Geminis talk, Aries are bossy, Sagittarians put their foot in their mouth figuratively. I have seen a lot of evidence of this. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/10 "2025-09-08T20:13:11Z")
I don’t believe in astrology. But then, we Virgos are usually skeptics. mmm ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/11 "2025-09-08T20:52:33Z")
See? See? Critical. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/12 "2025-09-08T21:24:37Z")
I don’t believe in astrology. But then, we Tauruses (tauri? tauroi? tauropodes?) are always stubborn. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/13 "2025-09-08T21:34:05Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Virgos are critical, Geminis talk, Aries are bossy, Sagittarians put their foot in their mouth figuratively. Yup! And it’s also true that Geminis are critical, Aries talk, Saggitarians are bossy, and Virgos put their foot in their mouth. And any other arrangement of those terms you care to name. Or, to put it even more concisely, humans are human. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/14 "2025-09-08T22:16:21Z")
I don’t believe astrology can predict anything. Actually, I may have only noticed the bossy Aries, critical Virgos, etc. Is that called confirmation bias? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/15 "2025-09-08T22:20:16Z")
I’m Year of the Horse Oh, _that_ astrology. Pisces here. [Rodney Dangerfield] “My wife is an earth sign. I’m a water sign. Together we make mud.” [/RD] ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/16 "2025-09-08T22:45:30Z")
Yes, confirmation bias certainly sounds plausible. Also the [Barnum effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_effect) often skews evaluation of the accuracy of astrology. That’s the tendency that given vague, general personality descriptions, especially positive ones, people tend to rank them as highly accurate descriptions of their own personality. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/17 "2025-09-10T08:30:37Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Luckily, California hasn’t seen any signs of the Zodiac since the 1970s. You have to look fairly quickly. Once it has passed, the signs of the zodiac become indistinguishable from random wave action often in less than a minute ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/18 "2025-09-10T13:33:55Z")
There is a mild correlation between what sign you are and your personality - it has to do with the age you enter first grade in school… for example a Sagittarius or Capricorn will be 5.5 years old starting grade one, and a Aquarius/Pisces will be 6.5 That maturity entering grade one will affect how you interact with your peers and how you are treaded by elders. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/19 "2025-09-10T14:03:46Z")
The OP is conflating the _signs_ of the zodiac and the _constellations_ of the zodiac. Although ancient people thought that the constellation under which you were born influenced you, astrologers have known about precession of the equinoxes for centuries, if not millennia. This is why modern astrologers refer to the “signs” of the zodiac, which are equal 30-degree segments of the ecliptic, even though the constellations are much more unequal in area, and even though they no longer line up with the constellations of the same names. The claim is that it is the signs that have the influence, not the constellations. Here is an article by an astronomer who explains it all better than I can. [Page 1](https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=2010JRASC.104..103T&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&plate_select=NO&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_GIF&classic=YES) [Page 2](https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=2010JRASC.104..103T&db_key=AST&page_ind=1&plate_select=NO&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_GIF&classic=YES) The second page has a table with the amount of time the Sun spends in each of the thirteen constellations. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862/20 "2025-09-10T15:31:10Z")
When someone asks me what sign I was born under, I reply “Maternity Ward”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-are-2000-years-out-of-date/1022862.md?page=2)