Your zodiac sign is a symbol that represents a combination of traits and patterns that influence your emotions, thoughts, motivations and behavior. Some people keep asking the same question though: “Why does my zodiac sign not fit me“?
Everybody has many different signs but the sun sign is what is widely used to explain your basic nature as used in horoscopes. While these attributes might not be true for everyone, the zodiac signs give a vague or general prediction of most people’s personalities.
Why does my zodiac sign not fit me?
To understand how zodiac signs work, it is vital to learn the basics of astrology.
Astrology is the belief that the movement and positioning of the stars and planets around the earth impacts everyone’s personality, mood and environment. This hugely depends on your natal chart. A natal chart is a snapshot of the sky at your moment of birth.
In order to discern your characteristics and interests that are observed throughout the course of your life, an astrologer will simply examine the positions planets and stars at the time and exact location you were born. This means that if your time and location input aren’t precise, your entire natal chart will be inaccurate.
Additionally, the zodiac is divided into twelve segments known as houses. Each segment is ruled by a different sign. In Astrology, these houses functions as a clock. The zodiac goes counter-clockwise from the first house ruled by Aries.
These houses are used to predict which facets of your life will come into focus at a given time. Like the clock, zodiac houses rotate every 24 hours. They also shift every four minutes. This implies that people born on the same day but different times will present radically different personalities. Therefore, if you key in your birth date correctly but miss on the time, you will get inaccurate predictions.
To further complicate the entire process of getting an accurate reading on your zodiac, you will need to include your zodiac sun, moon and rising signs. The rising sign is also referred to as the ascendant. It is used as the anchor or compass to create a distinct chart that matches your profile. The rising sign also reveals your chart’s ruling planet.
The sun sign exposes your truths while the moon sign reflects your emotions. The placement of these three components offers invaluable insight not just about your own personality, but also reveals your personal landscape and how you coexist with the world around you. Since the sun signs are the most popular when it comes to mainstream astrology, you may feel like your zodiac doesn’t fit you.
Now to bring everything into perspective, are the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Over the period of one year, the sun appears to pass through a belt of sky containing twelve ancient star groupings referred to as constellations. You may be familiar with their names Aries, Taurus, Gemini and so on.
Astrology portrays constellations as equal 30° slices of the sky that form a full 360° circle for a complete revolution. However, constellations vary to a big extent in terms of size and shape. For this reason, astrological signs will not perfectly align with the constellations of the zodiac.
To add to this, due to the effects of precession, each zodiac sign no longer corresponds to the constellations they are named after. Precession is the gradual movement of the position of stars in relation to the seasons. This alters the actual dates the sun appears to be in a particular constellation.
It is estimated that the signs of the zodiac and the constellations are misaligned by roughly one month by now and the rift will continuously widen with time.
Here’s an approximate of the actual dates accommodating the effects of precession.
- Aries: April 19 – May 14
- Taurus: May 15 – June 20
- Gemini: June 21 – July 20
- Cancer: July 21 – August 10
- Leo: August 11 – September 16
- Virgo: September 17 – October 31
- Libra: November 1 – November 24
- Scorpio: November 25 – December 17
- Sagittarius: December 18 – January 19
- Capricorn: January 20 – February 16
- Aquarius: February 17 – March 11
- Pisces: March 12 – April 18
Bottom line
Zodiac signs are more than what is published on mainstream media. It’s more than a system to predict love, career, and compatibility among other facets of life. It’s a complex dance between astrology and astronomy that if precisely executed could tell you the story of your life.
So the next time you are reading your monthly horoscopes and they don’t seem to fit, it’s worth taking a deeper look into your natal chart.