You might have occasionally come across the information that claimed that Ophiuchus is the 13th Zodiac constellation and the remaining twelve constellations do not align with their corresponding signs anymore due to precession. In accordance with that, some sources claim that your Zodiac sign has changed a long time ago, yet astrologers failed to notice that. Not to mention, that you might have Ophiuchus as your Zodiac sign.
Every now and then media returns to this topic as click-worthy shock content – no wonder, because the subject always draws attention and raises a lot of questions. I will try to answer some of them in this post.
Firstly, let’s clarify that Zodiac signs and Zodiac constellations are not the same things in Western Astrology tradition.
Zodiac constellation – an astronomical term used for constellations located along the ecliptic (the path of the Sun through the sky, if observed from Earth). There are 13 Zodiac constellations of different sizes.
Zodiac sign – is a purely astrological term used for each 30° section of the ecliptic circle. There are 12 Zodiac signs of equal size.
In the old days, Zodiac constellations were good reference points for astrologers to find these 30° sections, as their directions aligned. One of the theories suggests that the names of Zodiac signs derived from this. Of course, with time the stars moved, however, the mentioned ecliptic sections stayed in place, as they are frankly just areas in space.
Therefore, the astronomical movement of Zodiac constellations has no impact on Zodiac signs in Western Astrology. So the question if your Zodiac sign changed by now, can simply be answered – no it did not.
But what is the deal with Ophiuchus?
Classic Western Astrology uses 12, well-known, Zodiac signs and there is no Ophiuchus among them.
Admittedly, some schools try to use Ophiuchus as the 13th Zodiac sign, placing it in between Scorpio and Sagittarius. This is a relatively new practice, that did not gain wide popularity among professionals.
The fact of the matter is that in the end, it depends on a particular astrologer which approach they want to use.
In my practice, I do not use Ophiuchus as the 13th sign of the Zodiac. However, I use the Higher Zodiac concept, described in this post. The Higher Zodiac includes Ophiuchus as its sign yet this concept is only suitable for certain, quite rare, natal charts.