Why your entire life is based on a lie

SHOCK! What you thought was your star sign is almost certainly not and it’s because of the way the planets have moved in the last 2000 years.

Zodiac clock featuring astrology charcters (clockwise) Capricorn, Sagittarius and Scorpio.

YOU might want to take a seat for this one.

It turns out your entire astrological life could be based on a lie, with 86 per cent of people not born under the sign they think they are, due to movements in the stars since the 12 zodiac signs were first developed.

While the shocking revelation isn’t new, a fascinating interactive published overnight shows the sign your date of birth actually falls under, taking into account that constellations have drifted significantly in recent years.

Dr Radmilla Topalovic told the BBC the gravitational pull of the moon and sun have a “wobbling effect” on the earth, meaning most people are about a month off.

“Let’s say you were born towards the end of January, this would mean that the Sun should be in the constellation of Aquarius. But in actual fact if you to look at where the Sun is on the day of your birthday, you would see that it’s not in Aquarius at all, it’s the neighbouring constellation of Capricorn,” Dr Topalovic said.

Mind blown: You may not be a fish at all.

Aries for instance, covers those born between 19 April and 14 May rather than the commonly used 21 March to 20 April bracket.

Taurus covers the time between 15 May and 21 June rather than the commonly used 21 April to 21 May definition. Check out the rest of the signs here.

There is also a 13th sign called Ophiuchus — the serpent bearer — ruling those born between 30 November and 18 December. It’s not known why it was left out by astrologers more than 2000 years ago.

Monash University’s Centre for Astrophysics director Professor John Lattanzio, (yes, we were embarrassed to ask him about star signs), said it’s long been known astrological signs are out of sync with astrological movements.

“It’s the procession of the Earth’s spin axis that causes it,” he said.

“If you look up your standard sun signs they list dates corresponding to specific constellations, they are no longer correct. They no longer match what really happens. But this is the least of the concerns for astrology.”

He said the real question is whether or not the position of stars at the moment of a person’s birth has any effect on personality.

There is also a mysterious 13th sign that was dropped for an unknown reason.

“The first thing you have to do is see if there is any effect and there have been studies done and there isn’t. No matter where the stars line up there is no effect to explain,” he said, adding that people who believe star signs are falling victim to “confirmation bias” of reading what they want to believe.

Astrologer Helen Hartley disagrees, saying the BBC report was a load of “unintelligent rubbish” which doesn’t take into account the way different astrologers work.

“We come up against this stuff all the time. We don’t pay much attention to it,” she said. “We just don’t take too much notice of the argument that scientists put forward.”

She said rather than relying on basic sun signs, astrologers calculate individual horoscopes based on the exact moment of people’s birth giving them a two-dimensional picture of the sky and how this could impact on personality traits and personal relationships.

“We go a lot deeper than ‘are you an Aries or are you a Virgo?’

“Science is about what you can measure and what you can prove and spiritual concepts are quite different,” she said.

What do you think of star signs? Does this change the way you view them? Leave a comment below or continue the conversation on Twitter @newscomauHQ | @Victoria_Craw