Beyond the 13th zodiac sign

All the hullabaloo and questions came because one person, an astronomer, decides to say something to media about a topic he wasn’t an expert on: astrology. The online media frenzy that caught everyone’s attention was centered on the constellation Ophiuchus. What astronomer Parke Kunkle told the NBC news about the “13th zodiac sign” sent many into an astrological identity crisis. 

This pronouncement created questions and more questions as astrologer friends and myself were receiving texts, FB posts and tweets asking for an explanation. What happened here was that an age-old controversy between astronomers who scientifically study the heavens, and astrologers, who study the movement of the planets in relation to man’s personality and how these energies related to his life and evolution, came once more face to face — and clashed! But this clash isn’t new. It’s been happening since ancient times.

Both astronomer and astrologer look up to study the universe. The astronomers keep to what they see. The astrologers, often readers of patterns and energies, see the physical universe as representation of the unseen but felt cosmic forces affecting man’s life. They are both speaking from different perspectives, using their own different rose-tinted glasses. So when the astronomer says there are 13 constellations, yes they are right. When you study the heavens, you will indeed see the constellation Ophiuchus situated behind the sun between Nov. 29 and Dec. 17, and between the constellations of Libra and Sagittarius.

 But to include this 13th zodiac sign as part of the astrologer’s interpretative tool is not correct. The astrologer looks at a part of the heavens from a specific lens — and this is the 12 housed zodiac. When the Babylonians invented astrology over 3,000 years ago, they had a solar-lunar calendar alternating between 12 and 13 months in a year, but they divided the zodiac into 12 equal parts that would stay constant regardless of where the constellations moved. They had to do this because they knew that constellations were of unequal size and prone to change over time. They didn’t include Ophiuchus in their zodiac.

When astrology made its way to Greece during the period of the great philosophers, Plato (now here’s one who was both an astronomer and astrologer) tried to bridge this controversy by trying to include Ophiuchus in the zodiac but he wasn’t successful. So the 12 zodiac signs developed 2,000 years ago remained. This is what we now use when we read western astrological charts and create horoscopes. If you surf the Internet, there is so much information about the 13th constellation called Ophiuchus “The Serpent Bearer.” In a nutshell, let me present to you the vital information: The constellation’s symbol is of a man wrestling a snake or serpent. It is also the only star constellation that is actually named after a real living person from ancient Egypt. This was Imhotep, a writer, scholar, priest and skilled healer who contributed to Egyptian astrology and architecture. He designed the Step Pyramid near Memphis. Following his death, he was worshipped by both the ancient Egyptians and Greeks.

In Greek mythology, Ophiuchus was known as Aesclepius who, like Christ, was born the son of a God, Apollo, and a mortal woman. A centaur, Chiron, raised Aesclepius — teaching him botany, medicine and the art of healing. He became so skilled that he could resurrect the dead, possibly by using the blood or venom of a snake. The Greeks built temples near healing springs all dedicated to Aesclepius.

More than just the issue of astrologer versus astronomer’s viewpoint that surfaced, what I would rather like to point out in this article is the timing of the resurfacing of Ophiuchus. In astrology, timing and symbology when read together are both very, very important and can often offer clues to understand new energies that are arising, or energies that the world needs at this moment. The worldwide symbol of healing and medicine depicting snakes coiled around a staff — the caduceus — is associated with Ophiuchus. Because of the snake’s ability to shed its skin, it has long represented regeneration, rebirth and immortality.

But the snake symbol, in esoteric and even eastern practices, represents the “kundalini” energy, which is “coiled” at the base of the spine. Kundalini energy is the potent spiritual energy that brings great awakening, enlightenment and mystical union with the Oneness of Creation. One writer had called this the “liquid fire of sex” in that its mercurial rise through the central channel of the nerves of the spine, touching all the energy centers of the body (called chakras by the yogis) allows expanded consciousness beyond the physical body, which, for want of any other descriptive experience, can be likened to a thousand orgasms. (An example that comes to my mind to illustrate this is the sculptor Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Theresa in a church in Rome that attempts to depict this mystical union). Writings by mystics and enlightened masters through time have also had similar descriptive phrases for the experience.

Let me give an example to illustrate the different perspectives of the astronomer and the astrologer. Astronomical fact: the planet Pluto has been in the constellation of Ophiuchus since 1995, where it is expected to stay for approximately 10 years. On Nov. 13, 2012, there will be a total solar eclipse in Ophiuchus.

My astrological interpretation: Pluto is the planet of transformation and rules the sign of Scorpio. Pluto is positioned in Ophiuchus, the constellation given the symbolism of both the snake and the healer, both symbols for transformation, regeneration and enlightened awakening. I believe that man is ready at this point for conscious awakening and has the power to bring forth this serpentine energy of expansive and enlightened consciousness.

The healing aspect of Ophiuchus also resonates with the need for humanity and the Earth’s healing. There is so much destruction of the planet from natural and man-made causes, breaking up of world systems and institutions, peoples’ cathartic suffering. The need for transformative healing is happening all around. It finds its balm in the spiritual dimension rather than the physical.

The last total solar eclipse was the solar eclipse of July 11, 2010; the next will be the solar eclipse of Nov. 13, 2012. Solar eclipses are powerful events that generate remarkable energy. So potent were their energies in the past that ancient people saw solar eclipses as omens. Today astrologers are unanimous in saying that solar eclipses signify the advent of change embodied through actual events seen and experiences in the world (as opposed to a lunar eclipse that often has subconscious and internal effects). The eclipse pushes and jumpstarts us to a different level. It is interesting to also point out that the ancient Mayans (who, coincidentally, held the number 13 sacred) predicted the “end of the world as we know it” one month after this solar eclipse, on the winter solstice of Dec. 22, 2012. But this is another story and must be saved for another article!