My sign (Aquarius) stayed the same. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?!

I’ve gone from thinking I’m a Libra to now learning I’m a Virgo. Me and my fellow October birthday chum Vladimir Putin had always believed ourselves to be compromisers and “people pleasers,” when we’re really the analytical and practical sort.

OMG! Apparently no longer a Capricorn?! I'm now a Sagittarius, and I feel so seen:

"Independent and strong-willed, Sagittarius personalities are all about going off the beaten path. Sagittarius isn’t afraid to step away from the pack...is a natural born leader who goes after what he or she wants, regardless of what other people think...Sagittarius is open-hearted, generous, and big-spirited, but Sagittarius is always truthful."

"Sagittarius Greatest Challenges: Sagittarius can sometimes be far too blunt, and put their own needs above others. You don’t need to veer from your values, but sometimes, a white lie saves all."

I guess I missed this the first time around 26 years ago, but now I'm ready to embrace my Sag! White lies to the rescue!

This is a cool data visualization story, and I agree that for anyone who hasn’t yet heard about this, it’s a surprise to realize how much the zodiac of astrology has drifted from that of astronomy. But the headline’s suggestion that it’s “time to rethink your sign” basically also means we should just ditch astrology entirely. If you think about it for even a second, the idea that this divination tradition could be so out-of-sync and yet practicing astrologers both didn’t notice and didn’t realize that their work was based on such a big error—it would be utterly disqualifying of the entire tradition!

If you’re big on science and don’t have any space in your heart for magic, you probably don’t even need the NYT’s yuk-yukking at this incongruence in order to write off astrology entirely. I see science-supremacist thinkers making this move all the time. I remember a while ago when a tech writer wrote a screed about how “ECLIPSES SHOULD BE CELEBRATIONS OF SCIENCE, NOT PSEUDOSCIENCE." (I wrote about that here.) There’s something about non-scientific traditions that makes science-forward people want to say, You’re doing it wrong. My advice would be, if you’ve enjoyed and resonated with something from astrology, I don’t think this should change anything. That tradition is built around something other than the latest astronomy. It’s related but different.

Plus, if you know anything about astrology, the idea that the only people who are Scorpios are those born between Nov. 23-29 is hilarious.