Interview with the Sun: Part 1

John: Hi everyone! John here with the beginning of the interviews with planets. And what better place to start on a Sunday with the most important of the astrological planets, the Sun!

Sun: Greetings, John. Happy to be here!

John: I've got a group of readers who are new to the astrological world in general, and as we discussed, they want to understand what the team does on a very basic level. So thanks for agreeing to do this for us. I know you're really busy!

Sun: It's my pleasure, John. I want to make sure that your readers have a more solid understanding of what we're all about.

John: Let's start with you. What would you say your job is?

Sun: Well, I'm the primary life force, and I'm one of the most important parts of the western astrological system. I'm one of the "luminaries", the "lights" of the astrological world, along with Lady Moon, of course. I'm a powerful force to help you manifest yourself and your personal influence in this world. You can think of me as "the face you show to the world."

John: Excellent points, sir. Can you talk a little bit about what sun sign astrology is and why it's so popular?

Sun: Absolutely! Sun sign astrology is knowing a person's birth date and some of the possible traits that might be in a given personality based on that alone. People just ask "What's your sign?" but what they're really asking is "What is your Sun sign?" It's fun and a lot of people enjoy seeing how a person fits--or doesn't--with some of the standard Sun sign characteristics. It's popular because generally speaking people can figure out what their sun sign is pretty easily, except if their close to the end of a sign, of course.

John: Yes, certainly. I remember reading my own horoscope in the newspaper many years ago and it was one of the things that fascinated me growing up. Why is it important to check things out if you're born close to the end or beginning of a sign?

Sun: What a lot of people don't know is that astrology really is "sacred geometry"! Astrology is a wheel and there are 360 degrees in that wheel. Each sign gets one equal part of that wheel--30 degrees--so when I move from one sign into another, it's one SECOND to the next, and it's not always on the same day, either. It's moving from 29 degrees 59 minutes of one sign to 0 degrees of the next sign.

John: Hmmmm. Geometry has given lots of my readers fits. How about an example?

Sun: Certainly! So Pisces is almost over now, right? And if you look up the dates of the signs, normally Pisces ends around March 17 or so. If I look at where I am at this very moment, I'm at 25 Pisces 34 minutes right now. There are 60 minutes in a degree, so we're at about 25 and a half degrees of Pisces.

John: Makes sense.

Sun: All the planets move different speeds. Luckily, I'm the easiest one to track. There are 360 degrees in a circle and 365 degrees in a year. So while I don't want to force your readers to do math...

John: That's about 1 degree a day, right?

Sun: Precisely. So we have about 4 and a half days left before I move into Aries. Incidentally, when the weather forecasters say when spring is, that's the moment that I move into Aries. They don't TELL you that, of course...but that's what it is.

John: So when is that exactly in 2020?

Sun: Well, let's see...it appears I will enter Aries 11:49:29am EDT on March 19. Your readers can pull a chart and look at exactly when it will happen. It's not a date...it's a time defined by geometry.

John: I'll include one in this post for them to refer to, boss. No problem there.

Sun: Excellent. That will probably help people understand it.

John: I've met some people in my practice who thought they were one Sun sign their whole lives, but realized they were actually another!

Sun: It's wonderful that you were able to do that. We don't want people thinking they are something they're not.

John: Yes! So before we go any further, I'd like to bring a question to you that I often have to answer for people, if you would indulge me...

Sun: I agreed to these interviews, John, because I thought you would asking intelligent questions for your audience. You're not going to ask me that question, are you?

John: Boss, as much as it pains me, I am indeed going to ask you that question. This is a good opportunity to get people the answer, because people are still asking.

Sun: [sigh] Go ahead, then. Hopefully it will educate a few more people.

John: Please tell us why there isn't a 13th sign.

Sun: Well, the geometry alone gives you the answer--we can't divide 13 evenly into 360! But I will elaborate so everyone may finally know the reason.

John: I thank you for your patience. Go on, please.

Sun: Western astrology is based on the seasons--Aries in the spring, Libra in the fall, and all the other signs fall into place between them. Vedic astrology, a totally different but valid astrological system, uses the constellations, which have moved over time and created a space. As such, they filled that space with a 13th sign, called Opichucus, which is a ridiculous name. And then they went and told everyone the signs had all changed. My team should have done an awareness campaign at that time; it probably would have avoided some confusion.

John: So could you bottom line it for me, please?

Sun: In western astrology, there is no 13th sign. Your Sun sign has not changed! At all.