Nov 29, 2016
Ophiuchus The Serpent Holder: Traits And History Of The 13th Zodiac Sign
A new addition to the horoscope makes astrology quite confusing.
The 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus, definitely changed some people's routines. Everything in the horoscope has adjusted to give way for the new astrological sign. Not much is known about Ophiuchus, though. The Serpent Holder actually is rich in good traits and has a long history.
People who were born from Nov. 29 to Dec. 17 are Ophiuchans.
Ophiuchus Traits
One the most envious traits of the Ophiuchan is being progressive. This is not surprising considering that Ophiuchans are seekers of wisdom and knowledge. According to the International Business Times, their fashion sense is glitzy. They prefer wearing something really colorful.
Ophiuchans can also be powerful leaders. People will find him/her very charming. An Ophiuchan has a sense of justice. They have a free-spirited nature. They don't really belong to a group. Ophiuchans are very adaptable to their environment.
They can be great architects or builders. This is because they have creative and imaginative minds. They have a knack for written and spoken words. Ophiuchans can be both outspoken and secretive. According to Sportsrageous, their other good traits including being honest, jolly, good-humored and passionate.
However, they can also be narcissistic and overly competitive. Ophiuchans need to be praised. They don't want to be disapproved. As such, they are very unsympathetic to what they dislike.
As much as possible, Ophiuchans aspire to be the unquestionable best at things. That explains their jealousy at someone better than them.
Among their other bad traits are being temperamental, defensive and rebellious. Ophiuchans can be sociable but they could discard friends who are useless. They are also restless and irresponsible.
The lucky number for Ophiuchan is 12.
The History Of Ophiucus
Ophiuchus is the Latin word for "the serpent holder". According to Zodiac-Signs.org, the new zodiac sign is associated with the Egyptian Imhotep. He was known as Aesclepius by the Ancient Greeks. Imhotep lived in Ancient Egypt in the 28th Century BCE. Apparently, Ophiuchus is the only zodiac sign connected to a real person.
The history of Ophiuchus goes way back to the 2nd century. It was first recorded as a constellation by Greek Astronomer Ptolemy. By the 4th century, astrologer Anonymous of 379 linked Ophiuchus' star to healers, doctors or physicians. They were used in antiquity as extra-zodiacal indicators, according to astrologers.
The 13th astrological sign was already suggested back in the 1970s. However, they still did not include it to the 12 zodiac signs. Apparently, adding another one wouldn't fit in the 12 months of the year.
At present, Dr. Shepherd Simpson said that western astrologers and most sidereal astrologers do not recognize Ophiuchus as a sign. Most versions of zodiac do not contain the Ophiuchus astrological sign.
From Wikipedia we learn Ophiuchus (/ɒfiˈjuːkəs/) has sometimes been used in sidereal astrology as a thirteenth sign in addition to the twelve signs of the tropical Zodiac, because the eponymous constellation Ophiuchus(Greek: "Serpent-bearer") as defined by the 1930 IAU constellation boundaries is situated behind the sun from November 30 to December 18.
The idea appears to have originated in 1970 with Stephen Schmidt's suggestion of a 14-sign zodiac (also including Cetus as a sign). A 13-sign zodiac has been suggested by Walter Berg and by Mark Yazaki in 1995, a suggestion that achieved some popularity in Japan, where Ophiuchus is known as Hebitsukai-Za ("The Serpent Bearer").
In sidereal and tropical astrology (including sun sign astrology) a 12-sign zodiac is used based on dividing the ecliptic into 12 equal parts rather than the IAU constellation boundaries. That is, astrological signs do not correspond to the constellations which are their namesakes, particularly not in the case of the tropical system where the divisions are fixed relative to the equinox, moving relative to the constellations.
History
Ophiuchus and some of the fixed stars in it were sometimes used by some astrologers in antiquity as extra-zodiacal indicators (i.e. astrologically significant celestial phenomena lying outside of the 12-sign zodiac proper). The constellation is described in the astrological poem of Marcus Manilius: the Astronomica, which is dated to around 10 AD. The poem describes how: Ophiuchus holds apart the serpent which with its mighty spirals and twisted body encircles his own, so that he may untie its knots and back that winds in loops. But, bending its supple neck, the serpent looks back and returns: and the other's hands slide over the loosened coils. The struggle will last forever, since they wage it on level terms with equal powers".
Later in his poem, Manilius describes the astrological influence of Ophiuchus, when the constellation is in its rising phase, as one which offers affinity with snakes and protection from poisons, saying "he renders the forms of snakes innocuous to those born under him. They will receive snakes into the folds of their flowing robes, and will exchange kisses with these poisonous monsters and suffer no harm". A later 4th century astrologer, known as Anonymous of 379, associated "the bright star of Ophiuchus", Ras Alhague (α Ophiuchi), with doctors, healers or physicians, which may have been because of the association between poisons and medicines.
Based on the 1930 IAU constellation boundaries, suggestions that "there are really 13 astrological signs" because "the Sun is in the sign of Ophiuchus" between November 29 and December 17 have been published since at least the 1970s.
In 1970, Stephen Schmidt in hisAstrology 14 advocated a 14-sign zodiac, introducing Ophiuchus (December 6 to December 31) and Cetus (May 12 to June 6) as new signs. Within 20th-century sidereal astrology, the idea was taken up by Walter Berg in his The 13 Signs of the Zodiac (1995). Berg's The 13 Signs of the Zodiac was published in Japan in 1996 and became a bestseller, and Berg's system has since been comparatively widespread in Japanese pop culture, appearing for example in the Final Fantasy video game series and the manga and anime series Fairy Tail.
In January 2011, a statement by Parke Kunkle of the Minnesota Planetarium Society repeating the idea of "the 13th zodiac sign Ophiuchus" made some headlines in the popular press. However, Kunkle is an astronomer, not an astrologer
Image: Ophiuchus Snake Holder - suberic.net
(Allsymbols created by Denis Moskowitz and released to the public domain.)
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