Has your Sun sign changed?

My granddaughter called this morning to say she’s at a sleep-over with her friends and they’re all confused about their true Sun signs. Is she the fiery innovative Aries we thought she was or is she really a sensitive poetic Pisces?

We’re now in a viral controversy because of a suggested new alignment in the astrological signs of the zodiac that would shift the sign of a planet “backwards” into the previous sign. As reported in the New York Times, it’s a cosmic kerfuffle. Although a majority of Western astrologers, myself included, use a tropical zodiac alignment based on the spring and fall equinoxes, the firestorm of news around this astronomer’s pronouncement is telling.

Why now are we so attracted to a new idea that calls into question those defining personality traits revealed in the Sun sign that have become calling cards for so many? Sun signs offer some simple, easy explanations of who you are and whether or not you’re compatible with friends, mates or bosses. But what if you’re not a Gemini but are a Taurus, the previous sign?

Why does this matter so much to us? Because we love to be recognized and known, and we want it to be for who we really are. Our astrological Sun sign represents the face we show to the world, the way we shine our light. And we want that to be seen.

Maybe we’re making all this up? After all, astrological signs and the configuration of stars into constellations are symbolic representations of concepts in our own minds. We, humankind, gave them the names and attributed the meanings they have. Even before the wise men followed the north star, these age-old ideas have been our attempt to explain why we are the way we are and why things happen when they happen. Is my chronic indecision just my Libra trait? Should I wait for the new moon in Aries to plant my tomato seeds?

I like to think this viral controversy has opened a wormhole between two dimensions of time and space, allowing us to see the journey from our present zodiac Sun sign to the one just past. It has been a belief among astrologers for some time now that your soul progresses through the 12 signs of the zodiac, Aries to Pisces, in order to learn the lessons in wisdom offered by each sign. A Virgo, having previously completed the monarch’s journey through Leo, understands a Leo’s courage in ways the Leo cannot yet see. A Libra understands the perfectionism inherent in Virgo’s journey, but may not yet know how to balance facts with fairness. If Kunkle suggests that Virgo is really a Leo and Libra is really a Virgo, we might do well to explore the link.

Our two dimensional world needs to break open and hatch something better than black-white, either-or, right-or-wrong thinking. Maybe you are more and bigger than you thought you were. Perhaps you contain within you a deep timeless connection to every zodiac sign. A meaningful connection to everyone you see. We’re all Avatars, filled with joy when we look into some one's eyes and can say, “I see you!”