waybread
Well-known member
@Petosiris: Thank you for the explanation. I think I am going to be satisfied by researching all the sources you mention and reading the threads you link to. Very interesting stuff.
Just a quick check on one fact: In my understanding the Sun spends 46 days in Virgo, which means the constellation is around 46 degrees long. I was unable to verify if that is the result of IAAU redrawing, precession or it was always like this. Could you set me straight on this?
@waybread: Thank you very much for your constructive opposition in this topic. I am going to check Robert Zoller's work, from what I am reading it seems more and more that in fact the constellation mythology has inspired all meaning in astrology.
The constellation Virgo is 46-47 degrees along the ecliptic, while Cancer, Libra, and Aries are much less. (Somewhere I've got the list, and it's probably on-line.) Then Ophiuchus crosses the ecliptic and Cetus just touches it. There are also a few gaps along the ecliptic, while Capricorn and Aquarius overlap.
The Babylonians used a sexagesimal (base-60) arithmetic system, which we inherit today with our degrees of the circle, clocks, compasses, and system of latitude and longitude. Using 30-degree signs just made their predictions a lot easier than using constellations.