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hp100 reminded me of my persistent thought that wizards don't use the standard Zodiac because they know too much about Astronomy.
Instead they used the Zodiac that is derived by actually observing the path of the sun throughout the year -- the path that goes through thirteen constellations, in a different number of days for each constellation.
Based on *this* Zodiac, Harry is a Cancer, not a Leo, and Snape is a Sagittarius, not a Capricorn. And Hagrid, of all people, is an Ophiuchus!
hp100 reminded me of my persistent thought that wizards don't use the standard Zodiac because they know too much about Astronomy.Instead they used the Zodiac that is derived by actually observing the path of the sun throughout the year -- the path that goes through thirteen constellations, in a different number of days for each constellation.
Based on *this* Zodiac, Harry is a Cancer, not a Leo, and Snape is a Sagittarius, not a Capricorn. And Hagrid, of all people, is an Ophiuchus!
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If wizards have their own government, schools, and money, why not their own Zodiac?
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I'm still trying to imagine wizarding public transport in addition to the Knight Bus - large flying carpets?
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Do you have a chart of days worked out? For the sun signs at least?
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This site (http://www.geocities.com/astrologyzodiacs/realsolarzodiac.htm) has worked out a chart. It's probably accurate enough to play with.
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It was an interesting read. I'm a little miffed to see that I'm still a Cancer though.
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Here's (http://www.onereed.com/articles/sidereal-tropical.html)
a good article about some of the differences between tropical astrology (which uses as 'signs' divisions along the tropic, the path the sun travels through the sky) and sidereal astrology (the actual constellations of the Zodiac, which does not include Ophiuchus.
It's hard to find good articles about modern sidereal astrology; most 'sidereal' articles are about Vedic astrology, which presents other interesting problems (such as 'planets' that don't actually exist) despite its accounting for precession of the zodiac, the phenomenon which is responsible for the fact that the tropical divisions of the zodiac no longer line up exactly with its constellations.
Considering that Flamel was a historical alchemist whose work involved traditional astrological correspondences, and that genuine sidereal astrology is a recent development I consider it highly unlikely--but possible--that wizards practise sidereal astrology--but this presumes a far greater variance from historical practise than Rowling is likely to have wanted to do the research for, as Western astrology is firmly based and always has been in the works of Ptolemy (there's also a heliocentric strain of modern astrology, which is not generally accepted) and William Lilly, and Western astrology is the basis of Flamel's work as well as Agrippa's and other historical alchemists.
Of course I am well aware that some people think historical occult traditions have no part in any discussion of the Potterverse but I am so not one of them.
The Ophiuchus theory was popular only in certain crackpottish circles in the 1970s and I think that the wizarding world is about as likely to follow it as it is to practise modern neo-paganism.
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*imagines Trelawney collaborating with $ilver Ravenwolf*
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The Zodiac is a problem (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/Zodiac.html) if you practice astronomy as well as astrology, and since wizards think astronomy is important enough to be in the core curriculum for Hogwarts students, they'd be aware of it.
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