Updated on 15 July: I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they don’t believe in astrology. Not because it’s been wholeheartedly rejected by the scientific community (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, astrological predictions are too unspecific to be subjected to testing), or because it’s difficult to imagine how 12 star signs – 13, if you take NASA’s comments about shifting skies on board (more on that later) – can accurately describe some 7 billion people.

So what’s the cause of this cynicism? Because they feel personally victimised by the zodiac, of course!

To all those people rolling their eyes and tutting over inaccurate predictions and personality summaries: I get it. Truly I do. After all, I’m a Scorpio, which puts my mild-mannered existence completely at odds with the dramatic woman in black my daily horoscope speaks to each morning. So, in a bid to stop those bottom lips quivering, I’ve done a little digging into why you’re finding it difficult to relate to your zodiac sign.

As reported on 5 February: here’s what I’ve found out. Fair warning, though: please take all of the below with a hefty pinch of salt.

“My horoscope is always wrong,” said every Aries, Capricorn, Virgo, Taurus and Scorpio ever.

That’s right: according to some astrologers, these five star signs are (somewhat conveniently) too grounded, sceptical or confident to ever believe in astrology in the first place. So, if you are born under one of these signs (or have one in your birth chart), chances are you’ll spend your days poking fun at your horoscope, or dismiss it out of hand entirely.

You’re born on the cusp of two seasons

Apparently, if you were born at the very end or very beginning of a zodiac season, then you have strong influences from the season you are close to. For example, if you are born on 21 July you are technically a Cancer, but since Leo seasons starts on 23 July, you probably have traits of both signs. So read both, and see which one you like best, we guess.

You’re not reading your full astrological chart

Forget your horoscope: if you want a proper insight into your psyche, then you need an astrological birth chart (also called an astrology natal chart). Basically, this acts as a map of where all the planets were in their journey around the Sun (from our vantage point on earth) at the exact moment you were born. Which means that, as well as your zodiac (sun) sign, you will also get a moon and rising sign, too.

Why is this important? Well, if you’re into all things woo-woo, your sun sign only speaks to your dominant personality. The moon and rising signs, however, get down deeper into your emotions and energy, and as such are expected to give you a far better reading: think strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for ‘soul growth’ and the best timing for important moves, too.

To calculate your astrology birth chart, you’ll need your date and place of birth, as well as the exact time you popped into the world (get thee to a birth certificate, stat!). 

The star signs have shifted, and you’ve yet to catch up

That’s right: as previously reported by Stylist, NASA has pointed out the sky today is completely different to how it was almost 3,000 years ago, when the Babylonians first invented the 12 signs of the zodiac. And they’ve added a brand-new 13th zodiac sign into the mix: Ophiuchus.

As such, you could be reading the wrong star sign entirely.

Check it out:

• Capricorn: Jan 20 - Feb 16
• Aquarius: Feb 16 – March 11
• Pisces: March 11 – April 18
• Aries: April 18 – May 13
• Taurus: May 13 – June 21
• Gemini: June 21 – July 20
• Cancer: July 20 – Aug 10
• Leo: Aug 10 – Sept 16
• Virgo: Sept 16 – Oct 30
• Libra: Oct 30 – Nov 23
• Scorpio: Nov 23 – Nov 29
• Ophiuchus: Nov 29 – Dec 17
• Sagittarius: Dec 17 – Jan 20

You can find out more about your new star sign here.

And on that note…

Quartz recently dropped the bombshell that ‘pop astrology’ isn’t actually based on ancient tradition, Babylonian or otherwise. In fact, “the notion that your sun sign indicates your character was popularised by esotericist Alan Leo in England in the 1890s… [and] his writing garnered enough of an audience to provoke several legal battles in the 1910s for unlawfully practicing fortune-telling.”

Essentially, “astrology has been ruined by modern psychology”. Go figure.

As one anonymous horoscope writer told Stylist: “Having written them myself, I do wonder how ‘real’ horoscopes can ever be. I think it’s simply a case of taking the mysterious rules of the zodiac seriously or getting creative and making them up as you go along. But as long as readers get pleasure out of them, what’s the problem?”

Images: Unsplash/Getty