Local seers say don't worry about the astrological shift

For all the talk this week about a new zodiac sign emerging after an article mentioned a well-known fact - the positions of the stars relative to the Earth change over time, and therefore, change the accuracy of the daily horoscope - Bridgette Williams, who runs Carson City Psychic, said she's not worried.

"It is old news," Williams said. "Is it true? Yes. But is it true that the astrological or zodiac is changing? No."

First, some background.

Parke Kunkle, who teaches at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, was quoted in a story by the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday that mentioned the fact the Earth wobbles like a giant top, which means the stars are no longer where they were when the zodiac calendar started.

The story went viral and suddenly Kunkle, according to the Associated Press, became a source of confusion and worry for horoscope followers everywhere.

"Astronomers have known about this since about 130 BC," Kunkle told the AP. "This is not new news. I have no idea why it went viral this time. Almost every astronomy class talks about it."

Regardless, Williams said all that matters is the zodiac sign people were assigned at birth.

"Your birth sign is still your birth sign," Williams said. "Your birthday didn't change."

Tanya Stanley, the owner of Lake Tahoe Psychic in South Lake Tahoe, said astrological signs are static, regardless of the Earth's relative position to the stars.

"I don't agree with that," said Stanley, who performs astrological readings. "If that were true everybody would have different personalities."

She adds: "It's a more spiritual thing. It's something that's your mind, body, spirit and soul."

Souls and spirits aside, for Terri Jay of Washoe Valley, whose self-professed specialty is speaking with the dead, the daily horoscope is just a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"I don't think predictions are a good idea," Jay said. "It's like the more we try to avoid it, the more we try to attract it."

She adds, "It wouldn't matter to me if they added 15 more zodiacs, we need to become empowered so we receive our own guidance."

So far, the commotion hasn't affected Christopher Arnold's Carson City tattoo shop with clients asking for a Capricorn to be made into a Sagittarius.

"I have yet to see the repercussions of that, but I imagine it's coming," Arnold said.

Robert Collier, the director of the Jack C. Davis observatory at Western Nevada College, who doesn't check his horoscope often, said he was surprised a known fact about the Earth's rotation had received so much attention this week.

But for those who need a visual, Collier said to imagine a gigantic fountain pen sticking straight into the sky at the north geographic pole of the Earth. If there were a piece of paper large enough, that pen would create a circle every 24,600 years because of that wobble.

"It causes the position of stars in the sky to change over year to year," he said. "Over 25,000 years that is a huge change. Based on the slow drift over time it looks like there have been changes in some of the positions of some of the zodiac objects."

• The Associated Press contributed to this report.