For 57 years, I have been a Virgo. As an on-again, off-again reader of horoscopes, I tend to believe in the predictions unless they are negative. I don’t change my life because of what today’s horoscope says, but I might take heed if it warns me to be careful.

As a Virgo, my horoscope for today said, “If you want to make progress today, look in the mirror for support. You’re powerful.” Hmmm. That seems interesting.

As a new found Leo, my horoscope states, “If you sense that today could be the start of something life-changing, you’re right.” Wow. Given the fact that we were in budget hearings all day, I am not sure what that might mean, but it sounds good.

Often I was teased about being a Virgo, the Virgin, while growing up. The emblem of Virgo was a virgin holding sheaves of wheat in her hands, not the favorite symbol of a rough-and-tumble boy. Most virgins were considered shy and idealistic, not that far off-base at that time in my life. Virgos are considered quick thinking and observant. They can’t stand to be taken care of but prefer to take care of others.

People born under this sign, as a rule, are generally successful in life. They have good intellect, choosy about whom they hang around with, and have good judgment in business matters.

In love, Virgos are the most difficult to understand, as the very best and the very worst of men and women are born in this part of the year. Love for them is devotion and will include love of family, friends, and those less fortunate than he or she. Marriage is a major commitment; they value their union as both a love relationship and a working partnership.

A Leo, the Lion, certainly would seem more appealing to a teenage boy. The Fire Sign includes happy, lucky people. They are enthusiastic, energetic, and optimistic. Leos are generous to a fault and overflow with sympathy towards others. They are usually lucky in money matters but crave love above all else.

Leo is also known as the sign of Kings. They are natural leaders and chiefs. Leos aspire to lead or supervise people making good use of there intelligence and magnetic personalities.

It turns out that the International Astronomical Union, a group I have never heard of, determined there were 13 signs of the zodiac instead of the usual 12. The new sign, Ophiuchus or the snake handler, was usually included in the time given to Scorpius.

Except for the small time allotted to the snake handler, the newspapers and most astrologers assumed the rest of the calendar was correct. And they would have been if you had been born in 140 A.D, almost 2,000 years ago.

Vague explanations such as “the Earth right now is in a totally different spot in relation to the sun and its equatorial alignment than it was 3,000 years ago” don’t really help us understand what has happened. The entire brouhahas was started by Parke Kunkle, who is on the board of directors of the Minnesota Planetarium Society and teaches astronomy at Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

According to Kunkle, the whole matter is determined by the phenomenon of “precession.” Kunkle stated that if you take a toy top and spin it, it spins around an axis and that axis tends to point in different directions. It moves around. That’s what we call precession. So in Earth’s case, right now, Earth’s spin axis points towards Polaris, the North Star. But in 3,000 BC, the Earth’s axis pointed towards a different star, Thuban. And that majestic motion takes about 26,000 years, so if you went from 3,000 B.C and waited 26,000 years, you’d have the Thuban again.

Doesn’t matter so much to me I guess, since I doubt I really believe in this kind of stuff. But then again, I wore the same shirt to every Auburn game this year and look what happened.

I wore the same pair of jeans for every test I took during 4 years at Auburn. They are threadbare and much too small to wear, but I consider them a good luck charm hanging in my closet just the same.

I never carried a rabbit’s foot, but I never ever eat the tip of a pie on the first bite, having been taught by my wife that doing so will bring bad luck.

I religiously read my fortune cookie when eating at a Chinese restaurant and can’t think of any time it was not at least partially right.

I change positions while watching ball games if my team isn’t doing well, but stay in the same position if everything is going good.

I don’t step on cracks of the sidewalk or go under ladders, ever. I make a wish every time I see a red bird.

I suppose given my on traits about these things, I shouldn’t be surprised about the power of the signs of the Zodiac. I guess from now on, I will just read the horoscope for both Virgo and Leo, and pick the best one.