The contents of The Mooncurser's Handbook itself, much of which I either wrote or edited, are now online. To help avoid any need for Google or internet access, we preloaded a bunch of common encoding schemes into the Handbook for easy reference. One such list (not used in the Game, as it happens) is the solar Zodiac. I just happened upon it for the first time today, and was surprised to see thirteen entries instead of the expected twelve. The unfamiliar entry was Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer or Snake Wrestler. Even more surprising is that my birthday falls within this sign! All my life I've thought I was a Sagittarius, but in fact I'm an Ophiuchus! Apparently this is a long-standing controversy within astrological circles, with Ophiuchus being left out of the tropical zodiac with which we're all familiar. Sources I've found say Ophiuchus is another name for the healer Asclepius, who sailed with the Argonauts and healed Orion after he was bitten by a scorpion.
Next time someone asks me what my sign is-- perhaps on my next trip back in time to a 1977 disco-- I can blow their minds. I suppose it could have been worse-- that extra constellation could have been Kobayashi, the Competitive Hot Dog Eater.
Posted by Peter at August 26, 2005 06:33 PMWe were under the (mistaken, but humorous) impression during the Game that the Glattery Frontier was named for the Glattery, the first ship to reach it and return, and the Glattery was named for the Glattery Frontier, the location of its heroic voyage.
I think our favorite entry was Horst Wiffle.
Posted by: John Owens on August 26, 2005 06:47 PMHorst was Peter Sagerson's creation-- he actually wrote a number of funny entries. I was always trying to get him to write more.
Posted by: Peter on August 26, 2005 07:18 PMA snake wrestler has a tough job. You try pinning some guy's shoulders to the mat if you can't find his shoulders. Yeesh.
Posted by: Larry Hosken on August 28, 2005 09:32 PMNeat - according to that chart I'm a Sagittarius instead of a Capricorn. Now I have to go back and read three years' worth of freewillastrology for my "real" sign.
Posted by: Grubs on August 29, 2005 03:35 PM