NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR ZODIAC SIGN CHANGING IF YOU LIVE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE!

Don't panic, horoscope watchers: Your star sign is still the same!

And so is the sign of your lover, mother and best friend - unless you follow the Eastern philosophy of astrology.

In that case, get used to suddenly being a Taurus instead of a Gemini or a Leo instead of a Virgo.

Horoscope followers had a bit of a scare last week when one Minneapolis astrologer suggested that the Earth's movement has shifted the stars' alignment about a month.

That's got some astrology devotees seeing stars.

"A Libra fits my description, and if it's wrong, I now have to accept that I'm not the person I read about," said Wesley Mathewson, 26, of Inwood.

Here's what's behind that star sign switch.

Astrology follows two main systems: the Eastern Vedic astrology philosophy and the Western zodiac system that we read about every day in the Daily News.

About 3,000 years ago, when astrology began, the 12 star signs were aligned to the different periods of the year, and both systems had the same starting point for each of the signs.

Western astrology is based on our relationship to the Sun. It is calculated on the position of the Sun's rays to the tropics, and the signs are fixed to the seasons.

The zodiac starts in the sign of Aries at the beginning of spring, or the vernal equinox - at the end of March in the Northern Hemisphere - when the Sun crosses directly over the Earth's equator.

For those who follow the Western system, your star sign stays the same and has all the same irresistible and irritating traits.

Eastern astrology, on the other hand, is based on our relationship to the stars. It is calculated based on the position of the stars, and over a period of time, the Earth has moved enough to allow another constellation to feature in the mix.

This adds an additional sign, called Ophiuchus, which makes 13 signs in total - and for those who follow this system, it changes the dates of the remaining 12 signs.

For those who treat astrology as a bit of fun, if you don't like your reading from the Western zodiac system, you can hop over to the East and see what Vedic astrology predicts.

But for those who have grown to love their star signs, nothing has to change.

That's good news for Kristin Smith, a 20-year-old Dowling College student who is sticking with her sign.

"My sign, Sagittarius, fits me perfectly," she said. "I'm bossy, loyal and competent. I would be livid if I had a tattoo and had to change it."

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