Without actually having seen the article it sounds like a crap explanation. Whether inadvertently or deliberately I don't know.

Precession of the equinoxes has nothing to do with seasons. Basically it describes where the earths axis is pointing on any given calendar date. If the stars were fixed in relation to the sun (ye olde crystal sphere) the earths axis would point at the same star on the same date every year. Because the stars, sun and everything else is moving relative to each other this doesn't happen and the axis points a little sideways this year as compared to last year. Easiest way to think about it is the old "stars fixed to a crystal sphere" model and consider the sphere as rotating slowly with respect to the sun. So it takes 25,772 years before the axis once again points to the same star on the same date.

So far as the real universe in concerned its a spurious effect due to the colossal distances between stars, including the sun. So using the (physically) spurious crystal sphere model to show whats happening works just fine. Lies to readers and all that. Much clearer to explain what appears to be happening using easily grasped concepts then explain why the simple model doesn't fit reality.

In a practical world we rarely need scientifically correct models of things. Good thing really. Newtons Laws can be bad enough. Doing it properly with Quantum Mechanics, Wave Functions, String Theory et al doesn't bear thinking bout.

Clive

Ah yes, the direction the earth leans at should remain constant as it orbits, well, aside from changing slowly as per the diagram, above.