Astrological sign

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Not to be confused with Constellations.
"Birth sign" redirects here. For the album by George Freeman, see Birth Sign (album).

The twelve signs of the zodiac, miniatures from a book of hours. (The Sky: Order and Chaos by Jean-Pierre Verdet, from the
'New Horizons' series)
In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30 degree sectors that make up Earth's 360 degree orbit
around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is
the vernal equinox. The astrological signs
are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The
Western zodiac originated in Babylonian astrology, and was later influenced by the Hellenistic culture. Each sign
was named after a constellation the sun annually moved through while crossing the sky. This observation is
emphasized in the simplified and popular sun sign astrology. Over the centuries, Western astrology's zodiacal
divisions have shifted out of alignment with the constellations they were named after by axial precession[1] of the
Earth while Hindu astrology measurements correct for this shifting. [2] Astrology (i.e. a system of omina based on
celestial appearances) was developed in Chinese and Tibetan cultures as well but these astrologies are not based
upon the zodiac but deal with the whole sky.
Astrology is a pseudoscience.[3] Scientific investigations of the theoretical[4] basis and experimental verification of
claims[5] have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory power.
According to astrology, celestial phenomena relate to human activity on the principle of "as above, so below", so
that the signs are held to represent characteristic modes of expression. [6] Scientific astronomy used the same
sectors of the ecliptic as Western astrology until the 19th century.
Various approaches to measuring and dividing the sky are currently used by differing systems of astrology, although
the tradition of the Zodiac's names and symbols remain mostly consistent. Western astrology measures
from Equinox and Solstice points (points relating to equal, longest, and shortest days of the tropical year),
while Hindu astrology measures along the equatorial plane (sidereal year).

Western zodiac signs[edit]

History[edit]
Main articles: Zodiac and History of astrology
Further information: Babylonian astrology, Hellenistic astrology, and Ancient Egyptian astronomy

The twelve ecliptic signs. Each dot marks the start of a sign and they are separated by 30°. The intersection of the celestial
equator and the ecliptic define the equinoctial points: First Point of Aries ( ) and First Point of Libra ( ). The great
circle containing the celestial poles and the ecliptic poles (P and P'), intersect the ecliptic at 0° Cancer ( ) and 0° Capricorn ( ).
In this illustration, the Sun is schematically positioned at the start of Aquarius ( ).
Western astrology is a direct continuation of Hellenistic astrology as recorded in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in the 2nd
century. Hellenistic astrology in turn was partly based on concepts from Babylonian tradition. Specifically, the
division of the ecliptic in twelve equal sectors is a Babylonian conceptual construction. [7] This division of the ecliptic
originated in the Babylonian "ideal calendar" found in the old compendium MUL.APIN and its combination with the
Babylonian lunar calendar,[8] represented as the "path of the moon" in MUL.APIN. In a way, the zodiac is the
idealisation of an ideal lunar calendar.
By the 4th century BC, Babylonian astronomy and its system of celestial omens influenced the culture of ancient
Greece, as did the astronomy of Egypt by late 2nd century BC. This resulted, unlike the Mesopotamian tradition, in
a strong focus on the birth chart of the individual and the creation of Horoscopic astrology, employing the use of
the Ascendant (the rising degree of the ecliptic, at the time of birth), and of the twelve houses. Association of the
astrological signs with Empedocles' four classical elements was another important development in the
characterization of the twelve signs.
The body of the Hellenistic astrological tradition as it stood by the 2nd century is described in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos.
This is the seminal work for later astronomical tradition not only in the West but also in India and the Islamic sphere
and has remained a reference for almost seventeen centuries as later traditions made few substantial changes to its
core teachings.

Western astrological correspondence chart[edit]

The following table shows the approximate dates of the twelve astrological signs, along with the classical [9] and
modern[10] rulerships of each sign. By definition, Aries starts at the First Point of Aries which is the location of the
Sun at the March equinox. The precise date of the Equinox varies from year to year but is always between 19
March and 21 March. The consequence is the start date of Aries and therefore the start date of all the other signs
can change slightly from year to year. The following Western astrology table enumerates the twelve divisions of
celestial longitude with the Latin names. The longitude intervals, are treated as closed for the first endpoint (a) and
open for the second (b) – for instance, 30° of longitude is the first point of Taurus, not part of Aries. The signs are
occasionally numbered 0 through 11 in place of symbols in astronomical works.

The twelve signs each have opposites, resulting in six opposite couples. Fire and air elements are opposites, and
earth and water elements are opposites.[11] Spring signs are opposite to autumn ones, winter signs are opposite to
summer ones and vice versa.[12][13][14][15]

 Aries is opposite to Libra

 Taurus is opposite to Scorpio
 Gemini is opposite to Sagittarius
 Cancer is opposite to Capricorn
 Leo is opposite to Aquarius
 Virgo is opposite to Pisces
Polarity[edit]
In Western astrology, the polarity divides the zodiac in half and refers to the alignment of a sign's energy as either
positive or negative, with various attributes associated to them as a result. [16] Positive polarity signs, also called
active, yang, expressive, or masculine signs, are the six odd-numbered signs of the
zodiac: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. Positive signs make up the fire and air triplicities.[17]
[18]
 Negative polarity signs, also called passive, yin, receptive, or feminine signs,[17] are the six even-numbered signs
of the zodiac: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces. Negative signs make up the earth and water
triplicities.[18]
The three modalities[edit]
The modality or mode of a given sign refers to its position in the season it is found in. Each of the four elements
manifests in three modalities: cardinal, fixed, and mutable.[19] Since each modality comprehends four signs, they
are also known as Quadruplicities.[20][21] For example, the sign Aries is found in the first month of spring in
the Northern Hemisphere, so practitioners of astrology describe it as having a cardinal modality. [22] The combination
of element and modality provides the signs with their unique characterizations. For instance, Capricorn is the
cardinal earth sign, impressing its association with action (cardinal modality) in the material world (earth element). [23]
[24][25]

Triplicities of the four elements[edit]

Main article: Triplicity
Further information: Classical element

The planets' sign positions on May 16, 2012. The signs are colored according to the associated element. Each planet is
represented by a glyph next to its longitude within the sign. Additional symbols may be added to represent apparent retrograde
motion ( ), or apparent stationary moment (shift from retrograde to direct, or vice versa: S).
The Greek philosopher Empedocles identified fire, earth, air, and water as elements in the fifth-century BC. He
explained the nature of the universe as an interaction of two opposing principles, love and strife, manipulate the
elements into different mixtures that produce the different natures of things. He stated all the elements are equal,
the same age, rule their own provinces, and possess their own individual character. Empedocles said that those
born with nearly equal proportions of the elements are more intelligent and have the most exact perceptions. [29][30]
The elemental categories are called triplicities because each classical element is associated with three signs[20]
[21]
 The four astrological elements are also considered as a direct equivalent to Hippocrates' personality
types (sanguine = air; choleric = fire; melancholic = earth; phlegmatic = water). A modern approach looks at
elements as "the energy substance of experience" [31] and the next table tries to summarize their description through
keywords.[32][33] The elements have grown in importance and some astrologers begin natal chart interpretations by
studying the balance of elements in the location of planets (especially the Sun's and Moon's ascendant signs) and
the position of angles in the chart.[34]