Astrological sign


In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30° sectors of the ecliptic, starting at the vernal equinox, also known as the First Point of Aries. The order of the astrological signs is Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Each sector was named for a constellation it was passing through in times of naming.
The concept of the zodiac originated in Babylonian astrology, and was later influenced by Hellenistic culture. 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. Modern discoveries about the true nature of celestial objects have undermined the theoretical basis for assigning meaning to astrological signs, and empirical scientific investigation has shown that predictions and recommendations based on these systems are not accurate. Astrology is generally regarded as pseudoscience.
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 consistent. Western astrology measures from Equinox and Solstice points, while Jyotiṣa or Vedic astrology measures along the equatorial plane. Precession results in Western astrology's zodiacal divisions not corresponding in the current era to the constellations that carry similar names, while Jyotiṣa measurements still correspond with the background constellations.

Western zodiac signs

History and symbolism

is a direct continuation of Hellenistic astrology as recorded by Ptolemy 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.
By the 4th century BC, Babylonian astronomy and its system of celestial omens had an influence on 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 in the creation of Horoscopic astrology, employing the use of the Ascendant, 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 in the Islamic sphere, and has remained a reference for almost seventeen centuries as later traditions made few substantial changes to its core teachings.
The following table enumerates the twelve divisions of celestial longitude, with the Latin names and the English translation, which express the constellation they are named for. The longitude intervals, are treated as closed for the first endpoint and open for the second – for instance, 30° of longitude is the first point of Taurus, not part of Aries. The sign numbers, 0 through 11, are seen instead of the symbols in some astronomical works.
Any association of calendar dates with these signs only makes sense when referring to Sun sign astrology.
SignSymbolNumberEcliptic longitude
Gloss
Aries00° to 30°The Ram
Taurus130° to 60°The Bull
Gemini260° to 90°The Twins
Cancer390° to 120°The Crab
Leo4120° to 150°The Lion
Virgo5150° to 180°The Maiden
Libra6180° to 210°The Scales
Scorpio7210° to 240°The Scorpion
Sagittarius8240° to 270°The Archer
Capricorn9270° to 300°The Goat
Aquarius10300° to 330°The Water-bearer
Pisces11330° to 360°The Fish

Polarity and the four elements

, a fifth-century BC Greek philosopher, identified Fire, Earth, Air, and Water as elements. He explained the nature of the universe as an interaction of two opposing principles called love and strife manipulating the four elements, and stated that these four elements were all equal, of the same age, that each rules its own province, and each possesses its own individual character. Different mixtures of these elements produced the different natures of things. Empedocles said that those who were born with near equal proportions of the four elements are more intelligent and have the most exact perceptions.
Each sign is associated with one of the classical elements, and these can also be grouped according to polarity : Fire and Air signs are considered positive signs while Water and Earth signs are considered negative signs. The four astrological elements are also considered as a direct equivalent to Hippocrates' personality types. A modern approach looks at elements as "the energy substance of experience" and the next table tries to summarize their description through keywords.
PolarityElementSymbolKeywordsSigns
Positive
FireAssertion, drive, willpowerAries, Leo, Sagittarius
Positive
AirCommunication, socialization, conceptualizationGemini, Libra, Aquarius
Negative
EarthPracticality, caution, material worldTaurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Negative
WaterEmotion, empathy, sensitivityCancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Classification according to element has gained such importance, that some astrologers start their interpretation of a natal chart, by studying the balance of elements shown by the position of planets and angles.

The three modalities

Each of the four elements manifests in three modalities: Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable. As each modality comprehends four signs, these are also known as Quadruplicities.
ModalitySymbolKeywordsSigns
CardinalAction, dynamic, initiative, great forceAries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
FixedResistance to change, great willpower, inflexibleTaurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
MutableAdaptability, flexibility, resourcefulnessGemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces

The combination of element and modality provides a basic sign characterization. For instance, Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign, meaning that it is associated with action in the material world. The next table displays the twelve combinations of elements and modalities.
ElementFireEarthAirWater
CardinalAriesCapricornLibraCancer
FixedLeoTaurusAquariusScorpio
MutableSagittariusVirgoGeminiPisces

Planetary rulerships

Rulership is the connection between planet and correlated sign and house. The conventional rulerships are as follows: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Psychologically-oriented astrologers often believe that Saturn is the ruler or co-ruler of Aquarius instead of Uranus; Neptune is the ruler or co-ruler of Pisces instead of Jupiter, and that Pluto is the ruler or co-ruler of Scorpio instead of Mars. Some astrologers believe that the planetoid Chiron may be the ruler of Virgo, while other group of modern astrologers claim that Ceres is the ruler of Taurus instead.

Dates table

The following table shows both classical and modern rulerships.
SymbolUnicode
Sign namesDatesRuling
celestial body
Modern		Ruling
celestial body
Classical
♈AriesMarch 21 – April 20MarsMars
♉TaurusApril 21 – May 20VenusVenus
♊GeminiMay 21 – June 21MercuryMercury
♋CancerJune 22 – July 22MoonMoon
♌LeoJuly 23 – August 22SunSun
♍VirgoAugust 23 – September 21MercuryEarth
♎LibraSeptember 22 – October 22VenusVenus
♏ScorpioOctober 23 – November 22PlutoMars
♐SagittariusNovember 23 – December 21JupiterJupiter
♑CapricornDecember 22 – January 20SaturnSaturn
♒AquariusJanuary 21 – February 19UranusSaturn
♓PiscesFebruary 20 – March 20NeptuneJupiter

The twelves signs each have opposites, resulting in six opposite couples. Fire and Air elements are opposites and Earth and Water elements are opposites. Spring signs are opposite to autumn ones, and winter signs are opposite to summer ones.
A traditional belief of astrology, known as essential dignity, is the idea that the Sun, Moon and planets are more powerful and effective in some signs than others, because the basic nature of both is held to be in harmony. By contrast, they are held to find some signs to be weak or difficult to operate in because their natures are thought to be in conflict. These categories are Dignity, Detriment, Exaltation and Fall.
In traditional astrology, other levels of Dignity are recognised in addition to Rulership. These are known as Exaltation, Triplicity, Terms or bounds, and Face or Decan, which together are known as describing a planet's Essential dignity, the quality or ability of one's true nature.
The following table summarizes the positions described above:
Planet DignityDetrimentExaltationFall
Sun LeoAquariusAriesLibra
Moon CancerCapricornTaurusScorpio
Mercury Gemini and VirgoSagittarius and PiscesVirgoPisces
Venus Libra and TaurusAries and ScorpioPiscesVirgo
Mars Aries and ScorpioLibra and TaurusCapricornCancer
Jupiter Sagittarius and PiscesGemini and VirgoCancerCapricorn
Saturn Capricorn and AquariusCancer and LeoLibraAries
EarthVirgoScorpioLeoCancer

In addition to essential dignity, the traditional astrologer considers Accidental dignity of planets. This is placement by house in the chart under examination. Accidental dignity is the planet's "ability to act." So we might have, for example, Moon in Cancer, dignified by rulership, is placed in the 12th house it would have little scope to express its good nature. The 12th is a cadent house as are the 3rd, 6th and 9th and planets in these houses are considered weak or afflicted. On the other hand, Moon in the 1st, 4th, 7th or 10th would be more able to act as these are Angular houses. Planets in Succedent houses of the chart are generally considered to be of medium ability to act. Besides Accidental Dignity, there are a range of Accidental Debilities, such as retrogradation, Under the Sun's Beams, Combust, and so forth.

Additional classifications

Each sign can be divided into three 10° sectors known as decans or decanates, though these have fallen into disuse. The first decanate is said to be most emphatically of its own nature and is ruled by the sign ruler. The next decanate is sub-ruled by the planet ruling the next sign in the same triplicity. The last decanate is sub-ruled by the next in order in the same triplicity.
While the element and modality of a sign are together sufficient to define it, they can be grouped to indicate their symbolism. The first four signs, Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer, form the group of personal signs. The next four signs, Leo, Virgo, Libra and Scorpio form the group of interpersonal signs. The last four signs of the zodiac, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces, form the group of transpersonal signs.
Dane Rudhyar presented the tropical zodiac primary factors, used in the curriculum of the RASA School of Astrology. The tropical zodiac is the zodiac of seasonal factors as opposed to the sidereal zodiac. The primary seasonal factors are based on the changing ratio of sunlight and darkness across the year. The first factor is whether the chosen time falls in the half of the year when daylight is increasing, or the half of the year when darkness is increasing. The second factor is whether the chosen time falls in the half of the year when there is more daylight than darkness, or the half when there is more darkness than daylight. The third factor is which of the four seasons the chosen time falls in, defined by the first two factors. Thus
In Indian astrology, there are five elements: fire, earth, air, water, and ether. The master of fire is Mars, while Mercury is of earth, Saturn of air, Venus of water, and Jupiter of ether.
Jyotish astrology recognises twelve zodiac signs, that correspond to those in Western astrology. The relation of the signs to the elements is the same in the two systems.

Nakshatras

A nakshatra, or lunar mansion, is one of the 27 divisions of the sky identified by the prominent star, as used in Hindu astronomy and astrology. "Nakshatra" in Sanskrit and Tamil means a "star."

Chinese zodiac signs

Chinese astrological signs operate on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day. A particular feature of the Chinese zodiac is its operation in a 60-year cycle in combination with the Five Phases of Chinese astrology.
Nevertheless, some researches say that there is an obvious relationship between the Chinese 12-year cycle and zodiac constellations: each year of the cycle corresponds to a certain disposal of Jupiter. For example, in the year of Snake Jupiter is in the Sign of Gemini, in the year of Horse Jupiter is in the Sign of Cancer and so on. So the Chinese 12-year calendar is a solar-lunar-jovian calendar.

Zodiac symbolism

The following table shows the twelve signs and their attributes.
SignYin/YangDirectionSeasonFixed ElementTrine
RatYangNorthMid-WinterWater1st
OxYinNorthLate WinterEarth2nd
TigerYangEastEarly SpringWood3rd
RabbitYinEastMid-SpringWood4th
DragonYangEastLate SpringEarth1st
SnakeYinSouthEarly SummerFire2nd
HorseYangSouthMid-SummerFire3rd
SheepYinSouthLate SummerEarth4th
MonkeyYangWestEarly AutumnMetal1st
RoosterYinWestMid-AutumnMetal2nd
DogYangWestLate AutumnEarth3rd
PigYinNorthEarly WinterWater4th

The twelve signs

In Chinese astrology, the zodiac of twelve animal sign represents twelve different types of personality. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and there are many stories about the Origins of the Chinese Zodiac which explain why this is so. When the twelve zodiac signs are part of the 60-year calendar in combination with the four elements, they are traditionally called the twelve Earthly Branches. The Chinese zodiac follows the lunisolar Chinese calendar and thus the "changeover" days in a month vary each year. The following are the twelve zodiac signs in order.
  1. 子 Rat : Rat years include 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032. The Rat also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Rat are 11pm – 1am.
  2. 丑 Ox : Tiger years include 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034. The Tiger also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Tiger are 3am – 5am.
  3. 卯 Rabbit : Rabbit Years include 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035. The Rabbit also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Rabbit are 5am – 7am.
  4. 辰 Dragon : Dragon years include 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036. The Dragon also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Dragon are 7am – 9am.
  5. 巳 Snake : Snake years include 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037. The Snake also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Snake are 9am – 11am.
  6. 午 Horse : Horse years include 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038. The Horse also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Horse are 11am – 1pm.
  7. 未 Goat : Goat years include 1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039. The Goat also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Goat are 1pm – 3pm.
  8. 申 Monkey : Monkey years include 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040. The Monkey also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Monkey are 3pm – 5pm.
  9. 酉 Rooster : Rooster years include 1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041. The Rooster also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Rooster are 5pm – 7pm.
  10. 戌 Dog : Dog years include 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042. The Dog also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Dog are 7pm – 9pm.
  11. 亥 Pig : Pig years include 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043. The Pig also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Pig are 9pm – 11pm.

    The five elements

The five elements operate together with the twelve animal signs in a 60-year calendar. The five elements appear in the calendar in both their yin and yang forms and are known as the ten Celestial stems. When trying to calculate the relevant year of the cycle in relation to the Gregorian calendar, an easy rule to follow is that years that end in an even number are Yang, those that end with an odd number are Yin.