Astrology is the belief that the moment an individual is born is linked to a specific zodiac sign, which influences their personality, predicts their future, and guides their life path.
According to astrologers, the ecliptic is the Sun’s apparent annual path through the astrological constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn.
For understandable reasons, given that the year is divided into 12 months and no one can be born in a 13th month, astrologers historically overlooked the 13th constellation present on the ecliptic, called Ophiuchus (Serpent-bearer).
The earliest astrologers or paleoastronomers observed that the Sun moves through each zodiac sign in a year, spending roughly one month in each sign. They calculated that every constellation in the night sky spans 30 degrees along the ecliptic.
What Is My Zodiac Sign?
The Zodiac is central to Western Astrology and acts as a system for determining the positions of the planets as they move across the sky. The term “Zodiac” refers to an imaginary belt of space surrounding Earth, composed of the twelve well-known astrological signs.
From Earth’s perspective, the Sun, Moon, and planets appear to move through this ring of signs. The Sun moves about 1 degree per day, which determines an individual’s zodiac sign based on where the Sun is at their time of birth.
For example, when the Sun is traveling through the section of space associated with Libra, all individuals born during that 30-day period are considered Librans. The Sun sign determines a person’s general characteristics, while the positions of the Moon and planets add additional traits, offering more “color” and “flavor” to their personality.
These planetary movements are believed to exert specific energies that influence and shape our lives from the moment of birth. Ancient astrologers closely observed the movement of each planet and noted the corresponding events on Earth. Based on these observations, they assigned unique attributes to each planet. Each planet was also said to rule a specific zodiac sign, with each sign having its own distinct characteristics.
Since there are twelve zodiac signs and only ten planets, two of the faster-moving planets are assigned dual roles, ruling two signs each.