Secrets of the Signs

Chapter 1

Astrology 101

A Really Brief History

People have been calculating the movements of the Sun and the Moon for at least 7,000 years. The ancient Hindus divided the heavens into 28 equal parts, representing the 28-day cycle of the Moon. The ancient Chinese also divided the sky into 28 equal parts they called Mansions of the Moon. Western astrology is based on a different principle, calculating the movements of the Sun.

The foundation of today’s system can be found in ancient Babylon. About 4000 b.c., the Sumerians began recording the cycles of the sun, the Moon, and the harvest. As their culture got more sophisticated, they built observation towers called ziggurats. From 300 feet up, they observed the movements of the Sun, Venus, and Mars. As new planets were discovered, they were given specific characteristics and a mythical god to rule over them. The heavens were divided into twelve sections, each governing a specific influence of daily life. Many of these sections, or houses, still keep the same names today.

For much of our recent past, we were only aware of the Sun and six celestial moving bodies: the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Modern astrology began with the discovery of three new planets: Uranus in 1781, Neptune in 1846, and Pluto in 1930. With each new discovery, we enter into a new astrological understanding. Each planet has its own set of characteristics that influence our lives. As each planet was discovered, astrologers determined its accurate place in the astrological world and assigned it to rule over specific houses and signs. The twelve astrological houses and their corresponding signs share ruling planets, since there aren’t enough to go around.

Twelve Houses, Twelve Signs

The key to mastering astrology is understanding the twelve houses and the twelve signs. To understand the way the ancient Babylonians divided the sky into twelve houses, think of the solar system as a big pizza cut into twelve slices. The Earth is in the center of the pie–not because it is the center of the universe, but because we live on it! Each of the houses, or slices of the pie, represents another aspect of life: our personality, our home life, our careers, our creativity, and so on.

Each of the twelve slices of the pie has a different topping–and you enjoy them all for different reasons. Those are the twelve signs (see chart on p. 4). Each of the twelve signs has different characteristics–good and bad–but no one is more or less interesting or fulfilling than another.

The houses are named after the constellations in each of them, and in turn, those constellations are the names of the twelve signs of the zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The sign of Aries rules the first house, Taurus rules the second, and so on. The next time you’re at a party and someone asks you, "What’s your sign?" you’ll know that it literally is the place in the stars where the Sun was at the time of your birth.

Because each sign is at home in a specific house, the descriptions of the twelve different areas of our lives correspond to the basic sun sign personalities. For example, the first house corresponds to Aries; it rules over the personality. People born under the sign of Aries are energetic, headstrong people. The second house, the house of money and possessions, corresponds to the second sign, Taurus. Taureans like to collect nice things and are possessive about them. The third house is the communications house, correspond-ing to Gemini, the zodiac’s great communicator. All the houses and their Sun signs are related this way.

The Influence of the Nine Planets

Okay, you all know that the Sun isn’t the only body that moves around in the sky above us. In Western astrol-ogy the Sun is the single most important factor in determining your personality, but it is not the only one.

The Moon along with the other planets in the solar system (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) also affect your daily life.

(You don’t really count Earth because you’re on it.)

Each planet’s place in the universe influences us in its own unique way, and because they move around at different speeds–this is where it gets complicated–they end up in different houses and different signs at different times. Depending upon where they show up in your chart, and how strong your Sun sign is, they will influence your personality and your future in various ways.

Although a professional horoscope includes all of these aspects of astrology–the twelve houses, the twelve signs, the Sun, the Moon, and the eight planets–this book is focused on the signs of your Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars. The Moon’s position, the second most important factor in our personal astrology makeup, tells you about your emotions and your unconscious. The planet Venus shows what you’re like in the love category, and Mars shows your personality at play. Together, the relationship between Mars and Venus reveals a lot about the kinds of love we attract and the perfect partners for us. There’s more about that in chapter 5, "Beyond the Basics."

The Four Elements

Before you are let loose in the Sun sign section, you need to know one more thing about basic astrology. The twelve signs are divided into a few subgroups. The most important of these is the group of four natural elements. the members of these four groups have similar personality traits even though they have different signs.

The four elements of nature are: fire, earth, air, and water. Each element has three signs in its group:

Fire: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Earth: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
Air: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

Your element will give you a good idea of your personality even before you read about your own Sun sign.

Fire: Natural leaders, aggressive, fearless
Earth: Methodical, tender, practical
Air: Intelligent, quick thinking, social
Water: Intuitive, compassionate, emotional

If you know someone else’s element, you can get a basic idea of whether you are going to get along with them.

Copyright © 2000 by Stacey Wolf
Excerpt posted with permission from http://www.twbookmark.com

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