Secrets
of the Signs
by Stacey Wolf
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
Many thanks to Time Warner
Bookmark (Little, Brown & Company, Warner Books, A Time Warner
Company) at: www.twbookmark.com.
We appreciate their cooperation with OfSpirit.com to share this chapter of
their book with our visitors for education, entertainment and
empowerment.
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