Astrology Signs and Zodiac Signs Explained .
When I was little, my mum had a dog-eared copy of Sun Signs by Linda Goodman. It was one of my favorite books, and that’s where my love affair with astrology began.
At the time, I mostly skipped around the book, zeroing in on the sections about me (naturally) and maybe a few pages on the people closest to me, or, as I progressed through my teens, my friends and I would check out the start signs of the boys we had a crush on. I ignored huge chunks of the rest, only drawn to the fun stuff that felt relevant.
But as an adult, I began to realise just how deep, complex, and beautifully intricate this system really is.
Mostly, astrology is seen as a bit of fun, and yes, it is fun, but it’s also so much more than that.
It’s not just daily horoscopes and memes about Mercury retrograde (although I do love those, too!). It gives us a metaphorical language to understand and interpret our lives, full of nuance, archetype, rhythm, and meaning.
Reading a daily horoscope is like admiring the cover of a book. You like the picture; you glance through the blurb on the back but never actually pick up the book and open it. It gets discarded, gathering dust and coffee rings on the bedside table, with the magnificent plot twists, character arcs, and spectacular world-building going undiscovered forever.
The beauty of astrology is that it’s more than a simple book cover. It’s an epic tale, all about you and the world that you inhabit. It’s a special book, just about you and nobody else. Nobody else has that book.
Astrology has been around for thousands of years. It is believed to have its origins in Ancient Mesopotamia, and its beauty and depth have enabled it to cross many cultures and continents, evolving as it goes. In fact, it’s one of the oldest symbolic systems in the world, which tells us how strongly it has resonated with humans across millennia.
At the heart of this ancient practice is the zodiac. A symbolic system that helps us understand how cosmic patterns reflect life here on Earth.
You’ve probably heard of zodiac signs before, and perhaps you know you’re a Leo or a Pisces, but the system behind those signs is much deeper than daily horoscopes suggest. Your zodiac sign, or Sun sign, is just one small (but significant) piece of a large jigsaw puzzle.
In this post, we’ll discuss the zodiac’s meaning, where it comes from, and how each sign fits into a much bigger picture.
Again, the entire Zodiac system itself is only one piece of a bigger jigsaw. There are the celestial bodies, aspects, houses, and so on, which I will explore in future posts.
What Is the Zodiac? Astrology Signs and Zodiac Signs Explained
From where we stand on Earth, it looks like the Sun travels across the sky over the course of a year. This apparent motion is caused by Earth’s orbit around the Sun. As we move, it creates the illusion of the Sun slowly shifting its position against the background of the stars.
What’s actually going on is:
- The Earth is rotating on its axis once every 24 hours (which is why the Sun appears to move from east to west across the sky)
- The Earth also orbits the Sun roughly once every 365 days (which is why the Sun appears to move along the horizon as the months pass and the seasons change).
But to us, the Sun changes its relative location in the sky. At some points, it looks like it is within one particular constellation, and a few months later, it has moved into a different constellation.
We can visualise it as the Sun moving along a path or the edge of a circular wheel of twelve sections, moving from one to the next.
Constellations are small clusters of stars that form a recognisable pattern or shape (e.g. if you join up the dots, you see the shape of a Bull’s horns – Taurus!). Constellations are not static, and they do move but so slowly over centuries and millennia that they appear to remain stable. There are twelve constellations in the zodiac, but these are actually among a much larger group of 48 constellations that we inherited from the ancient Romans.
See the images below of constellations.
So, as the Sun moves through the path, it moves through these seemingly static constellations. That apparent path is called the ecliptic.
Ancient astrologers divided this path into twelve equal sections, each about 30 degrees wide, forming a full 360-degree circle. These sections became what we know as the twelve zodiac signs, and each one carries its own unique symbolic meaning.
Western astrologers generally base their readings on where the planets are within these 30 degree segments, and not actually where the constellations are.
Even though we now know Earth moves around the Sun (not the other way around), astrology still works from a geocentric perspective. That is, how the sky appears to us from here on Earth.
Astrology is personal because it’s based on the exact sky as it looked from your place on Earth at your moment of birth. It’s entirely relative to you.
If you have ever wondered why all Taureans or all Leos seem to apparently share certain traits, yet they are all so different, this is because there is much more going on than where on the Zodiac path the Sun happened to seem to be at the time of birth.
A Seasonal Cycle – Zodiac signs explained
There is also a seasonal connection to the zodiac path.
Aries begins at the Spring Equinox, the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. This point was once aligned with the Aries constellation, which is how it got its name, but they are now in different places due to the wobble in Earth’s axis.
From there on, the signs follow the seasonal shifts all the way through to the final sign, Pisces, the end of winter and the cycle of dissolution and renewal. And then it all starts again, following a natural rhythmical pattern.
The word zodiac in Greek literally translates to ‘circle of animals,’ which reflects the mythological and archetypal symbolism of many of the signs. Each constellation has a symbolic animal. These symbols tell stories, and they tap into something deep down in our collective imagination.
Sun, Moon, and Rising: The Big Three
Most people know their Sun sign, which reflects your core identity and purpose, but in astrology, that’s just one patch of the jigsaw. The middle is the fun part that everyone likes to do before the background.
Your Sun sign tells you who you are at your core. Your essence, ego, and drive. It’s your ‘main character energy’ and what makes you, you. Everyone born at a certain time of year, regardless of year, shares this. And yet, two Taureans can seem to be entirely different personalities, but perhaps with some similar traits?
This is where you fill in some other important parts of the jigsaw:
Your Moon sign and Rising sign (also called your Ascendant sign) are just as important.
Your Moon sign is your inner world, your emotions, instincts, and what makes you feel safe or vulnerable. This is how two Taureans can be very similar but very different when born at completely different times.
Your rising sign is how you come across to others. It is the outer mask you wear, perceptions of your approach to life, and your initial vibe.
These three together give a far more complete picture than just the Sun sign alone. You could have a fiery Leo Sun, a sensitive Cancer Moon, and an independent Aquarius Rising. These together form a blend that makes you bold, big-hearted, private, and aloof at first glance.
The Elements: Fire, Water, Air, Earth
The zodiac signs are grouped into four elements, each element representing a core type of energy:
Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) are passionate, bold and inspired. They are the signs that ignite.
The Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) are typically more grounded, practical, and sensual. They are rooted in reality.
The Air signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius) are more communicative, curious, big thinkers and talkers.
Finally, the water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) are emotional, intuitive, and flowing. These are the deep feelers.
Each element reveals how a sign moves through the world through action, sensation, thought, or emotion.
Knowing which element dominates your chart can be eye-opening for understanding your natural instincts.
Modalities: Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable
Every element contains three signs, each with a different modality, describing how that energy behaves:
- Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn): The initiators who start things off.
- Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius): The stabilisers who hold steady and commit.
- Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces): The changers who adapt and evolve.
Each zodiac sign is a mix of element + modality, which gives it a unique flavour. For example, Sagittarius is a Mutable Fire sign, fiery and adventurous but flexible and open to change. Taurus is Fixed Earth, steady, reliable, and deeply rooted.
Ruling Planets: Who’s In Charge?
Every zodiac sign has a ruling planet or a celestial body that shares a deep affinity with the sign’s core character, adding nuance and symbolism to its meaning.
This tradition comes from the ancient association between planets and gods. Most early civilisations believed that the wandering lights in the sky, the planets visible to the naked eye, were either literal gods or symbolic representations of their divine forces.
These gods had a particular personality, domain, or mythological story. Over time, astrologers paired each zodiac sign with the planet (and deity) that most closely matched its energy. That god, and therefore, by extension, the planet, became known as the sign’s ruler, the celestial influence said to most strongly shape its qualities.
- Aries – ruled by Mars (action, willpower)
- Taurus & Libra – ruled by Venus (love, beauty)
- Gemini & Virgo – ruled by Mercury (thinking, communication)
- Cancer – ruled by the Moon (emotions, security)
- Leo – ruled by the Sun (self, creativity)
- Scorpio – traditionally Mars, modern astrologers also use Pluto (intensity, transformation)
- Sagittarius – ruled by Jupiter (expansion, wisdom)
- Capricorn – ruled by Saturn (discipline, structure)
- Aquarius – traditionally Saturn, modern astrologers also use Uranus (progress, rebellion)
- Pisces – traditionally Jupiter, modern astrologers also use Neptune (dreams, compassion)
Want to go deeper? You can also look at where that ruling planet is in your chart. Its placement adds even more nuance to how your sign expresses itself.
Archetypes & Mythology
The signs are more than just traits; they’re archetypes tied to mythology, psychology, and historical storytelling. These patterns have shown up repeatedly across different cultures at different times:
- Aries: The Warrior
- Taurus: The Builder
- Gemini: The Trickster
- Cancer: The Nurturer
- Leo: The Performer
- Virgo: The Healer
- Libra: The Diplomat
- Scorpio: The Alchemist
- Sagittarius: The Explorer
- Capricorn: The Strategist
- Aquarius: The Visionary
- Pisces: The Mystic
These symbolic roles help us understand not just the signs but ourselves. We each carry pieces of these archetypes in different areas of our chart.
Polarity: Masculine / Feminine (Active / Receptive)
Within astrology, the concept of polarity refers to the attribution of masculine and feminine energies to zodiac signs and planets.
Each sign also has a polarity, best understood as expressing energy outwardly or inwardly.
The polarity tends to alternate along the path: one masculine, one feminine, and so on.
- Masculine signs: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius – active, outward, yang.
- Feminine signs: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces – receptive, inward, yin.
This gendering of signs is not necessarily about literal gender but more about energetic qualities and how you express yourself. Masculine signs are often seen as more outward-going, assertive, and initiating, while feminine signs are usually viewed as more receptive, nurturing, and internalising.
Final Thoughts
The zodiac system gives you a symbolic language that can help you make sense of yourself, your rhythms, your relationships, and your potential. It’s like having a new framework and a set of vocabulary that enables you to understand the many different aspects of your life, your character, who you are, and how you relate to those around you.
These are not all of the components that build an understanding of the zodiac; there is even more than the high-level summaries above, which we will cover another day!
When you understand the signs, their elements, modalities, rulers, and archetypes, you have new tools for reflection and self-awareness. It’s less about predicting the future and more about seeing the shape of your story.
And if you’re even a little curious, that’s enough to get started.
