What is the zodiac?
The zodiac refers to 12 of the 13 constellations the Sun passes through. People who trust “zodiac signs” set by astrologers to determine when the Sun passes through each constellation will be greatly mistaken. The Sun is not in the same constellations at the same time of year as it was 2,000 years ago when astrology was begun. Below is an accurate table of where the Sun can be found throughout the year. The location is taken at noon Central Time, therefore, some days are included in both constellations as the Sun is passing from one constellation into another at noon. • December 18 – January 19: The Sun is in Sagittarius • January 19 – February 15: The Sun is in Capricornus • February 16 – March 11: The Sun is in Aquarius • March 12 – April 18: The Sun is in Pisces • April 18 – May 13: The Sun is in Aries • May 14 – June 20: The Sun is in Taurus • June 21 – July 20: The Sun is in Gemini • July 20 – August 10: The Sun is in Cancer • August 10 – September 16: The Sun is in Leo • Septembe
Most people are familiar with the twelve signs of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each of these twelve signs actually represents a constellation, which is a grouping of stars in a specific shape. For example, the Aries constellation denotes the shape of a ram; the Taurus constellation denotes the shape of a bull, and so on. The Zodiac is a term used to describe the movement of the planets through those twelve constellations. For example, when the planet Venus moves into the realm of Aries, then romance and love can become less predictable but also a lot more fun! The Zodiac forms the basis of a daily or weekly horoscope.
If you could observe the motion of the Sun against the stars for an entire year, it would appear to trace out a large circle in the sky that we call the “ecliptic”. This circle also happens to be the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The zodiac is a thin band of the sky on either side of the ecliptic. The word “zodiac” literally means “circle of life”, since most of the zodiac signs are animals or people.
The zodiac is actually the backdrop to the Sun’s apparent pathway through the sky. This pathway is divided into sections that we know as the various zodiac signs. Because the Sun’s (apparent) pathway through the heavens is basically constant and can be found at roughly the same spot for the same date in each year, this is how we came to use Sun Signs: the position of the Sun in relation to the backdrop of the zodiac constellations. This system is convenient because the average person doesn’t have to have complicated planetary positions worked out to know which constellation affects them personally, the date of birth is all that is needed in most cases. All the other planets follow roughly the same path as the Sun, within the zodiac backdrop.
