A Brief History and Overview of Western Astrology
There are many different forms of astrology dating back to ancient times but the forms most widely practiced today are Vedic, Chinese, and Western. Western astrology, having its origins in Mesopotamia approximately 4,000 years ago, is immensely popular in the West today. Personally, it’s my absolute favorite form and the one which I have spent the best part of my life informally learning.
It’s defined as the study of the how the movement of the celestial bodies contained with the galaxy affect people and events on Earth. It hypothesizes that the alignment of stars and planets at the time of one’s birth can influence their personality traits, thoughts, actions, interests, and overall life path. It’s also used for a variety of purposes, from making personal decisions, both large and small, to understanding world events.
The Zodiac system, a key component of astrology, divides the celestial sphere into twelve equal parts, each named after the constellation that appears in it. A constellation is a series of stars that were joined up long ago by the first astrologers in order to decipher what the signs would look like. For example, Leo is named after the constellation that looks like a beautiful, star lit lion. You can see plenty of the stunning constellations in the night sky with various cell phone apps that map the Milky Way.
These days, virtually everyone in the West knows what their ‘star sign’ is and plenty can relate to the traits associated with it. For many individuals, consulting their horoscope has evolved into an indispensable daily ritual that just cannot be neglected. Some people even plan their lives according to what their horoscope says, although I don’t recommend that at all for numerous reasons including that you alone are the maker of your own destiny.
The rise in popularity of astrology can be largely attributed to the horoscopes that sporadically began appearing in women’s magazines as well as newspapers in the late 1800s and then regularly from the early 1900s until today. Since then, an ever-growing number of people have developed an interest in the subject, further contributing to its prominence today.
The Twelve Zodiac Signs
I’d like to preface that in pop astrology, each Sun sign tends to have an oversimplified or “vanilla” interpretation, in my opinion. So, for example, Leos as often framed as loud, brash, and over confident. Aside from many Leos being nothing of the sort, we’re all a mix of many different signs. And rarely do we act on just the positive or negative traits associated with our Sun sign. Because of this, I don’t pay too much attention to pop articles— on Sun signs, at least.
Each sign is associated with certain personality traits. For example, Aries is said to be fiery, intuitive, impulsive, straight-forward and confident.
The twelve signs are as follows:
- Aries (March 21 – April 19)
- Taurus (April 20 – May 20)
- Gemini (May 21 – June 20)
- Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
- Leo (July 23 – August 22)
- Virgo (August 23 – September 22)
- Libra (September 23 – October 22)
- Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)
- Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)
- Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
- Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)
- Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
Please note that the date range is approximate as the dates change a little now and again.
Each sign is associated with a gender, modality, also referred to as quality or quadruplicity, and an element, also referred to as triplicity. In addition, there is always at least one ruling planet associated with each sign. These classifications provide deeper insights into the traits associated with each sign.
The Genders
The masculine signs, also referred to as positive or extroverted signs, are the three air and three fire signs. In zodiac order, these are: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius. These signs are associated with boldness, externally focused, and action-oriented. They’re believed to interact with the world in a more straight-forward and assertive manner.
The feminine signs, also known as negative or introverted signs, are the three earth and three water signs. In zodiac order, these are: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and the last sign of the zodiac system, Pisces. The feminine signs are typically characterized as introspective, receptive, empathetic, creative, and sensitive. They are often described as more internally focused, reflective, and responsive to their surroundings.
Please do bear in mind that these astrological gender classifications don’t imply that certain genders should identify with certain zodiac signs. Astrology suggests that all individuals embody aspects of both masculine and feminine energies, regardless of gender. These terms are more related to the traits and characteristics traditionally that are ascribed to each group.
The Modalities (or Qualities)
There are three different modalities in astrology:
- Cardinal
- Fixed
- Mutable
The Cardinal signs are: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Cardinal signs are initiators. They correspond with the beginning of the four seasons and symbolize new beginnings and fresh starts. Characterized by their proactivity and drive, they are the trendsetters and the starters of the Zodiac.
They love to be first and set the agenda. They’re often full of energy, have a pioneering spirit, and are eager to lead and embark on new adventures of all kinds. Their main weaknesses are impatience or being too focused on initiation with a lack of follow-through. Through these signs, we learn about the importance and power of taking action, and starting new things including new relationships, jobs careers, and projects.
The Fixed signs are: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. Fixed signs fall in the middle of the seasons and are known for their stability, determination, and perseverance. They tend to be resistant to change and pretty stubborn at times. They align with the middle of each season and are associated with stability, persistence, and reliability. As their name suggests, fixed signs are often resistant to change and prefer consistency and predictability.
They are are like the foundational energy of the zodiac system, maintaining the momentum started by the Cardinal signs and laying the groundwork for the transformation brought by the mutable signs.
Their strong will and determination make them excellent at seeing projects through to completion. However, their resistance to change can sometimes mean stubbornness, fixed opinions or inflexibleness. These signs teach us the importance and power of resilience, determination, and prolonged focus.
The Mutable signs are: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. These signs end each season. They stand for transition and completion.
They are the zodiac’s masters of transformation and evolution characterized by adaptability, flexibility, and the capacity to embrace change. They are quick to change their thoughts, feelings, and actions according to the environment they are in.
This flexibility often makes them versatile, open-minded, and willing to compromise. They love to experience new things of all kinds, and broaden their minds. However, they are also known to be fickle and indecisive due to their ever changing nature.
The Elements
The four astrological elements are:
- Fire
- Earth
- Air
- Water
They symbolize specific temperaments and embody an individual’s foundational character traits and behavioral tendencies. They are, at least in my humble opinion, a particularly important part of astrology.
Fire signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Fire signs are independent, effusive, courageous, confident, energetic, passionate, and lively. They mainly value situations, things and people that make them feel passionate and alive.
Earth signs: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Earth signs are practical, sensible, grounded, and reliable. They principally value material security, pragmatism and hard work.
Air signs: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. Air signs are cerebral, sociable and communicative. They primarily value mental stimulation, interactions and relationships with others.
Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Water signs are intuitive, perceptive, emotional, and sensitive. They chiefly value compassion, empathy, kindness, and intuition.
Take a look at the graphic below to quickly identify the element, gender, and modality of each zodiac sign (yeah, I’m sorry about the soil looking a bit funny…!).
A Little About New Age Astrology
New Age astrology incorporates beliefs that are not commonly found in traditional astrology, for example, the law of attraction, karma, and reincarnation. A lot of young, professional astrologers, or astrology enthusiasts who create content for social media, frequently incorporate New Age beliefs in their work. And this is becoming increasingly common. Personally, I think it’s the next stage of evolution for astrology.
The new understanding seems to run along the lines of the Soul being imprinted as it takes its first breath in its new body on the Earth plane. It receives a new personality and life plan as conditioned by the stars in their arrangement at the time of birth. A new personality is set for the fresh life along with a new life plan (made pre-birth on the other side with their guides and other higher entities), all of which may be observed to some degree in the birth chart.
The Soul needs to incarnate at a certain time to experience a particular personality, learn certain things and meet other Souls with whom it would like to work with, among other things. Everything occurs in divine timing and there is a reason why someone was born at the time they were born.
A Soul may choose to incarnate with a lot of Scorpio energy in their birth chart. One of the reasons for this could be that they planned to experience a lot of challenging circumstances to learn and grow from because Scorpio heavily explore the theme of transformation. Or perhaps they chose to become a healer of some sort because Scorpio is also an emotional, empathetic, intuitive, and healing energy.
Common Misconceptions about Astrology
Misconception 1: There is only one type practiced globally
There are MANY different forms that are practiced all over the planet. The most popular by far are:
- Vedic
- Western
- Chinese
Other forms include Mayan astrology.
Misconception 2: The Sun sign is all that there is to it
Above all, a misconception about astrology would be that the Sun sign is all that there is to the subject —that’s truly a load of irritating myth in my opinion. There is so much more to the birth chart than the Sun sign alone —the Rising and Moon signs are often considered equally important by many astrologers, including myself, but there are also many other things within a birth chart to consider.
So, while most people know what their Sun sign is, far fewer know what their birth chart looks like and how loaded with information about them it is. This is unsurprising considering how long and hard Sun sign astrology has been discussed in the media for the past century.
In reality, however, we are all a mix of many different signs. Someone’s personality might be very different than their Sun sign. For instance, if someone’s Sun sign is Aries but their Moon, Rising, and Mercury sign is Pisces, they’ll undoubtedly have a rather Piscean personality!
Personally, as a Leo (Sun sign), while I absolutely relate to many of the traits associated with Leo, I also strongly relate to the traits associated with my Mercury sign (Virgo), Moon sign (Aquarius), Rising sign (Gemini), the inter-planetary aspects in my birth chart, and a lot more besides.
Misconception 3: Horoscopes by Sun sign instead of Rising sign
Another misconception is that horoscopes are most accurately written for the Sun sign. This is not true. Most professional astrologers write horoscopes according to the Rising sign. In fact, if you’re a graduate of the Faculty of Astrological studies in England, your qualification could be revoked for writing horoscopes by Sun sign.
Misconception 4: It is the same as Astronomy
Another common misconception is that it’s the same as astronomy. It’s not. It’s very different. While both subjects focus on the study of celestial bodies, astronomy is a scientific study of celestial bodies and astrology is based on the belief that the positions and movements of them impact the personality traits and behavior of humans. So, they are both vastly different. Also, one is considered a scientific field of study and the other a woo-woo hobby at best by much of society — for the time being, anyway.
Misconception 5: It has never been taken seriously by academics
Until 1890, you couldn’t study medicine without studying astrology— it was considered that important back then!
Misconception 6: It’s a pseudoscience
Astrology is actually classified as a metaphysical or spiritual practice and not a pseudoscience.
Thanks so much for being here and giving my work your time. If you have any questions about astrology, just leave them below. I’d be very happy to answer them!
