Click to Find It Quick! Astro Blog Feature Articles Glossary Rising Sign Wizard Birth Chart Wizard Astrology Orders Daily Horoscope Weekly TeenScope Weekly LoveScope Monthly Horoscope Monthly Tarotscope Asperitus Speaks (Freaky!) Your Year Ahead AstroMatch Compatibility Sexuality by the Stars Relationships Relationship Analysis Soul Connection Your StarGuide Aries (March/April) Taurus (April/May) Gemini (May/June) Cancer (June/July) Leo (July/Aug) Virgo (Aug/Sept) Libra (Sept/Oct) Scorpio (Oct/Nov) Sagittarius (Nov/Dec) Capricorn (Dec/Jan) Aquarius (Jan/Feb) Pisces (Feb/Mar) The Horoscope Your Birthsign Astrological Signs The Elements The Houses Planets & Aspects The Zodiac Order Readings Feature Articles Science of Cosmic Oneness Mercury Retrograde Mars Retrograde Venus Retrograde Moon's Nodes Moon Wobble Zodiac Zodiac Symbols Zodiac Gemstones Planets Fixed Stars Eclipse Your Rising Sign About Astrology What is Astrology? Is Astrology Scientific? Astrology & Astronomy How Astrology Works Astrology & Relationships Astrology & Health The Energy Doctor Environmental Stress The Energy Egg The Love Egg The Wealth Egg Creative Mandalas Protective Symbols Ayurveda Gemstones of the Zodiac Healing Power of Gems Hidden Magic of Gems Celtic Fire Festivals The Solstice The Equinox Easter Christmas Imbolc April Fool May Day Mothers Day Chinese New Year Valentines Day Lady Day Midsummer St John's Day Candlemas Lammas Harvest Home Michaelmas Halloween Diwali Yule Gospel of Grandpa Old Greek Stories Numerology Numerology Cards Runes Rune Magic Feng Shui Chinese Zodiac Naadi-Shastra Yoga Human Aura Glossary Orders Site Map About Us Home Page

The Zodiac
The Secrets of the Signs

The Zodiac ("Circle of Animals") is the name given to the band encircling the earth on either side of the ecliptic. It is like a belt in space, about 15-18 degrees wide, across which the planets move and form their aspects, or geometrical relationships. The Zodiac forms the symbolic backdrop for the path of the Sun, called the plane of the ecliptic.

Astrologers divide the circle of the ecliptic into twelve equal parts, each subdivided into 30 degrees, making 360 degrees in all. The twelve divisions are called the Signs of the Zodiac. These signs are related (but not exactly identical) to the constellations (star groups) of the same name. The beginning of the Zodiac is deemed to be the first degree of Aries, marked in the Tropical Zodiac by the vernal equinox, at the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Planets

In astrology, the planets, Sun, Moon and other movable points (such as the Moon's nodes) are still all described as "planets", the wanderers of the zodiac.

From our geocentric (Earth-centred) point of view, the planets, including the Sun and Moon, all travel through the Zodiac in the course of their orbits. The Sun takes a year, the Moon takes a month, and the other planets vary according to their place in the cosmic scheme. Because they seem to be orbiting the Earth, the stars and planets rise in the east, move around the earth from east to west, then set in the west (due to the earth's rotation from west to east).

Astrologically, each sign symbolises certain specific characteristics in nature and, as the planets move through the signs, they stimulate (or perhaps simply reflect) reactions in both the individual and the collective here on Planet Earth. The Sun passes through one sign a month on its annual passage around the Zodiac.

Other planets (not counting the Moon), because they actually orbit the Sun, seem to travel rather erratically through the Zodiac. This is really an illusion, generated by our changing earthly perspective with respect to the planets' placement in their orbits, but it does have some interesting effects. From time to time, all planets except the Sun and Moon seem to slow to a halt ("station") and then begin to move backwards through the Zodiac. This phase is called retrograde motion, which has specific astrological consequences. Read more on Retro Planets.

Visible Planets Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon		Outer (Transpersonal) Planets Uranus Neptune Pluto
Other symbolic points and relationships
Ascendant (Rising Sign) Mid Heaven (MC) Dragon's Head (North Lunar Node) Dragon's Tail (South Lunar Node) Chiron Pallas Juno Ceres Vesta		Transpluto (Bacchus/ Persephone) Pars Fortunæ, The Part of Fortune The Part of Love & Arabian Parts Aspects House Cusps Mid-points Galactic Centre Vertex Fixed Stars

|