zodiac

zodiac, a belt of 12 constellations around the sky through which the Sun, the Moon, and the naked-eye planets move as seen from Earth. In astrology the outcome of an event (most notably, someone’s birth) is affected by the zodiacal positions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets when that event happened. Beyond their astrological importance, zodiac signs play a central role in modern popular culture, with millions of people consulting their daily horoscopes.

Signs and dates

The list below gives the constellations of the zodiac, with the dates of the Sun’s passage through them in the era when their boundaries were fixed. The history of the symbols is unknown; they first appeared in Greek manuscripts of the late Middle Ages.

♈ Aries (Ram): March 21–April 19

♉ Taurus (Bull): April 20–May 20

♊ Gemini (Twins): May 21–June 21

♋ Cancer (Crab): June 22–July 22

♌ Leo (Lion): July 23–August 22

♍ Virgo (Virgin): August 23–September 22

♎ Libra (Balance): September 23–October 23

♏ Scorpius (Scorpion): October 24–November 21

♐ Sagittarius (Archer): November 22–December 21

♑ Capricornus (Goat): December 22–January 19

♒ Aquarius (Water Bearer): January 20–February 18

♓ Pisces (Fish): February 19–March 20

Astrology

Astrology is not supported by science. No correlation has been found between birth dates and personality or intelligence. Nevertheless, the belief that one’s personality is determined by the zodiac sign that the Sun was in at one’s birth is widespread, and astrology has enjoyed a resurgence in the 2020s, especially among millennials and Generation Z. In a 2022 poll 27 percent of Americans said they believed in astrology, and the percentage was even higher—37 percent—among those under age 30.

In astrology the 12 zodiacal signs are divided into four groups based on the traditional elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Within each group each sign falls under one of three modalities: cardinal, related to beginnings; fixed, related to sustaining; and mutable, related to changing. The following table lists the signs of the zodiac, their dates, elements, and modalities, and some personality traits traditionally associated with that sign.

History

The zodiac was divided into 12 astrological signs, each occupying 1/12 (or 30°) of its great circle, by the Babylonians about 500 bce. Many of the Babylonian signs (for example, the Twins [Gemini], the Crab [Cancer], and the Balance [Libra]) are still used today. Since most of the constellations through which the ecliptic passes represent animals, the ancient Greeks called its zone zōdiakos kyklos, “circle of animals,” or ta zōdia, “the little animals.”

Because of the precession of the equinoxes (a wobble of Earth’s axis over a roughly 26,000-year period), the constellations have shifted eastward so that the dates of the zodiac signs no longer correspond to the astronomical constellations in which the Sun actually appears. For example, the astrological dates for Aries are March 21 to April 19, but the Sun is actually in Aries from April 19 to May 14. The constellations are irregular in size and shape, and therefore the Sun does not spend exactly one month in each constellation; the Sun spends only November 23–30 in Scorpius. The Sun even passes through one constellation (Ophiuchus, from November 30 to December 18) that is not a member of the zodiac.

The Chinese zodiac

The Chinese zodiac system similarly involves a cycle of animals; however, each of the Chinese zodiac’s symbolic animals represents one year in a repeating cycle of 12 years, and the list and order of the animals is based on a foundational myth of a great race between all the animals rather than on the constellations. The Chinese divided the ecliptic into 28 divisions, or lunar mansions, that followed the movement of the Moon. The ecliptic was also divided into four quarters, each containing seven lunar mansions. Each quarter is associated with an animal, a direction, and a season: the blue dragon of the east (spring), the red bird of the south (summer), the white tiger of the west (autumn), and the black tortoise of the north (winter).