Gifted Psychics

Here's how to get started with the concepts and understanding of Astrology...

The Zodiac
In astrology as well as astronomy, the Zodiac is a 360° circle around the earth, where each of the twelve Zodiac signs is 30°. In astronomy it is simply used as a coordinate system, to mark the positons of celestial bodies. In astrology, though, it is much more.

In astrology and the horoscope, each Zodiac sign represents a character, a tendency, which affects any celestial body therein. The planets express what happens, the Houses where it happens, the aspects why, and the Zodiac signs how.

Every planet moves through the Zodiac, and changes character according to what sign it is in. The planets are the acting forces in the horo­scope, but the Zodiac signs nuance and alter their character.

Here are the twelve Zodiac signs, their English mea­nings, and keywords for their respective characters:

Aries, the Ram challenging, impulsive
Taurus, the Bull conservative, concrete
Gemini, the Twins communicative, playful
Cancer, the Crab caring, sensitive
Leo, the Lion dominant, proud
Virgo, the Virgin careful, minute
Libra, the Scales negotiating, ethical
Scorpio, the Scorpion hidden, passionate
Sagittarius, the Archer impatient, independent
Capricorn, the Goat ambitious, decisive
Aquarius, the Water Bearer profund, original
Pisces, the Fishes searching, submissive



Element and quality
The characters of the Zodiac signs are to a large extent dependent on their element and quality. Every sign belongs to one of the four Greek elements, which represent four aspects of life:

1. Fire activity
2. Earth materialism
3. Air thought
4. Water emotions

Since there are twelve signs and four elements, there are three signs belonging to each element. There are also three different basic qualities that signs have:

1. Cardinal leading
2. Fixed static
3. Mutable following

So, each sign has its own combination of element and quality:

	FIRE	EARTH	AIR	WATER
CARDINAL	Aries	Capricorn	Libra	Cancer
FIXED	Leo	Taurus	Aquarius	Scorpio
MUTABLE	Sagittarius	Virgo	Gemini	Pisces

In principle, the combination of element and quality that is unique to each sign, decides what its character is.

Ruling and exalting
Each Zodiac sign is also said to have a ruling and an exalting planet. This simply means that some pla­nets are particularly enforced by the character of that sign. A planet rules over the Zodiac sign where it fits better than the other planets do, and it exalts in a sign where it fits better than any other planet than the ruler of that sign.
Here are the ruling and exalting planets (note that also the sun and the moon are regarded as planets in this context) of the Zodiac:

SIGN	RULER	EXALTED
Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces	Mars Venus Mercury Moon Sun Mercury Venus Pluto Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune	Sun Moon Jupiter Venus Pluto Venus Mercury Neptune Uranus Mars Saturn Mercury

Since there are twelve Zodiac signs and only ten planets to divide between them, Venus and Mercury both rule and exalt in two signs each.
Regarding what planets rule and exalt in what signs, astrologers don't agree completely, but most of the above is generally accepted. In any case, the rulership and exaltation should not be overly emphasized in horo­scope interpretations. A planet's character in a sign speaks well for itself, without these generalizations.

Star sign - the sun
When people are said to be born in a certain Zodiac sign, it only means that the sun was in that sign at their birth. It's their sun sign. The sun is only one component in the horoscope - although an important one - so pre­dicitons based only on that are not astrologically ade­quate. The whole horoscope has to be considered.
The sun moves steadily through the Zodiac signs, spending about 30 days in each of them. The calendar system of leap years makes the dates of change from one sign to another jump around a little, but in average, these are the dates that the sun spends in each sign:

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 19
Pisces February 20 - March 20

If you are born on a date of change, or the day before or after it, you should have your sun position calculated by a horoscope program, to ascertain what sun sign you are.


Spring equinox
The traditional order of the Zodiac signs starts with Aries, because it is the moment of the spring equinox. That date was also the date of the new year, in ancient Europe. At the fall equinox, the sun moves into Libra. At the summer solstice it enters Cancer, and at the winter solstice Capricorn.