Astrology 101: The Zodiac Signs
When people ask “what’s your sign?” most people respond with their Sun sign and don’t know much about the other signs. But what most people don’t know is that ALL signs have an influence in your life. Keep reading to understand the traits of each of the signs and maybe you might see some of that reflected in your own life.
Because Astrocartography, or what I like to call Travel Astrology, is based on the natal chart, it’s important to understand the basics of Astrology. We’re continuing with part 2 of the series on the basics of astrology, called Astrology 101 (check out part 1 here), and we’re diving into what I think a lot of people are familiar with when it comes to Astrology - the Zodiac signs. Understanding each sign helps you read your own chart with more clarity and can help give greater context to how your planetary energy plays out.
So why is this important? In astrocartography, certain places on Earth activate the energy of specific planets, which will always stay in its sign that it was in at your birth. Understanding the qualities of each zodiac helps you recognize what energies different locations might stir up for you.
Psst: if you want a no-fluff PDF quick reference guide to ALL the basics of Astrology, check out my Astro 101 guide here!
The Zodiac signs refer to the 12 constellations found in the Ecliptic, which is the band of star systems that circle the Earth and is the path that we view both the Sun and the other planets travel along. When looking at a birth chart, the ecliptic is represented as the “wheel” you’d see and ALL signs appear on this wheel. The 12 constellations (or zodiacs) fill this wheel that then assigns 30 degrees to each sign (30 x 12 = 360 degrees).
The constellations (aka signs) begin with Aries at the Vernal Equinox. The remaining 11 constellations then follow in order. Below is an image of the signs in order going counterclockwise, their approximate dates, and their astrological symbol.
The signs are a little more complex than the planets in that they have a bit more to consider than just their straight meanings. The signs can be grouped based on duplicity, triplicity, and quadruplicity, which is also known as polarity (duplicity), element (triplicity), and modality (quadruplicity).
Polarity refers to whether the sign embodies a more masculine (yang) energy or feminine (yin) energy.
Element refers to whether the sign is a Fire, Earth, Air, or Water sign.
Modality refers to whether the sign is Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable.
Each sign has a polarity, modality, and element assigned to it, which reflects the overall energy it can bring forward. In the table below you’ll see each sign’s archetype and traits, as well as their polarity, modality, and element. As mentioned before, every sign is present in your birth chart and occupies a house, whether or not a planet is placed there. So for example, I have Taurus in my 5th house of joy/pleasure/creativity, and even though I have no major planetary placements there, I still see that I get joy out of buying things and food. I also enjoy building things and cooking/baking haha.
Another example may be if you have Capricorn in your 10th house of career/legacy, you’re likely to be very driven to succeed in the workplace and probably achieve great things and/or climb the ladder fairly quickly compared to others. The placement of a sign in a certain house is based on your time of birth, but we’ll cover that some more in the next section of Astro 101 - the Houses.
Until then, take a look at all the signs below and see if you can identify with each of them in some way. Share your findings in the comments!
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