Astrology literally translates to mean “the study of stars”. The word comes from Greek: ἄστρον (astron), “star”, and λόγος (logos), “theory”, “study”.

The zodiac is the belt or band of constellations through which the Sun, Moon, and planets transit across the sky.

Star-gazers of every sort have long been fascinated by these constellations and the easy stories which flow from their picturesque forms. Astrologers, with time, developed the system of twelve signs of the zodiac based on twelve of the constellations they considered to be particularly important.

The majority of Western astrologers base their work on the tropical zodiac which divides the sky into twelve equal segments of 30 degrees each. The first point- Aries- is the point where the line of the earth’s celestial equator and the ecliptic (the Sun’s path through the sky) meet at the northern hemisphere spring equinox. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the slow changing of the way Earth rotates in space, the zodiacal signs in this system bear no relation to the constellations of the same name but stay aligned to the months and seasons.

The zodiac signs and dates associated with each are as follows:

1. Aries The Ram : March 21 – April 20
   
2. Taurus The Bull : April 21 – May 22
3. Gemini The Twins : May 23 – June 23
4. Cancer The Crab : June 24 – July 23
5. Leo The Lion : July 24 – August 23
6. Virgo The Virgin : August 24 – September 22
7. Libra The Scale : September 23 – October23
8. Scorpio The Scorpion : October 24 – November 22
   
9. Sagittarius The Centaur : November 23 – December 21
10. Capricorn The Sea-goat : December 22 – January 19
11. Aquarius The Pitcher : January 20 – February 18
12. Pisces The Fish : February 19 – March 2

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The Vedic Indian Zodiac:

Traditional Hindu astrology has a sidereal coordinate zodiac system with twelve signs. The names of the Hindu zodiacal signs, or rāśis, are similar to Graeco-Babylonian signs.

1. meṣa “ram” (Aries) : April 14 – May 14
2. vṛṣabha “bull” (Taurus) : May 15 – June 14
3. mithuna “a pair” (Gemini) : June 15 – July 16
4. karka “crab” (Cancer) : July 17 – Aug 16
5. siṃha “lion” (Leo) : August 17 – Sept 16
6. kanyā “girl” (Virgo) : September 17 – October 17
7. tula, from tulā “balance” (Libra) : October 18 – November 16
8. vrushchik “scorpion” (Scorpius), also kaurpi, loaned from the Greek : November 17 – December 15
9. kārmuka, cāpa, dhanus “bow, arc”, cāpin “armed with a bow” (Sagittarius) : December 16 – January 14
10. eṇa, mṛga “antelope”, also makara “sea-monster” (Capricornus) : January 15 – February 12
11. kumbha “pitcher, water-pot” (Aquarius) : February 13 – March 14
12. matsya “fish”, also jhaṣa, timi, mīna after specific kinds of fish (Pisces) : March 15 – April 13

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