OK, very very basic western astrology notes, more to follow;
Good site for brief overview, and here's the wikipedia Zodiac entry with a lovely picture of the signs on the ecliptic.
The zodiac the region of the celestial sphere that includes a band of eight arc degrees above and below the ecliptic, and therefore encompasses the paths of the Moon and the naked eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn).
The zodiac is divided into 12 signs, each 30 degrees long. The cycle of zodiac signs starts with Aries, which begins at the spot on the ecliptic where the Sun is on the first day of spring. These 30 degree sections of the sky are actually blocks of space, not time.
(I'd always wondered why Aries was first and Pisces last)
When a person says, "I'm an Aries!", what they're really saying is they were born at a time of the year when the Sun is in the zodiac sign of Aries. Because our calendar is designed to mimic the motions of the Sun around the zodiac, the Sun is in Aries at nearly the same time period each year (roughly March 20th or 21st to April 19th or 20th). Hence the 12 sun signs are like months of a calendar based on the zodiac. They represent time, not space.
Pretty simple so far...
Each sign is associated with a planet that is called the "ruler" of that sign. Usually, there is some similarity in meaning or energy between the sign and its ruler. A planet is supposed to express its energy in the most natural, straight-forward fashion through the sign it rules.
Some signs (Scorpio, Aquarius, Pisces) have two rulers, an old, traditional ruler and a modern one. Since the discovery of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto the last few centuries, these planets have replaced the traditional rulers. And with the introduction of Chiron and the major asteroids into astrology, yet-another-round of arguments about rulers is breaking out. Perhaps the entire notion of "rulership" should be taken with a grain of salt.
OK, so the signs are divided several ways. Following the elemental symbolism we've already covered, the elemental attributions are;
Fire - Aries, Leo and Sagittarius
Earth - Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn
Air - Gemini, Libra and Aquarius
Water - Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces
Then you have cardinal, fixed and mutable signs;
The four cardinal= Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn
The four fixed= Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius
The four mutable= Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces
Combine the four elements with the three quadruplicities, and we find that each of the zodiac signs has a unique combination of the two. For instance, Taurus alone is fixed earth, Sagittarius alone is mutable fire.
The sun sign birth dates are roughly changed on the 20th of the month;
Aries - March 21 - April 20
Taurus - April 21 - May 21
Gemini - May 22 - June 21
Cancer - June 22 - July 22
Leo - July 23 -August 21
Virgo - August 22 - September 23
Libra - September 24 - October 23
Scorpio - October 24 - November 22
Sagittarius - November 23 - December 22
Capricorn - December 23 - January 20
Aquarius - January 21 - February 19
Pisces - February 20- March 20
Here's a great traditional mnemonic:
The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,
And next' the Crab, the Lion shines,
The Virgin and the Scales.
The Scorpion, Archer, and the Goat,
The Man who holds the Watering Pot,
And Fish with glittering scales.
A less poetic, but succinct and perhaps more memorable, mnemonic is the following:
The Ramble Twins Crab Liverish;
Scaly Scorpions Are Good Water Fish.
Here's the zodiac symbols;
And here's the planetary glyphs;
 |
