History Of Zodiac Signs

Millions of people around the world follow astrological predictions on a daily basis and for that they use their zodiac signs. Even though you may be pretty familiar with your zodiac and its applicability in predicting your future, have you ever thought about the history behind these zodiac signs and how they came into existence? In your previous endeavours of reading your horoscope, you may have noticed that almost all Zodiac signs correspond to an animal, human or some other thing. Zodiac signs are used in astrology in accordance to the characteristics they share with individuals.

As it has been forwarded from generations to generations in the form of books, manuscripts and in other forms, the history of zodiac signs is a bit tricky to explain. Even though it may be really hard for a person to understand how astrology came into existence, famous astrologers and experts of this field are of a common belief that astrology and the conceptualisation of zodiac signs came into existence nearly 3,000 years ago.

While there is no documented proof of the origins of astrology and the twelve zodiac signs, relics belonging to ancient Egypt and parts of Babylonia point to the fact that these were the first civilisations to use astrology for predicting the future. Even though astrology and the study of zodiac signs may have started in ancient Egypt and Babylonia, advanced research and in-depth analysis of the study of stars and planets for future telling is often credited to India and China. While Mayan calendar still holds its significance for the believers of future telling, Chinese astrology is famous for its use of symbolic animals to predict the future of a person with amazing accuracy.

Being something that was mystical and had the power to amaze people, astrology went to many places and was gradually transformed into local versions. After ancient Egypt and Babylonia, astrology has been known to travel far and wide to the Roman Empire. Adopted from Hellenistic astronomy used by Babylonians of the Chaldean era, astrology in the Roman Empire was mostly limited to kings and merchants who required certain safeguards for protection against unwanted circumstances.
According to astrology, the twelve zodiac signs that we all correspond to, are divided into four main elements namely, Earth, Air, Water and Fire. As every zodiac sign is associated with an element, it represents certain characteristics in each of us. Given below is a list of signs that correspond to each of the elements:

• Fire: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius
• Air: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius
• Water: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces
• Earth: Virgo, Taurus, and Capricorn

Since ancient times, astrology has based future telling on the effect of these elements on an individual. For example, as fire relates to sun, destruction and aggression, zodiac signs that belong to this element will share these characteristics but in a profound or subdued manner. Not only from earthly elements, astrology also looks upon the position of earth, stars and other heavenly bodies to predict the future of an individual. Among the heavenly bodies, sun and moon are known to have maximum effect on an individual’s future.