The twelve astrological signs of the zodiac
The twelve astrological signs of the zodiac each have an association with the constellations. Some of which are the Latin meaning of the constellation’s name, for example the Latin for Gemini is “Twins”. The table below shows the Latin symbol along with the English translation.
Early Astrology
Astrology has been around for thousands of years, the zodiacal signs originate from Babylonian astronomy during the first half of the 1st Millenium BC
It was the Babylonian astronomers who created the 12 sign zodiac which was a lunar calendar designed to correspond with the twelve months of the year, although they do not exactly line up with the where the constellations start and end.
By doing so, they actually left out the 13th, a major constellation named Ophiuchus. The sun actually passed through 13 constellations, a fact that was recognized by early Babylonian, Greek and Roman astronomers.
By the middle ages, the zodiac was experiencing something of a revival, this also included magical and ritualistic use of the zodiac.
Modern Astronomy
The zodiac signs and constellations as we know them, are distinct from each other, they do not directly correlate with each other. Occasionally the difference between the two has been represented in mainstream media as a “change” to the list of traditional signs.
However, professional astronomers nowadays, generally consider astrology to be a pseudoscience which has been disproved by scientific experimentation, and NASA has said that “No one has shown that astrology can be used to predict the future or describe what people are like based on their birth dates.”
That being said, it still does not stop many us checking our horoscopes every day to see what may be in our future!
Table courtesy of wikipedia, more information can be found here