Zodiac

The Zodiac is the band of sky surrounding the ecliptic, the Sun's apparent path over the year, which astrology divides into twelve signs of thirty degrees each, from Aries to Pisces. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which begins at the northern hemisphere's spring equinox and does not exactly match the visible constellations. Each sign combines an element, a modality and a ruling planet, and that combination gives it its symbolic character. Every factor in a natal chart is placed somewhere on this wheel, which is why it is the basic map of astrology.