1. Constellations - Astrology - Horoscopes - the Zodiac Since the dawn of history, man has studied the sky. The sun was the brightest object that man saw. Its rising and setting determined the length of his day and gave him warmth and light. Many men even worshipped the sun. The most exciting objects to study were the many thousands of tiny points of light in the dark night sky.

2. These stars all had their own positions in the sky and they moved together as a group in the night sky. In time, these ancient astronomers noticed that there were five ( 5 ) bright stars which moved slowly among the rest of the stars, these were called planets, meaning “Wandering Stars”. In the night sky, you now have star and planets. Stars give off its own light due to nuclear reaction. Planets simply reflect light.

3. Astronomers gave names to the five brighter stars. The five “wandering stars” were named after five gods: The first planet was called: Mercury The 2nd planet was called:Venus The 3rd planet was called:Mars The 4th planet was called:Jupiter The 5th planet was called:Saturn

4. Astronomers then took the night sky and mapped it. They began dividing it into sections; these sections were created by connecting some of the stars. These sections were called Constellations. Most of the Constellations take the form of different shapes, images of people and animals. Constellations are figments of man’s imagination, handy inventions to help him map the sky.

5. This is the Constellation Aquarius - You try and connect the dots or figure it out from the picture.

6. Below is the Constellation Ursa Major. The Big Dipper is part of this Constellation. Notice the diagram and the stars that make up Ursa Major.

7. For example, the constellation Aquarius represents a water bearer. The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) represents a Large Bear. Twelve ( 12 ) constellations stand out the most. These 12 circle the sky close to the Ecliptic (circle formed by the earth’s orbit) and were named the Zodiac. The sun, moon and the planets seem to be in these 12 constellations (Zodiac).

9. The 12 constellations (or 12 signs of the Zodiac) are: 1. Aries (Ram)March 21 - April 19 2. Taurus (Bull)April 20 - May 20 3. Gemini (Twins)May 21 - June 20 4. Cancer (Crab)June 21 - July 22 5. Leo (Lion)July 23 - August 22 6. Virgo (Virgin)August 23 - September 22 7. Libra (Scale)September 23 - October 23 8. Scorpius (Scorpion) October 24 - November 22 9. Sagittarius (Archer)November 23 - December 21 10. Capricorn (Goat) December 22 - January 19 11. Aquarius (Water Bearer) January 20 - February 19 12. Pisces (Fish)February 20 - March 20

11. One who studies these signs is called an Astrologer. Astrology is the study of the Zodiac, which claims to interpret the influence of stars on people and worldly events. The 12 months of the year are associated with one sign of the Zodiac due to their position in the sky passing through them. Your birth day determines what constellation was overhead on that date. Your Horoscope is a forecast of a person’s future depending on the position of the constellations at birth. What sign are you?