Astrological Signs

To many, astrology or simply horoscope is all about the 12 signs that are spread throughout the 12 months of a year. Thus when you ask someone for their horoscope, they will just tell you that they fall in one of the signs listed below:

• Aries (21 Mar - 19 Apr)

• Taurus (20 Apr - 20 May)

• Gemini (21 May - 21 Jun)

• Cancer (22 Jun - 22 Jul)

• Leo (23 Jul - 22 Aug)

• Virgo (23 Aug - 22 Sep)

• Libra (23 Sep - 22 Oct)

• Scorpio (23 Oct - 21 Nov)

• Sagittarius (22 Nov - 21 Dec)

• Capricorn (22 Dec - 19 Jan)

• Aquarius (20 Jan - 18 Feb)

• Pisces (19 Feb - 20 Mar)

Note that even though Capricorn fall from mid December to mid January, it is not considered the first sign of the astrological year. Aries is considered the first sign of the astrological year.

The dates that the signs fall in provided above are just a rough guide only as some websites and books are basing it on a certain place on the Earth like GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). Thus in Singapore we will have to add 8 hours to it. For example, you were born on 20 April 0300hrs in Singapore, but in GMT, it is only 19 April 1900hrs, thus you are still considered as an Aries and not Taurus. So the easiest and most accurate way is to go to website that let you fill in your birth place, birth date and time to find out your actual sign. One more thing to note is that if you are born within a few days after or before the transition of the signs, you are known as on the cusp. This means that you will have the some personalities traits from both the signs. An example will be like someone born on 17 Apr, he is an Aries but he does have some traits of Taurus on him also.

Until now, all the signs and dates that I stated belong to only a type of astrology and that is known as the Sun Sign or more commonly as Star Sign. What Sun or Star sign simply mean is which sign was the Sun in when you were born. Thus if you can conclude that you are born on 17 June 1984 like me, then you are sure that the Sun was in Gemini zodiac when I was born. Please note that when I mean the Sun was in Gemini zodiac, it does not mean that the Sun was in the Gemini constellation. Rather it means that the Sun was in the Gemini zodiac. Astrologers divided the sky into 12 equal parts of 30 degree and named each part with different zodiac after the constellation but due to the precession of Earth in the universe, the zodiac and constellation locations do not match anymore. What we read in newspapers, magazines and some website all uses the Sun Sign to predict your daily horoscope.

Another more common type of astrology will be the Moon Sign. As the name stated by itself, we know that it mean which sign was the Moon when someone was born. For Moon Sign, the average transition from one sign to another is about 2.33 days thus Moon Sign does not have a roughly fixed date range like the Sun Sign. In order to find out your Moon Sign, you need to go to website that let you fill in your birth place, birth date and time. If you are not sure of the time, it is pretty okay unless the specific day is the transition of the signs then the more exact your birth time is the better.

A site that offer free basic astrology chart can be found at http://www.chaosastrology.net/freeastrologyreports.cfm

So after saying so much about the Sun Sign and Moon Sign, what the differences? The Sun Sign is said to describe your basic nature and the personality traits that remain constant through the ups and downs of life. It is the image you shine out to the world, but it comes from that truest, innermost part of you while the Moon Sign is said to describe the inner life that only close companions get to experience. It’s the private you that reveals itself behind closed doors, when you’ve put on something more comfortable. It’s also the unguarded you that has to act on instinct, the one that comes out in a crisis. Thus, the Sun Sign describe the outer part of you and the Moon Sign describe your inner world of feelings and emotions.

Astrology is not a simple subject as many think, there are still many topics and types related to it to make every individual's personalities unique from others. Doing a complete astrological chart might prove insights to your past and future life but the exact birth time is important because many other celestial objects are considered when making such a chart. Thus uniqueness isn't by choice, it is by fate of your birth place, birth date and time.