What Is The Zodiac?

“As we all know, science began with the stars, and mankind discovered in them the dominants of the unconscious, the “gods,” as well as the curious psychological qualities of the Zodiac: a complete projected theory of human character.”

~Carl Jung, Psychology and Alchemy

The Zodiac, in astronomy and astrology, is a “belt” around our heavens extending 9° on either side of the ecliptic. The ecliptic is a great circle on the celestial sphere representing the sun’s path during the year. It is called the ecliptic because lunar and solar eclipses can occur only when the moon crosses it.

In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, centered on Earth, representing the observer. Remembering, of course, that this is true because this is how the illusion of our reality works. It’s all from the perspective of the observer.

Considering this from the perspective of astrology, the orbits of the moon and the principal planets also lie entirely within the zodiac, with our Sun sitting at the center. The 12 astrological signs of the Zodiac are each considered to occupy 1/12th (or 30°) of its great circle.The orbits of the moon and of the principal planets also lie entirely within the zodiac.

The meaning of the 12 Signs of the Zodiac arise from a combination of these principles: out of the 3 Modalities or movements of energy, (containing 4 Signs each), with the 4 Elements, (containing 3 Signs each), we create the 12 primary patterns of energy called the Zodiacal Signs.