Western astrology in the context of Fire sign

Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Different cultures have employed forms of astrology since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications.

Most, if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Islamic world, and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems.

Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD).

Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the three harmonies: heaven, earth, and human), and uses the principles of yin and yang, wuxing (five phases), the ten Heavenly Stems, the twelve Earthly Branches, the lunisolar calendar (moon calendar and sun calendar), and the time calculation after year, month, day, and shichen (時辰, double hour). These concepts are not readily found or familiar in Western astrology or culture.

The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets, along their orbital planes. The zodiac is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts, called "signs", each occupying 30° of celestial longitude. These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

The signs have been used to determine the time of the year by identifying each sign with the days of the year the Sun is in the respective sign. In Western astrology, and formerly astronomy, the time of each sign is associated with different attributes. The zodiacal system and its angular measurement in 360 sexagesimal degree (°) originated with Babylonian astronomy during the 1st millennium BC, probably during the Achaemenid Empire. It was communicated into Greek astronomy by the 2nd century BC, as well as into developing the Hindu zodiac. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the time of year that the Sun is in a given constellation has changed since Babylonian times, and the point of March equinox has moved from Aries into Pisces.

An astrological age is a time period which, according to astrology, parallels major changes in the development of human society, culture, history, and politics. There are twelve astrological ages corresponding to the twelve zodiacal signs in western astrology. One cycle of the twelve astrological ages is called a Great Year, comprising 25,772 solar years, at the end of which another cycle begins.

Some astrologers believe that during a given age, some events are directly caused or indirectly influenced by the astrological sign associated with that age, while other astrologers believe that astrological ages do not influence events in any way.

In Western astrology, astrological signs are the zodiac, twelve 30-degree sectors that are crossed by the Sun's 360-degree orbital path as viewed from Earth in its sky. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. The astrological signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The Western zodiac originated in Babylonian astrology, and was later influenced by the Hellenistic culture. Each sign was named after a constellation the sun annually moved through while crossing the sky. This observation is emphasized in the simplified and popular sun sign astrology. Over the centuries, Western astrology's zodiacal divisions have shifted out of alignment with the constellations they were named after by axial precession of the Earth while Hindu astrology measurements correct for this shifting. Astrology (i.e. a system of omina based on celestial appearances) was developed in Chinese and Tibetan cultures as well but these astrologies are not based upon the zodiac but deal with the whole sky.

Astrology is a pseudoscience. Scientific investigations of the theoretical basis and experimental verification of claims have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory power. More plausible explanations for the apparent correlation between personality traits and birth months exist, such as the influence of seasonal birth in humans.

Taurus (♉︎; Ancient Greek: Ταῦρος, romanized: Taûros, Latin for "bull") is the second astrological sign in the modern zodiac. It spans from 30° to 60° of the zodiac. This sign belongs to the Earth element or triplicity, as well as a fixed modality, quality, or quadruplicity. It is a Venus-ruled sign, the Moon is in its exaltation here at exactly 3°. Taurus is one of the three earth signs, alongside Capricorn and Virgo. Taurus's opposite sign is Scorpio.

The Sun transits this zodiac sign from approximately April 21 until May 21 in western astrology. This time-duration roughly corresponds to the second month of the Solar Hijri calendar called Ordibehesht (Pashto: Ǧwayai).

Scorpio (♏︎; Ancient Greek: Σκορπιός, romanized: Skorpiós, Latin for "scorpion") is the eighth astrological sign in the zodiac, originating from the constellation of Scorpius. It spans 210–240° ecliptic longitude. Under the tropical zodiac (most commonly used in Western astrology), the Sun transits this sign on average from October 24 to November 22. (Depending on which zodiac system one uses, someone born under the influence of Scorpio may be called a Scorpio or Scorpionic.

Hermetic Qabalah (from Hebrew קַבָּלָה (qabalah) 'reception, accounting') is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Christian organizations such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, is a key element within the Thelemic orders, and is important to mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.

Hermetic Qabalah arose from Christian Cabala, which itself was derived from Jewish Kabbalah, during the European Renaissance, becoming variously Esoteric Christian, non-Christian, or anti-Christian across its different schools in the modern era. It draws on a great many influences, most notably: Jewish Kabbalah, Western astrology, Alchemy, Pagan religions, especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman, Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and the symbolism of the tarot. Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in being a more syncretic system; however, it shares many concepts with Jewish Kabbalah.

Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum (CCAG) is a 12-volume (including appendices) catalogue of astrological writings in Greek. The CCAG edited, described, and excerpted from texts found in libraries throughout Europe, most edited and catalogued for the first time. The CCAG was published between 1898 and 1953 in Brussels. The chief editors in the earlier period of publication were Franz Cumont and Franz Boll. The CCAG was described as the "most important" modern survey of Greek astrological writings.

Sun sign astrology, or star sign astrology, is a modern simplified system of Western astrology which considers only the position of the Sun at birth, which is said to be placed within one of the twelve zodiac signs, rather than the positions of the sun and the other six 'planets'. This sign is then called the sun sign or star sign of the person born in that twelfth-part of the year. Sun sign astrologers take this basic twelve-fold division and relate all the current movements of all the planets to each other, using traditional rules to divine meanings for each sign separately. Because the Moon has the fastest apparent movement of all the heavenly bodies, it is often used as the main indicator of daily trends for sun sign astrology forecasts.

Sun sign astrology is a pseudoscienceand the form of astrology most commonly found in many newspaper and magazine columns. Scientific investigations of the theoretical basis and experimental verification of claims have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory power.

Asteroids are relatively new to astrology, having only been discovered in the 19th century. Their use has become significant to a few Western astrologers yet still only a minority of astrologers use the asteroids in chart interpretation. Their use in astrology began with Eleanor Bach's publication of the first asteroid ephemeris in 1973. Their use was popularized following Demetria George's publication of Asteroid Goddesses in 1986