Most everyone has heard of Astrology. I would bet that you even know your zodiac sign. Or do you? In the Western world, there happen to be three different types of Zodiac (of course with many different interpretations), and according to one of them, there may even be 13 instead of 12 signs.

So what really is astrology?

Astrology is to search meaning in the sky. Astrology has always been important to many cultures, ancient and current, to understand and explain the world. But it is not a science, as NASA likes to point out. It is a belief that some people hold to be true. The Zodiac signs are determined by what constellation is in line with the earth and the sun at the time of year you were born. According to astrology, you can then be described by your sign and have horoscopes, types of fortunes, for the month, week or even day based on your sign. For example, with the traditional form of Zodiac, my birthday falls within the range of a Leo. According to my Zodiac, I am outgoing, assertive, aggressive, trusting, passionate and compassionate. Whether or not you choose to believe these to be true there can often be similarities of sign and personality (mostly due to generality of the traits, but I suppose it's up to believe what you want). But many only know of one kind of astrology, where there are three main Westernized types.

1. Tropical

This is the type of Astrology followed by most in Western culture. It first originated in Ancient Babylon. They used it to see if the year would be good for crops and to predict different fortunes (or misfortunes). This has now been modernized to give horoscopes and find matches on dating sites.

2. Sidereal

This type of zodiac accounts for the shifting of planets over time. It originated in Hindu culture but people in the Western world in the 20th century began to popularize it. It is still not the normal way of determining Zodiacs, but it is still used by some.

3. The 13th Zodiac

In the 1940s a man named Walter Berg discovered a new constellation called Ophiuchus. It is situated between Scorpio and Sagittarius. This shifted all the signs to be different than both types of zodiacs previously mentioned.

I am always a Leo, in all the different variations. Whether or not you believe in zodiacs or not, you can't deny they are interesting. If you are interested in what your sign means here is a good website. And even though I don't believe in zodiacs it can be extremely reassuring to remember my animal sign is a lion.