Usually, when I tell someone when my birthday is, I get some mixed reviews.

They either say,

“oh my gosh you’re a lIbra! I love Libras!” Or it can be something along the lines of “Libras are
the worst.” In the past, I didn’t really care for astrology, but I always wondered why people were
so hell-bent on defining my personality based on when I was born.

Upon doing further research, I realized that there’s so much more to astrology than just the
basic star signs that we talk about. Today, I’m going to share with you what exactly astrology is
about, the twelve different zodiac signs that there are, and how you can learn more about
yourself by classifying your star sign.

Astrology, according to the world atlas, is the study of the influence of stars and planets on
human lives. There is a belief that the position of the sun, moon, planets, and other stars during
a person’s birth is very critical. Some of you may know about this from Cosmopolitan daily
horoscopes or those you can find on Snapchat, but they often oversimplify the more complex
nuances of astrology.

Astrology started with the Babylonians, who then passed it onto the Greeks, Romans, Arabs,
and eventually to the rest of the world. There are different types of astrology, such as Hindu and
Chinese, but today I’m going to focus specifically on Western or Tropical astrology.

In Western astrology, there are twelve different zodiac signs. According to the transits of the
earth, ancient astrologers determined Aries to be the first sign of the zodiac. The twelve signs
are (look at the slide.) These signs can be further divided into element and modality.

Let’s start with element. The four elements are Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.

● The three fire signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Fire signs are usually characterized
by a strong energy, passion, and intensity. Sometimes people talk about them as being
loud, confident, or always attracting attention. For example, DJ Khaled: he’s loud, he’s
obnoxious, but he’s also really confident in himself and he loves music.
● The three earth signs are Taurus, Capricorn, and Virgo. Earth signs are considered to be
stable, dependable, and hardworking, often characterized by their reliability, practicality,
and sometimes materialism. Like Michelle Obama, she’s a very grounded woman who
works hard at everything she does, and if you haven’t read her book Becoming, I would
highly recommend it.
● Air signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are known for their creativity and intellect. They
are often praised for their ideas and are considered to be adventurous and powerful. Will
Smith is the perfect example of this, and Meg thee Stallion too if you listen to her music
or know who she is
● Finally, water signs, Cancers, Scorpios, and Pisces are known for being very mysterious
and deeply emotional. People can mistake this emotion for sensitivity, however, water
signs are very charming and are known for keeping their lives private. Drake for
example, very emotional as you can tell from his music, but also very charming.
As for modalities, there are three: Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.

● The four cardinal signs are Aries, Capricorn, Libra, and Cancer. Cardinal signs are the
starters and initiators, often characterized, by independence and ambition. They’re good
at starting but have difficulty completing their tasks.
● The four fixed signs are Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, and Scorpio. Fixed signs are consistent
and have a strong energy about them. They’re good initiators and excel at completing
tasks, however, they’re often characterized by stubbornness and an unwillingness to
change.
● The four mutable signs are Saggitarius, Virgo, Gemini, and Pisces. Mutable signs are
very adaptable but unpredictable, often very good at adjusting to any situation. However,
they may be ambiguous which can cause them to lose a sense of direction.

Hopefully, these two classifications of zodiac signs can help you better understand your sun sign
and what characteristics you may have. If you understand your element, fire for passion, earth
for hardworking, air for creativity, and water for emotional you can better understand what
makes you tick. Also, your modality helps you understand how you work with others and in
yourself, cardinal for ambition, fixed signs for stubbornness, and mutable signs for adaptability.