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The Constellations of the Zodiac lie along the plane of the ecliptic and have there roots in ancient religions. All constellations are creations of people. Basically they are like "connect the dots". There is evidence that they may have originally been intended to mark the passage of time in agricultural societies. Some of the earliest Zodiacal Calendar systems go back Babylonia 3,500 years ago! Farmers would watch for the appearance of certain constellations before sunrise or sunset as a signal or "sign" of when to till and sow the fields or prepare for harvest.
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The Zodiac sign Calendar system was used to record when someone was born. For instance "He was born under Leo" Over time ancient peoples associated the appearance of these signs with gods and assigned mystical powers to them which gave rise to the pseudo-science "Astrology".
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The twelve signs of the Zodiac are all animals. The word "Zodiac" comes from the same root word that "zoo" comes from! The twelve constellations were used to divide the year into twelve divisions. The calendar system using the constellations is imprecise and over time the constellations appear out of the seasons they were originally intended to predict. Many cultures have divised systems of timekeeping based upon the appearance of groupings of stars and have calculated ways of correcting for the loss of time using these divisions by adding days throughout the year.
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The twelve signs of the Zodiac that appear on the table to the left are classical Greek constellations adopted about 700 BC! Notice that there are 13 constellations in the table, one of them you probably never heard of (Ophiuchus). It is not a Zodiac sign. The table is a listing of the constellations along the plane of the ecliptic that has been adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The Sun, Moon and Planets move through these constellations since their orbits are very near the ecliptic.
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Astrology is bunk! BUT constellations do serve to organize the sky into "recognizable" sections which can be useful in location astronomical objects. For instance one might read "Jupiter can be found in the constellation Taurus". The IAU has adopted 88 constellations as a way of making a map of the sky.
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