Origin of the Zodiac

We all know about the Zodiac. It's twelve star signs. Depending on when you're born, you get a star sign. That sign says things about you. You can read your horoscope in the newspapers. You can read it online. You have certain personality traits based on your sign. You have one of the four classical elements of earth, wind, water, or fire associated with your sign. And on some days, your sign is good. On other days, it's bad.

But where did it come from?

The answer may surprise you. Many people think that the Zodiac is a recent invention, something a fraud came up with in the 1920s or something. But that's not true. When I first began studying it, I assumed that it was originally a medieval thing. But the Middle Ages, lasting from roughly 500 AD to 1500 AD, were not where it was invented. The modern Zodiac of 12 star already existed in the third century AD, meaning the 200s. So the Zodiac already had something like its modern form well before the Middle Ages even began! It existed in Ancient Rome!

But it goes back even further. The ancient Roman and Greek astrology already used the 12 signs as well. In fact, to find the very origin, the very first place where a 12 sign system exists, you have to go all the way back to ancient Babylon! The Babylonians were already doing astrology in 2000 BC. That's four thousand years ago. Astrology is not a modern fabrication. It's not just old. It's one of the oldest human practices still being used, right up there with agriculture and carpentry.

So the next time you see someone wearing a zodiac t shirt, just remember that they're proudly bearing one of the oldest human institutions, right their on their shirt.