I believe that I got to know about Zodiac signs through books. As a young teen, I ransacked my Dad's library reading books that were beyond my age. I did this behind his back, and I remember the day he caught me with the
book titled; "The Book of Talismans Amulets & Zodiac Gems" written by William Pavitt, he didn't spare the rod on me.

(Note: the book's first publication was in 1914).

 
But as I grew older and with the accessibility of the internet, I grew interested in Zodiac signs and read more about them online. There are a plethora of websites that deal with Zodiac and horoscope, but most of these websites offer copy and paste services, and most just state nonsense.

I see people laugh at people who are interested in the Zodiac, but I don't. One clear thing is that Zodiac and Horoscope do not determine one's future. Your actions determine your future.

But I do believe that Zodiac determines a set of people's collective likely behaviour. Many read some zodiac reports, and say no this doesn't describe me and label it false. Even twins who are born on the same day do not have the same behaviours, likes or dislikes.

What I believe Zodiac does is to group people born during a certain period and mention their most likely behaviour, likes and dislikes.

The use of the Zodiac to determine people's behaviour stems from Astrology. Astrology is an ancient practice that has been on earth thousands of years before Christ was born. Modern Zodiac and Astrology are refined from ancient beliefs.

My take is that people who are born at a certain period of the year do have similar behaviour or qualities that are common. Sometimes you see people born within a zodiac sign having common likes and dislikes.

An Example with my Zodiac sign

For example, my sign cancer is said to have a lot of writers and poets. The only to confirm this is by taking a survey, and according to Edubirdie.com Cancers are considered to be the top zodiac sign to become authors.

Cancer - Share of authors: 16.67%
The most common star sign for authors is Cancer with a 16.67% share of writers in the study. These include big names such as George Orwell, Ernst Hemingway and Hilary Mantel.

How true is the report above? I can't say, but I have met a lot of cancers who are into poetry and writing like me. But that doesn't mean there aren't Cancers who have little like for writing or poetry.

How much does Zodiac determine

Well, to be frank, Zodiac is the last thing to consider about a person's behaviour. Your environment (which consists of people around you) determines your behaviour the most, your upbringing as a kid matters, and the media and books you consume matter a lot.

I don't condone people's use of Zodiac as an excuse to behave in a certain manner because like skills, behaviours can be learnt and taught. But there are some unexplained cases of likes and dislike that individuals might not be able to explain why they love or hate doing them, and that might be the zodiac at play.

I welcome all constructive criticism.

Thanks for reading!

Lead photo by Jakub Pabis on Unsplash