To myself and my love for astrology.

Have you ever wondered how the zodiac signs came to be? How did they get their names, shapes, and stories? In this book, we will go over all 12 of them. Have fun, and don't take anything personally.

1.

Taurus

     Taurus the bull, is born between April 20th to May 20th. They are strong, grounded, and most well-known, stubborn. Their element is Earth, their planet is Venus, their color is pink, their gem is emerald and their flower is Rose.

      Most of us know Persephone was the goddess of spring, who was forced to spend half of her time with Hades of the underworld. But there's more to the story, a wild bull that was out of control. The bull was called Cerus and people were mortified of him, for he would destroy the village and had no owner, so no one knew where he was from. One day Persephone appeared, after her time with Hades, when she saw Cerus stomping on some flowers, she approached him and they quickly formed a bond. Persephone calmed the bull and taught him to be gentle.

Every year when Persephone returned from the underworld, they would walk together and spring flowers would bloom in their trail.

Then in the fall when Persephone returned to the underworld, Cerus would ascend to the sky as the constalation of Taurus.

2.

Virgo

Virgo the virgin, is born between August 23rd to September 22nd. They are kind and smart but also perfectionists. Their element is Earth, their planet is Mercury, their color is silver, their gem is sapphire, and their flower is Sunflower.

The story behind Virgo relates to a goddess, her name was Astrea, and she was the goddess of purity and innocence. Her story began when Prometheus stole fire from the gods, making Zeus send Earth, Pandora's box. Pandora was unable to resist her curiosity and opened the box, which contained evilness, crime, hatred, and other abominations. At the bottom of the box was hope which didn't escape at all. Opening Pandora's box caused many gods and goddesses to escape too, which is where Virgo comes in.

The last Goddess to leave was Astrea, as she left Earth she watched the sky every night in hopes of one day returning. She had faith that one day mankind would be able to defeat the evils of Pandora's box. The story says that Astrea fled the wickedness and ascended into heaven becoming the constellation of Virgo, constantly wishing and waiting to return to earth.

3.

Capricorn

Capricorn the goat, is born between December 22nd to January 19th. They are detailed and intelligent but also tend to overwork themselves. Their element is Earth, their planet is Saturn, their color is dark blue their gem is Lapis Lazuli, and their flower is Pansy.

Capricorn's story begins when Mother Earth, was angry with the gods, Angry enough to send a fire-breathing monster named Typhon to attack them.  The forest god Pan who had the legs and horns of a goat, told Zeus and some other gods to disguise themselves as animals to avoid Typhon. While the other gods were disguised, Typhon saw Pan and tried to attack him. Pan panicked and jumped into the River Nile, for some reason the bottom half of him turned into a fish, but the top stayed normal.

That's why we have the sea-goat to represent Capricorn.

Zeus ended up fighting Typhon and had the muscles in his hand pulled out, but Pan healed Zeus allowing him to defeat Typhon. Because of this Zeus immortalized the image of Pan in the sky as Capricorn. 

4.

Aries

Aries the Ram is born between March 21st to April 19th. They are ambitious and independent but also tend to be impatient. Their element is fire, their planet is Mars, their color is red their gem is diamond, and their flower is Thistle.

The story of Aries is a little shorter than most. After escaping Thessaly on the back of a flying lamb, Phrixus sacrificed the lamb to Zeus for some reason. Zeus then placed the lamb in the sky as Aries. Very short.

5.

Leo

Leo the Lion is born between July 23rd to August 22nd. They are proud, bold, and a natural leader, similar to a lion.  Their element is fire, their planet is the Sun, their color is gold their gem is carnelian, and their flower is Marigold.

Leos's story begins when Hera decided to be a little toxic to her husband Zeus, by sending a powerful mystic lion to live in a cave by Nemea, which was where Zeus' shrine was. So anyone who wanted to worship Zeus would have to get through the lion. Later Hercules was tasked to defeat this lion and take its skin to King Eurystheus. But this was no regular lion, it was the son of the fire-breathing monster Typhon. It was more than twice the size of a normal lion, but most importantly its skin was indestructible.

Hercules struts into the cave confidently and blocks the entrance, then realizes something is wrong. After killing the lion he found out he couldn't cut its skin, none of the tools he brought worked. Hercules eventually succeeded by using the lion's own claw. Then on the way to bring the pelt to the king, Hercules decided to keep it as armor. After Hera immortalized the lion in the sky as Leo.

6.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius the Archer is born between November 22nd to December 21st. They are adventurous and strong-willed, which sometimes can be dangerous to them. Their element is fire, their planet is Jupiter, their color is light blue their gem is Topaz, and their flower is Carnations.

Sagittarius' story begins when Hercules accidentally killed his friend. So Hercules had a friend Centaur named Chiron, one day when they were out hunting Hercules accidentally hit Chiron with a poisonous arrow. But Chiron was the son of a titan god meaning he was immortal, and couldn't die, although suffering in a lot of pain. Hercules was feeling guilty for what he did to his friend so he tried to help Chiron by making a deal with Zeus. Chiron would rid himself of his immortality, but it would free Prometheus the god of fire, who Zeus had looked up for stealing fire from the gods.

Prometheus punishment was he would be tied to a rock and an eagle would eat his liver time and time again. This way Chiron could die and Prometheus was technically freed. after Chiron's soul was put in the sky as the constalation of Sagittarius.

7.

Gemini

Gemini the Twins are born between May 21st to June 20th. They are curious and affectionate, but very trusting. Their element is air, their planet is Mercury, their color is yellow, their gem is tiger's eye, and their flower is Lily of the Valley.

The story of Gemini is of two twins, named Castor and Pollux. They both have the same mortal mother Leda, but different fathers making one of them immortal and the other not. Castor's father was the king of Sparta and Pollux's father was Zeus making him immortal. Castor had a very strong bond and spent a lot of time together,  but Castor was unfortunately killed in battle. Pollux was inconsolable after his twin's death and didn't want to live without his brother.

So he went to Zeus for help, Zues decided instead of taking Pollux's immortality he would make Castor immortal too and turn them into the constellation of Gemini, so they could live together forever.