Astrology, with the zodiac represented as a circle of animals, dates back to 2,500 B.C. in Babylonia.

In the age astrology was developed, society was oriented strictly to agricultural cycles. Severe weather could wipe out the food supply for an entire region, so learning to recognize weather and celestial patterns was all-important. Ancient communities also had to worry about invading enemies, insects, disease, famine, and any number of other variables, so they were continually searching for ways to lower everyday risk.

For the ancients, the sky was a kind of living calendar or newspaper. Careful observation of the sky allowed them to glean valuable information for use on a daily basis. The brightest constellation on the horizon at dawn or sunset gave farmers clues as to the most auspicious time to initiate vital activities like planting or reaping crops.

It seems to me that by recording anything and everything they noticed in the sky, ancient astrologers were attempting to do some savvy weather forecasting. And they recorded all activity, from the positions of the planets to comets and meteors.

These early astrologers thought the planets were gods. Over time, they came to know the planets were not gods, but that each one had certain specific functions that influenced events here on earth. Astrology was born out of this association.

Astrology is both art and science. The science part of astrology is reflected in the emphasis on math, and the art side of astrology is related to the interpretation of the symbolism found in the myths and in the configurations gleaned by doing the mathematical calculations.

Thus, astrology draws on both the left and right sides of your brain. It is a fascinating and lively experience, for few areas of endeavor ever allow us to use both hemispheres of our brain at once.

A customized horoscope is set up for the day, month, year, place, and exact time of birth, and is then converted to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), England. Astrologers use GMT because it represents a standardized location where each new day is said to "begin" for the world -- at zero degrees of longitude. Longitude and latitude are important factors in astrology, and having this standardized measurement allows for accuracy and consistency in readings.

Astrologers use an Ephemeris, a yearly compilation of tables listing all the planets by degrees and minutes as they pass through certain constellations, to determine planetary location. An Ephemeris also notes the planets' declinations, telling astrologers, for example, how high or low a planet is orbiting as it spins along a certain path that spans the earth's circumference like a star-spangled belt.

The most important skill an astrologer can develop is the ability to synthesize all aspects at once and crystallize them into one picture -- an art that takes years to achieve. Student astrologers find it very hard to juggle so much information at one time. To make matters more complex, all information is not necessarily equal. The astrologer has to prioritize the information, choosing which aspects will override or dominate a theme.