What you need to get started is a user-friendly guide. Signs are located on the zodiac, an imaginary 360-degree belt circling Earth. This belt is divided into 12 equal, 30-degree portions that define the boundaries of the signs. Though a sign is named after the constellation that once marked the same area, the constellations are no longer in the same relation to Earth that they were centuries ago. Over hundreds of years, Earth's orbit has shifted so that from our point of view here on this planet, the constellations seem to have moved, but the signs remain in place.
Most people think of themselves in terms of their sun sign.
A sun sign refers to the sign the sun is orbiting through at a given moment, from our point of view on earth. In addition to an element and a quality, each sign has a polarity, either a positive or negative electrical charge that generates energy around the zodiac, like a giant battery. Alternating around the zodiac, the six fire and air signs are positive, active, masculine and yang polarity. These signs are open, expanding outward. The six earth and water signs are reactive, negative and yin.