This book considers various aspects of the meanings and functions of zodiacal systems, including how they affect belief systems, and how they have evolved over time.
It explores the cultural significance of the Zodiac as a semiotic code for interpreting personal destinies as manifestations of stellar influences and as affirmations of the logic that governs the cosmos as a whole.
The book traces the international history of Western astrology, from its origins in Babylon to its decline after the Enlightenment, up to its resurgence today as "pop astrology" in an era where social media and predictive algorithms can deliver customized personal horoscopes. Bringing together examples from the Western and Chinese zodiacal systems, it examines how the Zodiac semiotic enabled individuals across the world to interpret the date of their birth and the events that marked their daily lives in terms of the constellations and celestial conjunctions. It offers an engaging contribution to Zodiac scholarship by spanning various aspects of the meanings and functions of zodiacal systems.
| ISBN: | 9781350522244 |
| Publication date: | 5th February 2026 |
| Author: | Marcel Danesi |
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Academic an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 224 pages |
| Series: | Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics |
| Genres: |
Linguistics Cultural studies Fortune-telling and divination Semiotics / semiology |
This book considers various aspects of the meanings and functions of zodiacal systems, including how they affect belief systems, and how they have evolved over time.
It explores the cultural significance of the Zodiac as a semiotic code for interpreting personal destinies as manifestations of stellar influences and as affirmations of the logic that governs the cosmos as a whole.
The book traces the international history of Western astrology, from its origins in Babylon to its decline after the Enlightenment, up to its resurgence today as "pop astrology" in an era where social media and predictive algorithms can deliver customized personal horoscopes. Bringing together examples from the Western and Chinese zodiacal systems, it examines how the Zodiac semiotic enabled individuals across the world to interpret the date of their birth and the events that marked their daily lives in terms of the constellations and celestial conjunctions. It offers an engaging contribution to Zodiac scholarship by spanning various aspects of the meanings and functions of zodiacal systems.
The Semiotics of the Zodiac features in the following genres: Linguistics, Cultural studies, Fortune-telling and divination, Semiotics / semiology
The Semiotics of the Zodiac is available in Hardback
The Semiotics of the Zodiac was written by Marcel Danesi and published by Bloomsbury Academic an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)
The Semiotics of the Zodiac has 224 pages
Yes it is part of Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics series
£85.50