Whether you believe in it or not, everyone has an astrological sign that correlates with his or her birthday.

As most people know, each "sign" is assigned traits and characteristics that are supposed to describe individuals. These traits can be quite broad, but they can also be scarily specific. The value of zodiac signs is that they help people better understand who they are and why they act the way they do. However, astrology has long thought to have been somewhat of a pseudoscience. Quite a few people lack a belief and fundamental understanding of astrology. Others might believe in it but don't feel as though their basic astrological sign describes them personally. The reason many individuals doubt the validity of their zodiac/astrological signs is that they are not taking into account their entire birth chart.

Your birth chart, essentially, is a map of you and the universe that utilizes your date, time, and location of birth. The location of the stars and planets in relation to your birth is what gives insight into your personality. Now, how does this differ from your zodiac sign? Well, your zodiac sign, which is more accurately referred to as your sun sign, is just a small aspect of your birth chart.

Your sun sign, as you might have guessed, assigns your fundamental qualities. There are also countless other astrological bodies that make up your birth chart. The moon determines your emotional personality, Mercury determines how you communicate, Venus determines your romantic tendencies, Mars determines how you assert yourself and take action, Jupiter determines your values, Saturn determines your work ethic and self-discipline, Uranus determines your need for change, Neptune determines your idealism, and Pluto determines your inner drive. Another key aspect of your birth chart is your ascendant, which is the sign that was rising over the eastern horizon when you were born and determines how you act in new situations.

The most important signs of your birth chart are your sun sign, moon sign, and ascendant sign. Your sun sign essentially describes who you are as a person. It is what drives you. Your moon sign, on the other hand, is a part of you that people have to get really close to you to discover. It is the undertone of who you are and it assesses your emotions and why you do things. Your ascendant sign, sometimes called the rising sign, is essentially the mask you put on when you first meet someone. It determines a person's first impression of you and how people might react to you based on how you carry yourself.

Although a lot of people are like their sun sign, it is important to take into account a person's entire birth chart when trying to understand them astrologically. Moon signs and rising signs, in particular, are key to understanding other people and why they do things. Astrology sounds like a pseudoscience, but if you think about it, it's not. If other astrological bodies influence nature and our planet, they have to influence people, too.