A new scientific study has emerged about the relationship between the season one is born and one’s personality and temperament. Researchers at the Semmelweis University in Budapest studied 366 university students and did find that the season they were born in had a correlation to certain psychological traits.
The Huffington post article explains that the study found:
- People born in summer were more likely to experience frequent mood swings as adults.
- People born in the winter were less likely to develop irritable personalities.
- People born in the spring were more likely to have “excessively positive” temperaments.
- And people born in autumn were less likely to be depressive.
The article shared above does mention astrology, but I guess no one writing it was familiar with astrology itself. If so they would have easily seen the correlation between these findings and the natural signs of the zodiac that the sun crosses during each season. This research validates astrology immensely, as it is not likely given to chance that each seasonal birth would have a difference in psychology AND also that this difference would be the same difference that both western and eastern astrology has addressed as significant.
It is because the Huffington Post article did not clearly see or did not decide to mention this that I feel the duty, as an astrologer, to clearly point out that these traits are obviously connected to the seasons and therefore to astrology and astronomy.
Lets start with spring and go through the seasons as the zodiac naturally does.
SPRING: This is almost just common sense that someone would be more positive if born in spring, as everything was also being born alongside you. Nature is bursting forth at this time, the grass is starting to grow back, and it is natural from a psychological standpoint to see a more optimistic personality at this time. In jyotish, at this time we have the sun rising in Aries, which is all about rising to action, going on adventures, following ones ideas and inspirations, and Aries are confidant and naturally will be optimistic in a general sense (Though not every aries will be the same, check Jupiter for the optimism as well).
Taurus comes up after that which is also a sign that naturally sees the glass as half full. This is because taurus is ruled by Venus, the water element, the comforter, the nurse. Taurus sees the beauty and goodness in themselves and thus has a natural tendency to see beauty outwardly and thus has an advantage towards being positive in life. Taurus actually often times doesnt even notice when other people are sufferring, especially inwardly or emotionally. It is the sign of ones inherent self worth, but they must remember that not everyone else has come from as happy and as nourishing of a background as they may have come from, and this is where the negative stereotypes of a taurus come in, such as being selfish and stubborn. They must learn to give to others as selflessly as the cow gives her milk.
Gemini is the first dual sign we come to, and all the dual signs are a mix of positive and negative, so they likely wont fit into these stereotyped boxes as easily. But as Gemini is the positive, action oriented sign of Mercury, these types can typically be a bit too clever, and get themselves in to trouble in these ways, when they really should be more careful and focus on doing just what they really care about, and not a million other things. In a sense this can be similar to being “excessively positive”, in that the gemini thinks it is winning the game of life but often this is just an idea in their mind, and is not the reality.
Summer: Summer officially begins at the moment that the sign of Cancer begins. Cancer is the sign of the emotions, and the moon, which relates to how we feel, and our feminine emotional nature. Cancer is related to the 6th chakra or the spiritual eye center (ajna), in the pituitary gland between the eyebrows. Cancer is often portrayed as a very moody and fickle sign, as the moon is always changing and adapting…this is just what the researchers found.
Leo is the next sign of summer, which is all about maintaining the kingdom. Leo is not a fun sign like many people think, it is a sign of doing ones dharma and protecting the kingdom, and these people are always striving to maintain a consistency or a high ideal in life. Ideals are great to have but are rarely achievable 24/7 on earth at least, and the Leo must face this and contend with this as best he can. Not every Leo will be able to handle it well. Depending on the other planetary placements these people can be very hot headed, get angered easily, and can just blow up on people because they have the audacity, the sense of entitlement as they feel like the Sun, the king. This probably counts as mood swings.
Virgo, like Gemini is a dual sign, and so is not as one sided, and these people arent as likely as Cancer to have mood swings. Virgo seems to embody more of the autumn qualities that were mentioned. But Virgo is the sign of a young girl, and is said to rule temper tantrums, like how young girls and boys can be. Virgo has a hard time accepting the realities of good and evil in life, and can be frustrated easily.
Autumn: Autumn begins the moment that Libra starts, the fall equinox. Libra is the sign where the sun falls, but where Saturn gets exalted. Saturn is the planet that fights off depression, and helps us deal with the harshness of life. Thus there is an obvious natural correlation to this time of year, and how people fight depression. Also this is opposite of springtime, where everything is turning within or dying, and so we can see how this logically would create a temperament that is opposite of the overly optimistic spring baby. This is a baby that is likely going to be ready to turn within or to harden itself off from the outer situations more readily. Libra is a sign that when strong enables detachment and even-mindedness, which helps fight depression.
Scorpio is a brahmin sign ruled by mars, and is all about the spiritual battle, and the inner fight to realize God. This sign is well known to make one a master of their demons or a slave to them, but we can naturally see that these people will deal with darkness and depression from day one, and so this makes sense that they may be able to deal with it better than another group.
Sagittarius is another dual sign, and is therefore mixed. It is ruled by jupiter and is stereotypically considered to be too optimistic. This does not fit as well with the research, but as I mentioned, none of the dual signs should be expected to fit into these broad generalizations, as that would contradict astrology. Also these signs are right before the changeover of a season, and so they naturally will have qualities of both and not be as one-sided.
Winter: Winter begins at the moment the sun enters capricorn and begins moving north. Capricorn gets generalized into the researchers category so easily. It is the sign of enduring, and if this sign is strong it can make one stoic. These types of people wont complain, and can endure much suffering, and just keep going. They are practical, and tend to look out for the dangerous things before they occur and thus avoid them. They are grounded and cautious. They are ruled by Saturn, the servant of the zodiac, so they are “down to earth” in this sense and generally do not act like pretentious kings or queens (unless they have other sun and moon things going on) who will get upset when things dont go their way. Capricorn is used to things not going its way since it was born in freezing winter time when everything is dead or hibernating, and limited food was available….It had to wait around for spring to show up. Naturally these people are more grounded and dont expect things to come to them immediately in life, making them less likely to have an irritable or demanding personality.
Aquarius is the next sign of winter, and though it is a bit more airy and not as grounded, it is still ruled by Saturn and so Aquarians are usually more down to earth and agreeable people to interact with as well, when compared to the other signs. Aquarius is the sign of groups and society, so innately they see the value of the individual in society and are more into seeing everyone equally or as a group. This may have to do with why they would not have as much of an irritable personality as someone opposite, such as a Leo, who will naturally be more self-involved. However, Aquarius and Capricorn can also give depression when not strong enough, and I imagine that this group was the group that suffered the most depression when analyzed by the researchers.
Finally we come to Pisces, the last dual sign, and naturally not as clear cut as the others. As the dual signs are mixed, we can see a mixture of characteristics in the pisces. They are usually agreeable people to get along with, and are not usually irritable, so they fit some of the winter-born concepts…yet they also somewhat fit with the spring concept of being overly optimistic, as the ruling planet of pisces is the planet of optimism, Jupiter. This contradictory factor actually makes the most sense for this sign, because pisces is the last sign and thus has some of the qualities of all the previous signs. In western astrology they say that pisces can embrace contradictory ideas most seamlessly, and this matches with what I have seen before.
In conclusion, I notice that the four cardinal signs, which set the seasons, are the signs which most strongly exhibit these personality traits discovered in Hungary. This fits as the other signs occur at times that are more in the middle or end of a season and the beginning of a new one, and likely are more mixed. The cardinal signs exhibit these qualities the most. The fixed signs carry the traits a bit less, and the dual signs carry them the least, and do not fit as easily into the seasonal stereotypes, and this matches jyotish perfectly as these are the most mixed signs in the zodiac.