The Semiotics of the Zodiac

Name: The Semiotics of the Zodiac
Price: 190 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781350522244

Signs of Destiny

Professor Marcel Danesi (University of Toronto, Canada)

$190

Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
19 March 2026

linguistics; Semiotics & semiology; Cultural studies; Star signs & horoscopes

Series: Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics

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.

By: Professor Marcel Danesi (University of Toronto Canada)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781350522244
ISBN 10: 1350522244
Series: Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 19 March 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Marcel Danesi is Professor Emeritus of Semiotics and Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Reviews for The Semiotics of the Zodiac: Signs of Destiny

The fact that the Zodiac still functions as a meaning-making system, despite its lack of scientific validity, is a clear testimony to its semiotic importance. Prof. Danesi presents the semiotics of the Zodiac in a clear, scholarly, and accessible style. A must-read for scholars and students of semiotics. * Yair Neuman, Head, The Functor Lab, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel *