Leo Silver and 18ct Gold pendant. Astrology, the study of the stars and their relative positions at the time of a given event, in the belief that this would add meaning and even explanation to whatever event, began in the fertile Mesopotamian region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers seven thousand years ago. Those early watchers of the night sky discerned twelve major star groupings, constellations, and gave them the names of animals.
For thousands of years astrology was used solely for purposes of state; some time in the last couple hundred years b.c.e., in Ptolomaic Egypt, it began its use in personal devination, especially in the mapping of natal charts based on the positioning of the stars at the time of birth.
The Leo constellation is considered distinctive because of the brightness of its stars and because they outline the shape of a crouching lion. The inverted question mark of the ancient Mesopotamian Leo symbol is said to derive from the flow of form from the mane through the back of the crouching lion.