The 12 Signs

The ecliptic is divided into twelve 30° sections: the twelve signs. Your Sun sign comes from your birthday, but the Moon, the rising sign and the other planets each fall in a sign too, so most charts have several signs speaking at once.

There are two keys to understanding the signs. The element describes the texture of the energy (Fire, Earth, Air, Water); the modality describes how it starts, sustains and changes (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable). The signs below are grouped by element. The dates are roughly when the Sun passes through each sign; if you were born on a cusp day, that year's ephemeris decides.