Zodiac signs
The twelve zodiac signs
The Western zodiac divides the Sun's path into twelve parts of thirty degrees each. Every part has a name and a symbol, and if you were born while the Sun was in it, that is your sun sign.
This page puts the twelve signs side by side, with their dates, element and ruler. For each sign you can read in a few lines what it stands for and where its symbol comes from, with a link to today's, this week's and this month's horoscope.
Dates, element and ruler
| Sign | Dates | Element | Quality | Ruler |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | 20 Mar – 20 Apr | Fire | Cardinal | Mars |
| Taurus | 20 Apr – 21 May | Earth | Fixed | Venus |
| Gemini | 21 May – 21 Jun | Air | Mutable | Mercury |
| Cancer | 21 Jun – 22 Jul | Water | Cardinal | Moon |
| Leo | 22 Jul – 23 Aug | Fire | Fixed | Sun |
| Virgo | 23 Aug – 23 Sept | Earth | Mutable | Mercury |
| Libra | 23 Sept – 23 Oct | Air | Cardinal | Venus |
| Scorpio | 23 Oct – 22 Nov | Water | Fixed | Mars (modern: Pluto) |
| Sagittarius | 22 Nov – 21 Dec | Fire | Mutable | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | 21 Dec – 20 Jan | Earth | Cardinal | Saturn |
| Aquarius | 20 Jan – 18 Feb | Air | Fixed | Saturn (modern: Uranus) |
| Pisces | 18 Feb – 20 Mar | Water | Mutable | Jupiter (modern: Neptune) |
The dates are calculated for 2026 and shift by a day from year to year, because the Sun does not change sign at the same moment every year. If you were born on a cusp, the Sun sign calculator gives your sign. Sun sign calculator
The four elements
- In tradition, fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) stands for energy, enthusiasm and action.
- Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) stands for the practical, the tangible and the patience to build something.
- Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) stands for thinking, language and the connection between people.
- Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) stands for feeling, intuition and what happens beneath the surface.
The signs one by one
Aries
20 Mar – 20 Apr
In Western tradition Aries stands for a fresh start: the first sign of the zodiac is about initiative, courage and direct action. Its symbol is the ram; in Greek myth it is the ram with the golden fleece, which Jason and the Argonauts fetched from Colchis.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeTaurus
20 Apr – 21 May
Taurus stands for steadiness, sensory pleasure and holding on to what can be relied on. Its symbol is the bull; in Greek myth Zeus took the shape of a white bull to carry Europa across the sea.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeGemini
21 May – 21 Jun
Gemini stands for curiosity, language and the need to compare and connect. Its symbol is a pair of brothers: in Greek myth Castor and Pollux, one of whom was mortal and the other immortal.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeCancer
21 Jun – 22 Jul
Cancer stands for feeling, care and the need for a safe home base. Its symbol is the crab; in Greek myth Hera sent it against Heracles during his fight with the Hydra, and Heracles crushed it.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeLeo
22 Jul – 23 Aug
Leo stands for self-confidence, warmth and the wish to create something and be seen. Its symbol is the lion; in Greek myth it is the Nemean lion, the first monster Heracles defeated.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeVirgo
23 Aug – 23 Sept
Virgo stands for care, discernment and the will to make something useful. Its symbol is a young woman holding an ear of grain, like the bright star Spica ("ear of grain") in this constellation; in antiquity she was linked with Demeter and Astraea, among others.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeLibra
23 Sept – 23 Oct
Libra stands for balance, tuning in to others and the search for a fair measure. Its symbol is the scales; the Greeks still saw the claws of Scorpio in these stars, and only the Romans made them a constellation of their own.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeScorpio (the Sun is in this sign now)
23 Oct – 22 Nov
Scorpio stands for intensity, perseverance and the urge to look beneath the surface. Its symbol is the scorpion; in a well-known version of the Greek myth it killed the hunter Orion, after which both were placed in the sky.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeSagittarius
22 Nov – 21 Dec
Sagittarius stands for optimism, the search for meaning and the urge to look beyond the horizon. Its symbol is an archer who is half horse, a centaur, often linked with the wise Chiron.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeCapricorn
21 Dec – 20 Jan
Capricorn stands for ambition, discipline and the patience to reach a goal step by step. Its symbol is a goat with a fish's tail, a sea-goat that goes back to a Babylonian figure, the goat-fish.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopeAquarius
20 Jan – 18 Feb
Aquarius stands for independence, ideas and a view of the community. Its symbol is a figure pouring water; the Greeks often saw Ganymede in it, the cupbearer of the gods, but the image is older and already appears in Mesopotamia.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscopePisces
18 Feb – 20 Mar
Pisces stands for empathy, imagination and the blurring of boundaries. Its symbol is two fish tied together; in Greek myth they are Aphrodite and her son Eros, who turned into fish to escape the monster Typhon.
Today's horoscopeWeekly horoscopeMonthly horoscope
Constellation or sign?
In Western astrology a sign is a thirty-degree part of the Sun's path, counted from the spring equinox. The constellations in the sky differ in size and now lie about 24 degrees further along, because the Earth's axis slowly turns (precession). The names of the signs and the constellations stayed the same, their place in the sky did not.
There are also constellations that appear in no zodiac. Read about them under dark constellations and obsolete constellations.