Zodiac reference
The twelve zodiac signs
The zodiac is a twelve-part framework used to describe styles of expression. Every natal chart contains all twelve signs, even when only a few receive strong emphasis.
Signs are more than Sun-sign labels
Your Sun sign is based on the Sun’s position at birth, but the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and every other chart factor also occupy signs. A person can therefore express several sign styles in different contexts. Houses and aspects further change how a placement is experienced.
Signs at a glance
Date boundaries can shift slightly by year and time zone. Use a calculated natal chart when a birth falls near a sign change.
Aries
Mar 21–Apr 19
Traditionally direct, initiating and action-oriented.
- Element
- Fire
- Modality
- Cardinal
- Ruler
- Mars
Taurus
Apr 20–May 20
Traditionally steady, sensory and resource-conscious.
- Element
- Earth
- Modality
- Fixed
- Ruler
- Venus
Gemini
May 21–Jun 20
Traditionally curious, adaptable and communicative.
- Element
- Air
- Modality
- Mutable
- Ruler
- Mercury
Cancer
Jun 21–Jul 22
Traditionally protective, responsive and emotionally perceptive.
- Element
- Water
- Modality
- Cardinal
- Ruler
- Moon
Leo
Jul 23–Aug 22
Traditionally expressive, warm and creatively self-directed.
- Element
- Fire
- Modality
- Fixed
- Ruler
- Sun
Virgo
Aug 23–Sep 22
Traditionally observant, practical and improvement-focused.
- Element
- Earth
- Modality
- Mutable
- Ruler
- Mercury
Libra
Sep 23–Oct 22
Traditionally relational, balancing and aesthetically aware.
- Element
- Air
- Modality
- Cardinal
- Ruler
- Venus
Scorpio
Oct 23–Nov 21
Traditionally intense, private and transformation-oriented.
- Element
- Water
- Modality
- Fixed
- Ruler
- Mars / Pluto
Sagittarius
Nov 22–Dec 21
Traditionally exploratory, candid and meaning-seeking.
- Element
- Fire
- Modality
- Mutable
- Ruler
- Jupiter
Capricorn
Dec 22–Jan 19
Traditionally structured, patient and responsibility-minded.
- Element
- Earth
- Modality
- Cardinal
- Ruler
- Saturn
Aquarius
Jan 20–Feb 18
Traditionally independent, conceptual and community-aware.
- Element
- Air
- Modality
- Fixed
- Ruler
- Saturn / Uranus
Pisces
Feb 19–Mar 20
Traditionally imaginative, receptive and compassionate.
- Element
- Water
- Modality
- Mutable
- Ruler
- Jupiter / Neptune
Elements and modalities
The four elements group signs by broad orientation: Fire emphasizes inspiration and action, Earth practicality and material reality, Air ideas and exchange, and Water emotion and sensitivity. The three modalities describe movement: Cardinal signs initiate, Fixed signs sustain, and Mutable signs adapt.
These categories are interpretive shorthand, not measures of value. A balanced reading looks at the full chart and avoids reducing a person to stereotypes.