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Western zodiac dates; if you were born on a boundary day, the exact sign depends on the year and time of birth. For entertainment only.
What The Star Sign Calculator Works Out
- Your star sign: the zodiac sign the Sun was in on your birthday under the Western (tropical) calendar used by UK horoscopes. Aries opens the cycle at the spring equinox (21 March) and Pisces closes it. Boundary dates shift by a day between years because the Sun does not cross sign boundaries at midnight on a fixed date, so people born on a "cusp" may see different signs in different tables.
- Element: the twelve signs divide into four elements of three signs each: fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces).
- Ruling planet: the planet traditionally linked with the sign. The Sun and Moon rule Leo and Cancer; Mercury and Venus each rule two signs; Pluto keeps Scorpio despite its astronomical demotion.
- Zodiac system (advanced): switches to the sidereal dates used in Vedic (Indian) astrology, which track the actual constellations. Precession has moved the constellations about 24 days since the Western zodiac was fixed two thousand years ago, so most people are one sign earlier in the sidereal system.
- Modality (advanced): the second grouping astrologers use. Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) open each season, fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) sit in the middle and mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) close it. Every sign is a unique element-modality pair.
- Opposite sign (advanced): the sign directly across the wheel, six months away. Opposites share a modality but not an element, and astrology treats them as the classic "attraction of opposites" pairing.
- Sign in the other system (advanced): whichever system you are not using, so you can see both answers side by side. Astronomers also track a thirteenth constellation, Ophiuchus, on the Sun's path, which neither popular system uses.
- Partner compatibility (advanced): enter a second birthday and the calculator compares elements. Same element is read as natural harmony, fire with air and earth with water as complementary, and the remaining pairs as a clash of styles. Astrology is entertainment rather than science, but as a cultural shorthand the twelve signs have proved remarkably durable.
- Show all twelve signs (advanced): a table of every sign with its Western and Vedic dates, element, modality and ruling planet, with yours highlighted.