Aries
The first sign of the zodiac acts before it explains itself. Aries brings heat, nerve and a short fuse to everything it touches, and it is usually the person who gets the thing started.
Zodiac signs
The twelve zodiac signs
Each sign is a combination of an element, a mode of action and a ruling planet. Learn those three and the rest of the zodiac starts to make sense. Pick a sign for its dates, personality, love life, work style and compatibility.
The fire signs
Leo
The Sun rules this sign, and Leo warms a room without trying. Under the showmanship sits a generous heart and a fierce need to matter to somebody.
Sagittarius
Mutable fire burns best in the open air. The ninth sign wants room, a horizon and a decent argument about the meaning of life, preferably on a train to somewhere it has never been.
The earth signs
Taurus
Slow to start and very hard to stop, this is the sign of things that last. Taurus trusts what it can touch, taste and count, and it will not be hurried by anyone.
Virgo
Virgo sees what needs fixing and quietly fixes it. Under the reputation for fussiness lies a practical kindness, a sharp mind and a deep wish to be useful.
Capricorn
At twenty a Capricorn can seem middle-aged; at sixty they are often the liveliest person in the room. The tenth sign takes the long view, keeps its word and climbs steadily.
The air signs
Gemini
Two conversations at once, three books on the go and a new idea before lunch: this is the most curious sign in the zodiac. Gemini lives by talking, reading, swapping and asking.
Libra
The Scales are the only object among the zodiac’s symbols, and Libra lives up to them: a cardinal air sign that weighs every side, starts the conversation and keeps a room civil without anyone noticing.
Aquarius
A water-bearer that belongs to air, a rebel with Saturn for a ruler: this sign enjoys a contradiction. It thinks in systems, keeps its friends for life and hates being told what to feel.
The water signs
Cancer
Hard shell, soft centre and a long memory. The sign of the Crab protects what it loves with surprising force and keeps a light on for everyone it has ever taken in.
Scorpio
Fixed water is the quietest kind of strength: still on the surface and very hard to move. Scorpio feels things completely, keeps its own counsel and usually knows more about you than you meant to share.
Pisces
Last of the twelve, Pisces seems to carry a little of every sign before it. Mutable water takes the shape of whatever holds it, and this sign picks up the feeling in a room before anyone speaks.
Four elements, three modes
The signs are grouped by element. Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) acts on enthusiasm and instinct. Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) trusts what it can touch, test and build. Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) lives through ideas, talk and other people. Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) reads mood and loyalty before facts.
Each element appears once in each of the three modalities. Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) start things and open each season. Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) hold steady in the middle of a season. Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) close a season and adapt. So Aries is the cardinal fire sign, Leo the fixed one and Sagittarius the mutable one, and the difference between them is mostly the difference between starting, keeping and spreading a fire.
Every sign also has a ruling planet, the planet most at home there. The seven traditional rulers are still used everywhere; modern astrologers add Pluto for Scorpio, Uranus for Aquarius and Neptune for Pisces.
More than your Sun sign
When someone asks your sign, they mean the sign the Sun was in on your birthday. That sign is shared with everyone born in the same four weeks. The Moon changes sign every two and a half days and the Rising sign every two hours or so, which is why two people with the same Sun sign can feel so different to be around.
The free birth chart calculator shows your Sun, Moon and Rising signs together with the other planets. Each sign page here explains how that sign behaves in each of the three positions.
Your own chart
Find your big three
Enter your birth date, time and city to see your Sun, Moon and Rising signs and where the other planets fall. Free, no account, no card.