Larisa
What is a zodiac sign?
In Western tropical astrology, a zodiac sign is one of twelve equal 30-degree divisions of the ecliptic, the Sun’s apparent yearly path across the sky. The cycle begins with Aries at the March equinox. Your sun sign is the division the Sun occupied when you were born: that is what someone means by “I’m a Leo”.
Each sign describes a temperament, a need and a way of looking at the world. In a birth chart, that same sign also describes the placement of your Moon, Venus or rising sign, giving its qualities a different role in the reading.
Elements and modalities
Every sign combines an element with a modality, and that pair explains much of its character. The element describes what you are after; the modality describes how you move.
| Sign | Element | Modality | Tarot card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | Fire | Cardinal | The Emperor |
| Taurus | Earth | Fixed | The Hierophant |
| Gemini | Air | Mutable | The Lovers |
| Cancer | Water | Cardinal | The Chariot |
| Leo | Fire | Fixed | Strength |
| Virgo | Earth | Mutable | The Hermit |
| Libra | Air | Cardinal | Justice |
| Scorpio | Water | Fixed | Death |
| Sagittarius | Fire | Mutable | Temperance |
| Capricorn | Earth | Cardinal | The Devil |
| Aquarius | Air | Fixed | The Star |
| Pisces | Water | Mutable | The Moon |
In the Northern Hemisphere’s seasonal cycle, cardinal signs begin each season and initiate; fixed signs occupy its middle and sustain; mutable signs end it, adapt and make the transition into the next season. The tarot correspondences come from the Golden Dawn tradition that shaped the Rider–Waite–Smith deck.
From sun sign to birth chart
Your sun sign is a beginning, not the whole story. A birth chart shows which sign and which house every planet occupied at the moment you were born. The Moon describes your emotional needs, the rising sign how you come across to others, Venus how you love. That is why two people with the same sun sign can be so different.
Larisa is a karmic and esoteric astrologer who reads birth charts. When she reads tarot, she brings the cards’ planetary and zodiac links into the reading too; she reads the Magician together with Mercury, for example.
Frequently asked questions
What is my zodiac sign?
Your sign is the one the Sun was in on the day you were born. Aries begins around 21 March and Pisces ends around 20 March, and the changeover days can shift by a day from year to year. If your birthday falls on the border between two signs, a birth chart calculated with your time of birth gives the exact answer. Each sign’s page lists its dates.
What are rising and moon signs?
Your rising sign is the sign on the eastern horizon at the moment you were born, and it describes how you come across and how you step into life. Your moon sign is the sign the Moon was in at that moment, and it shows your emotional needs. To find both you need your date, time and place of birth; the details are in sun, moon and rising signs.
Which signs are compatible?
As a rule of thumb, signs of the same element understand each other easily, as do fire with air and earth with water. But real compatibility is read not from sun signs but from comparing two whole birth charts, which is called synastry: one person’s Moon meeting the other’s Venus says far more than the signs. More in synastry and zodiac compatibility.
What do the four elements mean?
Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) stands for energy, courage and enthusiasm; earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) for patience, effort and tangible results; air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) for ideas, communication and connection; water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) for feeling, intuition and depth. Whichever element dominates your chart describes the style you rely on most when you respond to life’s demands and opportunities.
Which tarot card matches my sign?
In the Golden Dawn tradition each sign is paired with a Major Arcana card: Aries with the Emperor, Scorpio with Death, Pisces with the Moon, and so on. Each sign’s three decans, or ten-degree divisions, correspond to specific Minor Arcana cards numbered Two through Ten. The full table is above, and the logic behind the pairings is in tarot and astrology correspondences.
Why is a birth chart more than your sun sign?
Because your sun sign gives the position of only one body, while a birth chart shows ten planets, twelve houses and the angles between them all at once. The Sun describes who you want to be; the Moon what you need; Saturn where you are tested. To see how the moving sky interacts with your chart, read astrology transits explained.