Tropical vs Sidereal Astrology: The Difference
One site says Virgo, another says Leo. What causes the 24-degree split between the two zodiacs, and which system your birth chart is actually using.
Reference
The twelve zodiac signs
Twelve signs, each one element and one modality, and no two sharing both. Here is what each is associated with, when the Sun is in it, and what it means to have your Moon, rising or Venus there instead.
fireAries, Leo, Sagittarius
Acts first and thinks about it after. Warm, direct, and impatient with anything slow.
earthTaurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Deals in what can be touched, counted and relied on. Steady, and slow to be impressed.
airGemini, Libra, Aquarius
Works through ideas and other people. Sociable, articulate, and inclined to think its way around a feeling.
- Gemini21 May to 20 JuneCurious about everything, committed to not muchmutable · ruled by Mercury
- Libra23 September to 22 OctoberWeighs everything, including whether to decidecardinal · ruled by Venus
- Aquarius20 January to 18 FebruarySociable, and not doing it your wayfixed · ruled by Uranus, and Saturn traditionally
waterCancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Moves through feeling and attachment. Perceptive, guarded, and rarely willing to be watched while working something out.
- Cancer21 June to 22 JulyProtective, and a great deal tougher than it lookscardinal · ruled by the Moon
- Scorpio23 October to 21 NovemberAll or nothing, and rarely saying whichfixed · ruled by Pluto, and Mars traditionally
- Pisces19 February to 20 MarchPermeable, and not always sure where it endsmutable · ruled by Neptune, and Jupiter traditionally
The three modalities
Cutting the wheel the other way. Each element contains one sign of each modality, so no two signs share both, and that pairing is most of what separates one sign from the other two of its element.
- cardinalAries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
- Starts things. The first sign of each season, associated with initiative and with an impatience for the follow-through.
- fixedTaurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
- Holds things. The middle of each season, associated with persistence and with a real difficulty changing course.
- mutableGemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces
- Adapts to things. The end of each season, associated with flexibility and with a tendency to scatter.
Cutting each sign into three
Thirty degrees divides into three tens, the decans, and the tradition reads an early Aries differently from a late one. Thirty-six of them, each with its own ruler and its own tarot card.
The 36 decans →You have more than one
A star sign is where the Sun was. Your Moon, rising, Mercury, Venus and Mars are each in a sign too, and they are usually not the same one. That is why a Sun sign so often reads as only half right.
Reading the signs
Why two zodiacs disagree about your sign, and how your Sun, Moon and Rising signs work together.
Your Big Three: Sun, Moon and Rising Explained
Your Sun, Moon and Rising signs do most of the work in a birth chart. What each one governs, why they contradict each other, and how to read all three.
What Is a Rising Sign? Your Ascendant Explained
Your rising sign is the sign climbing over the horizon when you were born. It shapes how people read you, and it sets every house in your chart.