Sidereal sign calculator: your signs, counted two ways
Enter your birth date and see your Sun, Moon and rising sign counted two ways: by the stars, as Vedic astrology counts them, and by the seasons, as Western horoscopes do. For about four people in five, the Sun moves back one sign. Both answers are right, and the page shows why.
Date of birth. Add the time and place for your rising sign, and to be sure of your Moon.
Why there are two zodiacs
Western astrology counts the signs from the seasons: Aries begins at the spring equinox, every year, wherever the stars happen to be. Vedic astrology counts them from the stars themselves. That is what sidereal means: by the stars.
About 1,700 years ago the two counts lined up. Since then the equinox has slipped backwards against the stars, about one degree every 72 years. Today the two zodiacs sit about 24 degrees apart, and the gap keeps growing slowly.
Why most people move back one sign
A sign is 30 degrees wide, and the gap is about 24. So if your Sun sits in the first 24 degrees of its Western sign, counted by the stars it falls in the sign before. That is about four people in five.
If your Sun sits in the last few degrees of its sign, both zodiacs agree. The same goes for your Moon, your rising sign and every other planet: each one moves back a sign or stays, depending on how far into its sign it sits.
Which one is right?
Both measure correctly; they start from different places. The seasons count follows the year: spring, summer, autumn, winter. The stars count follows the sky you would see. Vedic astrology has always used the stars, and every reading on this site does too.
Sidereal astrologers don’t all start the count at exactly the same star, so other sidereal sites can be a degree or so apart from us. We use the Lahiri starting point, the one India’s official calendar uses.
And the 13th sign?
Every few years a story says the signs have changed and there is a 13th, Ophiuchus. The Sun does pass in front of the constellation Ophiuchus, from about 29 November to 17 December. But both zodiacs use twelve equal signs of 30 degrees, not the constellations, which come in uneven sizes. So there is no 13th sign in either one. What did change is the gap between the two counts, and this calculator shows yours.
The new zodiac signs and this year’s dates, counted three ways
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Open the sample readingWhat is my real zodiac sign?
You have two, and both are real. By the seasons, the Western way, it is the sign your horoscope uses. By the stars, the sidereal or Vedic way, it is usually the sign before. Enter your birth date above to see both.
Is sidereal the same as Vedic?
Vedic astrology is the main sidereal tradition: it counts the signs by the stars. A smaller group of Western astrologers also use a sidereal zodiac, with a slightly different starting point, so their signs can differ from ours by a degree or so.
Did my zodiac sign change?
Not in the Western zodiac: it still starts at the spring equinox, as it always has. What changed is the sky behind it. Counted by the stars, your Sun is probably one sign earlier, because the two counts have drifted about 24 degrees apart.
Why is my Moon sign different here?
For the same reason as the Sun: the Moon is counted from the stars, so it usually moves back one sign. The Moon also changes sign every two to three days, so if you were born on a change-over day, add your birth time.
Do I need my birth time?
Not for the Sun. For the rising sign, yes: it changes about every two hours. The time also settles your Moon if it changed sign the day you were born.
Which sign should I read, then?
Western horoscopes are written for the seasons count, so read your Western sign there. Vedic readings, including ours, are written for the stars count. Your report has the lines for your Moon sign by the stars: check them against your own life and see which fits.
Why do you lead with the Moon, not the Sun?
Vedic astrologers tend to read your Moon sign and your rising sign first, and the Sun after them. The free reading goes further: it finds which planet has the biggest say in your question.
Your sign by the stars is the start.
The free reading reads your whole chart the Vedic way, finds the planet with the biggest say in your question, and ends in one small weekly ritual.
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