Zodiac Signs Dates: The 12 Signs and the Tarot Behind Each
Every birthday falls under one of twelve signs, and each sign owns a precise stretch of the year. Here are the exact zodiac signs dates, what each sign carries, and the tarot card the tradition pairs with every one of them.
The zodiac divides the year into twelve signs, each defined by the position of the sun at the moment of your birth. The dates are precise: the sun enters a new sign roughly every thirty days, and the sign it occupied when you were born is your sun sign, the one people mean when they ask what sign you are. Knowing the exact dates matters, because a single day can place you on one side of a boundary or the other, and the two portraits read very differently.
Here is the full chart. Aries runs March 21 to April 19, Taurus April 20 to May 20, Gemini May 21 to June 20, Cancer June 21 to July 22, Leo July 23 to August 22, Virgo August 23 to September 22, Libra September 23 to October 22, Scorpio October 23 to November 21, Sagittarius November 22 to December 21, Capricorn December 22 to January 19, Aquarius January 20 to February 18, and Pisces February 19 to March 20.
The boundaries move slightly from year to year. The sun does not change signs at the same hour every season: equinoxes and solstices drift by several hours annually, and leap years fold that drift back on itself. If you were born on a boundary day, the popular chart cannot decide for you; only a birth chart drawn from your exact time and place of birth can say which side of the line the sun stood on. Born anywhere deeper inside a window, your sun sign is beyond doubt.
The twelve signs sort into four elements, three signs each. Fire signs, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, run on instinct and momentum. Earth signs, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, build, tend and endure. Air signs, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, live through thought and connection. Water signs, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, feel first and understand through feeling. Crossed with the three modalities, cardinal, fixed and mutable, the elements give each sign its particular signature.
What sets this guide apart is the layer underneath. The tarot tradition pairs each sign with a major arcana that carries its energy: the Emperor for Aries, the Hierophant for Taurus, the Lovers for Gemini, the Chariot for Cancer, Strength for Leo, the Hermit for Virgo, Justice for Libra, Death for Scorpio, Temperance for Sagittarius, the Devil for Capricorn, the Star for Aquarius and the Moon for Pisces. The card gives the sign a face and a story: where astrology names your temperament, the arcana shows you how to carry it.
Each sign below has its own page: the exact dates, the full portrait, the way the sign loves, the questions it gains most from asking, and the tarot card that watches over it. Start with your own sign, then read the sign of the person on your mind; the pair of portraits often explains more than either one alone.
And when you want more than a portrait, you can ask the universe your own question. A quantum generator draws your ten cards at the exact second you ask, and a personal reading is written for the situation you are living now, with your sign, your life path and your personal year woven in. The sign tells you what you carry; the reading tells you what to do with it.
Frequently asked questions
What are the dates of the 12 zodiac signs?
Aries March 21 to April 19, Taurus April 20 to May 20, Gemini May 21 to June 20, Cancer June 21 to July 22, Leo July 23 to August 22, Virgo August 23 to September 22, Libra September 23 to October 22, Scorpio October 23 to November 21, Sagittarius November 22 to December 21, Capricorn December 22 to January 19, Aquarius January 20 to February 18, Pisces February 19 to March 20.
Why do zodiac sign dates change slightly from year to year?
Because the sun does not enter each sign at the same hour every year. Equinoxes and solstices drift by several hours annually, and leap years pull the calendar back into line. The shift only ever affects the boundary days, so it matters if you were born on the first or last day of a sign's window.
What sign am I if I was born on a cusp?
You have exactly one sun sign. At the moment you were born the sun occupied a single sign, never two, so nobody is a blend of both. To find out which side of the boundary you fall on, you need a birth chart based on your precise time and place of birth, which fixes the sun's position to the degree.
What does the tarot have to do with zodiac signs?
The tarot tradition pairs each sign with a major arcana that embodies its energy, the Emperor for Aries, the Hierophant for Taurus, the Lovers for Gemini, and so on through the Moon for Pisces. Where astrology names your temperament, the card shows you how to carry it, which is how every sign page here reads the two together.
Which zodiac signs belong to each element?
Fire holds Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, the signs of instinct and momentum. Earth holds Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, the builders. Air holds Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, the signs of thought and connection. Water holds Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, the signs that feel first and understand through feeling.