Discover the Real Horoscope Dates

To start, here's a quick lesson on how your Star Sign is actually determined. As you learn in School, the planets
in our solar system orbit the Sun, and your Star Sign is where the Earth and Sun are when you are born. It's
bit confusing to explain in words, so the following image shows where the Sun and the Inner Planets (Mercury,
Venus, Earth, and Mars) were on January 3rd, 1980.

If you look at the picture below, you will see blue lines radiating from Earth, dividing the space around it into
12 equal segments. Each segment is ruled by a Zodiac sign. The yellow circle represents the Sun, and on this
date it is in the space designated for Capricorn... so if your birthday was January 3rd, 1989 your Star Sign
would be Capricorn. A person's Star Sign is the Zodiac Sign containing the Sun on the day they were born.

To understand how the Horoscope Dates change, let's fast forward five months to June 3, 1980. In the following
picture, all the planets have continued on their orbit around the Sun, and now, because Earth has moved, the
12 Zodiac segements (the blue lines) have moved as well - and the Sun is in the segment ruled by Gemini. If you
were born on this day, your Star Sign would be Gemini.

When I was learning Astrology, this illustration really helped me understand what a Star Sign means.
Now, there's one important caveat. If you were born when the Sun was in the middle of a Zodiac's sector,
where and when you are born doesn't really matter in terms of your Star Sign. But if your Birthday is close to
the day the Sun moves from one sign to another, it does...

What is a cusp, and why does it matter?

The days around the moment the Sun moves from one Zodiac sign to another are called the cusp, and people
born at the cusp of two Star Signs generally have attributes from both signs. This is where most Magazines and
News Papers get Horoscopes wrong. If you are born near the cusp, to get your exact Star sign you need to plug
in the time and location of your birth into an Ephemeris. This is because time zones, your location and many
other factors will determine what sign the Sun was actually in.
But remember, like I mentioned before (and this belief is not just my opinion, it's shared by many published
astrologers dating back hundreds of years), if you are born on the day the Sun moves from one sign to another,
you should consider yourself of two Star signs. My Star Sign calculator below will let you know if you are at a
cusp, or if you have one whole sign.
Evidence

On the rest of this page I'll show some of the discrepancies in various Horoscope Date tables, and provide
evidence to support my hypothesis that the only way to really know what star sign you are is to calculate it. If
you just want to know what Star Sign you are, you might want to just use the calculator above... but if you're
curious to learn more, keep reading!

The following image is my favorite example that shows the sky split into 30 degree arcs, radiating from earth.
It's from a book by Comte C. de Saint-Germain published in 1901 called Practical Astrology: A Simple Method
of Casting Horoscopes. It shows an ancient tool, with the planets in each Zodiac sign radiating from Earth in 30
degree arcs. Each 30 degree arc is split into 3 Decans (or Decanates). These are same degrees used in my
Calculator (although I have rotated mine by 180 degrees).

Instead of using an antique tool to determine where the planets are relative to Earth, I use the VSOP87
planetary theory by Bretagnon and Francou. It's too complicated to get into here, but if you would like to learn
more this Wikipedia page is a good place to start.

Of course, we now know that the planets do not orbit Earth, but this is reason why the different Zodiac signs
are Geocentric (based on Earth's position).

Inconsistencies with the Horoscope Dates

Now that we know how one's sign is calculated, the impossibility of a perfectly accurate table of dates becomes
clear. If someone was born at 5:00 AM on March 21st in New Zealand, they would be born at 12:00 Noon on
March 20th in New York. Are they Aries or Pisces? To know exactly, you have to use a Star Sign calculator. In
the following charts I've summarized data from 8 different publications, each referenced below. You should
notice some discrepancies in the dates:

Aries Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 March 21 - April 19

Webber2 March 21 - April 19

Raphael3 March 21 - April 21

Jensen4 March 21 - April 20

Saint-Germain5 March 21 - April 19

Leroy6 March 21 - April 18

Seva7 March 21 - April 19

Taurus Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 April 20 - May 20

Webber2 April 19 - May 20

Raphael3 April 21 - May 22

Jensen4 April 20 - May 21

Saint-Germain5 April 20 - May 19

Leroy6 April 19 - May 19

Seva7 April 19 - May 20

Gemini Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 May 21 - June 21

Webber2 May 20 - June 21

Raphael3 May 22 - June 22

Jensen4 May 21 - June 22

Saint-Germain5 May 20 - June 18

Leroy6 May 20 - June 20

Seva7 May 20 - June 21

Cancer Horoscope Dates

 Author Dates

Leo1 June 21 - July 22

Webber2 June 21 - July 22

Raphael3 June 22 - July 24

Jensen4 June 22 - July 23

Saint-Germain5 June 19 - July 23

Leroy6 June 21 - July 21

Seva7 June 21 - July 22

Leo Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 July 22 - August 23

Webber2 July 22 - August 22

Raphael3 July 24 - August 24

Jensen4 July 23 - August 23

Saint-Germain5 July 24 - August 22

Leroy6 July 22 - August 21

Seva7 July 22 - August 22

Virgo Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 August 23 - September 23

Webber2 August 22 - September 23

Raphael3 August 24 - September 24

Jensen4 August 23 - September 23

Saint-Germain5 August 23 - September 21

Leroy6 August 22 - September 22

Seva7 August 22 - September 23

Libra Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 September 23 - October 23

Webber2 September 23 - October 23

Raphael3 September 24 - October 24

Jensen4 September 23 - October 23

Saint-Germain5 September 22 - October 21

Leroy6 September 23 - October 22

Seva7 September 23 - October 23

Scorpio Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 October 23 - November 22

Webber2 October 23 - November 22

Raphael3 October 24 - November 23

Jensen4 October 23 - November 22

Saint-Germain5 October 22 - November 20

Leroy6 October 23 - November 21

Seva7 October 23 - November 22

Sagittarius Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 November 20 - December 21

Webber2 November 22 - December 21

Raphael3 November 23 - December 23

Jensen4 November 22 - December 22

Saint-Germain5 November 21 - December 20

Leroy6 November 22 - December 20

Seva7 November 22 - December 21

 Capricorn Horoscope Dates
Author Dates

Leo1 December 21 - January 20

Webber2 December 21 - January 20

Raphael3 December 23 - January 21

Jensen4 December 22 - January 20

Saint-Germain5 December 21 - January 19

Leroy6 December 21 - January 19

Seva7 December 21 - January 20

Aquariuss Horoscope Dates

Author Dates

Leo1 January 20 - February 19

Webber2 January 20 - February 19

Raphael3 January 21 - February 19

Jensen4 January 20 - February 19

Saint-Germain5 January 20 - February 18

Leroy6 January 20 - February 18

Seva7 January 20 - February 19

 Pisces Horoscope Dates
Author Dates

Leo1 February 19 - March 21

Webber2 February 19 - March 21

Raphael3 February 19 - March 21

Jensen4 February 19 - March 21

Saint-Germain5 February 19 - March 20

Leroy6 February 19 - March 20

Seva7 February 19 - March 21

References
1) Leo, Alan. Astrology for All. London. 1899.

2) Webber, Carl. Astrology in a Nutshell. Boston, Mass. 1902.

3) Raphael, Albert. Earthology. London & New York. 1901.

4) Jensen, Magnus. Everybody's Astrology. Camino, California. 1922.

5) Saint-Germain, Comte. Practical Astrology. Chicago. 1901.
6) Leroy, Jean Francis. Socail Science in the Light of the Solar System. San
Jose, California. 1913.

7) Seva, Bhakti. The Hindu Book of Astrology. New York. 1902.

 Decan

The zodiacal signs' decans

Threefold division of each sign of the zodiac into 10 degree segments, sometimes called decanates or faces. The
first decan is from 0-9 degrees 59 minutes, the second 10-19 degrees 59 minutes and the third from 20-29
degrees 59 minutes.

There are different methods for determining the decan ruler but in the system commonly used in modern
astrology the first decan of any sign is the ruler of the whole sign. The ruler of the second decan is the ruler of
the next sign in the same element, and the third decan rules the sign after that in the same element. This gives
rise to a systematic pattern of decan rulers.

Examples:

First decan of Aries - ruler: Mars/ Aries

Second decan of Aries -
Third decan of Aries -
First decan of Taurus -
Second decan of Taurus -
Third decan of Taurus -
First decan of Sagittarius -
Second decan of Sagittarius
-
Third decan of Sagittarius -
ruler: Sun/ Leo
ruler: Jupiter/ Sagittarius
ruler: Venus/ Taurus
ruler: Mercury/ Virgo
ruler: Saturn/ Capricorn
ruler: Jupiter/ Sagittarius
ruler: Mars/ Aries
ruler: Sun/ Leo

The decans give a bit more flavour or character to the zodiac signs. For example, a planet in the second decan
of Sagittarius takes on a little of the assertive quality of Aries.

In traditional and Horary Astrology, the decans are often called "faces" and each 10-degree segment of a sign
has a different planetary ruler. The faces are considered minor essential dignities and are the least influential.
The following scheme is according to the seventeenth century horary astrologer William Lilly:
 SIGN RULER PLANET
1 DECAN 2 DECAN 3 DECAN
Aries:  Mars Sun Venus
Taurus:  Mercury  Moon  Saturn
Gemini:  Jupiter Mars Sun
Cancer:  Venus Mercury Moon
Leo:  Saturn Jupiter Mars
Virgo:  Sun Venus Mercury
Libra:  Moon Saturn Jupiter
Scorpio:  Mars Sun Venus
Sagittarius:  Mercury Moon Saturn
Capricorn:  Jupiter Mars Sun
Aquarius:  Venus Mercury Moon
Pisces:  Saturn Jupiter Mars

The decan system originated in ancient Egypt, as part of their calendar system. Initially the decans were stars
that could be observed to rise at 10-day intervals. The Egyptian calendar had 360 days marked by decan stars
rising at 10-day intervals, plus five inter-calculated days. Ancient Hellenistic astrologers eventually dropped
the Fixed Star association, and simply divided each 30-degree Zodiac Sign into three equal segments.