What Is a Sun Sign?

Hello everyone,

I would like the first "technical" astrological discussion to be about the basis of the astrological chart, and the source of much heated debate in regards to astrology. That topic would be the "Sun Sign."

Many of you are probably wondering - "what the heck is a Sun Sign?" Most of you have probably heard the term thrown around a time or two. Well, the Sun Sign is the astrological sign of which you classify yourself - namely, if you tell others "I'm a Gemini," then your Sun Sign is Gemini. Likewise, if you tell others "I'm a Leo," well then, you're Sun Sign is Leo. Below is a list of the astrological Sun Signs and the date to which they correspond. Do you know what your Sun Sign is?

Sun Sign Dates
Aries March 21 - April 19
Taurus April 20 - May 20
Gemini May 21 - June 21
Cancer June 22 - July 22
Leo July 23 - August 22
Virgo August 23 - September 22
Libra September 23 - October 22
Scorpio October 23 - November 21
Sagittarius November 22 - December 21
Capricorn December 22 - January 19
Aquarius January 20 - February 18
Pisces February 19 - March 20

So now that you can find your Sun Sign, you might be wondering why you act nothing like the qualities that many people have labeled for your sign. It's so common for me to meet people who say to me "I'm a Pisces, but I am nothing like people say I should be. I'm not sensitive, artistic, sympathetic, and prone to moodiness, and I certainly have no artistic or dancing skills." Well, that person has just emphasized the one issue that has undermined Western Astrology for many of us believers: Sun Sign astrology is the popularized version of Astrology, it is not the "real" astrology with which many of us are familiar.

If you look up your horoscope in the local paper, most of those horoscopes are written based solely on the Sun Sign. Also, if you go to buy a comical birthday card for a friend based on his/her astrological sign, and the qualities of that sign are strewn about on the face of the card, those qualities reflect solely the Sun Sign. The bottom line is this: there are so many more planets and signs in a person's astrological chart than just the Sun. So yes, you may be a Gemini. But what is your Moon Sign? And what is the placing of your Venus? These other planets influence important aspects of a person's life and personality. Hence there is much more to a horoscope than just the Sun.

That Pisces person that disagrees so adamantly with the classifications of his/her sign might be shocked to learn that he/she has a Moon Sign in Aries. Furthermore, as the Moon represents emotions, defense mechanisms, and needs, among other things, that doubting Fish might be a little shocked to learn that a Moon in Aries is rather assertive, forceful, and strong of will and personality, particularly where the emotions and needs are concerned. So it makes sense that this person viewed the description of Pisces as a sensitive, retiring artistic temperament so out of line with his/her personality because there is so much more to the horoscope than just the Sun Sign.

So what does the Sun actually do for an astrological chart? Well, just as all of our solar system revolves around the Sun, that giant celestial body forms the focal point of the astrological chart. Keep in mind, as we have previously mentioned, that it is not the total focus of the chart, just a broad outline that forms the foundation. The Sun represents a person's general personality, and it is modified by other planets in the chart, as well as any aspects it forms to those other planets. The Sun represents what Carl Jung labeled as the "Ego" in an astrological chart; that is, it forms the backbone of a person's identity and general personality traits. A thorough understanding of Sun Signs forms the basis for a beginning study of Astrology, although keep in mind that it will get more complicated and the picture will fill-up with many more planets and other astrological features.

We will expand on Sun/Moon sign combinations in further blogs, but for now the point is simply this: with an open mind it is easy to see how popular Astrology has severely misconstrued this ancient and valuable study in the public's eye. Just as this blog has shown how popular representations of Sun Signs have created doubt for the general populace, particularly for those who do not identify with their signs, it is easy to see that with a deeper study of this "science" (and to many ancient societies, Astrology was indeed a science), truth can be shed onto individual horoscopes that go beyond mere Sun Sign representation.