Cool Moon Facts by Whip

Real astronomy and dated history, with sources. Documented traditions and folklore. Modern lunar astrology · symbolic, not predictive.

Chart basics · Signs · Beginner

Tropical zodiac

The zodiac counted from the March equinox point, so its signs stay tied to the seasons rather than to the stars.

In the tropical zodiac, 0° Aries is by definition the point where the Sun crosses the celestial equator going north at the March equinox. The signs therefore follow the seasons: the Sun enters Cancer at the June solstice every year. Because of precession, the tropical signs have slid away from the constellations of the same names. This is the zodiac of Western astrology and the one this site's chart uses.

  • Kind: Calculation, Tradition
  • Tradition: Modern Western astrology, Traditional Western astrology
  • In this site’s birth chart: used

Related: Zodiac, Sidereal zodiac, Precession of the equinoxes, Equinox, Ayanamsa

Written for Cool Moon Facts in its own words. An astrology source documents what astrologers believe or practise; it does not establish that astrology works.

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