What Your Zodiac Sign Means — A Guide to Western Astrology

When most people say what sign they are, they mean their Sun sign: which of the twelve signs the Sun was passing through on the day they were born. Aries, Taurus, and the rest are Sun signs.

But the Sun sign is only a starting point. What astrology truly examines is the natal chart. Using not just the birth date but also the precise time and place, it draws the position of every planet across the whole sky at that instant as a single round map. Two people born on the same day will have different natal charts if their birth time and place differ.

The twelve signs come from dividing the ecliptic (the path the Sun travels across the sky over a year) into twelve parts: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.

Each sign is associated with its own temperament. Signs are also grouped by four elements (fire, earth, air, water) and three qualities (cardinal, fixed, mutable). This classification gives a broad framework for the differences in character between the signs.

In astrology, the planets symbolize different functions within us. The Sun stands for the core self, the Moon for emotion and inner life, Mercury for thought and communication, Venus for love and taste, Mars for drive and initiative. A natal chart looks at which sign each of these planets falls into.

On top of that, the chart is divided into twelve houses. A house represents a stage of life, the arena in which a given energy plays out. The first house deals with the self and first impressions, the seventh with partnership, the tenth with work and standing. Only by reading which planet sits in which sign in which house does a person’s chart come into full, three-dimensional view.

If the natal chart is a fixed photograph of the moment of birth, a transit is the sky as it moves right now. It looks at where today’s planets are passing across your natal chart and what angles they form to it.

The angles planets make to one another are called aspects. Certain angles carry meaning (0, 60, 90, 120, and 180 degrees). Some are read as smooth, flowing currents, others as tension and challenge. A daily reading arises precisely from this meeting between today’s sky and your own chart.

CrossFates’ astrology reading is not guesswork; it computes the actual planetary positions for the day. Drawing on astronomical data, it finds where the planets sit today, then reads that against the natal chart built from your birth details to summarize the day’s flow.

As a result, the astrology reading differs from person to person even on the same day. Unlike a magazine horoscope that lumps everyone together by Sun sign alone, it reflects the birth date, time, and place you enter.

Astrology is a symbolic language for looking at yourself through the movements of the sky, not a device that announces a fixed fate. CrossFates’ astrology readings are for reflection and entertainment, so important decisions about health, money, or law should be made with a professional.