Aries in Astrology

Think of the first warm day of spring, when everything that has waited all winter pushes up at once. Nobody asked it to. It simply could not wait any longer. That is Aries: the energy that begins, that moves before the plan is finished, that would rather try and fail than never try.

Aries has a reputation for impatience and temper, and the reputation is half right. Aries is fast, and fast things sometimes collide. But the deeper truth is that Aries is brave. It goes first so that everyone else can follow, and it rarely holds a grudge, because it is already somewhere new.

Wherever Aries falls in your chart, that is where you are asked to act on your own initiative. You have Aries. The question is where.

Why Aries is Aries

Every sign is built from an element, a modality and a polarity, and Aries' character follows from the mix.

Fire is the element of spirit: the urge to act and feel alive. Cardinal is the modality of beginnings. Cardinal signs open each season, and Aries opens the first one. Put them together and you get pure ignition: fire that starts, not fire that sustains. Leo, the next fire sign, keeps the flame burning. Sagittarius carries it far. Aries strikes the match.

It is also active, outgoing, so its energy shows immediately. Aries rarely keeps a feeling or an impulse to itself. What you see is what is happening.

Why the zodiac starts here

The zodiac does not start with Aries because Aries is the most important sign. It starts there because of the sky. The tropical zodiac is measured from the spring equinox, the moment in March when day and night are equal and the Sun crosses into the northern sky. That point is 0 degrees Aries by definition.

Here is the less-known part. Astronomers still call the spring equinox point the First Point of Aries, but it no longer sits among the stars of Aries. Over the centuries the sky has slowly drifted, and the equinox now falls in the constellation Pisces. The name stayed, and so did the sign: Aries the sign is the start of spring, wherever the stars have moved.

Born on the cusp?

People born around 19 to 21 March, or 19 to 21 April, often hear that they are "on the cusp" and a blend of two signs. There is no blend. The Sun enters Aries at an exact moment each year, the spring equinox, and that moment shifts by up to a day from year to year. You are one sign or the other. A chart calculated with your birth time shows the exact degree. A Sun at 29 degrees Pisces belongs to Pisces, and other planets may carry the Aries theme for you.

Where is this sign in your chart?

Every chart holds all twelve signs. See which planets and which house this one colours for you.

Create your Natal Chart Free, takes 2 minutes