What does your Sun Sign mean in Astrology?

Most columns and articles that give you an overall forecast about how your life looks like focus on your sun sign. It is the most common and simplest way of analyzing how you behave and conduct yourself in the world around you. The sun is at the center of our galaxy with planets and other celestial bodies revolving around it. It is the source of all life and energy. It has the most powerful influence in the life of a native. The position of the sun in your birth chart at the time of your birth determines your sun sign.

Here is all you need to know about what the importance of the Sun sign in astrology and how it differs from the moon or the ascendant sign.

What is the zodiac sign or sun sign in astrology?

Stars of different sizes, shapes and location form a specific constellation. Each of these constellations are in the shape of an animal or object as per which they have been named by astronomers. The sun travels through these constellations each year and according to your birthday, your sun sign falls in corresponding zodiac signs.

The sun follows a cyclical path which also forms the plane of the earth’s motion around the sun. The 360 degree Zodiac is divided into 12 parts of 30 degrees each. There are 12 Zodiac signs and the sign where the sun locates itself gives you the sun sign of the native. These are: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo. Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Each of these Zodiacs are signs in astrology that give significant insights into the native’s past, present and future.

Each sign will express certain traits that remain with a native lifelong. The gravity of the sun affects all of us and pushes or pulls us in certain paths of life. This is why it is so important to understand our sun sign and use the knowledge to shape our life cycle. However, what is important to our understanding here is even though millions of people can be born under the same zodiac sign, their life choices and motivation could be completely different and predictions may not resonate with each one in the exact same way.

How are zodiac signs determined and how to know your sun sign?

The Zodiac signs are determined by one’s date of birth. The following chart here will guide you to know your sun sign.

• March 21st- April 19th
  Aries
• April 20th- May 20th
  Taurus
• May 21st- June 20th
  Gemini
• June 21st- July 22nd
  Cancer
• July 23rd- August 22nd
  Leo
• August 23rd- September 22nd
  Virgo
• September 23rd- October 22nd
  Libra
• October 23rd- November 21st
  Scorpio
• November 22nd- December 21st
  Sagittarius
• December 22nd- January 19th
  Capricorn
• January 20th- February 18th
  Aquarius
• February 19th- March 20th
  Pisces

How important is your sun sign and how does it affect your personality?

Your sign sign is essentially the ruler of your birth chart. The position of the sun says a lot about what your life purpose will be. Your overall personality traits are governed majorly by your sun sign.

The traits that you are born with as a result of the placement of the sun in your birth chart is something that remains a constant through the highs and lows of life. The position of the sun highlights the important area of life that sets you apart from the rest of the Zodiac signs. It shows the realms of life where one feels the strongest.

For example, Cancers feel the most centered in a homely environment while Sagittarians prefer public spaces or foreign lands. The Sun sign also surrounds your self-consciousness, what pushes you to do what you do. This can be the most mundane task to the groundbreaking decision that you take in life. Every sun sign does it in a different way, with its unique cosmic signature.

Sun sign vs Rising sign

Sometimes, it is difficult to ascertain why a person doesn’t behave as per his sun or moon sign. In fact, the general behavior could be a polar opposite. Your Cancer friend may be outgoing and a social butterfly if he or she has a Gemini ascendant. This is in contrast to the general traits of a Typical Cancer sign. Hence, the ascendant could be responsible for a reversal of the usual behavioral traits of a particular sun or moon sign.

The rising sign is placed in the first house of the natal chart. It is the Zodiac sign that was at the highest on the Eastern horizon during the time you were born. As ascendants are prone to change every two hours, it is important to know the exact time of birth to know your rising sign. The rising sign guides the overall perception or impression that we have on the world around us.

Sun sign vs Moon sign

Your moon sign represents your emotions and how they manifest themselves in your everyday life. The moon is characteristic of how you feel and your instinctive responses to everything that happens around you. The sun represents your overall energy, your aim, your confidence and your sense of reason. What concrete steps you take to enact all your thoughts and the reality that you experience is driven by your sun sign. The sun sign tells how a person presents himself to the rest of the world whereas the moon tells how a person makes these decisions and forms thought patterns based on his or her emotions.

It is the easiest to determine how a person operates using the date and month in which he or she is born, for the sun stays in a Zodiac for 30 days. On the other hand, the moon moves swiftly, affecting a native psychologically, influencing the mind. The moon sign is more accurate in deriving knowledge of oneself and the forthcoming future. The waxing and waning phases of the moon have a major impact on the changes in one’s mood. The moon represents feminine energy. It is often associated with menstrual cycles and motherhood. Being the closest celestial body to the earth, its effect is hard to ignore in everyday life. Major columns that calculate your everyday readings is generally on the basis of one’s moon sign.

Your moon sign is what you are beneath the surface, below the superficial facade while the sun sign is how you are projected to the outer world.