I think that there's still a Tribe about this... In any case, the basic overview is that sidereal astrology is based upon the actual position of the Sun, Moon and other planets against the zodiac. The positions and date associations used in Western astrology don't account for precession of the equinoxes (the Sun's backward motion across the zodiac as seen over time, due to the spin+wobble of the Earth's axis; www.astro.com/astrology/i...sion_e.htm).

Vedic and other Asian astro systems are sidereally based. Generally, the Western signs can be regarded as being a month off. The current solar transits of the constellations are:

Aries: April 19 to May 13
Taurus: May 14 to June 19
Gemini: June 20 to July 20
Cancer: July 21 to August 9
Leo: August 10 to September 15
Virgo: September 16 to October 30
Libra: October 31 to November 22
Scorpius: November 23 to November 29
Ophiuchus: November 30 to December 17
Sagittarius: December 18 to January 18
Capricorn: January 19 to February 15
Aquarius: February 16 to March 11
Pisces: March 12 to April 18

And if you're looking at and thinking "Ophiuchus?" (the Sky Whale), well, the Sun does pass through that rather large constellation above Sag and Sco, thus making 13 major constellations (which is cool actually, since there are actually 13 lunar cycles in a solar year). But that's a whole other thing.

Let's look at it like this. In the Western Year 0, the Sun rose on the Vernal Equinox on March 21, and this was in the zodiac region of Aries. Because of precession, 77 years later, the Sun rose on the Equinox on March 21, but it didn't rise in Aries until March 22. In the Year 154, the Sun rose in Aries on March 23, and so on and on...

So by the time I was born on April 12, 1972, the Sun was high in the sky in Pisces, and it didn't enter Aries until the 17th or 18th. Currently, the Sun enters Aries on the 19th of April. And in all of this, I'm talking about the actual positions in space as seen from Earth, not projections on a chart. I'd noticed this when I looked at a planetarium view of the sky on my birthday and was really puzzled about how I was supposed to have been born under Aries, but the Sun was obviously in the Pisces constellation.

For more on sidereal astrology, please visit:

www.lunarplanner.com/siderea...ogy.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_astrology

And if you're open to reinterpreting the fundamentals of your chart, pay close attention to where your ascendant shows up in the sidereal system. As it's stated in many resources [my preferred text is "The Art of Chart Interpretation" by Tracy Marks], the ASC is the filter or lens through which so much of your persona and being comes forth.

Does that marker on a sidereal chart, in particular, resonate with you? Astro.com can show you a sidereal plot, in its Extended Chart selection section.

Damon