If you have read a magazine horoscope and then looked at your Vedic chart, you may have found two different signs. Both can be right, because they answer different questions.
Sun sign and Moon sign
Western astrology usually talks about your Sun sign, the sign the Sun was in when you were born. Vedic astrology gives the central place to your Moon sign, or rashi: the sign the Moon was in. The Moon moves through a sign in about two and a half days, so your Moon sign is far more personal than your Sun sign, which you share with everyone born in the same month.
Why the Moon
In Vedic astrology the Moon stands for the mind: your feelings, moods and instincts. That is why daily forecasts, Sade Sati and many timing rules are counted from your Moon sign. Your birth nakshatra, the Moon's star out of 27, adds even finer detail and sets the order of your dashas, the long chapters of your life.
Why signs often shift by one
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, tied to the seasons. Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, tied to the stars. Over the centuries the two have drifted apart by about 24 degrees. So a planet at 10 degrees Leo in a Western chart sits at about 16 degrees Cancer in a Vedic one. ISHARA uses the widely used Lahiri ayanamsa for this correction.
Finding your Moon sign
You need your date, exact time and place of birth, because the Moon moves quickly. Enter them in ISHARA and you will see your Moon sign, nakshatra and how today's sky touches them. Then ask TARA what your Moon sign says about how you feel and recharge.
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See what your own chart says
ISHARA reads your Vedic birth chart and today’s sky in plain words, with TARA to answer your questions.