What is my Hebrew zodiac sign?
Your Hebrew zodiac sign is read from your birth month in the Hebrew calendar, not from the civil month. The two calendars do not line up: over forty years of birth dates, one birth in four changes sign when you move from one to the other. Here is how to find yours, and why it may surprise you.
The Hebrew sign
Twelve months, twelve signs, a text two thousand years old
The Hebrew calendar has twelve lunar months. An ancient text, the Sefer Yetzirah or Book of Creation, attaches a constellation to each of them: the same twelve figures as the zodiac known everywhere, from Aries to Pisces, because both come from the same sky of the ancient Near East. The difference is not in the signs, it is in the calendar that assigns you one.
In Hebrew, a sign is a mazal. The word has passed into everyday speech: “mazal tov”, literally “good constellation”. Having a Hebrew sign requires nothing but a birth date: the Hebrew calendar is a calendar, and every date has its equivalent in it.
The table
Your Hebrew month and your sign
| Hebrew month | Falls roughly in | Hebrew sign |
|---|---|---|
| Nissan | March-April | Aries |
| Iyar | April-May | Taurus |
| Sivan | May-June | Gemini |
| Tamuz | June-July | Cancer |
| Av | July-August | Leo |
| Elul | August-September | Virgo |
| Tishrei | September-October | Libra |
| Cheshvan | October-November | Scorpio |
| Kislev | November-December | Sagittarius |
| Tevet | December-January | Capricorn |
| Shevat | January-February | Aquarius |
| Adar | February-March | Pisces |
“Roughly”, because every Hebrew month shifts from year to year against the civil months. Seven years in nineteen have a second month of Adar: its sign is Pisces too.
The drift
Why your Hebrew sign can differ from your civil sign
The months follow the Moon. Every Hebrew month begins at the new moon. From one year to the next it slides across the civil calendar, by up to a month. A March 25 falls in Adar one year and in Nissan another: Pisces or Aries depending on the year of birth.
Some years have a thirteenth month. To stay attached to the seasons, the calendar adds a second month of Adar seven years in nineteen. In those years the whole spring is shifted.
The day begins at sunset. Born at 9 pm, you already belong to the next day of the Hebrew calendar. At the end of a month, that is the next month, and sometimes the next sign.
Four real dates, for daytime births:
- Born on March 25, 1976: Aries in the civil calendar, Pisces in the Hebrew one (23 Adar II 5736).
- Born on June 25, 1973: Cancer in the civil calendar, Gemini in the Hebrew one (25 Sivan 5733).
- Born on November 25, 1970: Sagittarius in the civil calendar, Scorpio in the Hebrew one (26 Cheshvan 5731).
- Born on December 5, 1975: Sagittarius in the civil calendar, Capricorn in the Hebrew one (1 Tevet 5736).
In the evening the date moves one more day forward: that is why the calculation asks for the time and place of birth.
The calculation
Find your Hebrew zodiac sign in thirty seconds
You convert your birth date into its Hebrew date, at sunset in your place of birth, then read the month you get in the table above. The calculator does it for you: the date, the time if you know it, the city, and your month, your sign and your Hebrew date appear, with the portrait the ancient texts attach to your sign.
No account, no sign-up. The calculation runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
Four answers
What is my Hebrew zodiac sign?
The sign attached to your birth month in the Hebrew calendar, once your date is converted, hour included, since the Hebrew day begins at sunset.
Is it the same as my usual star sign?
Not always. Same twelve figures, but read from the Hebrew month, which follows the Moon. One daytime birth in four changes sign; in the evening the date can still move forward.
Why is my Hebrew sign different?
Hebrew months drift from year to year by up to a month, a thirteenth month is added seven years in nineteen, and the day begins the evening before.
Do you have to be Jewish to have a Hebrew sign?
No. It is a calendar: every date has its equivalent in it. The texts that describe the signs, the Talmud and the Book of Creation, are nearly two thousand years old and read as ancient wisdom about temperaments.