Twelve mazalot, twelve births

The 12 mazalot of celebrities

The mazal is read from the Hebrew month of birth, not from civil dates. Here are twelve well-known people — one per mazal — with their real Hebrew date and their rising sign, worked out to the hour and the place. None was chosen for their religion: that is precisely the point. The Hebrew calendar counts everybody's days.

The twelve

One mazal, one name, one hour

Twelve births whose hour is on public record — the condition for calculating a rising sign, and for knowing which side of sunset they fell on.

Serge Gainsbourg Aries · rising Pisces 12 Nissan 5688 Bob Dylan Taurus · rising Sagittarius 28 Iyar 5701
born after dark: date shifted Marilyn Monroe Gemini · rising Leo 19 Sivan 5686 Harrison Ford Cancer · rising Libra 28 Tamuz 5702 Whitney Houston Leo · rising Pisces 20 Av 5723
born after dark: date shifted Cameron Diaz Virgo · rising Cancer 20 Elul 5732 Brigitte Bardot Libra · rising Sagittarius 19 Tishrei 5695 Grace Kelly Scorpio · rising Scorpio 9 Cheshvan 5690 Jimi Hendrix Sagittarius · rising Sagittarius 18 Kislev 5703 Marlene Dietrich Capricorn · rising Virgo 18 Tevet 5662
born after dark: date shifted Elvis Presley Aquarius · rising Sagittarius 4 Shvat 5695 Steve Jobs Pisces · rising Virgo 3 Adar 5715
born after dark: date shifted

What the hour changes

4 of the 12 were not born on the day you would think

The Hebrew day begins at sunset, not at midnight. Anyone born in the evening is already, in this calendar, on the following day. 4 of our twelve are in that case — and their Hebrew date is not the one a converter that ignores the hour would give:

• Bob Dylan — born at 9:05 pm, the sun had set at 8:48 pm: 28 Iyar 5701
• Whitney Houston — born at 8:55 pm, the sun had set at 8:04 pm: 20 Av 5723
• Marlene Dietrich — born at 9:15 pm, the sun had set at 3:59 pm: 18 Tevet 5662
• Steve Jobs — born at 7:15 pm, the sun had set at 5:59 pm: 3 Adar 5715

What the calendar brings out

Facts of calendar, nothing more

Whitney Houston was born on a Friday at 8:55 pm — after sunset. In the Hebrew calendar she was therefore not born on a Friday but on Shabbat.

Brigitte Bardot was born on 19 Tishrei, during Sukkot, the festival of booths.

Serge Gainsbourg was born on 12 Nissan, three days before Passover — in the month the Torah calls “the beginning of months”.

Grace Kelly and Jimi Hendrix each have their mazal and their rising sign on the same sign: that happens only one time in twelve.

Marilyn Monroe shares her Hebrew date, 19 Sivan, with Prince — born thirty-two years later.

These dates are calendar conversions, not interpretations. We say nothing about these people's characters: tradition speaks of months, and that is what we report.