Tropical zodiac — Astrology glossary

What does Tropical zodiac mean in astrology?

The tropical zodiac anchors the signs to the seasons rather than the constellations, beginning Aries at the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Each sign then occupies a fixed thirty-degree slice measured from that point. It is the standard framework of Western astrology and is what most horoscopes and birth-chart calculators use by default. Because the equinox slowly shifts against the background stars through precession, the tropical signs no longer line up with the constellations of the same name; tropical Aries now sits largely in front of the stars of Pisces. This matters because it explains why a tropical Sun sign can differ from the constellation the Sun was actually in at birth, a discrepancy critics often raise and that distinguishes tropical from sidereal practice. For example, a 1 May birth gives a tropical Taurus Sun.