What Is a Rashi?
A Rashi is one of twelve signs of the Vedic zodiac, each covering 30 degrees. The word is used most often for the Janma Rashi, the sign the Moon occupied at birth, which is also called the Moon sign.
Rashi and Sun Sign
A Sun sign is the sign the Sun occupied at birth and is the sign most people know from Western astrology. The Rashi is the sign of the Moon. Vedic astrology also uses the sidereal zodiac, which sits about 24 degrees behind the Western tropical zodiac, so a Vedic sign often differs from the Western one. See the Sun Sign reading for Vedic Sun sign dates.
How Your Rashi Is Determined
Your Rashi is found by calculating the sidereal position of the Moon from your date, time and place of birth. The Moon moves through a sign in about two and a quarter days, so most birth dates give a single Rashi. A birth close to a sign change needs the time of birth to settle the answer.
Elements, Qualities and Rulers
| Rashi | English | Element | Quality | Ruling planet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesh | Aries | Fire | Movable | Mars |
| Vrishabh | Taurus | Earth | Fixed | Venus |
| Mithun | Gemini | Air | Dual | Mercury |
| Kark | Cancer | Water | Movable | Moon |
| Singh | Leo | Fire | Fixed | Sun |
| Kanya | Virgo | Earth | Dual | Mercury |
| Tula | Libra | Air | Movable | Venus |
| Vrishchik | Scorpio | Water | Fixed | Mars |
| Dhanu | Sagittarius | Fire | Dual | Jupiter |
| Makar | Capricorn | Earth | Movable | Saturn |
| Kumbh | Aquarius | Air | Fixed | Saturn |
| Meen | Pisces | Water | Dual | Jupiter |
The four elements, fire, earth, air and water, each repeat three times through the zodiac. The three qualities, movable, fixed and dual, also repeat four times.