Native American Zodiac Signs: Use Your Date Of Birth To Find Yours

Native Americans share a unique spiritual heritage, born from observing nature. Their astrology gives each period of the year a spirit animal, which sheds light on the personality and path of those born under its influence.

What are its principles, and what is your Native American zodiac sign? Here are the answers.

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The principles of Native American astrology: everything is connected

Animist thought can be seen as a foundation of every form of astrology: it holds that all the elements of the universe are linked and interact with one another. Native American cultures give great importance to the circle, born from observing nature: the universe is nothing but a gathering of circles, ovals and curves. The straight line, for them, belongs to humans alone.

This circle, which recalls the roundness of the moon, appears in architecture (the tipis), in rites (round dances, the sun dance) and in the medicine wheel. The wheel represents the world as Native American philosophy sees it: divided by the four cardinal points, then by the points in between, it has eight parts; two lines add the solstices, and the wheel grows to twelve. The number 4 is sacred, and each direction is associated with a color, an animal, a plant and a mineral.

This astrology is first of all an ability to foresee: that is the role of the shaman, or medicine man, able to communicate with the spirits, who bases his predictions on the moon. They concern harvests, the right time and place to hunt, changes in the weather, or the consequences of human decisions.

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What is your sign? The wheel of the 12 totems

On the medicine wheel as it is presented today, each period of the year is placed under the protection of a spirit animal and a moon. Find yours with your date of birth:

Each people had its own animals: depending on the version, the wolf takes the place of the cougar, the salmon that of the sturgeon, and the owl that of the elk. Finally, the twelve totems are grouped into four clans, one per element:

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Another tradition: the year in 13 moons

In some traditions, the Native American year begins at the summer solstice and is counted not in months but in moons. It therefore has thirteen signs, one per moon:

• June 24 to July 22: the roe deer
• July 23 to August 19: the eagle
• August 20 to September 16: the turtle
• September 17 to October 14: the brant (or black goose)
• October 15 to November 11: the beaver
• November 12 to December 9: the fox
• December 10 to January 5: the otter
• January 6 to February 1: the bear
• February 2 to March 3: the moose
• March 4 to 31: the groundhog
• April 1 to 28: the hare
• April 29 to May 26: the snow goose
• May 27 to June 23: the salmon

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The moon, the Native Americans' compass

A time of great influence over events, the full moon is associated with energy, feelings and thought. Tradition advises caution during the three days before it, and during the three days after.

The new moon, on the other hand, is said to favor projects, business, ideas and finances: the right time to sow what you want to see grow.

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