Aries

Aries is where the zodiac begins. The Sun enters it at the March equinox, and this year it is in Aries from 20 March to 20 April 2026. Ptolemy calls Aries an “equinoctial” sign because the Sun at its first point “makes the day and night equal”.

Why the zodiac starts here

Ptolemy gives Aries the first place and explains it by the season: “the moisture of the spring forms an introduction for the other seasons”. He adds that from the equinoctial signs “proceed the principal variation, and most powerful agitation, of all things”. Modern astrology calls such a sign cardinal: one that opens a season.

His reasoning is northern. He writes of spring and of lengthening days, which describe March in the northern hemisphere.

Mars and the Sun

Aries is one of the two houses of Mars, the planet Ptolemy describes as “dry in nature”. He calls the two signs of Mars “of a nature similar to his own”.

The Sun has a special standing here too. Aries is the sign of the Sun’s exaltation, because, as Ptolemy puts it, in Aries the Sun “begins to lengthen the days”. Saturn has its fall in the same sign. So Aries holds the Sun’s exaltation and Saturn’s fall at once.

The Aries character, as the old books give it

William Lilly’s line on the sign calls it “in nature fiery, hot and dry, cholericke” and “the diurnall house of” Mars. He is listing qualities for judging a chart, not describing people.

Alan Leo, two and a half centuries later, does describe people. Those born under Aries, he writes, “have great mental energy but are inclined to be very headstrong and impulsive”. They are “more ideal than practical”, “frank and outspoken by choice, but often combative and assertive”, and “always inclined to act upon impulse without waiting to mature their plans”. He is as firm about their gifts: they “make splendid companions, being affable, genial and witty”.

On loyalty his portrait is less flattering: “When not living up to the highest strength of their character, they have a tendency to jealousy, they expect loyalty from others and may be somewhat exacting in this respect.”

A fire sign among three

Ptolemy groups Aries with Leo and Sagittarius as the first triplicity, “three masculine signs”. These are the fire signs. A shared element and a trine are two of the things our formula rewards most, which is why Leo and Sagittarius come first in the list of matches below. The full method is on how we score.

Alan Leo reaches the same two signs by another road. He says Aries people “would marry well with those born in Sagittarius”, with the proviso “provided the planetary indications on the joint horoscopes were harmonious”, but “would benefit most by union with those born in Leo”. That is a nineteenth-century astrologer’s view of signs, quoted as history, and not advice about a relationship.