Leo Dates of Birth

Your Zodiac sign (also called sun sign or star sign) is decided by the position of the sun at the moment of your birth, as seen from Earth. The sun takes a year to travel through the twelve Zodiac signs, but it's not exactly a year of 365 days. The time it takes is closer to 365.25 days. That's why we have leap years.

     Every fourth year we add a day to the calendar, the 29th of February, making that year 366 days. Actually, there's an additional rule, to make it more precise with the actual movement of earth and the sun: the starting year of a new century is not a leap year, unless it's evenly divisible by 400. So, 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was.

     The leap years make the dates of each Zodiac sign change slightly. Normally, Leo starts on July 23 and ends on August 22, but that's just the mean. In reality it changes slightly in a four year period from one leap year to the next.

     Here are the leap years of the last century:

1904 1908 1912 1916 1920

1924 1928 1932 1936 1940

1944 1948 1952 1956 1960

1964 1968 1972 1976 1980

1984 1988 1992 1996 2000

2004 2008 2012

     If you were born on the 23rd of July or the 22nd of August, you have to check if you're really a Leo or not. It never differs more than a day in each direction. The start of Leo must be within the 22nd to 23rd of July, and the end of it within the 22nd or 23rd of August. People born on other dates need not be concerned.

Cusp or not

If you were born on July 22nd or 23rd, your sun may be on the very cusp (the starting point) of Leo, or right by the end of Cancer. If you were born on the 22nd or 23rd of August, your sun might be at the very end of Leo or at the cusp of Virgo. You need to check your exact horoscope, because on those dates it depends on what time of day you were born - and in what place.

     It's particularly important with this check If you were born far away from Greenwich, England, since that's the base for the dates given for Leo.

     You can get your exact complete horoscope computed for free on several websites. Go here to find instructions and links to them: Your own complete horoscope.

     Now, If you were born on July 22nd or 23rd at a time when your sun is at the very end of Cancer, you probably have a mixture of Cancer and Leo in your character. It's a Cancer inclined to be more of a Leo. If your sun is at the very start (cusp) of Leo, though, you're definitely a Leo - and a firm one at that.

     If your sun is at the very end of Leo, you may show personality traits of both Leo and Virgo, but If you were born at the very start of Virgo, no matter how early in it, you're most definitely a Virgo.

     That's because each sign is the most powerful at its beginning, its cusp.

Decans

The strongest is not equal to the most typical, though. A Zodiac sign is its most typical at the part of it (decan) corresponding to its quality: cardinal, fixed or mutable. Each Zodiac sign is one of the four elements fire, earth, air, and water. It's also one of the three qualities. So, four elements and three qualities make twelve possible combinations.

     Leo is the fixed fire sign. That means its most typical part is the middle one - the ten degrees making its second decan, 11°-20° Leo. That corresponds approximately to the dates August 2-12. If your birth date is within this range, you're likely to be a very typical Leo.

     If you were born on late July, the 23rd to 31st, you're still a Leo, but with character traits comparable to those of Aries (the cardinal fire sign). If you were born on August 13-22. you have some tendencies similar to those of Sagittarius (the mutable fire sign).

     Astrology is rather complicated, when dealt with seriously.

     But the most important thing to decide is what sign you are. So, If you were born on July 22nd-23rd or August 22nd-23rd, please have your correct horoscope calculated to be sure of your star sign.

© Stefan Stenudd