Egyptian astrology is based on the ancient Babylonian system of astrology as it was given and explained to the Egyptians by the Greeks. While we don’t have much information about how they dealt with the astrological information they received, we do have a little of it and two pieces in particular, the Dendera zodiac and the Cairo calendar. The Dendera zodiac shows the correlation between the Egyptian zodiac and the Babylonian zodiac, while the Cairo calendar lists all the days of the Egyptian year. It shows that the days were split into three categories: favorable and unfavorable days, mythological event days (like our modern holidays), and a description of the ideal behavior for each day.
Egyptian Astrology – 36 Groups
The Egyptians looked at the night sky and identified 36 groups of stars called decans, that made up twelve constellations. Each decan or group of stars was predominant in the sky for ten days, covered 10 degrees of the zodiac, and had a ruling planet. These ten day groupings or decans were the foundation for the Egyptian calendar. Similarly to the zodiac set up by the Babylonians, they identified the zodiac signs with different gods and goddesses. Each covered three decans throughout the year, while also having a correlation to the monthly zodiac that we use today. So, for example, someone born in mid- August would fall under Anubis, but in that same span their decan could fall under Sekhmet, Horus, or Geb. You should be familiar with the core concepts of Astrology covered on our page here before reading on; otherwise, we’ve listed the Egyptian equivalent of the Zodiac signs below.
Name: Amon-Ra
Month: April 26th through May 25th
Western Equivalent: Taurus
Decan Sign: Anubis
Decan Dates: May 8th – 27th and June 29th – July 13th
Name: Hathor
Month: May 26th through June 24th
Western Equivalent: Gemini
Decan Sign: Seth
Decan Dates: May 28th – June 18th and September 28th – October 2nd
Name: Phoenix
Month: June 25th through July 24th
Western Equivalent: Cancer
Decan Sign: Bastet
Decan Dates: July 14th – 28th, September 23rd – 27th, and October 3rd-17th
Name: Anubis
Month: July 25th through August 28th
Western Equivalent: Leo
Decan Sign: Sekhmet
Decan Dates: July 29th – August 11 and October 30th – November 7th
Name: Thoth
Month: August 29th through September 27th
Western Equivalent: Virgo
Decan Sign: The Nile
Decan Dates: January 1st – 7th, June 19th – 28th, September 1st – 7th, and November 18th – 26th
Name: Horus
Month: September 29th through October 27th
Western Equivalent: Libra
Decan Sign: Amun-Ra
Decan Dates: January 8th – 21st and February 1st – 11th
Name: Wadjet
Month: October 28th through November 26th
Western Equivalent: Scorpio
Decan Sign: Mut
Decan Dates: January 22nd – 31st and September 8th – 22nd
Name: Sekhmet
Month: November 27th through December 26th
Western Equivalent: Sagittarius
Decan Sign: Geb
Decan Dates: February 12th – 29th and August 20th – 31st
Name: Sphinx
Month: December 27th through January 25th
Western Equivalent: Capricorn
Decan Sign: Osiris
Decan Dates: March 1st – 10th and November 27th – December 18th
Name: Shu
Month: January 26th through February 24th
Western Equivalent: Aquarius
Decan Sign: Isis
Decan Dates: March 11th – 31st, October 18th – 29th, and December 19th – 31st
Name: Isis
Month: February 25th through March 26th
Western Equivalent: Pisces
Decan Sign: Thoth
Decan Dates: April 1st – 19th and November 8th – 17th
Name: Osiris
Month: March 27th through April 25th
Western Equivalent: Aries
Decan Sign: Horus
Decan Dates: April 20th – May 7th and August 12th – 19th
