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