Decan 1 · 1–10°
Sub-ruler: Venus
Double Venus — the most sensual and comfort-seeking version.
Roughly the first ten days of the sign.
April 20 – May 20 · Earth · Fixed · ruled by Venus
Steadiness, comfort and a long attention span.
Calculated, not approximated
Every other site prints "April 20 – May 20" with a note that dates "may vary by a day". They vary because the Sun crosses the boundary at a specific moment, and that moment shifts each year — but it is not unknowable.
The figures above are computed: the Sun enters Taurus when its ecliptic longitude reaches 30°, and that crossing is found to the minute. If you were born near a boundary, this is the answer you actually needed.
Rarely covered
Each sign divides into three ten-degree segments, and each has its own sub-ruler. Two people can both be Taurus and read as noticeably different because they fall in different decans — roughly, early, middle or late in the sign.
Decan 1 · 1–10°
Double Venus — the most sensual and comfort-seeking version.
Roughly the first ten days of the sign.
Decan 2 · 11–20°
More practical and communicative. Better with detail and money.
Roughly the middle ten days of the sign.
Decan 3 · 21–30°
Harder-working and more disciplined, with a serious streak.
Roughly the last ten days of the sign.
Outlasts everyone. Builds slowly and does not abandon what is half-finished.
Confuses immovability with principle, and resists change long after it has stopped being optional.
Taurus is the one fixed earth sign — and that pairing is the whole explanation. The element sets temperament: earth signs test everything against what can be touched. The modality decides what happens when circumstances change: fixed signs resist it and hold their position.
There are exactly twelve combinations of four elements and three modalities, and each is occupied by one sign. That is why no two signs are interchangeable, and why Taurus cannot be swapped for the other earth signs without changing the meaning.
Slow to commit and immovable afterwards. Shows affection by providing rather than declaring.
Sensual and grounded, with a long fuse and no reverse gear once it burns through.
Worth saying plainly: nothing in astrology assigns different meanings to a sign by gender. These descriptions reflect how the traits are conventionally written about, not a separate system — and plenty of people will recognise themselves in the other one.
Slow to commit, hard to shift once committed. Shows affection through provision rather than declaration.
The friend of twenty years. Rarely initiates contact, never disappears.
Excellent at consolidation and anything requiring persistence. Poor at improvising under sudden change.
Suited to anything requiring persistence and a good eye — finance, food, design, land, craft.
The best saver in the zodiac, with an expensive weakness for quality.
Placid and stubborn. Responds to routine, resists being hurried, and does not respond to raised voices.
Steady and physically affectionate. Provides a home that feels safe; can resist a child's need to change.
Neck and throat — Taurus rules them, and tension settles in the shoulders and voice.
Ranked by the angle between the two signs on the wheel — the same geometry astrology uses for aspects. Signs 120° apart share an element and form a trine; 90° apart is a square. Nothing here is a matter of opinion.
| With | Aspect | Angle | Score | Element |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♍ Virgo | Trine | 120° | 88% | Earth |
| ♑ Capricorn | Trine | 120° | 88% | Earth |
| ♋ Cancer | Sextile | 60° | 82% | Water |
| ♓ Pisces | Sextile | 60° | 82% | Water |
| ♉ Taurus | Conjunction | 0° | 78% | Earth |
| ♏ Scorpio | Opposition | 180° | 75% | Water |
| ♌ Leo | Square | 90° | 62% | Fire |
| ♒ Aquarius | Square | 90° | 62% | Air |
| ♈ Aries | Semi-sextile | 30° | 58% | Fire |
| ♊ Gemini | Semi-sextile | 30° | 58% | Air |
| ♎ Libra | Quincunx | 150° | 55% | Air |
| ♐ Sagittarius | Quincunx | 150° | 55% | Fire |
Adele, David Beckham, Queen Elizabeth II, Karl Marx
Lists like this are the weakest evidence in astrology and the most quoted. With roughly a twelfth of all people in any sign, every sign has impressive members — picking four of them proves nothing. Read it as trivia, not as support.
April 20 – May 20 as usually published. In 2026 specifically the Sun enters on 20 April am30 01:30 UTC and leaves on 21 May am31 00:31 UTC.
By aspect, Virgo, Capricorn, Cancer. Those sit at the easiest angles on the wheel — but sun signs are one factor of many, and a difficult angle describes friction rather than failure.
A ten-degree third of the sign with its own sub-ruler: Venus, Mercury, Saturn. It is why two people of the same sign born three weeks apart can read quite differently.
Neck and throat — Taurus rules them, and tension settles in the shoulders and voice.
Not in the system itself — astrology assigns no gendered meaning to a sign. The separate descriptions above reflect convention in how signs are written about, nothing more.