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Aries (Mesha) rashi
Aries opens the zodiac and is read as the sign of initiative.
- Sanskrit
- Mesha (मेष)
- Symbol
- the Ram
- Element
- Fire
- Mode
- Movable
- Ruler
- Mars
- Sidereal span
- 0° to 30° of the zodiac
- Stars inside
- Ashwini, Bharani, Krittika
- Position in the order
- Sign 1 of 12
People with a strong Aries influence are traditionally described as direct, quick to start and impatient with delay. The challenge named in the texts is acting before listening.
Aries is ruled by Mars. In a birth chart, the sign tells you where a planet sits, and the lord of the sign shows where that planet's influence travels. See the page on the lagna for how a sign becomes a house.
Fire and movable
Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) are read as energetic, direct and quick to act. They are the signs of spirit and purpose, and the texts link them with courage and with a tendency to burn out or run ahead of others.
Movable signs (chara) begin things. They fall at the start of each season and are read as active, initiating and restless.
Mars also rules Scorpio, so the two signs share a lord in a chart. Mars is exalted in Capricorn (28°) and debilitated in Cancer (28°).
See it in your own chart
The terms on this page appear in every birth chart report, explained for your own planets and dates.