Native American Astrology: The Twelve-Month Calendar

When were you born?

Comparison to Western Astrology

You probably know your sign based on Western astrology. In that system, each of the twelve astrological signs is connected to one of the elements: air, water, fire and earth, and those four elements rotate withing the system. In the Native American system, each person belongs to one of four clans --butterfly, turtle, frog and thunderbird-- and those rotate, as well.

Twelve-Month Calendar

Though there are some Native Americans still using the Aztec agricultural calendar, most now use a 12-month lunar calendar and have aligned it and the medicine wheel with dates used in Western astrology.

"The twelve Moons [they use] correspond to the weather or activities that one would expect to occur during each season. Each astrological sign also corresponds to a tree, a stone and a color."-- Deborah Durbin, Simply Native American Astrology

Astrology Chart

Date                                      Sign (Animal)                                   Clan (Animal)
December 22-January 19            Snow                                              Goose Turtle
January 20-February 18              Otter                                                Butterfly
February 19-March 20             Cougar                                                 Frog
March 21-April 19                  Red Hawk                                           Thunderbird
April 20-May 20                       Beaver                                                 Turtle
May 21-June 20                         Deer                                                 Butterfly
June 21-July 22                         Flicker                                              Thunderbird
August 23-September 22       Grizzly Bear                                            Turtle
September 23-October 23        Raven                                                Butterfly
October 24-November 21        Snake                                                  Frog
November 22-December 21      Elk                                                   Thunderbird


In the next posts, we take a look at the calendar in more detail, identifying the power animal for each of the twelve months.

See you tomorrow!

Jeanine