Is November 22 Scorpio or Sagittarius?
The Sun enters Sagittarius at one moment worldwide, yet Sydney and Los Angeles usually put it on different dates. From 1930 to 2029 Los Angeles has the switch on November 21 in 30 years, while Sydney never does and gets the 23rd in 48. On New York time the 22nd was the switch day in 77 of the 100 years. A birth that day is Scorpio before the exact minute and Sagittarius after it. The whole day was Sagittarius in 20 years and stayed Scorpio in only 3.
The switch slides about 5 hours 49 minutes later each year and jumps back after every leap day. Because 2000 kept its leap day, the date drifts earlier through this century. In 2024 the Sun crossed at 2:57 PM Eastern on November 21, so the 22nd was all Sagittarius in New York. The year chart that follows lists every switch from 1930 to 2029 on your own clock, and picking your birth year opens the exact minute.
The day Sagittarius began, 1930 to 2029
Dates in Universal Time (UTC)
- Nov 21, 7 years
- Nov 22, 82 years
- Nov 23, 11 years
Six and Seven of Cups: the November Scorpio decans
Scorpio holds the first three weeks of November, and almost all of those days fall in the sign’s second and third decans. The Mars decan and the Five of Cups run to about the 1st, often into the 2nd. About the 2nd to the 11th belong to the Sun and the Six of Cups, named Lord of Pleasure. About the 12th to the 21st belong to Venus and the Seven of Cups, Lord of Illusionary Success.
In the decan tradition the Sun gives this fixed water sign a warmer, more open face. The Six of Cups shows one child handing another a cup of flowers, and tradition reads it as memory, kindness and loyalty to old ties. A Scorpio born in this decan is pictured keeping friends and family stories for decades.
Tradition gives the later decan the taste and longing of Venus. The Seven of Cups shows seven cups floating on clouds, each holding a different vision, and its lesson is choosing one real thing from many bright offers. Mars and Pluto still rule the whole sign, so the intensity stays in the reading. A mid-November Scorpio can see how Scorpio gets on with each sign.
Sagittarius arrives on the Eight of Wands
Every November Sagittarius falls in the first decan of the sign, which the Golden Dawn gave to Mercury and the Eight of Wands. That decan runs from about November 22 to December 1, so it covers the whole last week of the month. The card is titled Lord of Swiftness. It shows eight staffs flying over open country with nothing in their way.
In this tradition Mercury adds a quick mind to a fire sign ruled by Jupiter. Tradition pictures this Sagittarius as fast to decide, fast to speak and fast to pack a bag for somewhere new. The sign is mutable fire, the last sign before the December solstice. Its major card is Temperance, an angel pouring water between two cups, an image that slows the Eight’s rush. For pairings, see how Sagittarius matches with other signs.
Ophiuchus and the Thanksgiving Scorpio
Ophiuchus sits behind the Sun from about November 29 to December 18 under the constellation borders the International Astronomical Union adopted in 1928. So the only November birthdays those “13th sign” headlines hand to Ophiuchus are the 29th and 30th. The same borders give the Scorpius constellation just a week of Sun, roughly November 23 to 29. A mid-November Scorpio is born with the Sun among the stars of Libra. Western astrology counts signs from the seasons, not from these uneven star fields, so no sign changes.
US Thanksgiving babies are Sagittarius in almost every year, because the holiday falls on the fourth Thursday, November 22 to 28. Since 1942, only a Thanksgiving on the 22nd has had Scorpio hours in the 50 states. On New York time that happens in 10 of the 13 such holidays through 2029. In 2007 the Sun reached Sagittarius at 11:50 AM Eastern, so a baby born that Thanksgiving morning was a Scorpio. The latest case was 2018, Scorpio until 4:02 AM Eastern. The next Thanksgiving on the 22nd, in 2029, is Sagittarius from midnight.
Famous November birthdays
- Marie CurieNov 7, 1867, ScorpioPhysicist and chemist, two Nobel Prizes
- Georgia O’KeeffeNov 15, 1887, ScorpioPainter of New Mexico landscapes and flowers
- Charles M. SchulzNov 26, 1922, SagittariusCartoonist, creator of Peanuts
- Mark TwainNov 30, 1835, SagittariusAuthor of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Questions people ask
What zodiac sign is November 21?
November 21 is a Scorpio birthday in most years. On New York time the whole day is Scorpio in 80 of the 100 years from 1930 to 2029. In the other 20, all from 1976 on, the Sun entered Sagittarius during that day, so the birth time decides the sign.
Is November a water sign or a fire sign?
November covers two elements, water through about the 21st and fire after it. Scorpio is fixed water, ruled by Mars in the old system and by Pluto in the modern one. Sagittarius is mutable fire, ruled by Jupiter. The change from water to fire comes around the 22nd.
What is the birthstone for November?
November has two birthstones on the American Gem Society list, topaz and citrine. Its birth flower in the Old Farmer’s Almanac is the chrysanthemum. Birthstones follow the calendar month, not the zodiac, so a Scorpio born on the 5th and a Sagittarius born on the 28th share the same stones.
Is November 30 Sagittarius or Ophiuchus?
November 30 is Sagittarius in Western astrology, in every year. The Sun does stand in front of the Ophiuchus constellation that day, but signs here are equal 30-degree steps counted from the March equinox, and Ophiuchus has no step of its own. The Sun has already entered Sagittarius by the 23rd at the latest.