Lilith Calculator

Black Moon Lilith, usually just called Lilith, is not a planet or a body you can see. It is a point in the Moon's orbit. The Moon's path around Earth is an oval, and Lilith marks the far end of it, the spot where the Moon is farthest from Earth. Astronomers call this point the lunar apogee. Some astrologers describe it as the empty second focus of the orbit. Either way, nothing is physically there, which is part of why astrologers treat it as a symbol for what is hidden.

In astrology, Lilith is read as the raw, untamed side of a person: the part that does not fit in, says no, or has been told to stay quiet. The name comes from the figure Lilith in Jewish folklore, said to have refused to obey Adam. Modern astrologers use her glyph (⚸) for anger, desire, independence and the things people push down to be accepted.

Your Lilith sign shows the style of that energy. Your Lilith house, which you need a birth time and place to find, shows where in life it tends to come up.

Three different things go by the name Lilith, and they give different positions.

• Mean Black Moon Lilith is the average position of the lunar apogee. It moves smoothly, about 0.11 degrees a day, and takes roughly 8.85 years to go around the zodiac. This is the version most astrology sites and apps show, and it is the one this calculator uses.
• True (osculating) Lilith follows the real, wobbling position of the Moon's orbit from day to day. It can sit several degrees away from the mean position, and occasionally far enough to land in a different sign.
• Asteroid Lilith (1181 Lilith) is a small rock in the asteroid belt that happens to share the name. It has its own position and is a separate point from Black Moon Lilith.

If a chart you saw elsewhere gives a different Lilith, one of these is probably the reason.

Lilith spends about nine months in each sign, so people born within the same stretch of a year or so share a Lilith sign. These one-line readings are a starting point for reflection.

• Lilith in Aries: Anger that refuses to be softened, and a fierce need to act without permission.
• Lilith in Taurus: A stubborn hold on pleasure, security and the body, and a refusal to be rushed.
• Lilith in Gemini: A sharp, restless voice that says the unsaid and resists being pinned to one story.
• Lilith in Cancer: Deep, guarded feelings about family and belonging, with old hurts that surface as defensiveness.
• Lilith in Leo: A hunger to be seen and admired that can swing between showing off and hiding.
• Lilith in Virgo: A harsh inner critic and discomfort with mess, paired with an exacting eye for detail.
• Lilith in Libra: Tension between keeping the peace and wanting what you want in relationships.
• Lilith in Scorpio: Intense desire, jealousy and secrecy, along with a talent for facing taboo subjects.
• Lilith in Sagittarius: Impatience with rules and dogma, and a need to chase freedom and your own truth.
• Lilith in Capricorn: Resentment of authority and expectations, plus ambition that treats rest as weakness.
• Lilith in Aquarius: Feeling like an outsider, with a rebellious streak against groups and conformity.
• Lilith in Pisces: Boundaries that blur, escapism, and a tender, mystical sensitivity to other people's pain.

The house Lilith falls in points to the area of life where these themes show up most: for example, the 7th house is relationships and the 10th is career and public image. The calculator gives you the house number when you enter a birth time and place, but it does not include a reading for each house. To see Lilith alongside your planets and the rest of your houses, open your free birth chart.

We calculate mean Black Moon Lilith from the mean longitude of the lunar apogee, using Jean Meeus's formula from Astronomical Algorithms. Positions are in the tropical zodiac, the same one used for sun signs in Western astrology. The result is a sign and a degree from 0 to 29.

If you leave out your birth time, the calculator uses midday on your birth date. Because Lilith moves only about 0.11 degrees a day, the time of day rarely changes the sign. It only matters if your birth fell within a degree or so of a sign boundary. The house needs a birth time and place, because houses depend on where and when you were born.

Astrology is a symbolic tradition, and this calculator is for entertainment and reflection.