Now that we have a handle on the houses and how they are determined and how they relate to the signs, let's shift our focus now to those signs. Just as there are 12 houses of the heavens, there are also 12 signs to the zodiac. Each of these signs has its own set of qualities and can be divided into modalities and elements. There are four elements and three modalities. There is one sign for each unique combination of element and modality. The elements are (as you can probably guess) Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The modalities are Moveable, Fixed and Common. In modern terms moveable is called cardinal, and common is called mutable. These terms are interchangeable. I prefer to use the traditional terms when speaking of traditional astrology, but I occasionally my modern mind makes itself known. There are three signs of each element (also called triplicity because there are three signs in each) and four signs of each modality (also called quadriplicity because there are four signs in each).
I want you to take your chart and mark on it, so you can better understand the relationships of the signs. Find Aries on your chart and mark him Moveable. Taurus comes next, mark her Fixed. (Yes, the signs have sexes. We will get into that shortly.) Mark Gemini as Common. We have now marked one of each. Let's continue. Cancer is moveable, Leo is fixed, Virgo is common. Finish the rest of the signs now and you will end with Pisces as common and ready to mark Aries as moveable again.
Each of these modalities has certain qualities to it. Moveable signs mark the beginning of the seasons, and are all about change. The weather at these times of year is often quite fickle, changing from warm and sunny one day to rainy and miserable the next. I think all of New England must be ruled by cardinal signs. We have a saying here that if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes.
Fixed signs come next, and represent lack of change. May is a much more settled month then April, weather-wise. I have not found December or June to have weather as turbulent as April and September, but the equinoxes illustrate beautifully the qualities of each modality.
Common signs are last, and partake of both the other modalities. You could say it tries to find the common ground. One quality not based on weather is that the common signs are also called bi-corporeal, or two-bodied, like Gemini is two twins and Pisces is two fishes.
Let's pick up those charts and pencils again now as we look at the elements. Mark Aries as fire. Taurus is earth, Gemini is air, and Cancer is water. Begin again with Leo as fire and continue in this same pattern around the chart ending with Pisces as water. You have now assigned a unique combination of modality and element to each of the signs. It is through these modalities and elements that the signs can communicate with each other.
Fire signs are all hot and dry. Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are the fire signs. Fire signs are all masculine and diurnal. This element is associated with the choleric temperament.
Earth signs are all dry and cold. Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn are the earth signs. Earth signs are also all feminine and nocturnal. This element is associated with the melancholic temperament.
Air signs are hot and moist. Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are the air signs. Air signs are all masculine and diurnal. This element is associated with the sanguine temperament.
Water signs are cold and moist. Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are the water signs. Water signs are all feminine and diurnal. This element is associated with the phlegmatic temperament.
The signs can be divided up a number of ways, according to the qualities of the specific signs involved. For example, the bestial signs are all those that are represented by four-legged creatures. The humane signs are those that are represented by people.
Q: Im not familiar with diurnal or nocturnal.
A: Diurnal/nocturnal relates to the planetary houses we spoke of in the first class. Each planet has a diurnal house and a nocturnal house. The sect of the signs relates to that. For example, Mars in Aries is stronger (slightly) than Mars in Scorpio during the day, but that is reversed at night. Venus in Taurus is stronger by night than Venus in Libra, and the reverse is true during the day.
Q: Oh, ok. Sect then relates the natural day/night rulership with whether a particular chart is a day or night chart, right?
A: Yes
Each sign can communicate with all other signs that are of the same gender, same element or same modality. If two signs don't have one of those three things in common, they cannot communicate. It is this communication that lends itself to aspects. Aspects are based upon the signs, and the type of similarity between them. Trines are formed between signs of the same element. Squares and oppositions are formed between signs of the same modality. Sextiles are formed between same-gender signs that do not share element or modality. They will necessarily be of opposing elements. Conjunctions are not technically aspects. How are you related to yourself? You need two to have a relationship, so when there is only one, it isn't technically a relationship, but we still treat it as such.
To be more precise, conjunctions occur in the same sign. Sextiles occur in signs that are two signs apart. Squares occur when the signs are three signs apart. Trines occur when the signs are four signs apart. Oppositions occur when the signs are six signs apart. There are no aspects between signs that are adjacent or that are five signs apart. There is no common ground for them to communicate. Aries and Virgo have nothing in common. These signs that cannot communicate with each other are said to be inconjunct.
This communication is also referred to as "seeing". It is the planets that carry out the aspects of the signs, though this is usually ignored by modern astrologers (and too often overlooked by modern practitioners of traditional astrology). We often hear reference to out-of-sign aspects, which forgets that it is the signs that communicate, not the planets. If the signs don't aspect, the planets proximity to that aspect is meaningless. It is like messages written down on paper. If they are both written in the same language, they can convey a conversation between two people. If they are written in languages unknown to the other writer, then no conversation can take place, no matter how hard they try to read the foreign language.
Student: I'm still digesting the no out of sign business.
Me: It is tough, I know. That is why I tried the analogy of different languages.
Student: It's a good one. The exactness of the degrees is drummed into your head with moderns.
Me: It is, isn't it? I think it is Steven Birchfield who first enlightened me regarding out-of-sign aspects. You can check his website to see if he has written any articles on it. He and Tom Callanan have my utmost respect, among others.
This week, please read Christian Astrology 1 (CA1), the first part (specifically To the Reader), and chapter XVI (pages 86-99). Don't worry about the part regarding antiscia. We will get to that later. I am approaching things in a different order than Lilly did, so we will be skipping around in the book. If you are interested in learning how to draw up a chart by hand, he explains it in Chapters I through V, then he goes on to houses after that. We will delve more deeply into the meanings of the houses next.
Learn the basic qualities (modality, element, temperature, dryness or moistness, gender) of each of the signs.
