Astrology For Dummies. Rae Orion
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Cardinal signs are natural leaders, enterprising and encouraging, initiating change, and making things happen. The cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.
The Fixed signs are focused, persistent, and firm. They are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.
The Mutable signs adapt and adjust. They are known for flexibility and resilience. Those signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
Elements: Dividing the zodiac by four
Allocating each sign to one of the four ancient elements of Western thought is probably the most well-known and evocative method of classification. The four elements are fire, earth, air, and water.
Fire is the first of the traditional elements, and you don’t need to be an astrologer to guess what it means. Ancient astrologers associated fire with the forces of creation. That association stands. Fire brings vitality, activity, and desire. It generates heat. People born under these dynamic signs are vigorous and courageous. They’re also restless and impatient. And they have trouble accepting limits — which may be why they’re prone to burn out. The fire signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.
Earth signs turn the spark of fire into something tangible. Cautious where fire is bold, earth signs are sensible, productive, and materialistic — and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Sensuous and responsive, they understand and respect material things, including nature. They are attuned to reality, and they get things done. The earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
Air enlivens the intellect and enhances sociability. Those born under its influence are bright, curious, versatile, and intellectually restless, always collecting information, trying out ideas, and connecting people. They revel in conversation and are supremely social. The air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
Water amplifies emotions and awareness. Vulnerable and receptive, those born under its influence are highly sensitive and often swamped by their feelings. They’re intuitive, empathetic, and instinctively responsive to the emotional atmosphere. They also tend to have a spiritual bent. The water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.
Putting the zodiac back together
Once you know the order of the signs, it’s easy to assign them their correct polarity, modality, and element. You don’t have to bother memorizing them because those classifications always occur in sequence, as you can clearly see in Table 1-2. Even if you know nothing else about a sign, those classifications tell you a lot.
TABLE 1-2 The Qualities of the Signs
| Sign | Polarity | Modality | Element |
| Aries | Positive | Cardinal | Fire |
| Taurus | Negative | Fixed | Earth |
| Gemini | Positive | Mutable | Air |
| Cancer | Negative | Cardinal | Water |
| Leo | Positive | Fixed | Fire |
| Virgo | Negative | Mutable | Earth |
| Libra | Positive | Cardinal | Air |
| Scorpio | Negative | Fixed | Water |
| Sagittarius | Positive | Mutable | Fire |
| Capricorn | Negative | Cardinal | Earth |
| Aquarius | Positive | Fixed | Air |
| Pisces | Negative | Mutable | Water |
Consider, for example, Cancer the Crab. It’s the sign of negative cardinal water. This tells you that Crabs tend to be introverted and receptive (negative or yin), with a propensity for taking the initiative (cardinal), and a profound sense of emotional awareness (water).
Or look at Leo, which lives next door to Cancer but boasts a very different personality, as is always the case with adjacent signs. Leo is the sign of positive fixed fire. Its natives tend to be outgoing and assertive (positive or yang), determined (fixed), warm, and full of personality (fire).
THE ZODIAC AND THE BODY
The zodiac arcs across the cosmos, huge and impossibly remote. Its symbolic equivalent, small and incredibly close, is the human form. About two thousand years ago, the Roman astrologer Marcus Manilius correlated each sign of the zodiac with a part of the body in a sequence that starts at the head with Aries and runs down to the feet, which belong to Pisces. Medieval art, both European and Islamic, includes many fine renderings of the so-called Zodiac Man, a figure that also appears in ancient medical texts. Indeed, medicine as it was once practiced looked to astrology not only for an understanding of disease — the Black Death that swept across Europe between 1347 and 1351 was widely blamed on a planetary conjunction and an eclipse — but also for cures. Throughout the Middle Ages (and beyond), medical students at the University of Bologna and elsewhere were required to study astrology.
I have concerns about medical astrology. I have seen cases in which astrological diagnosis has proven to be weirdly accurate. Still, it’s not a sport for amateurs. To make an accurate diagnosis through astrology requires serious expertise. I love this diagram anyway because it reminds us that the spectrum of experience represented by the signs of the zodiac is universal and lives in each one of us.
Considering the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, and more
The Sun, the Moon, and the planets play individual parts in your horoscope. Each one carries a certain kind of energy and represents