Whether you’re familiar with astrology, or know next to nothing, most people know the 12 zodiac signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. And because of our hyper fixation on the Sun, most people know their Sun sign and a vague descriptor of their “personality.” Gemini is curious. Librans are indecisive, and so on. While the Sun is an important actor in pre-modern astrology, Mercury, the Moon, the Ascendant (the sign on the eastern horizon at the time of birth) and arguably the Lot of Fortune were given just as much, even more attention than the Sun in a birth chart. The reason we identify so much with our Sun sign is the result of the commodification of astrology beginning in the late 19th century in the West. It is not how astrology was practiced originally and relying on it for astrological analysis is insufficient.
In modern astrology, the signs represent archetypal personalities, but for pre-modern astrologers like Abu Ma’shar, the signs represent the material changes affecting all life starting at Creation. Everything that exists in this world is the result of some mixture of the elements. That’s true in chemistry as well as astrology. Fire, earth, air and water are called compound elements, and each compound element is the result of a mixture of two of the four simple elements: heat, coldness, wetness and dryness. Heat and coldness are active, because they reflect the creation and destruction of life. Wetness and dryness are passive elements because they receive the action of heat and coldness. [1]
According to Abu Ma’shar, the reason we have 12 signs in the zodiac is a result of the four compound elements: fire, earth, air and water, going through three conditions: a beginning, a middle and an end. Four elements’ times three conditions create twelve signs. The signs represent change in the form of creation, and destruction because of the differences between them. What is created in Aries or Taurus could come to an end in Sagittarius or Capricorn. Thus, the planets do not create change on their own but bring their energy to the signs which creates the change we experience. The planets are guests in the signs they move through. [2]
The beginning, middle and end are the origins for what’s known as the modality/quadruplicity, or mode, as modern astrologers call it. Modality reflects the season of the element. Cardinal or tropical signs are the first signs in a new season. Aries is the beginning of spring, Cancer marks the beginning of summer, Libra is the beginning of autumn and Capricorn is the beginning of winter. The next modality are the fixed signs, when the weather of the season is fixed or consistent: Taurus is the middle of spring, Leo is the middle of summer, Scorpio is the middle of autumn and Aquarius is the middle of winter. And finally, there are the mutable or common signs which reflect the changing of the seasons. Gemini reflects the end of spring. Virgo is the end of summer, Sagittarius is the end of autumn, and Pisces reflects the end of winter. [3]
Put simply, the nature of a zodiac sign is the result of a combination of an active element, a passive element and a modality. Remember signs bring change. A sign’s element tells astrologers what change is coming, and the sign’s modality indicates how that change will come about. The reason Aries is the first sign of the zodiac is because heat is necessary for the creation of life, and heat is Aries’ dominant element with dryness as the passive element. At the end of the zodiac is Pisces, dominated by coldness, with wetness as the passive element, symbolizing the end of life. Aries is quite literally “the beginning.” [4]
The fusion of simple elements in pairs creates something called temperament, which is worthy of a post on its own. For now, it’s enough to know that temperament is the inherent qualities of signs and planets and comes from combinations of the simple and passive elements. The fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius and are hot/dry. Earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn and are cold/dry. Air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius and are hot/wet, and water signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces and are cold/wet.
Now that we have the framework, let’s apply it to some of the signs.
Aries is cardinal fire, hot/dry, represents the beginning. This is the origin of pop astrology’s description of Aries as the initiator or the warrior.
Gemini is mutable air, hot/wet and represents the end of spring. The origin of modern/pop astrology’s characterization of Gemini as adaptable and dual-natured comes from the sign’s inherent flexibility of heated wetness.
Scorpio is one of the most misunderstood signs. Its’ modern/pop characterization centers on sex and transformation. First, there are other signs easily considered more sexual than Scorpio. Second, the transformation part comes from Scorpio’s association with alchemy. [5] Using the analyses we’ve done before, Scorpio is fixed water, cold/wet and represents the middle of autumn. Scorpio’s modern association of deep, enduring emotion comes closest to the sign’s origin.
So, we’ve explained the nature and origin of the signs, why there are twelve, and touched on how modern understanding of the signs reveals a disconnect between the signs as personalities versus their original role of bringing change through the planets. The signs host the planets as they move through the zodiac.
But this is only half the story. The next step is the exploring the reception planets get in the signs. Remember each planet has an innate nature. Some signs make it easier for the planet to be themselves, and others make it more difficult. This is what’s known as dignity and is the subject of the next post…
Works Cited
[1] Abu Ma’shar. The Great Introduction to Astrology. Vol. 1. Edited and translated by Keiji Yamamoto and Charles Burnett, Brill, 2019. p. 199
[2] Abu Ma’shar, Great Introduction, pp. 191, 193
[3] Abu Ma’shar, Great Introduction, pp. 205, 207
[4] Abu Ma’shar, Great Introduction, p. 211
[5] Olomi, Ali A. "Scorpio, or al-Aqrab, in Astrology from the Islamic World." Head on History, Patreon. patreon.com/headonhistory