Introduction (A Note)

I understand that astrology is a bit of a touchy topic. For the most part, you either believe in it or you don’t. This article and all of the other astrology articles that I’m going to write are not written to force anyone into believing in astrology. I’m not a persuasive writer: that’s not what I do, and it’s not what I like doing. I write about astrology to share what I’ve learned over the years. Do I find it to be accurate? Well, after doing thorough research, I have to say yes, I find it very accurate. However, I feel that everyone comes to their own conclusions through their own thinking processes, personalities and life experiences. Therefore, whatever you choose to believe, I will support your decision. Nonetheless, whether you’re an astro newbie figuring out your natal chart or you’re just looking for something interesting to read, you’re in luck.

Signs

There are three basic things you need to know when starting out: signs, planets, and houses¹ (more on planets and houses later on). There is no way one can learn astrology without first learning the signs. The signs show you “how” you do things. And if you don’t know how you’re doing something, you’re not really doing it. Makes sense, right? The signs show you how the planets’ energies manifest for you. Mars represents one’s temper. But is it in Aries, where it will give you an aggressive temper that settles as fast as it erupts? Or is it in Taurus, where it’s slow to burn? Are you a talkative Gemini Mercury, or are you a Capricorn Mercury, like me, who deliberates over every damn thing before you say it?

I’m going to start with some general categories that are crucial to defining signs and distinguishing them from each other. These include “Masculine” and “Feminine” signs and the elements and qualities of the signs. I will also explain polarities, or signs opposite each other, and clarify a common misnomer on opposing signs. I will use the next twelve articles to go into each sign in a bit of detail, rather than go over them here. Otherwise, this article would become ridiculously long.

Masculine/Feminine

When astrologers refer to Masculine and Feminine signs, they are not referring to signs in terms of gender norms or the ways in which society says men and women act. They are—and I am—in no way referring to anyone as being “mannish” or “womanly.” I have to get this off my chest because as someone who is very turned off by gender norms, it’s something that annoyed me in my early days learning astrology, and it continues to annoy new beginners. Just because most of a man’s planets in his natal chart² are in feminine signs, doesn’t mean he is less of a man than are other men. If a woman has a strong Aries influence, it doesn’t make her any less womanly than a woman with a strong Cancer influence in her natal chart. Masculine and Feminine in astrology does not mean male and female, nor man and woman.

Masculine and Feminine describe two ways in which different signs express their energies. Masculine signs, the fire and air signs, direct their energy outwards. They’re known to be more extroverted, and they fix their problems through either charging ahead with spirit (fire) or communicating with others (air). Feminine signs, the earth and water signs, direct their energy inwards. They’re known to be introverted, and they fix their problems through rumination and looking inside themselves for answers, either by grounding themselves (earth) or feeling through their emotions (water).

Elements

I already mentioned elements in the previous section, but here I will be more specific. When I think about each element, I think about its signs’ focus. In the sub-sections below, I will go over each element (also called triplicity) and its focus, along with its signs.

Fire (Motivational/Spiritual):

Fire is the hardest sign for me to define, probably because I have no planets in fire signs. I describe the energy of fire as motivational or spiritual. By “spiritual,” I do not mean following a religion of any kind; I mean having the drive and inner spirit to drive full Shinkansen³ speed ahead in everything one does. This describes the focus of the fire signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Their focus is on courage and spirit, and like their element, they shine brightly. Fire signs are outgoing, energetic, brave and assertive. However, they can also be aggressive, brash, careless and tactless.

Earth (Material/Physical)

The energy of earth is material and physical. This makes sense, given that earth is the only solid of the four elements. Earth signs—Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn—are focused on the material and physical world, and on being grounded (pun not unintended). They are hard as a rock and steady as a mountain. They don’t go crazy like some of the other signs can. If you want calm, find an earth sign. They’re stable, practical, resourceful and realistic; they can also be stubborn, boring, rigid and stagnant.

Air (Intellectual/Mental)

Air signs—Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, focus on communication and intellect. This doesn’t mean other signs lack the potential to become geniuses; it only means that the mind is the air signs’ prime concern. They’re the big conversationalists and enjoy being social. They’re the ones you want to talk to (and party with). Air signs are intellectual, logical, friendly and curious. They can also come off as cold, impractical, aloof and distant.

Water (Feeling/Emotional)

Water has long been associated with emotion, which characterizes the signs Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. These signs feel out everything. If they walk into a crowded room, they soak in everyone’s feelings. More than everyone, they have to be careful of whom they hang out with; if they’re surrounded too often by depressed or angry people, they will end up being depressed or angry themselves. Water signs are caring, intuitive, receptive and sensitive. They can also be moody, repressed, touchy and overly emotional.

Qualities

Each element describes the focus of the signs it represents; each quality (or quadruplicity) describes how its signs carry out their focus. There are three qualities: cardinal, fixed, and mutable, and each quality is assigned to one sign of each element (i.e. Aries is cardinal fire; Taurus is fixed earth; Gemini is mutable air; Cancer is cardinal water, etc.). Therefore, no sign shares the same element-quality combination with another sign.

Cardinal (the Starters)

Cardinal signs are the beginners. If you’re at a loss starting something, ask a cardinal sign for help. They’re skilled, dynamic leaders and creative thinkers, and when they set their minds to something, they will do it. However, because they’re always eager to take the lead, they can be very impatient. Their go-getter attitude also turns them into busy-bodies, and as good as they are at starting things, they’re not very good at finishing them. They may have myriad unfinished projects in their corner, stopped mid-way out of boredom before they moved on to other, fresher ideas. Of the three qualities, cardinal signs are the least likely to procrastinate.

Cardinal Signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

Fixed (the Finishers)

Unlike cardinal signs, fixed signs are not very good at getting things started, but they are excellent at finishing them. Because their energy is more about making sure tasks are completed, they are the most settled of the three qualities. Whereas cardinal signs are always roaring and ready to go, fixed signs take their time, leave no stone unturned, steadily going through each step until the job is done. This slow-and-steady approach gives fixed signs patience and perseverance, but also makes them more stubborn than other signs. Don’t count on getting them to budge. Once their minds are made up, you’ll have to move volcanoes to change them. That’s because they think everything through before they make a final decision, so they already feel they’ve made the best decision they can. They’re prone to procrastination.

Fixed Signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius

Mutable (the Revisers)

Even after a project is finished, you still need someone to come and tie up all its loose ends. It’s what writers often call revision. The cardinal signs start the process; the fixed signs build upon it to bring it to completion; and the mutable signs take care of the last minute details. You have to have a lot of adaptability in order to take care of the little things. When it comes to difficult situations, mutable signs are the ones most likely to take it all in stride. They take advantage of their own changeable nature in order to adapt to the situation. Or they alter the situation to fit their needs. The ability to adapt makes mutable signs very easy-going and flexible, but they can be all over the place. They’re also the worst procrastinators and become bored pretty easily.

Mutable Signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.

So, to Sum it Up

Aries: Cardinal Fire

Taurus: Fixed Earth

Gemini: Mutable Air

Cancer: Cardinal Water

Leo: Fixed Fire

Virgo: Mutable Earth

Libra: Cardinal Air

Scorpio: Fixed Water

Sagittarius: Mutable Fire

Capricorn: Cardinal Earth

Aquarius: Fixed Air

Pisces: Mutable Water

Polarity Pairs

People call them opposite or opposing signs, but I like to think of them as polarity pairs. The reason being that, contrary to popular belief, opposite signs are not complete foils of one another. They are signs that aim to achieve the same thing, but in different ways. The following are the polarity pairs, along with what they aim to achieve, followed by how the signs differ in terms of the way they achieve it.

Aries/Libra (Personality)

Aries and Libra strive to create their identities. Aries is the sign of the self, and Aries people put themselves first, focusing on their own needs, desires, and priorities. They give off their personality through via their aggressiveness and self-willed nature. In contrast, Libra is the sign of partnership. People with a strong Libran influence focus on finding another person(s) with whom they can work with as a duo, and learn aspects of their personality through the partnership. Libras focus on keeping harmony and balance between themselves and those close to them. Aries focuses on what is best for them alone, while Libra seeks to communicate and learn from another.

Taurus/Scorpio (Ownership)

Both Taurus and Scorpio aim to have something of worth in their possession. Taurus wants to accumulate money and physical possessions, and is focused on their own self-worth and self-esteem. Scorpio, however, focuses more on emotional needs rather than physical, tangible items, going deep inside their innermost, and sometimes darkest, parts of themselves. Scorpio also focuses more on giving this same emotional power to others. Taurus is more about what can be touched and what is their own, while Scorpio is more about what they need in an abstract sense and handles others’ belongings.

Gemini/Sagittarius (Knowledge)

I deem Gemini and Sagittarius the knowledge signs because their main concern is in learning. Gemini takes bits and pieces of information from everything around them (think grades 1-12), making them trivia whizzes and excellent conversationalists. Sagittarius, meanwhile, gets deep in depth in one or maybe a few subjects (think post-secondary education). Gemini is more interested in concrete or usual everyday information, such as the news, celebrity gossip, music, and movies, whereas Sagittarius broadens their intellectuality through things like foreign travel and philosophy.

Cancer/Capricorn (Security)

I think out of all the polarity pairs, the Cancer/Capricorn pair is, by far, the easiest for me to understand. That’s most likely because I have my sun in Capricorn and what is called my ascendant in Cancer. But that’s for later articles. Anyway, the goal of both Cancer and Capricorn is to gain and maintain security. Cancers’ idea of security is based on emotions. They gain their security through creating a comforting home for their family and loved ones. They need some kind of domestic roots in order to grow and bloom, or they will wilt. Capricorn, on the other hand, gains security through the more grounded means of career, and public image. They work their way up and up, climbing until they reach their professional goal.

Leo/Aquarius (Expression)

Of all the signs, Leo and Aquarius are the most focused on expressing themselves. Leos are well-known performers who embrace creativity and romance. They have to have an audience (especially a loving one) and will be pretty sore if they’re not getting the attention they feel they deserve. They live to be the star in one way or another, whether that’s by being a hit movie star or CEO or the head of a household. They perform in order to gain approval. Aquarius doesn’t give a molecule of a damn about approval. They’re the rebels of the zodiac. They also express themselves, but they do it in order to fight against the norm. It can be through their appearance, their speech, their lifestyle, or anything else. Rather than needing an audience to approve of them, Aquarius does what they do for the betterment of mankind… that is, if mankind will accept it.

Virgo/Pisces (Well-Being)

Two late great astrologers, Joan McEvers and Marion D. March, described the sixth and twelfth houses (the houses ruled by Virgo and Pisces respectively) as “the house of physical health” and “the house of mental health,”⁴ respectively. I really like that, so I call the Virgo-Pisces polarity the Polarity of Well-Being. Virgo represents physical health, being that it’s based in the tangible. The best way to keep up with your health is to keep yourself in check, to analyze (Virgo’s inborn skill) yourself frequently. Pisces is more focused on the emotional and hard-to-define parts of well-being. Psychological health is more abstract and not as easily measured or understood as physical health is. Pisces is a sign more involved with the unconscious, whereas Virgo deals more with what is seen as rational.

Great! You’ve finished the first article. Now you can learn about each sign individually. Have fun!

Next Article: Aries, the Cardinal Fire Sign

¹Sections of the natal chart that represent different aspects of life (money, career, marriage, children, etc.)

²More on natal charts a lot later. In general, it’s a blueprint of your astrological makeup.

³Trains in Japan that run at about 200 miles per hour. Also called “bullet trains.”

⁴The Only Way to Learn Astrology, Vol. I (1981)