(This was partially written by Ares in 2020. Slight edits have been made.)
Here, you’ll learn more information regarding signs, elements, qualities, decans, and planets.
Here are a couple of keywords and characteristics for each of the 12 signs. Remember to look past these keywords, and understand/delve deeper into the traits of each sign!
aries: assertive, competitive, impulsive taurus: stability, comfort, stubborn gemini: intelligent, fickle, witty cancer: intuitive, family, tenacious leo: enthusiastic, loyal, self-centered virgo: practical, analytical, critical libra: cooperative, harmony, indecisive scorpio: intense, willpower, secretive sagittarius: enthusiastic, expansion, careless capricorn: ambitious, structure, rigid aquarius: innovative, humanitarian, detached pisces: creative, compassionate, sensitive
As you may know, there are 12 signs in astrology. Since many of them show similar characteristics, we can sort them into 2 categories: elements and qualities. Each sign belongs in both an element and a quality, and will find similarities with the other signs of the same group.
There are 4 elements: fire, earth, air, and water.
Fire signs: aries, leo, sagittarius Associated with assertion and self-expression, fire signs are action-orientated and seeks to define the individual self. Negative connotations for fire signs are: egotistical, impulsive, or temperamental.
Earth signs: taurus, virgo, capricorn Stability, practicality, and rationality. They are practical workers due to their strong sense of duty and are down-to-earth. Shallow points: stubborn, cautious, too materialistic.
Air signs: gemini, libra, aquarius Communication and intellectual activity. Their primary focuses are mental stimulation and intellectual attributes. Flaws of air signs: indecisive, detached, complex.
Water signs: cancer, scorpio, pisces Sensibility and intuition. They are able to shelter others and empathetic. Negative traits include: emotional, secretive, moody.
There are 3 qualities: cardinal, fixed, and mutable.
Cardinal signs: aries, cancer, libra, capricorn Initiation, challenge, action. Cardinal signs are self-starters and initiators that direct their focus in individual security and freedom.
Fixed signs: taurus, leo, scorpio, aquarius empowerment, execution, determination. fFxed is a quality that focuses on direction and order, concerned with shared experiences regarding experience and results. For example, taurus and scorpio deal with accumulation of resources, while leo and aquarius deal with topics of self-expression.
Mutable signs: gemini, virgo, sagittarius, pisces Easy-going, flexibility, utilization, review. Mutable signs are always on the hunt to expand, whether it is knowledge or experience, pursuing and refining ideas that were originally set in motion.
How we can combine both elements and qualities can be explained with this example: scorpio is the fixed water sign of the zodiac. Scorpio is fixed (stubborn/determined) and water (emotional, sensitive). Therefore, we can deduct that scorpios are determined but also intense, when appealing to their emotional side.
Although you may know your sun sign, you have more than one planet! Everyone has 10 planets in their chart. The ones that are most common and talked about are: sun sign, moon sign, mercury sign, and your rising sign. Each planet rules over a different aspect of yourself, and its focus/course of action will differ according to your sign in the placement.
☉ sun: ego, individuality, confidence ☾ moon: emotional responses, internal mindset/attitude ☿ mercury: communication style, judgement patterns ♀ venus: love, attractions, aesthetics ♂ mars: anger, assertion, impulsive action
♃ jupiter: expansion, fortune, philosophical and moral beliefs ♄ saturn: responsibilities, difficulties, affairs of serious nature ♅ uranus: individuality, independence, generational differences ♆ neptune: generational creative/cultural expression ♇ pluto: renewal, change/transformation of fundamental will and energy
The inner planets are more personal and more crucial towards your personality, as the characteristics of outer planets are less individual, since outer planets are generational planets. For example: people born between 1995 to 2008 would have pluto in sagittarius: pluto (change/transformation) in sagittarius (scratching more than what is on the surface). We can see this with the same drive for activism + awareness that pluto sagittarians share.
Here’s an example: someone who has their mercury sign (planet of communication) in aries (blunt, impulsive) would be prone to ranting, as for someone with mercury in pisces (sensitivity and intuition) can be more soft spoken.