Taurus the Bull April 19–May 20 _
Gemini the Twins May 21–June 20 `
Cancer the Crab June 21–July 22 a
Leo the Lion July 23–August 22 b
Virgo the Virgin August 23–September 22 c
Libra the Scales September 23–October 22 d
Scorpio the Scorpion October 23–November 21 e
Sagittarius the Archer November 22–December 21 f
Capricorn the Goat December 22–January 19 g
Aquarius the Water Bearer January 20–February 18 h
Pisces the Fish February 19–March 19 i
3. Understanding the Signs
Like any truly satisfying system, astrology classifies and interprets its basic building blocks in a number of ways. Just for starters, each sign is defined by a polarity (positive or negative reaction pattern), a quality or modality (form of expression), and an element (describing basic temperament).
You can figure out the polarity of each sign by dividing the zodiac in half. Beginning with Aries, six positive or masculine signs alternate with six negative or feminine signs. The sexist language, I regret to say, is traditional. Many astrologers use the terms yin and yang instead. Call them what you will, the meanings are as follows:
Positive (yang) signs are more extroverted, objective, and assertive.
Negative (yin) signs are more introverted, subjective, and receptive.
The zodiac can also be divided into pairs of opposing signs. The opposite signs are: Aries and Libra; Taurus and Scorpio; Gemini and Sagittarius; Cancer and Capricorn; Leo and Aquarius; and Virgo and Pisces.
The three modalities describe different forms of expression, as follows:
Cardinal signs are enterprising. They initiate change and make things happen. The cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.
Fixed signs consolidate and preserve change. They’re focused and determined. The fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.
Mutable signs are flexible and versatile. They adapt and adjust. The mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces.
Within the cycle of the zodiac, the three modalities occur in sequence. Cardinal energy initiates change, fixed energy digs its heels in and maintains the status quo, and mutable energy adapts to shifting circumstances.
Describing the temperament of each sign of the zodiac by assigning it to one of the four ancient elements is probably the most famous method of classification.
The four elements are fire, earth, air, and water:
Fire brings vitality, excitement, and intensity. The fire signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.
Earth gives stability, common sense, and the ability to get things done. The earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
Air enlivens the intellect and enhances sociability. The air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
Water strengthens the emotions and the intuition. The water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.
Once you know the order of the signs, it’s easy to assign them to their correct polarity, modality, and element because those classifications always occur in sequence. (You can clearly see that sequence in Table 1-2.) Those classifications convey a great deal of information. If all you know is the polarity, modality, and element of each sign, you know 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
For example, take Cancer the Crab. It’s the sign of negative cardinal water. This tells you that Crabs tend to be internal and receptive (negative), with a heavy dose of initiative (cardinal), and strong emotional awareness (water).
Or consider 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. This means that its natives tend to be outgoing (positive), determined (fixed), and full of flash (fire).
The polarity, modality, and element provide a rudimentary sense of what each sign is about. For a detailed description of the signs, turn to Part II.
Considering the Sun, the Moon, and the Planets
The Sun, the Moon, and the planets play individual parts in your horoscope. Their meanings are as follows:
The Sun represents your essential self, will, individuality, vitality, and desire for power. More than any other planet, it represents who you are. It also symbolizes men in general.
The Moon represents your emotions, subconscious, instincts, habits, and memory. It also represents women in general.
Mercury symbolizes your style of communication, your reasoning ability, and the way you think.
Venus represents those parts of your life that are concerned with love, attraction, beauty, possessions, and the arts.
Mars is the planet of desire and aggression. It represents your physical energy, combativeness, enterprise, and courage.
Jupiter is the planet of expansion and good fortune. It represents growth, prosperity, abundance, wisdom, generosity, and the higher mind. Jupiter’s position in a horoscope tells you where you’re lucky.
Saturn represents limitation, restriction, caution, organization, endurance, and discipline. It tells you where you have to face your fears — and also where you’re ambitious.
Chiron, a dwarf planet discovered in 1977, represents past hurt and future healing. Astrologers, not all of whom use Chiron, often associate it with holistic medicine.
Uranus represents originality, independence, rebelliousness, inventiveness, insight, and everything unexpected.
Neptune represents spirituality, dreams, psychic ability, intuition, disintegration, compassion, self-sacrifice, deception, and illusion.
Pluto represents elimination, destruction, regeneration, renewal, and transformation.
One way to simplify all this is to assign a single word — or, as astrologers prefer to say, keyword — to each planet. These keywords, which summarize each planet’s meaning, appear in Table 1-3.
Table 1-3 Keywords for the Planets
Planet Keyword
Sun Self
Moon Emotion
Mercury Communication
Venus Love
Mars Action
Jupiter Expansion
Saturn Restriction
Chiron Healing
Uranus Revolution
Neptune Imagination
Pluto Transformation
Who Rules? Discovering the Rulers of the Signs
In an ideal world, each planet would work well in each sign. But in fact, some placements are better than others. The sign in which a planet seems to function most effectively is the sign that it is said to rule. Two thousand years ago, when astrologers only had to worry about the Sun, the Moon, and five planets, they assigned the rulerships this way:
The Sun ruled Leo.
The Moon ruled Cancer.
Mercury ruled Gemini and Virgo.
Venus ruled Taurus and Libra.
Mars ruled Aries and Scorpio.
Jupiter ruled Pisces and Sagittarius.
Saturn ruled Aquarius and Capricorn.
After Uranus was discovered in 1781, followed by Neptune in 1846 and Pluto in 1930, astrologers modified the system. Today, the most commonly accepted planetary rulers are as follows:
The Sun rules Leo.
The Moon rules Cancer.
Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo.
Venus rules Taurus and Libra.
Mars rules Aries.
Jupiter rules Sagittarius.
Saturn rules Capricorn.
Uranus rules Aquarius.
Neptune rules Pisces.
Pluto rules Scorpio.
In recent years, astronomers have discovered legions of asteroids, moons, and other celestial bodies in our solar system. One of them is Chiron,which was discovered in 1977. Some astrologers believe that Chiron is the ruler of Virgo. Others associate it with Sagittarius. Many don’t bother with it at all, and it has yet to be assigned the rulership of a sign.
Assessing the Ascendant and the Houses
The planets aren’t the only essential components of your chart. The Ascendant or rising sign — the sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth — is equally important. It refers to your mask or persona — the face that you show the world. It also marks the start of the 12 houses.
The Ascendant
Have you ever had a friend who was Miss Congeniality — until you got to know her? Did you ever encounter anyone who seemed standoffish and cold at first but warmed up later on? Do you know anyone whose devil-may-care, lighthearted attitude masks a calculating, manipulative mind? And have you ever wondered how you strike other people, especially when they don’t know you well? Your horoscope provides the answer. While your Sun sign may not be apparent to people, they definitely notice your Ascendant. It’s your image, your facade, your surface personality. Whether it clashes or harmonizes with your Sun sign, it describes the way people see you and the impression that you make. Indeed, some astrologers consider the ruler of the Ascendant — that is, the planet that rules the rising sign — to be the overall ruler of your chart.
No matter what your Sun sign might be, any one of the 12 signs might have been on the eastern horizon when you were born. If you were born around dawn, when the Sun was peeking over the horizon, you already know your rising sign: It’s the same as your Sun sign. If you were born at any other time of day, your rising sign and Sun sign differ.
For those people whose Sun signs and rising signs are identical, the surface and the substance are the same. For everyone else, what you see isn’t necessarily what you get.
Consider Whoopi Goldberg: She has Aquarius rising, so she appears progressive, sociable, and eccentric — a personality with a lively mind and a detached, observant approach to life. In fact, her Sun is in Scorpio, so beneath her brilliant Aquarian surface, she’s intensely emotional, passionate, and secretive — not detached at all.
Besides shaping your personality, the Ascendant serves another function: It opens the door to the houses. For more about that subject, read on.
Taking the House Tour
It makes no difference whether you’re a fun-loving Leo or a workaholic Capricorn, you still have to deal with relationships, money, health, career, and so on. Those areas come under the authority of the houses, which divide the sky into 12 parts, beginning with the Ascendant, which marks the start of the first house. The meanings of the houses are summarized in Table 1-4.
Table 1-4 Houses and Their Significance
House Areas of Concern
First house Your appearance and surface personality
Second house Money, possessions, values
Third house Communication, short journeys, brothers and sisters
Fourth house Home, roots, one parent, circumstances at the end of life
Fifth house Romance, children, creativity
Sixth house Work and health
Seventh house Marriage and other partnerships
Eighth house Sex, death, regeneration, other people’s money
Ninth house Higher education, long journeys, religion, philosophy
Tenth house Career, status, reputation, the other parent
Eleventh house Friends and aspirations
Twelfth house Enemies, seclusion, secrets
Just as every birth chart includes all the planets, every horoscope has all 12 houses. The sign on the cusp, or beginning of the house, describes your approach to it. For instance, if the sign of the bull is on the cusp of your house of work, your attitude toward your job is Taurean, making you dependable, productive, and a bit of a plodder, regardless of whether that house is crammed full of planets or empty.
The word cusp is used in two ways in astrology. When people say they were born “on the cusp,” they mean that their birthday falls at the end of one sign and the beginning of another. They usually think that they have qualities belonging to both signs. When astrologers refer to the cusp of a house, they mean the house’s starting point.