Astrology – Qualities – Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable

Another tangent. I was looking up details about the Tarot card “The Wheel of Fortune” and it has 4 creatures depicted on the card, one in each corner. This is said to reference the 4 fixed signs of the zodiac… what is a fixed sign? and now another rabbit hole beckons as not only is their fixed signs, but also Cardinal and Mutable.

So, 12 zodiac signs, 4 elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) and now we have qualities or modalities.

So where the Element represents what energy is made of, the quality (modality) is how that energy behaves.

The qualities are Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable and these are defined by a point within each season, Cardinal (the start), Fixed (the middle) or Mutable (the end).

Cardinal – The initiators

• Signs:
  • Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn
• Start of each season
• Full of initiative, impulsive, dynamic and love starting new things.

Cardinals signs are ‘the spark’, the ones that begin things.  They don’t always finish what they start, but they get things moving.

Fixed Signs – The sustainers

• Signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius
• Middle of each season, gives them stability and endurance.
• Stability, focus, persistence, loyalty, reliability, routines

Fixed signs  take what a Cardinal sign starts and holds it steady, they do the leg work and keep it going.  They are ‘the anchor’, they’re the reason anything actually lasts.

Mutable Signs – The adapters

• Signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces
• End of each season, movement, change
• Flexibility, adaptable

Mutable signs are ‘the shapeshifters’, the ones who prepare us for change (as they wrap things up).  They’re not about holding or starting, they’re about flowing.

Summary

• Cardinal – start it
• Fixed – hold it/ keep it moving
• Mutable – change it/finish it