The Twelve Signs as a Grid

Chemistry students once had to memorize the elements one by one, a long list of names and weights with nothing holding it together. Then Dmitri Mendeleev laid them out in rows and columns. The list became a map. He even left gaps for elements nobody had found yet and described them in advance from their empty squares alone. When those elements finally turned up they matched his descriptions.

The twelve signs work the same way. You already have the rows and the columns from the last two lessons. Put the four elements down the side and the three modalities across the top and you get a grid of twelve squares with exactly one sign in each.

Take a moment with it before reading on. No sign appears twice and no square is left empty. The reason is simple. Around the wheel the elements repeat every four signs and the modalities every three. Four and three share no common divisor other than one. That is why the two cycles only line up again once the full circle is complete.

On the wheel itself the grid takes a different shape. The three signs of each element draw a triangle and the four signs of each modality draw a cross. Every sign is the corner of one triangle and the arm of one cross at the same time.

What the ruler adds

Ancient astrology gave each sign one more thing, a ruling planet. The ruler is the planet that feels at home in that sign. The tradition calls that sign its domicile. A planet in a sign it rules usually does its job with ease, the way someone speaks their first language without thinking about grammar. The ruler also lends the sign some of its character. That is why Libra carries something of Venus even when your own Venus sits in another sign.

The arrangement follows a logic. Ptolemy laid it out in the second century and it fits in a single paragraph. The Moon rules Cancer and the Sun rules Leo, two neighboring signs. From there each planet takes a pair of signs, one on either side, in the order of its speed across the sky.

Mercury moves fastest and takes Gemini and Virgo. Those two sit right beside the lights, much as Mercury in the sky never strays far from the Sun. Venus comes next. She rules Taurus and Libra. Mars takes Aries and Scorpio. Further out Jupiter holds Sagittarius and Pisces. Saturn is the slowest planet visible to the naked eye. It closes the pattern with Capricorn and Aquarius, directly opposite the signs of the lights.

When the modern planets were discovered astrologers looked for a place for them too. Uranus came to be linked with Aquarius, Neptune with Pisces and Pluto with Scorpio. Many astrologers use the classical ruler and the modern one together. Others work only with the seven classical planets. This course shows you both.

The twelve, quarter by quarter

Here are the twelve in wheel order, three at a time. Each quarter opens with a cardinal sign, continues with a fixed one and ends with a mutable one. Watch how each sign answers the one before it.

Aries to Gemini

Aries is cardinal fire, the spark that starts the wheel. It moves first and works out the direction along the way. Mars rules it and gives it that straight-line drive along with a short fuse. Its weak point is the long middle of anything, the stretch that comes after the excitement wears off.

Taurus takes what Aries lit and gives it ground. It is fixed earth, the steadiest sign in the zodiac. It trusts what it can hold and keep. With Venus as its ruler that steadiness reaches the senses too. Taurus knows the difference between good bread and bread that is merely fine. Once it has settled it is very hard to move, which can be loyalty or plain stubbornness.

After so much stillness Gemini arrives as mutable air under Mercury. This is curiosity that jumps between subjects and links ideas nobody thought to put together. It tends to have several books open at once. Depth can suffer when there is always something newer to look at.

Cancer to Virgo

Cancer opens the second quarter as cardinal water, with the Moon as its ruler. Its initiative goes into looking after people. It notices who has not eaten before anyone else does. When it feels unsafe it pulls into its shell and can go quiet for days.

Leo is fixed fire, a flame that stays lit. The Sun rules it. That is where its wish to be seen comes from, along with the generosity of someone who warms a whole room. It needs recognition the way a fire needs air. Starved of it Leo tends to perform harder instead of resting.

Virgo closes the quarter as mutable earth. Mercury rules it again, though here the mind works through the hands. It enjoys taking something that almost works and making it work properly. The risk is turning that sharp eye on itself and finding the flaw in everything it does.

Libra to Sagittarius

With Libra the wheel turns toward the other person. It is cardinal air and shares its ruler with Taurus. Here Venus is looking for balance between two people. Libra takes the first step to bring people together and to keep things fair. Its difficulty is the moment when someone has to be told no.

Scorpio is fixed water, a feeling that does not evaporate. Its classical ruler is Mars. Modern astrologers added Pluto. Between the two you get its intensity and a loyalty that refuses to let go. It wants to know what lies underneath and distrusts anything that stays on the surface. It tends to remember exactly who stood by it at the worst moment.

Sagittarius closes the quarter as mutable fire under Jupiter. This is fire that travels in search of meaning and wider horizons. It believes easily and its enthusiasm spreads to whoever is nearby. Routine weighs on it more than on almost any other sign.

Capricorn to Pisces

Capricorn opens the last quarter. It is cardinal earth ruled by Saturn, initiative put to work building something that lasts. It sets long goals and climbs slowly. Its shadow is the habit of postponing rest until the work is done, which it rarely is.

Aquarius is fixed air, an idea held against wind and weather. It shares its classical ruler with Capricorn. The moderns gave it Uranus as well. That mix explains how it thinks about groups and the future with a stubbornness all its own. It can fight for people it has never met and still keep the person beside it at arm's length.

Pisces closes the wheel as mutable water. Jupiter is its classical ruler and Neptune its modern one. It is water that blends with everything. It feels what the person next to it feels and sometimes loses track of where its own feelings end. Its compassion runs very wide. Saying no is one of the hardest things it learns.

Your signs on the grid

Now take your wheel. Go planet by planet, find each one's sign and give it two words and a ruler. Check whether any planet sits in a sign it rules, like a Venus in Taurus or a Mercury in Gemini. That planet is at home. It usually expresses itself easily, sometimes so easily that you never notice it as anything special.

You also do not need to memorize twelve descriptions. If you forget how Scorpio behaves, fixed water is enough to work it out again. Two words and a ruler rebuild any sign.

That completes the block on signs. The next lesson brings no new pieces. You use the ones you already have to read your Sun and your Moon with a method.

Next: You Can Now Read Your Sun and Your Moon →
All twenty-seven lessons

David S.R. is a professional astrologer with twenty years of practice, based in southern Spain. He personally writes long birth chart readings, one person at a time. More about his work and background. His articles are on the blog.