zodiac signs are zodiac PLACES
The 12 zodiac signs are frequently discussed as people, specifically, the human people who happen to have their Sun in each respective sign.
However, the zodiac signs are the domiciles — that is to say, the homes — of the seven classical planets.
Thinking about the signs as PLACES rather than PEOPLE is one of the best ways to immediately enhance understanding of the signs and their significations. It’s a simple but super effective perspective shift, and one that opens up interpretation beyond human personality typology.
Building understanding of a zodiac sign as a place begins with considering the ELEMENT and MODALITY attributed to each sign. There are three modalities and four elements; together, we get the 12 signs of the zodiac.
MODALITY
Modality can be understood as a WAY of MOVING, a quality of momentum or force.
☄️cardinal starts it
🔥fixed maintains it
⚡️mutable changes it
Put another way:
💘 cardinal initiates
❤️🔥 fixed sustains
💞mutable adapts
Cardinal signs have a propulsive quality to them, getting things moving and working against stasis or stagnancy. Fixed signs have, well, a fixity to them, solidifying & cohering things. Mutable signs morph things, facilitating transition from one state into another, sometimes moving in many directions at once.
ELEMENT
Elements describe the basic building blocks and areas of concern.
EARTH signs are concerned with tangible and concrete reality, the pragmatic & practical, and the incarnate sensuality of existence.
FIRE signs are just as hard to pin down as actual fire, and focused on vitality, vibrancy, and the ineffable jolt that propels life.
AIR signs speak to the intangible but no less real fabric of being, from social ties to spiritual & philosophical worldviews to intellectual interconnection.
WATER signs bring us into relationship with everything that flows, shifting like tides, unifying disparate parts, and nourishing & protecting the emotional ties that bind.
So, what happens when we put these ideas together? What follows are the short poetic explorations I originally shared over on Instagram, but there is so much depth available in this approach — take some time to contemplate and see what your own imagination comes up with!
FIRE SIGNS AS FIRE PLACES
♈️ Aries — cardinal fire — is the meteor searing through the atmosphere,
the flame thrower,
the bottlerocket unbottled.
♌️ Leo — fixed fire — is the hearth at the heart of the house,
the eternal flame burning in the temple,
steady as the Sun.
♐️ Sagittarius — mutable fire — is the campfire built for storytelling,
the lantern lighting
the trail,
the thermos of spiked hot cider shared with strangers.
EARTH SIGNS AS EARTH PLACES
♑️ Capricorn — cardinal earth — is the tectonic plate,
the terraformer,
underwater volcanoes creating the ocean's floor,
glaciers flattening hills into plains.
♉️ Taurus — fixed earth — is the old-growth forest at the edge of the old-growth prairie, the original permacultural oasis,
deeply rooted,
deeply fecund.
♍️ Virgo — mutable earth — is the beehive,
the genius architecture
built to exacting specifications to preserve
& honor the perfect sweetness of summer's meadow flowers.
WATER SIGNS AS WATER PLACES
♋️ Cancer — cardinal water — is the river,
bringing nutrients to an array of riparian ecosystems,
moving detritus through with quickness,
the waters of life ricocheting around hills & carving canyons.
♏️ Scorpio — fixed water — is the well,
the still waters springing forth from the underworld,
precious nourishment in need of protection
from poison & dishonor.
♓️ Pisces — mutable water — is the ocean,
the great sea of being,
the waters of unitive consciousness
soothing the pain of unbelonging.
AIR SIGNS AS AIR PLACES
♎️ Libra — cardinal air — is the jet stream,
pushing weather and wind across the planet,
connecting continents and oceans,
painting skies with the ephemeral poetry of clouds & storms.
♒️ Aquarius — fixed air — is the candy-coating of atmosphere
enshrining the blue-green marble of Earth,
a bell jar begetting life & marking its limit.
♊️ Gemini — mutable air — is dancing pollen
and cottonwood snow hitching rides on updraft and breeze,
a haze of dna data packets flitting across fields & forests,
around hill & tree.
TAKING IT FURTHER
The above is a great starting place for deepening & improving your understanding of the zodiac signs, but if you want to take it even further, study the planets themselves, too. Each zodiac sign is ruled by one of the 7 classical planets, and each planet gives to its sign(s) qualities and “decorations” that align with its planetary nature. For now, here’s a list of the planets and the signs they rule:
Sun - Leo
Moon - Cancer
Mercury - Gemini & Virgo
Venus - Taurus & Libra
Mars - Aries & Scorpio
Jupiter - Sagittarius & Pisces
Saturn - Capricorn & Aquarius
For the purposes of this kind of contemplation, I recommend sticking with the classical rulers of the signs. The outer planets — Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto — have affinity for certain signs, but they don’t have responsiblity over those signs! The outer planets weren’t part of the original creation of astrological meaning-making, and so did not contribute to the creation of the foundations of that meaning-making.
TAKING IT EVEN FURTHER
If you enjoy this approach to making meaning, this approach is part of what I teach in my workshop Fundamental Needs, Required Resources: The Collaboration of the 1st and 2nd Houses. FNRR is aimed at specifically better understanding the 1st and 2nd Houses, but includes teachings that take beginner-level sign interpretation to the next level. If you’re a beyond-total-beginner astrology enthusiast who wants to improve your understanding of the signs as well as unlock new ways of perceiving the houses, this workshop is for you!
This is an expansion on a series of posts I shared to Instagram on August 21, 2023. You can see, save, & share the Earth post here; the Fire post here; the Water post here; and the Air post here.