The Cardinal Signs

Some people cannot see a problem without wanting to do something about it. They start the project, call the meeting, make the first move. They are not always the ones who finish, but nothing would begin without them. That is cardinal energy: the impulse to initiate, to lead, to get things moving.

The word comes from the Latin cardo, a hinge. The cardinal signs are the hinges of the year, the points on which the seasons turn.

The four hinges of the year

Each cardinal sign begins a season, and each starts things in the way of its element.

• Aries opens spring at the March equinox. Cardinal fire: it starts by acting, boldly and first.
• Cancer opens summer at the June solstice. Cardinal water: it starts by protecting, building a home and a circle.
• Libra opens autumn at the September equinox. Cardinal air: it starts by relating, proposing partnership and agreement.
• Capricorn opens winter at the December solstice. Cardinal earth: it starts by planning, building structures that last.

All four want to lead. Their directions differ, which is why they challenge each other.

Why cardinal signs clash

Signs of the same modality sit 90 or 180 degrees apart. Aries squares Cancer and Capricorn and opposes Libra. So cardinal planets in a chart are linked by squares and oppositions, the aspects of friction and drive.

When all four cardinal signs are linked in one chart, they form a grand cross: four planets, two oppositions, four squares. It is one of the most demanding patterns in astrology, and one of the most dynamic. Pressure comes from every side, and the person learns to act under it.

Here is a less-known link. In traditional astrology the cardinal signs were sometimes called the moveable signs, and the angles of a chart, the Ascendant, IC, Descendant and Midheaven, were seen as their echo in the houses. Things started under cardinal signs were thought to move quickly, and to change quickly too.

Are you cardinal, fixed or mutable?

See how your planets spread across the three modalities.

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