Astrology: Elements, Qualities and House Classifications

Elements, Qualities and Classifications (Modes)

Each of the twelve signs of the zodiac express themselves fundamentally according to their particular element and quality.
Even though each of the signs will express its own individual set of traits; they will also share certain essential modes of expression depending on which element and quality grouping they belong to.

The elements are Fire, Air, Earth, and Water.

The qualities are Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.

ELEMENTS - Fire, Air, Earth and Water

The Fire signs are: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.
All of these signs are basically enthusiastic, passionate about life, and optimistic. Negatively, they can be self entered and overly aggressive.

The Earth signs are: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
All of these signs are basically practical, conservative, and work-oriented. Negatively, they can be boring and overly materialistic.

The Air signs are: Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.
All of these signs are basically logical, intellectual, and idea-oriented. Negatively they can be aloof and somewhat impractical.

The Water signs are: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.
All of these signs are basically sensitive, feeling, and receptive. Negatively they can be overly emotional and into self pity.

QUALITIES - Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable

The Cardinal signs are: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.
All of these signs are fundamentally ambitious and self preserving.

The fixed signs are: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.
All of these signs are fundamentally stubborn and very determined.

The mutable signs are: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
All of these signs are fundamentally adaptable and changeable.

As you can see, each sign has a particular element and quality assigned to it. When we combine the particular element and quality that describes each sign, we have begun to create a more individualized description of each sign. The following examples are meant to give you a better feel for this concept. You can even study the above meanings yourself and create other descriptive phrases for each of the twelve signs.

Aries Cardinal/Fire = ambitious passions
Taurus Fixed/Earth = determined work habits
Gemini Mutable/Air = adaptable ideas
Cancer Cardinal/Water = self-preserving feelings
Leo Fixed/fire = determined passions
Virgo Mutable/Earth = adaptable work habits
Libra Cardinal/Air ambitious ideas
Scorpio Fixed/Water stubborn emotions
Sagittarius Mutable/ Fire =changeable passions
Capricorn Cardinal/ Earth = self-preserving practicality
Aquarius Fixed/ air = stubborn ideas
Pisces Mutable/Water =changeable emotions

After you have learned some of the keywords and definitions for each sign, you will be able to look back at this section and have a better understanding of why certain keywords have been assigned to a particular sign.

HOUSE CLASSIFICATIONS (Modes) - Angular, Succedent and Cadent

There are two more classifications that you should familiarize yourself with, those of the houses of the horoscope.

The 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th houses are called angular houses. (initiating)
These houses share the same traits as the Cardinal signs.

The 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th houses are called Succedent houses.(stable)
These houses share the same traits as the Fixed signs.

The 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses are called cadent houses. (change)
These houses share the same traits as the Mutable signs.

Planets that fall into angular houses carry additional weight in terms of importance in the persons chart.

The 1st, 5th and 9th houses correspond to the Fire signs. They are called houses of life.
These houses have personal motivations in common.

The 2nd, 6th, and 10th, houses correspond to the Earth signs. They are called houses of substance.
These houses have money and possessions in common.

The 3rd, 7th, and 11th houses correspond to the Air sips. They are called houses of relationships.
These houses have communications and relationships in common.

The 4th , 8th, and 12th houses correspond to the Water signs. They are called houses of endings.
These houses have hidden things or hidden attitudes in common.