Cardinal

KAR-dih-nuhl

Definition

Cardinal is one of the three modes — the basic ways the twelve zodiac signs are sorted by how they handle change. The four cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, each begin at a solstice or equinox, the moment a new season starts. Hellenistic astrology called them "movable" (in Greek, tropikos) because they line up with the Sun's turning points in the year.

In Tradition

Astrologers in the Western tradition link the cardinal signs with initiative and the drive to start something new. They line up with the angular houses (the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th), traditionally read as the most powerful positions in a chart.

In Practice

To gauge the cardinal mode in a chart, astrologers count how many placements fall in Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn against those in the fixed and mutable signs — that gives the chart's modal balance, its mix of starting, sustaining, and adapting. In horary astrology — answering a specific question from a chart cast for the moment it is asked — a strong showing of cardinal signs points to a matter that resolves quickly.

Historical Origin

The three-mode classification is attested in Hellenistic sources. The cardinal signs were called "tropical" (in Greek, tropikos), a reference to the solstice and equinox turning points.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading