Mutable

MYOO-tuh-buhl

Definition

Mutable is one of the three modes — the basic ways the twelve zodiac signs are sorted by how they handle change. The four mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, each sit in the last month of a season, as the weather turns over. Hellenistic astrology called them "double-bodied" (in Greek, disoma) for their link to duality, producing doubled or two-part results.

In Tradition

Astrologers in the Western tradition link the mutable signs with adaptability, flexibility, and the knack for adjusting as circumstances change. Traditionally called the "common" signs, they belong to the closing phase of a cycle.

In Practice

To gauge the mutable mode in a chart, astrologers count how many placements fall in Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces against those in the cardinal and fixed signs — that gives the chart's modal balance, its mix of starting, sustaining, and adapting.

Historical Origin

The three-mode classification is attested in Hellenistic sources. The mutable signs were called "double-bodied" (in Greek, disoma), matching the close of each season.

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Further Reading