Quadrupedal Signs

latin: signa quadrupedia · arabic: بروج ذوات الأربع (burūj dhawāt al-arbaʿ, 'signs of four [feet]')

Definition

Quadrupedal signs (Latin signa quadrupedia) are the five zodiacal signs whose iconography depicts four-footed creatures: Aries (ram), Taurus (bull), Leo (lion), Sagittarius (centaur, in the equine lower body), and Capricorn (goat). The sign group is used as a beast-significator in classical doctrines covering animals, livestock, and beast-related affairs.

In Tradition

In the Arabic-Persian tradition transmitted into traditional Western practice, the quadrupedal-signs classification is the canonical sign-set for judging questions of animal-fortune and livestock. Abu 'Ali Al-Khayyat builds an explicit beast-fortune doctrine: Mars in a quadrupedal sign, with appropriate dignity and sect-condition, is the central significator for abundance of beasts, particularly when paired with rulership of the sixth or twelfth house.

In Practice

Practitioners check the quadrupedal-signs classification when judging chart topics involving animals, livestock, and beast-related fortune — typically through the twelfth house (which Abu 'Ali assigns to beasts and flock-animals), Mars (the natural animal-significator), and the Lot of Fortune. The standard rule looks for Mars oriental in a quadrupedal sign, especially a royal sign (Aries / Leo / Sagittarius), with placement in the Ascendant, Midheaven, or twelfth house, and benefic-aspect from Jupiter or the Sun. When Mars-quadrupedal is the lord of the sixth or twelfth, the chart signifies horses, camels, and large animals of great price. Mars in Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn signifies beasts of burden, flock-animals, and cattle. The classification also appears in horary and medical practice — questions about an animal's condition, recovery from injury, or productivity are read against the quadrupedal-sign placement of the relevant significator. Lilly preserves the doctrine in the English horary tradition under the same name.

Historical Origin

The quadrupedal-signs taxonomy is part of the inherited Hellenistic-Dorothean sign-typology tradition transmitted through ʿUmar al-Tabarī's Arabic into Abu 'Ali Al-Khayyat's *On the Judgments of Nativities* Ch. 23 (9th c. CE, preserved in Dykes's Persian Nativities Vol I), where the beast-fortune doctrine is built systematically on the quadrupedal-sign placement of Mars. The classification passes via the medieval Latin tradition into Lilly's Christian Astrology Vol 1 (1647), preserving the Aries / Taurus / Leo / Sagittarius / Capricorn enumeration.

Further Reading