The Signs
In this module, you will learn the twelve signs and their symbols, the four elements — fire, earth, air and water — and the three modes — cardinal, fixed and mutable. You will also see how these help you read a significator's nature and how quickly a matter is likely to move.
TOPICS
- 1The Twelve Signs and Their SymbolsA sign is a thirty-degree division of the circle of the sky — a kind of address; whichever sign the significator (the person asking, or the thing asked about) occupies, that is where you read the manner of that person or that thing. The symbol is only a short label; knowing the sign tells you not who the significator is, but how it behaves.
- 2The Four ElementsThe element is the temperament of a significator — what kind of thing the matter is; you look at which element the querent or the quesited (the thing asked about) is in and read the nature of the matter from it. Just remember: a sign's complete meaning does not come from its element alone but from the whole of its nature — the element is a practical shorthand that summarizes it.
- 3The Three ModesThe mode describes the speed and the durability of a matter; by looking at the mode of the querent's or the quesited's significator, you read how quickly the matter is likely to stir.
Source: Lilly, Christian Astrology (Book I)