Aries

Ruler: Mars / Element: Fire / Mode: Cardinal
Pole: Positive / Third: Primordial / Half: Subjective

Unbridled expression of your inner nature; activity that is self-motivated, unaffected by others; new beginnings, the start of new cycles, birth; enthusiasm and vitality.

Aggressive, wilful, powerful, assertive; enthusiastic about whatever interests you at the moment, focused in short bursts, unlikely to sustain interest in the long term; ego expression; adventurous, pioneering; Warrior-type energy; impatient with having to cooperate with others, works best alone or in leadership role; unconcerned with approval or acceptance; lacks persistence and stamina; honest and forthright, "what you see is what you get", not given to airs or pretences; the first expression (or incarnation ) of spirit within a new cycle on the physical plane.

Taurus

Ruler: Venus / Element: Earth / Mode: Fixed
Pole: Negative / Third: Primordial / Half: Subjective

Grounding, bringing down to earth; constancy, steadiness, fixedness; spirit becoming embodied, entering matter, taking on a form; a vessel or container for spiritual forces.

Earthy, grounded, in touch with the body; sensual, pleasure seeking; stubborn, fixed, stands their ground; focuses and concentrates energy, gives it concrete expression, practical, provides stamina and persistance; slow, steady, methodical; fertile, productive; unreflective, content to simply be; spirit becoming involved with the material world.

Gemini

Ruler: Mercury / Element: Air / Mode: Mutable
Pole: Positive / Third: Primordial / Half: Subjective

Curiousity, cleverness, skill, communication; making connections with surroundings, trying to "figure things out"; the first display of intelligence by embodied spirit.

Talkative ("a Gemini is born with a telephone in each hand!"), communicative, sociable; loves to interact with others (at least on a superficial level); unemotional, impersonal, ruled by "rationality"; requires great mental stimulation, curious to a fault; playful, the Trickster, the Devil's Advocate; changable, inconstant, attention easily drifts to something new, seeks novelty.

Cancer

Ruler: Moon / Element: Water / Mode: Cardinal
Pole: Negative / Third: Primordial / Half: Subjective

Nurturing, support, belonging, emotional bonds; your roots, source, ground of your being; the unconscious, feelings, emotion; the Great Mother, Universal Womb; spirit's first emotional attachments to the world.

Mothering, emotional and physical nurturance; experiences and imprinting during infancy and childhood; family, ancestors, heritage, relationships to the past; belonging, feeling "at home"; maternal love, caring; feeling supported by the world, that your needs are provided for; insecurities and fears if your needs haven't been fulfilled; possessiveness, "twisted love", inability to nurture others are negative expressions.

Leo

Ruler: Sun / Element: Fire / Mode: Fixed
Pole: Positive / Third: Individual / Half: Subjective

Spirit entering the realm of the individual person; ego development, setting yourself apart from the rest of the world, becoming your own person; self-expression, being true to your inner nature, acting from the heart; dawning awareness of self in relation to others.

Ego, self-centered, arrogant; fixed, stubborn, persistant; artistic or creative expression as a vehicle for revealing "who I am"; needs to be a center of attention, requires acknowledgment and approval, likes to be noticed and appreciated ("ego-strokes"); personal integrity, true to self, honorable, trustworthy; kingly, self-assured, confident.

Virgo

Ruler: Mercury / Element: Earth / Mode: Mutable
Pole: Negative / Third: Individual / Half: Subjective

Embodiment of the individual in the world; problems of adjustment dealing with the world and others; perfection of your approach to life, development of mundane skills; ability to change to adapt to life better.

Service, helping, self-effacing; perfectionist, always seeking to improve, efficiency; practical, functional, interested in crafts and projects; true to self in a simple, unassuming manner; reacts to defeats and setbacks by pulling back and altering approach, lacks confidence in the face of opposition; lives up to duties and responsiblities; interested in maintaining the body as a fit vehicle; diet, exercise, herbs, etc.; aware of conflicts with others, of the give and take required by life.

Libra

Ruler: Venus / Element: Air / Mode: Cardinal
Pole: Positive / Third: Individual / Half: Objective

Spirit as individual entering into relationship with others; partnership, one-to-one relationships, meeting others as an equal, interdependency; encountering repressed parts of yourself through others (via projection); going beyond ego boundaries; peace, harmony, balance; social awareness.

Partners, marriage; learning how to get along peacably with others, treating others as equals; "I vs. You", conflict, enemies; art, beauty, harmonious surroundings; distressed by stressful, inharmonious interactions; intimacy; people in counseling professions.

Scorpio

Ruler: Pluto / Element: Water / Mode: Fixed
Pole: Negative / Third: Individual / Half: Objective

Transformation, change, ego-death, rebirth, transcendence; intense emotional involvement with the process of personal growth; movement from individual certainties to the "mysteries of life"; spirit breaking through the limitations of individual ego.

Intense, passionate, brooding, magnetic; stubborn, unyielding, driven by emotions; stands up for self, usually covertly, manipulates power; understands deeper layers of the psyche beyond the ego, unable to communicate this well leading to misunderstandings; intrigued by the "dark side" of life; the underground, people whose job involves going beneath surface appearances; sexuality, especially the transformative power of the orgasm; self-mastery, breaking free of illusory limitations, the Hero.

Sagittarius

Ruler: Jupiter / Element: Fire / Mode: Mutable
Pole: Positive / Third: Universal / Half: Objective

Spirit moving beyond the realm of the individual into the world at large; becoming a member of a wider society; experiences that lead to consciousness expansion, being receptive to new points of view, wisdom, enlightenment; using your talents for the benefit of the greater whole.

Freedom loving, idealist, unfettered by "small thinking"; inspiration; religion, philosophy, the law; awareness of your connections to the rest of the world; can be distant from others, afraid to give up freedom, reluctant to be tied down; on the other hand, aware of the value of the social contract; enthusiastic, gregarious, generous; loves abstract, theoretical ideas, sees the big picture, ignores the details; in love with an ideal; foreign travel, liberating experiences.

Capricorn

Ruler: Saturn / Element: Earth / Mode: Cardinal
Pole: Negative / Third: Universal / Half: Objective

Spirit's attempt to bring about the perfect society, to create heaven on earth; making practical, efficient connections with others on the physical plane; ambitious, feels pride in accomplishments; concern with truth, reality, "hard facts"; relationship to authority.

Serious, determined, disciplined, focused; needs to play more; fathering, disciplining love; authority figures; seeks certainties in life, wants things "cast in concrete"; the Businessman, concerned with the practical relationships to support yourself within society; not interested in "blue sky" ideas, needs to bring theory into concrete reality; "knowing the rules and playing the game"; making a niche in the world.

Aquarius

Ruler: Uranus / Element: Air / Mode: Fixed
Pole: Positive / Third: Universal / Half: Objective

Spirit's attempt to create ideal relationships and organizations, based on freedom and cooperation between individuals; free-thinking, unorthodox, not shackled by outdated ideology; the perfection of society.

Even though ideas are often far-sighted, they can be held and expressed in rigid, dogmatic fashion (this is a fixed sign, afterall!); "everyone should be free to be just like me!"; idealistic, utopian; derives sense of identity from groups and their goals, tends to dominate them; impersonal thinking, detached from emotional considerations; produces "humanitarian without compassion"; friendships based on common goal.

Pisces

Ruler: Neptune / Element: Water / Mode: Mutable
Pole: Negative / Third: Universal / Half: Objective

Surrender to the universe, to higher goals; ego sacrifice; compassion and empathy, selfless work; seeing the unity of all things; the ends of cycles, forming "seeds" for the next cycle of growth; spirit as individual dissolving back into pure spirit.

Mysticism, escape into the One; sees the unity, fails to make "normal" distinctions, often weak ego; victim, martyr, servant; tends to escapism, fantasy, drugs (especially alcohol), religion; very receptive, sensitive, even psychic; co-dependency, care-taking; withdrawn from the world; release from the world.