© 2002 Curtis Manwaring
The Mysterious Zoidia
The zoidia are the 12 zodiac signs. In Greek, the singular is "zoidion". Robert Schmidt has left this greek word transliterated because he could not come up with a single english word that incorporates the dual meaning of the word, which means both "image" and "life". [1] Schmidt did this because saying that they are just "signs" loses something of the essence of the hellenistic conception of the idea. Our modern conception of the signs is largely based upon the daily horoscopes found in newspapers. We tend to assume that a sign somehow represents us personally, and that the heavens are a projection of our inner psychological state. Related to this idea, is a saying often quoted by many astrologers: "as above, so below", but Schmidt has said that this is an oversimplification. [2] It is not just simply a one to one correspondence between the heavens and the earth. It is much more complicated than that.
Now you might ask, "What is it that I have been reading in the newspapers all this time?". Daily horoscopes are based upon a person's sun sign position, where for instance, the Sun is in Virgo between approximately Aug 22 - Sept 21, every year. Most of the meanings that are derived from these signs were originally derived from the planet that administers [3] for the sign and not the sign itself. It is important to understand that the planets and signs effects in the sky do not immediately mean anything for you personally. (At least this is the hellenistic view. However, modern astrologers frequently assign psychological traits to the signs and to the individuals represented by those signs.) The reason for this is that what happens in the sky shows what is happening cosmologically. [4] What then is it that makes what happens up there personal? The Ascendant: which is defined as the sign (and ecliptic point) rising on the eastern horizon when you were born. Forget your sun sign. The sign that is rising definately trumps the sun sign in importance for most people. It is through the rising sign that the events in the heavens come down to earth and mean something more personal. The reason this is so is because the ascendant is the first chart point that has anything to do with the earth and your location on the earth. All the others exist in the same place for the whole world at the moment that you were born.
Because of precession (see chapter 1), we have two different types of zodiacs; tropical and sidereal. I will be explaining the tropical system here.
There are 12 zodiac signs which are named in this order starting with the vernal equinox (see figure 4.1): Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Each sign is exactly 1/12th of the ecliptic circle (the ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun's annual motion against the background stars as seen from earth). Because this circle is divided into 360 equal portions called degrees, each sign is 30 degrees in width. Most astrology texts give each of the signs several attributes, some of which will be described in the sections below. What they don't tell you is that many of these attributes represent powers of the soul [5] (such as the 5 senses, awareness, reason, etc...) because the zodiac circle is at the root of the cosmic soul.
I will give a brief explanation of the of the characteristics of the zodiac signs here, but you should refer to my article on the zodiac for a more thorough treatment of the subject. What I would like to do in this chapter is the more important task of showing how the different signs interrelate to eachother.
Aries: Tropical / cardinal modality, firey and masculine in nature. Tends towards brashness, bravery, wrecklessness and fearlessness because it is represented by the god of war, Mars, otherwise known as Ares.
Taurus: Fixed / solid modality, earthy and feminine in nature. Tends towards indulgence, romance, fruitfulness and prosperity because it is represented by the god of love, Venus, otherwise known as Aphrodite.
Gemini: Mutable / bi-corporeal modality, airey and masculine in nature. Inclines towards intelligence, dexterity, knavishness, engineering, teaching and communication because it is represented by Thoth, Mercury, otherwise known as Hermes.
Cancer: Tropical / cardinal modality, watery and feminine in nature. Inclines towards moodiness, shyness, belonging, sensitivity, heritage and domesticity because it is represented by the Moon.
Leo: Fixed / solid modality, firey and masculine in nature. Tends to be expressive, flamboyant, dramatic, stubborn, irascible, strong willed, fearless, indomitable and a born leader because it is represented by the Sun.
Virgo: Mutable / bi-corporeal modality, earthy and feminine in nature. Tends towards studiousness, research, intelligence and engineering ability because it is represented by the god Thoth, Mercury, otherwise known as Hermes.
Libra: Tropical / cardinal modality, airey and masculine in nature. Tends towards friendliness, beauty, love and romance as well as wealth, luxury and indulgence because it is represented by the god of love, Venus, otherwise known as Aphrodite.
Scorpio: Fixed / solid modality, watery and feminine in nature. Tends towards intensity and determination, secretiveness and plotting because it is represented by the god of war, Mars, otherwise known as Ares.
Sagittarius: Mutable / bi-corporeal modality, firey and masculine in nature. Inclines towards wisdom, inspiration, understanding, morality and virtue because it is represented by Jupiter, otherwise known as Zeus.
Capricorn: Tropical / cardinal modality, earthy and feminine in nature. Inclines towards seriousness, cautiousness, tradition, with downcast expression and ponderous motion because it is represented by Saturn, otherwise known as Kronos.
Aquarius: Fixed / solid modality, airey and masculine in nature. Tends to be aloof, detached, serious and objective because it is represented by Saturn, otherwise known as Kronos.
Pisces: Mutable / bi-corporeal modality, watery and feminine in nature. Tends towards wisdom sympathy, understanding and faith because it is represented by Jupiter, otherwise known as Zeus.
Notice that each zodiac sign has a planet as a personal representative. In greek, the word is "oikodektor" which comes from "oikos" meaning house, and "dektor" meaning steward. This planet is subservient to the needs of the sign. It is also a "lawyer" that speaks for the issues of that sign or any other planets that happen to be in that sign. In this sense, it is acting as a host who can receive guests (other planets) and speak for their needs (what these planets signify). [6] This little fact will be crucial to know later, so make sure you memorize it thoroughly.
The Elements, The Sense of Touch
The most commonly known attribute of a sign is called it's element and a sign can be of either the fire, earth, air or water elements. What the elements do is modify the texture of the planets that are in the signs. If you paid close attention to the meanings of the signs above you may have noticed that the meanings of two signs with the same representative varied. The coloration of the element added to the oikodektor (house steward) is the reason why.
It is important to realize that Ptolemy would have disagreed with attributing elements to the signs themselves because he said that the elements belonged to the sublunary sphere (meaning below the Moon) and were corruptable, whereas the realm of the ethereal belonging to the stars and zodiac signs was made of the "quintessence" (5th essence or element), incorruptable. [7] However, there are several authors even from hellenistic times such as Valens who attribute elements to the signs. It may simply be that the attributions are for the control that those signs have on the elements here on earth. I do not know if their belief was that the signs were literally of that element or if they thought that all signs were made of the ether and only controlled that element.
The Chart Signature
The element of a sign can be used a number of ways in the birth chart. By adding up where the planets fall by element, you can get an overall estimation of their character in a very broad sense. Modern astrologers call this "the signature" of the native.
For instance, if 5 planets fall in fire signs and 3 in earth, and 1 each in water and air, then the fire characteristic is very prominent. Because of the excess of planets in fire, such an individual would be driven to success and inspiration and would be very outgoing. Because of the 3 in earth, that person would also be practical and would have the ability to bring that fire driven inspiration into practical reality. Because of the lack of water in the chart, this person would lack emotional qualities and an ablilty to connect with others on a feeling level. The lack of air is to some extent counteracted by the fire, but generally this would mean that an individual does not think things through or is uncommunicative and reserved. If they are all roughly equal then the individual is balanced in all of these traits.
Planet - Element Interaction
The element of a sign can also show how a planet is modified by texture by being in that sign. For instance, if the Sun is in Leo, because the fire element is hot and dry, and the Sun is also hot and dry, then we have support for the heat and dryness of the Sun. If the Moon is in Aries, however, the cool and moist nature of the Moon is counteracted by the heat and dryness of Aries. The Moon is changed then in it's natural expression of emotion and sense of belonging because the dryness makes distinctions while a sense of belonging is about the bluring of distinctions or negation of separateness. One might also say that because of the heat, the emotions become more intense and apt to flare up. Closely linked with the elemental qualities is the idea of a triplicity, or trigon. I'll get to this later on, but for now it is sufficient to know that the fire trigon is: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, earth trigon: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, air trigon: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius and water trigon: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces.
Seasonal Elements
It is important to realize that there is more than one scheme regarding the elements. Another common way of assigning the elements is by season (see figure 4.2). This scheme is more commonly used in medical and medieval astrology. You will note that each element is correlated with one of the humours. Air is sanguine, fire is choleric, earth is melancholic, and water is phlegmatic. If someone is out of balance with respect to these elemental attributions then one's health is said to be afffected. Some astrologers use both schemes interchangably where the quarters and the signs elemental attributions can relate to both physical and psychological health. Also, some astrologers change the latter scheme in the southern hemisphere to reflect the seasons there. For instance, Capricorn in the southern hemisphere would become warm and Cancer would be cold.
Lastly, it is important to realize that this "summing" of the numbers of planets in each element was not done in hellenistic times. The first instance that I am aware of is in Raymond Lull's "Elements of Astrology" where he used a much more complicated summation of elemental qualities, objectifying them with the use of letters in much the same way modern algebra and set theory is done. [8] The way elements were used comes from Aristotles ideas about the world (as stated in "Generation and Corruption", etc...) and were incorporated into astrology only in the manner of swaying the planets effects individually.
The Quadruplicities
The other main quality of a sign is it's quadruplicity, of which there are 3. They go by different names in different astrology texts. Modern texts call them cardinal, fixed and mutable, but ancient texts sometimes call cardinal signs, tropical; fixed signs are called solid; and mutable signs are called double-bodied or bi-corporeal. The different names are synonyms for the same thing. What can be done with the elements, can be done with the planets in this way as well. By adding up how many planets fall in cardinal, fixed and mutable signs in a chart, one can tell something in general about how the native responds to various circumstances. For instance, the cardinal signs are known for leadership qualities. Planets that make ingresses to (enter into) cardinal signs announce the start of something new. Individuals born with most planets in cardinal signs are self starters, however they may lack follow-through. The fixed (or solid) signs are known for stubbornness. They are resistant to change. Planets in this quadruplicity show those issues that are ongoing. Individuals born with this quadruplicity prominent show a stalwart determination and have perseverance, but are slow to accept new ideas and are reluctant to change habits. The bi-corporeal quadruplicity shows issues that are in transition and are unstable or unpredictable. Individuals with this quadruplicity being dominant, will be changable and fickle but are also very adaptable to circumstances.
Each quadruplicity is repeated for each season and represents the beginning, middle and end of that season. For instance, using the latter elemental scheme by quarters, Aries is a cardinal sign and represents the beginning of the spring (sanguine) season in the north. Taurus is a solid/fixed sign and represents the middle of the spring season, and Gemini is a double-bodied sign and represents the end of the spring season, etc...
Repeating the above sequence according to elements by sign instead of quarters, you get Aries as the beginning of fire because it is a fire sign and cardinal, Leo is the middle of fire because it is fixed, and Sagittarius is the end of fire because it is mutable, which completes the fire triangle or trigon.
Notes:
1. Vettius Valens, hellenistic astrology, Anthology, Bk VII aprox. 160 A.D. © 2001 Robert Schmidt, through Project Hindsight, Published by The Golden Hind Press. See Introduction.
2. From lecture notes at the Schmidt's in Cumberland, MD in July 2000.
3. Modern astrologers sometimes say "rules" but this is implies that the planet has power over the sign which is misleading. Schmidt says that it is the sign that tells a planet what to do. Each sign has a personal representative.
4. From lecture notes at the Schmidt's in Cumberland, MD in July 2000.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Claudius Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos, Bk 1 aprox. 100 A.D. © 1995 Robert Schmidt, through Project Hindsight, Published by The Golden Hind Press. See pg. 33.
8. Raymond Lull. Elements Of Astrology, Bk 1 aprox. 1400 A.D. © 1995 Robert Hand, through Project Hindsight, Published by The Golden Hind Press.
