Welcome back to Ghost of a Podcast for another midweek episode of my little astrology Hot Takes for your hot cakes. My loves, I hope you are taking really good care of yourself through this really wild time. I’m actually recording this on the Full Moon when the energy is really intense, and we will continue to feel the impacts of this Full Moon, this April 7th Full Moon, for quite a minute to come. 

We are in a time that is pregnant with possibility. It is pregnant with potential. And that potential and possibility may be very negative or scary, or it may be really positive and beautiful. And I want to encourage you today, tomorrow, and always to do your best to find ways of bringing about good—good in your life, good in the world, whatever you have the energy and resources and skillset to do. Start wherever you’re at and build from there. 

Okay, now that my cheerleading is done, I want to talk to you about something that is not a planet—no, ’tis not a planet. I want to talk to you about the zodiac signs. Shall we, huh? Wanna? With me? Come on, let’s go. 

If somebody says to you, “Hi. My name is Jessica, and I’m a Capricorn,” as an example, what they’re actually saying is, “Hi. My name is Jessica. When I was born, the Sun was in Capricorn.” No one is a zodiac sign. We kind of conventionally refer to our Sun sign as our, quote, sign, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of astrology. It kind of perpetuates this idea that your Sun sign is the only one to pay attention to or the only part of astrology that you need to know. False and false, my friends—false and false. 

There are 12 zodiac signs that astrologers work with, and each of those signs are a particular element and a particular quality. First, I will tell you that as an astrologer, I am working with 10 different planets: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—that’s it. And then there are points, like the Ascendent or the Midheaven or the Asteroids or the Nodes. There’s different things in astrology that we work with that are not planets, and those things also all fall into zodiac signs. 

The Sun is not the only planet in a sign. So develop the habit, if you’re an astrology nerd or an astrology wannabe nerd, develop the habit of saying, “My Sun is in Capricorn,” “My Sun is in whatever.” That is going to make you a better astro citizen. 

And, also, every planet or point has its own meaning, and then every zodiac sign has its own meaning. And the zodiac sign—you know lots of stereotypes about zodiac signs because you’re on the internet, because you see memes, right. Right. But let’s get a little bit deeper, okay. Let’s get a little bit deeper. 

In astrology we are looking at first the elements. So there’s the fire element—that’s Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, the earth element—that’s Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Air is Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. And then there’s the water element, and that’s Cancer, Scorpio, and Pieces. Each of these signs are very uniquely different; however, their elemental similarities are worth noting and can really help you to better understand what the zodiac signs are about. 

Let’s start with water, shall we. We can’t always start with fire. I know you fire signs want me to start with you, but I’m starting with water. You’re welcome, water. So Cancer, Scorpio, Pieces—water. These signs are responsive. They are emotional. They can often be really deep and reflective. Think about how water functions. It flows. It can be roiling, right. Really—seriously, look at how water functions. 

It can be in the form of ice, which is frozen emotion—it’s like the flow is no longer happening, and it’s more like being compacted emotionally. It can be in the form of fog, which is more of a Piscean vibe, where it’s kind of like sense impressions and emotions everywhere. Water is very responsive to the structure around it, so in that way, it is quite reactive of an element. 

Air—air is Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, and the air element is oriented around ideas. It’s all about vision and concepts and attitudes and inspiration. When we look at the air element—you just look at air. I challenge you—look at air. It’s hard to do, isn’t it? Even if you were looking at wind, you only can see what wind does to other things. It is hard to contain air. It’s not impossible, but it’s hard to contain air. This is something that is really important to all of the air signs. They need freedom. They need the potential to kind of figure their way in and out of things on their own terms. 

When we look to the earth element, and that’s Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, we are looking at the element in astrology that is related to the material world. We are seeing an element related to slow development and growth, setting down of roots. We are looking at an element in which you can plant things. 

Now, if you’ve ever fucked with gardening or any kind of like touching of the earth, you will know that not all earth is created equal. If we have earth that is compacted, best of luck growing anything. If we have earth that is just without nutrients, again, best of luck growing anything. Having an earth sign does not mean being fertile. It means that fertility is the lesson, being receptive and balanced and having the right amount of fire and air and water is essential. 

All of the elements do not exist independent of each other; they reinforce each other. They support each other’s wellness. We are looking at all of these elements because all of these elements are found here on earth and also here within you and me. And that is a beautiful thing about astrology is it kind of reflects this interconnectedness of all of these themes. 

Now, I’m not done—not with the elements. The fire element is Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. I’m sorry for putting you guys last. “No one puts Baby in a corner.” The fire element is all about excitement and change and creation. Fire is related to passion and engagement and activity and ambition. Fire is the go-getter. Fire is all about movement and engagement. 

Now, when we look to the elements, what we can see is that there are similarities between the three signs within each element and that those similarities are really valuable for us to understand, not just because you happen to have planets in any of those signs, but also because we are constantly in a solar season. We are in Aries season, right now. We will be in Taurus season next. And the way that the zodiac signs go is from Aries in the spring to Taurus to Gemini to Cancer. That’s the start of the seasons. So it goes from fire to earth to air to water. And then it goes to Leo—to fire again, to earth to air to water. It takes that cycle three times. 

So we are meant to be evolving throughout the elements. We are meant to be evolving throughout these principles within ourselves and our lives. When we’re looking at the elements, what we are looking at is essential parts of all human’s nature. 

Now, some people are really earthy, like me. Some people are really firey. Some people are pretty damn balanced, and others have a complete lack of balance. There is not better and worse; there is simply different. I think it’s about cultivating self-acceptance and self-awareness so that you can leverage from there. And, so, understanding your elemental nature—how much earth, how much fire you have in you is really valuable in understanding how to pace and move through your energy or pace and move through a particular season or time of life—capiche? You capiche.

Next thing I want to talk to you about is qualities. Now, qualities, I don’t know—it kind of sounds weird. I feel like elements makes a little more intuitive sense, but what are qualities, right? I personally don’t like the term. The thing about qualities is they represent the seasons, and every zodiac sign has a quality. The qualities are Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable. And there is with each of these qualities a fire sign, an air sign, an earth sign, and a water sign. 

So let me break this down. What this basically means is that there’s a reason why, unfortunately—I’m so sorry, you guys—these memes that are all about like, if you’re an air sign, it just means x, and if you’re a fire sign, it just means y. Those things have a little vein of truth to them, but the problem is they don’t take into account the qualities. 

The qualities are so important for you to be aware of because there is a major difference between, let’s say, a Scorpio and a Pieces. And that difference is because they are Fixed versus Mutable. Let’s break it down. 

The Cardinal quality is associated with the start of a season. So when we look at Cardinal signs, we’re looking at Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. In other words, we’re looking at Spring—Aries, Summer—Cancer, Fall—Libra, and Winter—Capricorn. And the thing about Cardinal signs, even though you see that there’s one of each element there, is that Cardinal people are the initiators of the zodiac—they kick off a season. And because of that they tend to be influencers and initiators. They tend to be people who are dynamic. 

When we have these signs strong in our chart, any of the Cardinal signs, we tend to really get excited about what we’re starting and what we’re doing but not always follow through because Cardinal is all about the kickoff of a season. It’s not the maintenance of a season. It’s not the closure of a season. It’s the start of a season. And, so, when we have a Cardinal sign, what we really have is the initiator—somebody who’s got the vision, who’s got the idea, who knows how to get it done but then doesn’t actually necessarily want to have to follow through. And whether we’re talking about, let’s say, a fire sign, Aries, versus a water sign, Cancer, they’re going to do it in a very different elemental way. 

Now, when we look to the fixed signs, it’s really important to note that fixed signs always occur in the middle of a season. So this is when I already know I’m in a season, and this is how we do it in this season—this is what this is. Fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. 

These are the stubborn babies of the zodiac. These are the people who are authoritative. They are determined. They know how to get a thing done, see. They know how to follow through. They do the thing all the way through. They have amazing concentration, and they’re finishers. They’re closers. Everyone loves a closer, unless that closer is trying to close on something that you don’t think should be closed or is trying to close on it in a way you don’t think they should close it. 

Fixed signs are pretty much what they sound like. They’re Fixed. It’s hard to convince a Fixed sign person that they are Fixed because they feel that they are constantly compromising, because they are because of how fixed they are. Fixed people have a hard time accepting that other people see the world very differently. But you know what? Who could blame them? They tend to be right about so many things. 

Finally, we’re looking at Mutable signs. Now, Mutable signs happen at a time of transition when we’re moving out of season and into something new. So the new season is kicked off by a Cardinal sign, but the transition into that season and away from the middle of the season is always marked by a Mutable sign. Mutable signs are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pieces. These are the messengers of the zodiac. 

Mutable people are willing and able to understand things from many angles. They tend to be quite versatile and flexible and intuitive. Now, whether a Virgo is intuitive in the same way as, let’s say, a Sagittarius—come on, of course they’re not. They are intuitive and versatile in the style of their element and in the rest of their sign. There is a real adaptability that we see in this transitional quality. 

Mutable people, sometimes, are inconsistent, or they’re not always closers—they can get caught up in details or caught up in parts of the message instead of the whole damn thing, but they are able to communicate a vision and to explore the potential of a thing, and that is a fucking gorgeous thing, wouldn’t you say? 

So, my loves, I have taken you on this little journey through the elements and the qualities of the signs—the zodiac signs. I hope this has been useful to you and you can immediately apply it to your birth chart or your understanding of Sun sign astrology, if that’s all you like to fuck with. 

Again, I want you to remember that there are layers of data within astrology, even something as kind of commonly understood as the zodiac signs. And remember that we have all 12 of the signs in our birth charts—each and every one of us. And I don’t want this to sound cheesy, but I’m going to say it. We are actually not that different from each other. I mean, yes, we are deeply different from each other, but also, not so much. We all have the same 10 planets. We all have the same 12 signs. We all go through ebbs and flows. We are all trying our best to find happiness and safety in this life. 

Now, if you’ve enjoyed this episode, and there is another topic of astrology that you would like to learn, just pop me an email over at ghostofapodcast.com. Let me know what you want to learn about because you know I want to give you my Hot Take—that’s just what I want to do. 

As always, if you like this podcast, I invite you to become a patron over at Patreon and learn more Tarot and astrology with me there. The link is in the show notes. I can’t wait to talk to you next week. Bye.