as earth creatures, We are each the whole of the zodiac.
THE ZODIAC SIGNS
The more we understand the whole of the zodiac, the more realized we can become.
While some of the 12 zodiac signs, hence qualities, may be more prevalent and default in your makeup, each sign holds significance in some aspect of who you are.
Understanding each sign also gives you a greater contextual understanding of the signs that hold greater gravity in your makeup.
On this page, I break down several different ways to understand the signs of the zodiac, tapping into them as dimensional and in relationship to each other.
Because I use the Tropical Zodiac, I do not believe in cusp signs—a planet or an angle taking on a little of both signs if it’s in the last or first degree of a sign. Like a clock, it is either 1:59 pm or 2:00 pm, Aries or Taurus.
Elements
Fire, Earth, Air, Water
Explore the 12 zodiac signs through their four elements. See them through a perceptual lens alive in our bodies, bringing out our masculine and feminine sides.
As you feel into the elemental tones of the zodiac, note how you relate to each of the signs and how you understand yourself through each.
FIRE - yang
The light that animates us and the passion that courses through our blood, fire signs illuminate fierce determination and our spirited energy.
ARIES: The spark of light that births new worlds and awakens us to who we are and what we want.
LEO: The fire of the heart that gives us the courage to be seen and take up space with a warming command.
SAGITTARIUS: The fire of our distant stars that guides us in the dark, bringing vision, hope, and big-picture aim.
earth - yin
The 3D matter of life that grounds and soothes our senses, earth signs bring a pragmatism that stabilizes life and aligns a naturalness of being.
TAURUS: The embodiment of our senses to mold life with beauty, helping us to source pleasure and know our worth.
VIRGO: The digesting process that refines our lifestyles with sacred purpose and useful skills that serve the world.
CAPRICORN: The focused climb that gives us a view to manage the matters of life with foresight and planning.
air - yang
The field of information that moves with our breath, air signs play with the tensions of life to find elegant and light pathways forward for connection.
GEMINI: The move of inner tensions outward to source possibility through pollination and community.
LIBRA: The harmonizer of relationships that negotiates balance and trustworthiness to further agreements.
AQUARIUS: The opener of our minds to the powerful force of collective harmonizing that networks, moves, and evolves life.
water - yin
The flow of memory and emotion that moves our sensitivity, water signs put us in touch with our depths and the subtleties of tenderness.
CANCER: The ebb and flow of our cyclical tides that color the atmosphere with the mood of our inner landscape.
SCORPIO: The still waters that run deep and allow us to plunge into mysteries, key to power and our deepest resources.
PISCES: The permeable veil between worlds, the ocean’s vast unknowns—our cosmic consciousness.
Modalities
Cardinal, fixed, mutable
Bringing simple, season-like, rhythm to the zodiac, the modalities show our capacity to move through stages of initiating, stabilizing, and finishing.
As planets and seasons shift in our view, so does our focus. Learn the rhythmic modes in the zodiac to bring more consciousness to your own shifting modes in life.
cardinal
With each element giving one of its signs to initiation energy, the cardinal signs bring action into each new quarter turn of the zodiac. These signs set plans in motion.
ARIES: Like sunrise or the first dewy morning of spring, Aries brings initiative to finding our core Self, connecting us to the passions that motivate us.
CANCER: Like the height of summer or high noon, Cancer is exposed and vulnerable. It initiates a drive inward to stabilize our lives with depth and maturity.
LIBRA: Like the first falling leaves of autumn, or sunset, Libra initiates a gentle letting go. It turns us toward a relational versus personal orientation.
CAPRICORN: Like Winter Solstice’s longest night of the year, Capricorn helps us initiate a detached observation of life’s goals and future.
fixed
The stubborn signs of the zodiac, one from each element, bring comfort and sure-footedness in the middle portion of the zodiac’s quadrants. Fixed signs bring managerial and steady energy.
TAURUS: Like the Earth filling in with mid-spring’s new color and life, Taurus slows us down to smell the roses. It taps us into the pleasure of our senses and fertile embodiment
LEO: Like the very first harvest of mid-summer, Leo slows us down to show off our creative prowess. It shows us that what allows the Sun to touch it, can become a ripe treasure.
SCORPIO: Like the deliciously eerie notes of autumn’s All Hallow’s Eve, Scorpio slows us down to investigate the powerful mysteries that haunt us.
AQUARIUS: Like ice freezing in every crevice of mid-winter’s chill, Aquarius slows us down to coolly detach and break apart brittle constructs.
mutable
Changeable and quick, finishings tie together through the flexible pizzaz of each element’s versatile sign. Paradox and dimension meet us at the end of each quarter of the zodiac.
GEMINI: Like the blossoming colors of spring’s end, we find possibilities and identity in the act of pollination. Our multidimensional self spins with freedom of expression.
VIRGO: Like the abundant harvests of late summer, Virgo kicks us into skillfully productive rhythms. Life’s refinement brings tough edits to make our multifaceted lives more sacred.
SAGITTARIUS: In the expansiveness of late autumn’s starry nights, Sagittarius seeks visions, giving dimension to perspective.
PISCES: Like the misty twilight of winter’s end, Pisces thaws and dissolves our edges. A pinch of magic brings belief in other dimensions.
the order of the zodiac signs
from Aries to Pisces
The Tropical Zodiac marks 0° of Aries as the beginning of the zodiac. As viewed from above the North Pole, the Sun and Planets move counter-clockwise around the zodiac.
Below is an overview of each sign’s qualities in the context of this ordering, which aligns with a broadening in the complexity of awareness as we progress through each sign.
The awareness that each sign offers is essential and beautiful, and each is a part of us that we have access to.
Aries
First out of the gate, Aries brings focus to our centering. When you want clarity about who you are, what you want, where you are going, and how to survive, tap into Aries in your chart. This sign can help you to be assertive, clarify your boundaries, and find motivation through connecting you to your authenticity. Generate the passion that arises from being self-aware and true to Self.
Correlating with ages 1 -7, there is a focus on understanding our physicality and a lot of rapid, impulsive learning.
I associate Aries with sunrise and early spring.
taurus
Second in line, the Bull moves us from our core into full embodiment. This or that, yes or no. Being in touch with our 5 earthy senses helps us to form instinctive preferences. We can use Taurus to help us know what we find beautiful, to understand what we value, and to connect self-worth and voice. Get your hands dirty to mold the form and function of the life you want to be in.
Correlating with ages 7-14, enculturation is emphasized with a want to feel appreciated for doing things correctly.
I associate Taurus with mid morning and mid spring.
gemini
With the third sign of the zodiac, we seek to understand our identity. Connection, communication, learning, and information become central as we work to triangulate a sense of belonging and community. This is the sign that can help us to flirt, try things on, and open up pathways of possibility. We learn how we plug into our local environments by unleashing our dula-natured twins.
Correlating with ages 14-21, cliquishness, fickleness, anxiety, and an important time of neurogenesis arise.
I associate Gemini with late spring and late morning.
cancer
Off in a daydream, the imaginative fourth sign of the zodiac helps us move inward to develop our inner world. The Crab deepens with intuition, grounding, and stabilizing foundations that make our private life soulful, safe, and secure. Mysteries of DNA reside here as we look into history and ancestry and extend our family tree, birthing and nourishing women, support systems, children, and home.
Correlating with ages 21-28, we enter young adulthood with more serious objectives, possibly cozying into homes and families.
I associate Cancer with early summer and early afternoon.
leo
Having just come from deepening and stabilizing in Cancer, the Lion as the 5th zodiac sign is in a prime position to come out into the light with strength. Our hearts come alive as we muster the courage to come out from the cave we’ve been in and show our true light in the world with creative gusto and commanding theatrics. Playfulness and drama alike fill the luxurious terrain of this sign.
We find capacity for leadership roles between ages 28-34 as we play with our kids and recreate with bodies still youthful and strong.
I associate Leo with mid summer and mid afternoon.
virgo
With the last sign in the lighter half of the year, pressure mounts to process, organize, and refine what has grown. Productivity and priorities meet as we refine life and lifestyle with this sixth sign. What matters to you? What fulfills you? Virgo ignites rhythm, ritual, and routine as we give our work, well-being, and fullness of life a productive purpose, wanting to feel thoughtful, skilled, and useful.
The ages of 35-41 mark a time of making adjustments that bring our lives a more mature and refined direction—a polished path.
I associate Virgo with late summer and later afternoon.
libra
Equal night and day return with the 7th sign as darkness whittles away at our days’ tone. Like an exhale we find acceptance for what is. For ourselves, losses and gains, the ups and downs of life. Balance settles as resonance becomes our measuring stick. What are the tensions that establish trust? Getting relationships ‘just so’ begins as we negotiate through elegant mirroring, empathy, and harmonizing.
Between 42-48, we step into midlife crisis as we let go of what doesn’t resonate and negotiate our life’s karmic outcomes.
I associate Libra with sunset and early autumn.
scorpio
We fine-tuned what trusting others meant to us in the last sign. In our 8th sign, the Scorpion brings higher stakes with intimacy and power. Power dynamics become touchy as our finances, hearts, and bodies become more entangled with others. With this sign, we learn a lot about the psyche and unearth traumas that have the power to show us our deepest resources. Investigation illuminates, renovates, and integrates us.
49-55 bring years that transform us. We use our time and energy strategically, having experienced (and become wise to) the workings of the world.
I associate Scorpio with mid-evening and mid-autumn.
sagittarius
Coming from intimately learning how the undercurrents of power work, we are primed with the 9th sign, the Archer, to use our ideals to shoot for the stars. We come to understand that influence and belief are what move perspectives, and the use of ideals, often through narrative, is what opens doors. We dare to expand past our world in search of something broader, more truthful, and visionary.
By the ages of 56-62, we’ve navigated a lot in life, gaining wisdom, perspective, and philosophies that guide an expanded perspective.
I associate Sagittarius with approaching midnight and late autumn.
Capricorn
Arriving at the summit of the zodiac, we gain sight through the Sea-Goat. This sign helps us step back to see where we’ve come from, where we are, and hence where to go. Realistic goals settle as the previous sign brought reality checks about getting in over our heads. We make structured, integral, and farsighted goals, playing the long game to build and master by limiting our focus.
In our early elder years, 63-69, we know what we are capable of (and not), and what it takes to build solid legacy and status.
I associate Capricorn with the middle of the night and early winter.
aquarius
Our 11th sign of the zodiac, the Water Bearer, has seen it all, done it all, and become less interested in playing the game of life. It wants to innovate, evolve humanity, and dream of a better future for those to come. We drop ego with Aquarius to tap into the collective and contribute to progress. Breaking old constructs liberates a sense of freedom and we learn to walk to our own beat.
Ages 70-77 bring a sense of freedom. There is a release of personal ‘needing’ with a detached want for life to be better for all.
I associate Aquarius is pre-twilight and mid winter.
Pisces
At the 12th and final sign of the Zodiac, we’ve gathered the whole of an experience. We are at the edge of our boundaries here with porous and fluid energy. Anything we’ve swept into closets gets sprung open with ethereal energy unable to contain secrets. Shadowwork is our final stop. We surrender to something higher and meet inspiration and guides at our edge where doubt lives.
From 78-86 we come closer to another realm. We become more compassionate and spiritual. Beyond this age, we become more and more childlike, reentering Aries terrain, but with the memory of a whole life cycle that gives us a Sage aura.
I associate Pisces with twilight and late winter.
the polarities
opposites attract
Like a mirror, if you look directly across the zodiac from one sign, its polar opposite will be found. Each sign is part of an axis of energy—opposite sides of the same theme.
In the below chart, a shorthand is given. The central theme of the axis is in the center. The personal aspect of the axis is represented by the sign on the left side, while the social aspect of the axis is represented by the sign on the right side.
