the three quadruplicities or seasons of astrology.

The signs are subdivided into four categories called "elements," each of whose members are in harmony with each other, and three seasons or quadruplicities, each of whose members are in discord with each other. In other words, all signs of the same element are in harmony, and all signs of the same season are in discord with each other. Click here to go to a pictorial display of the elements, or continue here for the quadruplicities.

Signs in which planets inherently relate with difficulty, friction or obstruction fall into three groups known as the "quadruplicities," or the cardinal, fixed and mutable signs.

The cardinal signs begin each season:


Aries	Cancer	Libra	Capricorn

the fixed signs continue and deepen each season:


Taurus	Leo	Scorpio	Aquarius

and the mutable signs end them and distribute their energy:


Gemini	Virgo	Sagittarius	Pisces

All cardinal signs are in discord with each other; and the same is true for all fixed and mutable signs.

Planets in the same quadruplicity that aspect each other are often either "conjunct" (close to each other, or near 0° apart, and in the same sign), "opposed" (in opposite signs, or near 180° apart), or "square" (about 90° apart). Notice that I just used the words "close," "near," and "about." This is because it is quite rare for two planets to be exactly 0°, 180°, or 90° apart. Those terms of approximation refer to the "orb" of an aspect; if you are not clear on this concept click here and then return to this discussion.

Squares represent discord and present obstacles to which your trines and sextiles can be applied as tools or virtues. A planet at 15° of Gemini, for example, is square to any planet from 7° to 23° (15° ± 8°) of Pisces, or similarly, to any planet from 7° to 23° (15° ± 8°) of Virgo. It is likewise opposed (oppositions have a 12° orb) to any planet from 3° to 27° (15° ±12°) of Sagittarius. The square, opposition, semisquare, sesquiqua-drate (135°), semisextile (30° aspect) and quincunx (150° aspect) are known as the "hard" aspects.

If two planets are square or opposed, consider the quadruplicity (cardinal, fixed or mutable) the aspect is in. This is dealt with separately under the page for that corresponding quadruplicity. Below are links to the pages discussing each of the three quadruplicities (or seasons).