In astrology, the mutable signs (also called common signs or bicorporal or double-bodied signs) are a subgroup of the zodiac. They are Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. The mutable signs straddle two temperate zone seasons, encompassing an inherent duality in its symbolism.
In the tropical zodiac, mutable signs coincide with the times of change in the seasons. They are associated with change and versatility. Individuals born under the four mutable quality signs are thought to be adaptable, impressionable, sharp, sympathetic, communicative,[citation needed] resourceful and restless, with a gift for seeing both sides of a situation at the same time and an immense desire for knowledge, variety and new ideas. They supposedly adapt very well to new situations, possess much flexibility, seldom have any particular agenda and are perfectly happy to fill in an assigned role. However, they are also said to be inconsistent, changeable, nervous, indecisive and irresponsible, with a tendency to get wrapped up in tiny particulars. There is also a certain duality associated with all the mutable quality signs.
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Features of the signs
The mutable or bicorporal signs signify a duality of life experiences, and those individuals who are influenced by these signs are likely to have two main experiences, two main vocations, or two main loves that will strongly affect them for the totality of their existence.
The mutable signs include:
- Gemini (
) : - between the spring and summer seasons.
- Virgo (
) : - between the summer and autumn seasons.
- Sagittarius (
) : - between the autumn and winter seasons.
- Pisces (
) : - between the winter and spring seasons.
For more information, refer to the Astrological Signs article.
Historical definitions
In a Byzantine scholium to Chapter 2 of the Introduction to astrology by fourth-century Hellenistic astrologer Paulus Alexandrinus, the following clear definition can be found:
"A double-bodied zoidion [sign] is said to be between two seasons, such as Gemini between spring and summer, ending the spring and beginning the summer [...] That is to say, double-bodied as being between the two bodies of spring and summer."[1]
900 years later, when medieval Italian Guido Bonatti wrote his Liber Astronomiae, in the final years of the thirteenth century, the definition remained the same and his is quite elegant:
"The moveable (cardinal) signs are so-called [...] because at the time when the Sun enters them the disposition of the air is changed [...] The common signs are so-called because when the Sun enters any of these signs it makes the time common, neither truly fixed nor truly movable, but it partakes of both, fixed and moveable. Whence part of that time it is of one [nature] and part of the other [...] when [the Sun] leaves Leo and enters Virgo, then the season is changed, and is made partly summer and partly autumnal."[2]
However, by the time William Lilly wrote Christian Astrology, in 1647, a subtle change had taken place. Lilly writes, describing Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces:
"The Signs [...] are divided into moveable, fixed and common, [...] [Common] Signs are constituted between moveable and fixed, and retain a property of nature, partaking both with the preceding and consequent Sign [...] They are called bi-corporeal or double bodied, because they represent two bodies: as Gemini two twins, Pisces two fishes."[3]
The seasonal connection had become more tenuous, although it was doubtless still understood.
Lilly goes on to say that mutable signs are inherently "unstable, and of no resolution, and mutable, perverted, wavering [...] inconstant."[3] This is a rather dramatic overstatement, but Lilly is trying to create the most striking comparisons he can between the three classes of sign.
Modern astrology does tend to regard mutable signs as more unstable and wavering, less strong-willed, than either cardinal or fixed signs, but also more adaptable and dealing more easily with change.
Notes
- ^ Paulus Alexandrinus. "Introductory Matters."" Text as translated by Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum in Late Classical Astrology: Paulus Alexandrinus and Olympiodorus. ARHAT Publications (Archive for Retrieval of Historical Astrological Texts) (Reston, VA; 2001.) P. 5.
- ^ Guido Bonatti. Liber Astronomiae. [translated by Robert Zoller] Project Hindsight. The Golden Hind Press. (Berkeley Springs, WV, 1994.) Second tractate, Chapter XI. (Vol. 2, p. 2.)
- ^ a b William Lilly. Christian Astrology. (London, 1647.) Chapter XVI. P. 88. Ascella Publications (London, 1999.) P. 39.
See also
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