The Signs:
“The Signs reveal the “how” of the horoscope ~ how are the energies of the planets manifesting? While the Signs have their own energy, it is an energy of form and not essence. The energy of the Signs is an energy that shapes and molds, rather than creates and projects.
“Venus, for example, is always seeking partnership and complementation. In the Sign Taurus, she will bring into one’s life relationship issues that involve money, substance, and tests of true human values, i.e., the forms of Taurean expression.
“But when placed in the Sign of Aquarius, for example, Venus’ urge to merge tends to be much more idealistic and impersonal in her approach to others, and far less materialistic and personal than when in the Sign of the Bull.”
~ from Rulers of the Horoscope by Alan Oken. [Emphasis added.]
It’s important to remember: the Signs also function differently when they’re not in their ordinary position in the natural horoscope.
It should be noted here that the Law of Opposites is in effect for several parts of astrology: Sign, House, Element and Polarity. This means for every Sign there is an “opposite” Sign. However, Theos feels the term “higher correspondent” more accurately describes the relationship between the pairs of Signs and Houses.
Because there are 12 Signs, there are 6 pairs of Signs, which means, starting with Aries as the first Sign, to calculate its higher correspondent, add 6 Signs. For instance, the Sign which is the higher correspondent of Aries, (1st Sign), is the 7th Sign, which is Libra. With Taurus as the 2nd Sign, it makes Scorpio its higher correspondent as the 8th Sign; with Gemini as the 3rd Sign, Sagittarius is the higher correspondent as the 9th Sign, and so on.
This is more than an arithmetical truth. These Signs mirror one another in a specific way ~ there is always a lower/higher correspondent relationship existing between these pairs of Signs.
“You always contact the lower energies first.”
Theos tells us this is an Esoteric Truth. The Signs present a good example: the first four are personal Signs, the second four are interpersonal Signs, and the final four are the transpersonal Signs.
As an informative note: a “cusp” is where the House begins on the natal wheel or where the Phase begins on the Moon Wheel.
When talking about the Signs, it’s important to remember that the natal Sun’s Sign will be an essential factor when delineating a natal map. The Sun’s Sign gives form and direction to the entire chart and, by extension, all the planetoids in that chart ~ it “colors” every form in that chart with the qualities of its Sign.
That’s not to say the planetoids will easily conform to those qualities, for as often as not, the energies may not mix well and could become a subject for contemplation and meditation.
There is a triplicity of energies which have to be considered when trying to identify the Heavenly Body’s impact on the natal map: the Sun’s Sign, the Sign in which the Heavenly Body is found, and the energy of the Heavenly Body itself.
For purposes of our study and play with TAM, the Signs give shape and form to the Phase and Will energies as well, creating another triplicity. For example, if the New Phase started at 18° Aries 28′, the initiating energy of Aries would increase the creative fire of the Phase, which would be tripled by the inaugurating energies of the Will to Initiate that belong in the New Phase.
What follows here are brief summaries, from information gathered from books and around the internet, of the basic characteristics of each Sign, as well as a sampling of information types from mainly exoteric and some Esoteric sources. The Key Phrases come specifically from Astrology for Yourself, by Demetra George and Douglas Bloch Or the alternative Key Phrases coming from Alan Oken’s Complete Astrology..
It is also important to note: The “storyline” that ties the Signs’ together by function, i.e., Aries as the seed, Taurus as the ripening seed, Cancer as the house built upon the rich Taurean soil, etc., only works for the Northern Hemisphere. Obviously, the seasons are switched for the Southern Hemisphere and so the growing seasons are reversed and the analogies don’t work.
As always, please remember these summaries are not exhaustive in their scope. They are only meant to give you a good start in understanding the Signs. The Wills/Rays listed are mostly from The Tibetan’s tabulations and indicate Ordinary Man, Disciple/Initiate, and Hierarchies, in that order.