Polarity: Opposite Zodiac Signs

Tug of war
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This word is used to describe the relationship between two opposite signs of the Zodiac. When you have planets across the Zodiac from one another, there's a push-pull effect.

These signs are in opposition, and this is a planetary aspect that's considered challenging. When a transiting (moving) planet opposes your natal planet, that's signaling it's time to grow. The opposition may pull you out of the comfort zone, but also inspires you to reach for new goals.

Since the Zodiac wheel has 360 degrees, the polar sign is the one at 180 degrees in opposition.

It sounds like they're opponents, but the urge to reconcile these opposites leads to stretching -- going beyond your known limits. 

Opposites attract, and the polar signs have a natural affinity based on the potential to balance each other out.

Zodiac Sign Polarities

In This Corner

Everyone has polarities in their own birth chart to muse on. A polarity can be felt dramatically, especially if it involves an important planet, like the Sun. If your Sun is in Capricorn and your Moon is opposite in Cancer, the pursuit of your central purpose pulls you one way, out of the comfort zone (the Moon).

Sometimes dramatic polarities like that can lead to going from one extreme to the other. In the above example, maybe you're ambitious but often feel the urge to retreat back to the familiar. You might reconcile the two by working from home or gravitating to homey work atmospheres. 

Oppositions often come up in showdowns with people who have those traits. This is a fascinating phenomenon, as the right friends and adversaries cross our path. 

In Chart Interpretation

Looking at the polarities in a birth chart is a way to gain the full picture. 

In The Astrological Houses, Dane Rudhyar wrote, "The principle of polarity is the cornerstone of any sound astrological interpretation, and it is particularly in evidence when we deal with axes in a chart."

By axes, he's referring to the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, and IC (at the Fourth House cusp).  These are significant points that set the chart, with energetic shading, so to speak.  The chart ruler is the Ascendant, and its opposite sign then is the Descendent. 

Dane Rudhyar writes later, "What I mean, for instance, is that if one wishes to describe the characteristic qualities of a Leo Ascendant -- that is, how the person's self-image has a Leo character -- one should take into consideration the inevitable fact that his approach to partnership -- Descendent -- will have an Aquarius character and vice versa."

In her highly-prized book Practical Astrology, April Elliot Kent writes on House Axes, and how they are in opposite Zodiac signs, at the same degree.  This is another way to go into the chart, to ponder the polarities there. 

She writes, "Have you ever heard the maxim that what bothers us in other people are usually the very traits we deny in ourselves?  Those we consider our opposites, or even our enemies, are usually more like us than we care to admit -- no matter how different we may seem on the surface."

The polarities are in the First and Seventh, Second and Eighth, Third and Ninth, Fourth and Tenth, Fifth and Eleventh, and Sixth and Twelfth Houses. 


One thing to keep in mind is that the polarities are always in elements that are complementary.  That means they come together as Fire and Air, or Earth and Water. 

These elements move together well and are traditionally known as either masculine-Yang (Fire and Air) and feminine-Yin (Earth and Water). 

Also Known As: polar signs