Cardinal sign (astrology) Cardinal sign (astrology) The practice of astrology recognizes four cardinal signs of the zodiac: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn — sometimes called reacting signs. It associates those people born "under" one of these with certain human behaviors and traits like being active, self-motivated, insightful and ambitious. The word "cardinal" originates from the Latin word for "important," since they each mark the turning point of a temperate season. They were called "moveable" by traditional astrologers because, as Bonatti says, the "air" changes when the Sun enters each of these signs, bringing a change of season. Sometimes the word "cardinal" is confused
Zodiac of the tribes around the Tabernacle (reported in the Book of Numbers) corresponded to the order of the Zodiac, with Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan representing the middle signs of Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio, respectively. Such connections were taken up by Thomas Mann, who in his novel "Joseph and His Brothers" attributes characteristics of a sign of the zodiac to each tribe in his rendition of the Blessing of Jacob. The Babylonian star catalogs entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC, via Eudoxus of Cnidus. Babylonia or Chaldea in the Hellenistic world came to be so identified with