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
Astrological sign operate on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (also known as "shichen"). A particular feature of the Chinese zodiac is its operation in a 60-year cycle in combination with the Five Phases of Chinese astrology (Wood, Fire, Metal, Water and Earth). Nevertheless, some researches say that there is an obvious relationship between the Chinese 12-year cycle and zodiac constellations: each year of the cycle corresponds to a certain disposal of Jupiter. For example, in the year of Snake Jupiter is in the Sign of Gemini, in the year of Horse Jupiter is in the Sign