The Cardinal Cross is the fundamental structure upon which the entire system of astrology hangs. The fours signs of the cardinal cross are the initiating or originating states of each of the four elements. The four angles of the houses which correspond with the signs of the cardinal cross are considered to be the power angles of the chart: the Ascendant and Midheaven are commonly known; less well known but not less important are the Nadir and the Descendant.

The four signs that correspond to the cardinal cross are Aries, the originating stage of the fire element; Cancer, origin of water; Libra, origin of air; and Capricorn, origin of earth. Each sign is associated with a planet which has been traditionally referred to as its ruler. The ruling planet has mastery over the qualities of a given sign, yes; but not because it dominates or rules in a controlling sense, rather because it itself is the source for those qualities. In astrology, a planet is an active force, while a sign is a passive style.

The elements of astrology are divided into two polarities: the feminine and masculine, or yin and yang. The interaction between these two polarities describes the basic binary code of astrology. In traditional astrology, the planet which rules a sign can be differently polarized than the sign itself. For example, the planet Saturn is seen to be masculine, though it rules the feminine earth element Capricorn, while the feminine planet Venus rules the masculine air-element sign Libra.

In order to update the system, in which, like mathematics, the equations must balance, I have taken the liberty of re-defining the planets’ gender orientation so that they match the polarities of their elements and the signs which they originate. I also have added the Earth / Gaia as ruler of Taurus and Chiron as ruler of Virgo (such that each sign has a single ruler) to facilitate the symmetry which is needed for balance.

The feminine or yin polarity (earth-water) of the Cardinal Cross consists of the signs Capricorn and Cancer, ruled respectively by Saturn and the Moon. The Moon has been long understood as a feminine force, but traditionally the planet Saturn has been described as masculine. The identification of the archetypes are based on stories from Greek mythology, and it is time to update them for the modern age. The stories are relevant, for Saturn’s qualities do include those which have been described as masculine: authority, power, duty, ambition, discipline.

However, when Saturn’s role is reconfigured to be seen as yin, then those qualities which have been labeled as ‘masculine’ can be understood as the powerful or active side of the ‘feminine’. Everybody knows women who are disciplined, authoritative and capable. And each of us, male as well as female, is made up of the balance between all of the polarities, masculine and feminine.

But the most powerful qualities of the feminine have been masculinized, or appropriated by the patriarchy, and the power of the feminine has been cast down and replaced by the masculine hierarchies. This has coloured and dominated our understanding of the meaning of Capricorn. Thus, powerful, ambitious and capable women have been accused of attempting to be ‘masculine’, and they have not been taken seriously. This has been a tragic perversion of the true (i.e. balanced) meaning of the archetypes.

The earth element, when seen in this new way, can be understood as the Triple Goddess, Maiden (Virgo the Virgin), Mother (Taurus, ruled by the Earth) and the Capricorn Crone, ancient, disciplined and wise.

The Moon, originator of Cancer, is vulnerable, nurturing, sensitive and needy—in a sense, infantile, yet also magical and mysterious; reflective rather than active. This is the classic view of the Feminine, while the outwardly powerful qualities (the ‘yang of the yin’) have been defined as masculine. This has crippled women’s ability to truly understand our own nature and find empowerment as women; it has also crippled the culture as a whole in that it has defined certain passive background roles to be the only appropriate ones for women and denied to society the greatness, authority and wisdom of women elders.

This unbalanced view of our archetypal nature has also damaged men’s ability to express their wholeness. The cardinal fire and air (always masculine / yang) polarity has also been split into classic ‘masculine’ (Aries, whose glyph is the same as the symbol for ‘man’) and ‘feminine’ (Libra, whose glyph is the same as the symbol for ‘woman’) signs.

When seen truly, Libra’s originating planet Venus symbolizes the feminine, receptive aspect of the masculine. The masculine does indeed have a beauty-loving, heartful side, which is desperately needed for balance. Libra represents a love for harmony, beauty, truth and justice as well as a love for love.

When this balanced, receptive side of the masculine is excised from our understanding of its nature, it becomes impossible to see and develop the fullness of masculine potential. So gentle, sensitive, beauty-loving men have been denigrated as ‘feminine sissies’ and have taken less seriously by the dominant masculine culture.

The Cardinal Cross has been divided in a very black-and-white way along gender lines, with the traditionally feminine signs being watery/yin Cancer and airy/yang Libra, and the traditionally masculine signs have been fiery/yang Aries and earthy/yin Capricorn.

This has created a more extreme split between the sexes than is natural or necessary, for all yin qualities (including the sensitive masculine) have been ascribed to women, while all yang qualities (including the authoritative feminine) has been ascribed to men. Tthe feminine has a natural yang side, the yang of the yin, while the masculine has a yin side, the yin of the yang. To call the yang side of the feminine ‘masculine’ and the yin side of the masculine ‘feminine’ denies both men and women access to crucial aspects of their own character.

Archetypally speaking, all power and authority has been placed in masculine hands while all sensitivity, receptiveness and dependence has been relegated to the feminine. When filtered through the lens of astro-logic, this division of roles appears to have more to do with gender politics (going back thousands of years) than to any kind of eternal truth.

We are all deeply influenced at a core level by the archetypes and symbols which our culture has developed to explain and understand itself. Refining and updating the astrological archetypes according to clear, balanced elemental understanding is a crucial step toward releasing those natural capabilities and tendencies which we have attempted to suppress, and to move toward a true balance within ourselves and in relation to each other as men and women.