In the previous article, we looked at the human condition as one big pie, then made it into four slices. I don't know about you, but I've never eaten a 1/4 slice of a cake, nor pizza, nor regular-sized pie. It's way too much. That excess in our work isn't a matter of a tummy ache, but instead a measure of imprecision. Using a whole raw element when you need something more specific is like adding pumpkin spice blend to make cinnamon sugar toast. It won't necessarily taste bad, but cinnamon and a mix of several spices including cinammon are two entirely different profiles. If you spoke replacing the first consonant of every word with a B, folk might be able to understand you, but it would be clumsy, and occasionally the imprecision would make your words ambiguous. For this reason, we're going to cut each element into three pieces. However, we aren't going to cut with a knife. Instead, we'll cut with three ingredients. I'll briefly introduce these ingredients. Note that these metaphors belong to alchemy. Do not actually play with mercury unless you want to get poisoned.
Note that each triplcity of an element is a zodiac sign. Please don't confuse these signs for the sun sign pop astrology that is used as a personality test these days. Experiencing the Barnum effect and identifying with some personality archetype is not at all one of my objectives, nor is telling you the fine details of your personality using a more thorough natal chart something I'll lead you into. You don't act a certain way because "you're a leo". There's a dizzyingly complex causality behind the human psyche that such an approach is laughably incapable of accounting for.
In this article, I'll lay out the framework for how we will divide up the elements into their twelve triplicities. Each sign will get its own article, or else this one will become giant.
Guiding the property of combustability, cutting an element with sulfur renders its cardinal form. While each triplicity is potent and important, the cardinal modality of an element often acts as a catalyst for the other forms. When there is an elemental process, ability, or resource, it often cannot be rendered if one cannot access the cardinal form of the element. The signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn are the cardinal form of the elements.
Salt guides the property of non-volatility and non-reaction. The fixed modality of an element is the most sturdy and least-changing form. The fixed elements are their purest essence, untainted by other elements. Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius, and Taurus are the fixed form of the elements.
What's the opposite of salt? Mercury. Mercury fuses into other substances readily, and is highly flexible and reactive. The mutable form of an element exists in conversation with the other, and is in a way beholden to its relationship with the external. While sulfur initiates, mercury reacts. Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini, and Virgo are the mutable form of the elements.
In the next articles, I will explore each of the twelve zodiac signs as elemental triplicities. While twelve slices is a lot more granular than four, you will find that there is a depth and complexity to many of these signs that allows them to appear in many ways. Each sign represents a specific ideal one may move towards. Once each of the signs are revealed and fleshed out, there is an astrological system to further refine the signs. We crawled with the four elements, and are now going to walk with the twelve signs. After accomplishing this, we will learn to run.