It seems my old philosophy schoolbooks have much to teach me about astrology. I’m currently rereading On Moral Fiction by John Gardner, which was a text for a philosophy class I took long ago, and it’s given me an “aha” moment on the subway, another way to think about our three modalities: cardinal, fixed, mutable.
Gardner, talking of Tolstoy, says that “Tolstoy argues… that the ideal held up in a proper work of art comes from God, was originally revealed in action by the life of Christ the intermediary… and is passed on to all humanity by artists,” by whom he means everyone from the writers of the Bible to “the framers of folktale and parable” and so forth. “Note the scheme,” says Gardner. “From God comes the standard; it is enacted by a hero and recorded by the poet.”
Three stages: three modalities. The initiating impulse is cardinal; the enacting is fixed; the recording and describing is mutable. Aha…
Gardner goes on to say, “With the worship of Zeus substituted for Christianity, this is almost exactly Homer’s position…. What the warrior-hero does on the battlefield… shows ordinary men what the gods love.” Gardner states, “Every hero’s proper function is to provide a noble image for men to be inspired and guided by in their own actions…. And whereas the hero’s function (like the function of Tolstoy’s Christ) is to set the standard in action, the business of the poet (or ‘memory’ or ‘epic song,’ and also the business of arts other than poetry) is to celebrate the work of the hero, pass the image on, keep the heroic model of behavior fresh, generation on generation.”
Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn: these signs show the spark of the idea, the standard of each element.
Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius: these signs show the unfolding, the standard in action, enacted.
Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces: these signs show how the message is carried forward to future generations.
May 14, 2008 at 12:22 pm
As a mutable Sun and Asc person, I do identify as the Poet more than the Hero or Initiator. I have been thinking recently that, as an astrologer at least, I have no groundbreaking ideas or need to write an epic scholarly book — I just like to spread ideas in my own idiosyncratic way. Perhaps different astrologers are more focused on developing new techniques or building a legacy because they have a different emphasis in modality.
May 14, 2008 at 5:08 pm
You may be right, Jeff. For instance, as a builder of communities, you create salons where the ideas can be discussed and passed along. It is as essential as the initial cardinal spark and the tireless fixed work of hammering it out. Someone’s got to tell how it all went down, and that’s the historians and poets and tale-spinners.
(I have buckets of mutable myself. I love stories.)
May 17, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Christine,
This post is absolutely fascinating, and it’s not a stretch to say it’s helped me understand myself a little better. Cardinal as “initiator” and fixed as “doer” gives me a little insight into the internal struggle I often experience, having the Sun in Libra and the Moon in Aquarius. It’s also helps me realize that integrating the two - getting both facets of myself moving in the same direction - could make some wonderful things happen.
Thanks for an engaging and insightful read.
May 19, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Hi, Jerome, delighted you liked it! Thanks for coming by.