Quality
The mutable signs
Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces — the four signs that sit 90 degrees apart on the ecliptic. Groupings of four like this are called quadruplicities, or modalities.
- Gemini21 May – 20 June
- Virgo23 August – 22 September
- Sagittarius22 November – 21 December
- Pisces19 February – 20 March
Why these four
Each of these signs closes a season, while it is turning into the next one. Starting at Gemini and stepping a quarter of the way round the circle three times lands on the other three, so the group is a square drawn in the zodiac. Twelve divides by four, which is the whole of the arithmetic: each element contributes exactly one sign to each quality, and each quality takes one sign from each element.
The mutable signs end where the cardinal signs begin, so each is the last third of a season in the sky and the sun leaves it at a solstice or an equinox. In 2026 it leaves Gemini for Cancer at the June solstice, 21 June, 08:25 UTC; Virgo for Libra at the September equinox, 23 September, 00:06 UTC; Sagittarius for Capricorn at the December solstice, 21 December, 20:50 UTC; and Pisces for Aries at the March equinox, 20 March, 14:46 UTC.
What the tradition makes of it
In Western astrological tradition the mutable signs are associated with adaptability, and a difficulty in settling on one shape. That is a statement about a tradition of reading, not a claim about anyone born under one of these four signs, and this site makes no such claim.
When the sun is in each of them
| Sign | Element | Sun enters, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini | Air | 21 May, 00:37 UTC |
| Virgo | Earth | 23 August, 02:19 UTC |
| Sagittarius | Fire | 22 November, 07:24 UTC |
| Pisces | Water | 18 February, 15:52 UTC |
Worked out from the sun's position with the VSOP87 planetary theory, to the minute. Why the dates shift →