The Magic of Triplicity Rulers in Astrology

The building blocks of astrology involve knowing planets, signs, houses, triplicities and quadruplicities; these are some of the foundations on which various interpretive techniques are based.

The triplicities are among the easiest to master, breaking the signs down to their elemental properties: fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). Even if you know very little about astrology, you’ve likely heard of water signs, earth signs, air signs and fire signs. From here, a more complicated, albeit highly instructive, interpretive shorthand can offer insights into periods of anative’s life by specific topics. Before we examine the technique it’s helpful to unpack the triplicity rulers further.

Bonatti on Triplicities

In his second treatise on signs and houses, the thirteenth-century astrologer Guido Bonatti writes that the triplicities “are distinguished so, namely because every three signs which agree in one nature and in one complexion, make one triplicity…like a ‘threefoldness’” (1). He explains that since Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius all share the same principal qualities of heat and dryness, they also thus share a triplicity. This triplicity is characterized as being “fiery…masculine, eastern, diurnal, choleric, bitter in…