← Encyclopedia of Astrology · lesson 202/235
Fruitful and barren signs
What it is
Traditional astrology sorts the twelve signs into fruitful signs, which favour growth, increase and offspring, and barren (or sterile) signs, which do not. The idea rests on the signs' qualities: the moist, cold water signs were thought to nourish life as water does a field, while the dry signs, and above all hot and dry fire, were thought to parch it.
Which signs are which
The authorities broadly agree on the extremes and differ in the middle. Nicholas deVore's summary, following Lilly, runs like this:
| Class | Signs |
|---|---|
| Fruitful | Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces |
| Moderately fruitful | Taurus, Capricorn; some add Libra and Aquarius |
| Barren | Gemini, Leo, Virgo; some add Aries |
| Leaning barren | Sagittarius, Aquarius |
Lilly himself calls Cancer "fruitful", Leo "barren" and Virgo "barren" in his descriptions of the signs. Leo is often named the most barren of all: fiery, dry and the Sun's own sign. Virgo, though an earth sign, is barren because the Virgin bears no child — a case where the symbol outweighs the element. Aquarius appears on both lists, which shows how unsettled the middle ground is.
How it was used
Children. In a nativity or a horary question about children, astrologers looked at the sign on the cusp of the Fifth House, the sign holding its ruler, and the Moon. Fruitful signs there were read as a testimony for children, barren signs as one against — one testimony among several, never a verdict.
Elections. The electional writers used the same classes to make things grow or not. William Ramesey would cut hair to grow back quickly with the Moon in a fruitful sign, "Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces", and hair that should not grow soon with her in "Virgo, Gemini or Leo", decreasing in light.
Gardening. The longest-lived use is in planting by the Moon. Almanacs advise sowing, planting, grafting and watering when the Moon is in a fruitful sign, and keeping the barren signs for weeding, mowing, clearing ground, dealing with pests and harvesting crops that should come in dry. Lisa Lenard's summary of the modern almanac rule is simply: plant in a water sign whenever possible, root crops in an earth sign, and avoid fire and air signs, when plants "may go to seed".
How it is read today
In modern psychological astrology the terms are rarely used of people, and a "barren" sign says nothing about anyone's ability to have children — that belongs to medicine, not to a birth chart. The classes survive mostly in electional work and in gardening by the Moon, where they describe a tradition rather than a law.
In the almanac
When gardening by sign is ticked in the Almanac's Moon panel, it says whether today's Moon sign is fruitful, moderately fruitful or barren, and which garden jobs the tradition gives to it.