Polarity sorts the twelve zodiac signs into two groups. The six fire and air signs are called positive, and the six earth and water signs negative. Other books use the pairs active and receptive, yang and yin, or masculine and feminine for the same split. The labels describe a symbolic direction, outward-facing or inward-facing. Positive does not mean better, and negative does not mean harmful.
Polarity follows directly from the elements. The signs alternate around the zodiac: Aries is positive, Taurus negative, Gemini positive, and so on to Pisces. Because fire always faces air across the circle, and earth always faces water, opposite signs share the same polarity. That is the second common sense of the word: the six pairs of opposite signs, such as Aries and Libra or Cancer and Capricorn, are often called polarities, and astrologers read each pair as two sides of one theme.
Each zodiac sign profile lists its polarity with a short note on what positive or negative means there. The sign pages pair polarity with element, modality, and ruling planet, which rulership explains.
The geometric counterpart of a pair of opposite signs is the opposition, an aspect of 180 degrees. For the circle as a whole, see the zodiac entry and the zodiac signs overview.
In a chart
Suppose a chart has the Sun, Mercury, and Venus in Gemini, the Moon in Libra, Mars in Leo, Jupiter in Taurus, and Saturn in Capricorn. Five of these seven traditional planets are in positive signs and two in negative ones. A reader might call the chart outward-leaning, then check that impression against houses, aspects, and the rest of the chart. A count like this is a summary, not a personality score, and it changes depending on which bodies and points are included.
Where you see it on Astrologican
These free tools and pages calculate or list it, so you can see it in a real result.