Full context:   The modality or mode of a given sign refers to its position in the season it is found in. Each of the four elements manifests in three modalities: ‘’’cardinal’’’, ‘’’fixed’’’, and ‘’’mutable’’’. Each modality comprehends four signs, also known as Quadruplicities. For example, the sign Aries is found in the first month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, so practitioners of astrology describe it as having a cardinal modality. The combination of element and modality provides the signs with their unique characterizations. For instance, Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign, impressing its association with action (cardinal modality) in the material world (earth element).