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Fludd introduces some preliminary classifications of the houses.

Of The First Twelve Figures Of a Shield

the first twelve shields of the geomantic house refer to the 12 signs of the zodiac, as we must understand in astrology. Therefore, the first house, both in astrology and in geomancy, is given to Aries, and is always by itself a movable house,¹ the second to Taurus, and is a fixed house, and the third to Gemini, and is a common house. The fourth is Cancer and is movable, the fourth is Leo and is fixed, the sixth is Virgo and is common, the seventh is Libra and is movable, the eighth is Scorpio and is fixed, the ninth is Sagittarius and is common, the tenth is Capricorn and is movable, the eleventh is Aquarius and is fixed, the twelfth is Pisces and it is common, that is, neither fixed nor movable, but intermediate between both.

And it must be noted that, when the [geomantic] figures are in these houses, nevertheless the nature of the house is not changed, but remains in itself, that is, it will not change the nature of its sign: hence the first house will be called Aries, and so forth, so that every house, whatever attribute it may have, will stay movable, fixed, or common according to its own nature.

Rule I

Bad Houses make good figures bad, and they make bad ones worse: on the contrary, good figures are better in good houses.

Rule II

A figure in a house of contrary nature, that is to say a fixed figure in a movable house, or a movable figure in a fixed house, is rendered worse in judgment. But a fixed figure in a fixed house or a mobile figure in a mobile house are fortified.²

Rule III

The first four of the twelve houses, namely, the first house, the second, and the third will always signify the season of spring, and so on in the rest, as stated in astrology.³

MQS

Footnotes

1. Today we call the astrological signs cardinal, fixed and mutable. A more archaic way of describing them is as movable, fixed and common. Note that Fludd is equating the signs with the houses, which is natural in geomancy. In traditional astrology, however, the houses are quite distinct from the signs. ↩︎
2. Here the reference is to the classification of the geomantic figures shown in Book II, Part 1. ↩︎
3. In astrology (as well as in magic), the four quarters of the Heaven hold much symbolic meaning, lending themselves to the allotment of various fourfold distinctions. ↩︎