Mode
Definition
Mode, also called modality or quality, is one of the two classical axes that classify the twelve zodiac signs, together with the axis of elements. There are three modes: cardinal, fixed, and mutable. Each mode gathers four signs sharing a particular way of relating to time and to the development of a process inside the zodiacal cycle.
In context
The cardinal signs open each season of the astrological year (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn); the fixed signs sustain it (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius); the mutable signs close it and prepare the next (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces). Looking at how modalities distribute across a chart describes how a person moves inside a cycle: whether they tend to begin, to sustain, or to transform. A map heavily tilted toward one mode usually leans on the other two to complete the arc.
To go deeper
Mode intersects with the other classical axis of the zodiac: