Fire
The most obvious characteristic of this positive, ‘yang’ element is its power to transform (whether we like it or not!). When we speak of a fiery temperament, we are referring to a quality of behaviour that pushes ahead into life. It is unpredictable, even unstable, active and forceful, and usually extremely noticeable! Fire types need to make things happen, and to be in the absolute centre of their lives. They can sense the potential of a situation and make that crucial leap into the unknown either to fall on their face or to create a ‘roaring success’.
Likewise, we can imagine how people living with a Fire type can be inspired and encouraged by their partner’s enthusiasm, but also how easily they might get ‘burned’ by the flames of fire’s passionate ego and outrageous escapades. Fire evokes descriptive phrases such as ‘burning with zeal’, ‘hot-blooded’, ‘can’t stand still’, ‘hot stuff’, ‘energizing’, ‘stimulating’, ‘inspiring’, ‘ego-centric’ and ‘visionary’.
Earth
The Earth is usually referred to as a feminine, ‘yin’ element – Mother Earth, the ever-dependable source of all life. In the realm of Earth all material forms stand out and are distinct: we receive our ultimate material definition as well as our material limitation from Earth. No matter how fiery and wonderful our visions of what could be, the final test of their reality resides in the world of matter. How does it act, taste, feel, measure up in the ‘real’ world?
The predominantly earthy individual tends, therefore, to be matter-of-fact, solid, reliable, sensual, productive, grounded in the practical everyday world, and preoccupied with the here and now. The virtues of this type are obvious: they know how to get things done, run a household and a business, balance the books and make flowers grow. But Earth types go for security, not risk; order rather than chaos; and, as a result, often have a problem expanding beyond their known, quantifiable and controllable universe.
Air
Like Fire, Air is a positive ‘yang’ element, but has a more impersonal quality. Just like the wind, it is all-pervasive and constantly moving, and connects and relates everything it touches in the outer world. Hence the need for airy individuals to socialize and share ideas with many different people. Unlike the intensity of Fire, Air is more detached, abstract and non-intimate in its mode of operation. To find the rational principle at work behind the operations of nature and human behaviour is what the airy individual seeks. And so we usually find that the airy temperament is breezy, intellectual, communicative, curious, co-operative, sometimes ‘airy-fairy’ but always interested in cause-and-effect, in the past-present-future relationship of things, and in understanding people and situations with their minds.
Air types handle ideas well, they are logical, cool, civilized, witty and usually the life of the party where they can indulge themselves in the sheer variety of people. In the realm of feelings, however, the airy individual is often insecure and naive, as feelings do not lend themselves easily to the logical measurement of the rational mind.
Water
When we think about the ‘yin’ element of Water, we immediately enter the realm of the mysterious Feminine. Images arise such as the refreshing, nurturing, cleansing, cooling qualities of spring rain and also the power, enchantment and mystery of the deep, blue sea. Water flows, dissolves and unifies, and indeed the watery temperament desires to be intimate, to merge and to experience the bliss of emotional security and containment. Containment is an important clue to understanding this type, as water will be contained by its boundaries, or else, as with the terror of a flood, it overwhelms, engulfs, saturates and drowns.
The watery individual is moved by feelings, by the irrational realm of romance and imagination, and seeks meaning through relating at a deeply personal and unexplainable level. Unconcerned with whether or not someone or something makes ‘logical sense’, they ask instead ‘does it feel right?’ The emotional, watery individual is concerned with feelings, values, rapport, belonging and memories.
THE ELEMENTS AND TIME
The subjective experience of time is one of those perennial mysteries of the human condition. Our state of mind – our temperament – seems largely to determine whether we constantly look at the clock or sail through the day as if it consisted of a few interesting moments. Some people are constantly harping back to the ‘good old days’, whilst some are focused on the immense possibilities of the future. Others are ploddingly preoccupied with the here-and-now, and other types are happy to scan the past, present, and future and how they relate in a cause-and-effect way.
Fire is preoccupied with the future, with the hidden meaning and potential of things and what can be made of them. Earth is interested in the here-and-now, in facts and figures, concrete accomplishments, and getting things done in a practical way. Water is concerned with personal feelings and emotions, with safety, security, and connectedness, and is especially concerned with the past. Air is concerned with the abstract reasons behind things and their cause and effect; air scans past, present, and future in an attempt to get the broad picture and the abstract principle.
INTERPRETING THE ELEMENTS
The elements can at times be taken literally. Thus those with a strong Earth element in their charts will be strongly physical in some way – they will like and feel at home with the earth, gardening, farming, pottery, building and working with their hands to make things. Water types will often thrive beside the sea or next to a lake or a stream. Fire types can quite literally enjoy piling up a roaring open fire and even being the blacksmith. Air types often love the open air, walking in the wind, bird-watching, flying, gliding, or simply flying a kite or listening to their wind chimes.
It is not quite that simple, however. A person may be strongly Water, yet be an airline pilot, or strongly air and be deeply attached to farming or become a master builder. Strength in an element or elements shows us an approach to the world. This can be illustrated by considering the chart of Gertrude Ederle. One of the great pioneer women swimmers of early this century, she became, in 1926, the first woman to swim the English Channel. Surely someone who spent so much time in the water would have to have her Sun, the focus of her life, in a Water sign? In fact, Ederle had Sun in Libra and Moon in Capricorn, making her an Air-Earth type. So what is an Air-Earth type doing spending their days immersed in the salty deeps?
First of all, it should be said that her birth chart does have a great deal of Water in it, not least a conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune in Cancer trine Saturn in Pisces, indicating watery ideals and ambitions, and Mercury in Scorpio, indicating a mind attracted by oceanic depths. But what is her approach to swimming? Listen to what she has to say on the subject:
To me the sea is like a person – like a child that I’ve known a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea I talk to it. I never feel alone when I’m out there.
So although she spent much of her life immersed in water, her approach and attitude to swimming was utterly airy.
THE ELEMENT COMBINATIONS
Each Sun – Moon type is a combination of elements. In the following descriptions of the element combinations, please remember that the pairing can be either way around. For example, a Fire – Earth combination refers equally to Sun Fire – Moon Earth as it does to Sun Earth – Moon Fire. There will be subtle differences, but the dynamic is generally the same. The diagram on page 26 will tell you which elements your Sun and Moon are in. See the table of Sun – Moon combinations (below) to find your Sun – Moon type.
The Sun – Moon Combinations
SUN/MOON:
