The following comparisons of the Elements | Temperaments are edited excerpts of articles authored by Clare Martin
Found at Astrodienist : Mapping the Psyche
Volume One - Lessons Nine and Ten

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The Fire and Earth Signs

It is helpful to look at the Fire and Earth Signs together because, as opposite Elements, they both challenge and complement each other. And it makes it easier to grasp the meaning of an Element if we compare it to what it is not. Fire is positive and masculine, Earth is negative and feminine. And these two Elements share the same personal, individual orientation to the world. For Fire, this orientation is subjective. An example of this would be a religious experience or personal conviction, which is absolutely real to the individual but which cannot be, and does not need to be proved, explained or justified to anyone else, since it is true for the individual. For the Earth Signs, the truth is objective - but just as personal - arising from Earth's own experience - via the five senses - of the outside world. For example, if Earth doesn't like the smell, taste or colour of something, then that is that. Nobody can argue otherwise.

Fire is also magnetic - it pulls us in. If you have ever stood watching a bonfire, I am sure you will have experienced this fascination. As we watch the flames, they pull us away from the 'real world' and into our imagination. And in our imaginations everything is exaggerated, colourful, larger than life and full of exciting potential. It is from the imagination that Fire Signs draw their contagious warmth and enthusiasm, fired by a unique and personal connection to a grand vision, a quest, a big picture which sets the stage for their own lives.

So, the Fire Signs - if they are to be true to themselves – must live right at the centre of their own individual dramas and mythic dreams. Fire Signs have an innate sense of their own unique specialness, which explains why they have a tremendous faith in themselves and why they will take the kind of risks that other Elements shrink from. 'Objective truths', such as the statistical odds against winning the lottery, for example, are meaningless to Fire Signs and often a cause of incomprehension, frustration and impatience. Even when they crash and burn, Fire Signs normally have the faith to pick themselves up and carry on. For the Element of Fire, relationships are about the excitement of the chase - be it another person or an ideal. Fire is not concerned with commitment and stability. This explains why so many people get burned when they 'play with Fire'.

Another interesting thing about the Elements is that, in a very concrete way, we use up our main Element quickly. This is why, on a very basic level, people with an emphasis on Fire in their charts really need plenty of sunshine, physical exercise, travel and adventure to maintain their basic optimism. And when Fire gets what it needs, its warm spontaneity and instinctive generosity is enormously healing for others, although, since it is simply a by-product of their natural vitality, Fire Signs themselves are often unaware of this fact.

However, each Element evokes its opposite and this explains both the resistance and attraction that exists between Fire and Earth. They are opposites but they need each other.

And, by contrast, the Earth Signs are rooted in here-and-now tangible reality. They are solid, dependable, practical and reliable, concerned with the material world and with the five senses. Think of Earth literally; everything that supports us grows from the earth, all the food we eat comes from the earth. Earth supports life and the Earth Signs have very strong security needs and tend to be very conservative. They are realistic. They are able to manifest, to make things happen, and have a tremendous capacity for perseverance and endurance. The Earth Signs come into their own when realism and practical solutions are called for.

The Earth Signs also tend to be comfortable and in touch with the natural world and, unlike the other elements, tend not to repress or undervalue the body's needs for proper nourishment, rest and exercise. Of all the elements, the Earth Signs are the most sensual and sexual. Earth is in its element here. Many Fire Signs, on the other hand, have an active dislike of their bodies, which are too confining, too restrictive. Our bodies hold us back. And they need to be fed, clothed and rested.

So, in general terms, the limitations of the Earth Signs are the same as the strengths of the Fire Signs. The practical, realistic Earth Signs can have a marked lack of enthusiasm, hope, faith and optimism, which can result in a kind of cynical disappointment with life, a sense that the world has 'let them down'. There can also be a lack of imagination and an inability to think symbolically. Taken to extremes, the 'concrete thinker' can become fundamemtalist/radical: a circumstance - not of faith - but of its lack.

Equally, the limitations of the Fire Signs can be described as the strengths of the Earth Signs. The difficulties, for Fire Signs, are the thousand obstacles of a practical nature which threaten to spoil and obstruct the fantasy. They can have problems coping with ordinary, everyday matters. Not to mention other people who point out, practically but not very helpfully, all the very good reasons why something is not possible. Fiery people can feel panicked and really miserable by a tax return and will do anything to escape. In a curious way, a tax return is an affront to Fire, which doesn't see the need to justify its existence to anyone or to obey the rules which, after all, only apply to ordinary mortals! Fire Signs are not interested in the actual reality of the situation.

But, while the fiery imagination can travel anywhere, without limitation, in order to turn these dreams into reality the practical Element of Earth is needed. We have to earn enough money in order to be able to afford to turn our dreams into reality, navigate transportation timetables, remember to get our visas updated and leave enough time to get to the airport.

Earth is not the only challenge to Fire. The Air and Water Signs can be equally obstructive. Fire's subjective vision and enthusiasm can easily be crushed by Air's rational analysis of the actual facts, and Water’s intuitive resistance to emotional risk can certainly blunt an enthusiasm for experiment. And Fire Signs can easily be overwhelmed by the roadblocks which the world throws at them. It is not unusual to meet Fire Signs who seem to have been 'put out'.

And, unless the natural enthusiasm, optimism and self-belief of the Fire Element can be rekindled, it may become distorted; violent and destructive:

In the case of Aries – demanding, in the case of Leo – jealous, in the case of Sagittarius – arrogant or patronizing.

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The Air and Water Signs

The elements of Air and Water create our second pair of psychological opposites. For the Air Signs, the truth is objective, 'out there' in the systems created in the external world. And for the Water Signs, the truth is subjective, 'in here' in the emotional undercurrents and feelings native to us all.

The Air Signs of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are the most civilized, most social, detached, abstract, rational and, in fact, the most 'human' of all the Signs of the Zodiac because they all concern the mind and the intellect. The qualities of this Element, which is positive and masculine, are valued in our culture and encouraged by our education system, which prizes and rewards the ability to think and communicate logically and rationally.

Air Signs are impersonal - they have the gift of detachment and objectivity and the gift of perspective. As Signs of social interaction, they are articulate, natural negotiators, arbitrators and communicators, able to weigh up opposites and see both sides of the coin.

The shadow for Air Signs is the Element of Water: the world of the emotions that tends to be mysterious and rather uncomfortable territory for Air. In fact, they are often 'experts' when it comes to relationships. They can tell you a great deal about all the different theories of emotion and feelings, but this can often be a very clever defense against actually having to feel anything for themselves.

For example: If a person has enough planets in Water then he or she will be in touch with the emotions and living with them all the time. If he or she doesn’t have planets in Water, Water influences are still there, but are more likely to be operating autonomously, outside the control of the ego. So when a mood comes over that person, it can be quite overwhelming: we are, literally, 'beside ourselves'.

So, the point about the objective, exterior truth of Air is that, although it can tell you all about something, it can't tell you the actual value of anything. It is Water that tells us if something feels right or not, but this subjective emotional intelligence is something which, in our culture, we are often conditioned not to trust.

You see this phenomenon being played out on televised debate shows, with panels of people representing different views. No resolution or solution or progress emerges out of such debates, whose function seems to be mainly to clarify the opposing viewpoints, which is of value in itself but can easily go nowhere.

There used to be a programme on television called The Moral Maze (G – I presume, a British television program), where a group of respected academics and intellectuals would sit around a table each week and discuss important moral issues. One week the panel was asked to debate the subject of whether or not the soul exists.

The general consensus, of course, was that the soul did not exist because its existence had not been sufficiently proven according to the Air Signs' criteria of objective, collective truth. Another angle would be to suppose that the intellect can know nothing about the soul, and it is not uncommon for Air Signs to talk articulately and intelligently about things they know nothing about (G - )

Unlike the Air Signs, the Water Signs are non-verbal and tend to absorb the emotions and feelings behind what is being said rather than the words themselves. Water is extremely sensitive to atmosphere, picking up subtle feelings about places and people which are strongly felt but not so easy to verbalize. Water is receptive, like a sponge, and able to empathize or 'feel with' others.

With no inherent shape or form of its own, Water takes on the form of its container. At best, water is simply supportive and non-judgmental. If you are upset or in pain, Water can offer support, no matter what you have done or why you are feeling that way. For this reason, people often unburden themselves on Water people and cry on their shoulders, partly because, unlike Air, they will not try to solve or rationalize the problem away, which is normally a way of ignoring and undervaluing the feelings.

Imagine, for example, that Air and Water go to a party together. As they walk into the room, Air, who is interested in making social connections, might say: 'Great, there's so-and-so, whom I know, and there's so-and-so. I will introduce them to each other.' Water, on the other hand, might stand at the door and think, 'Hmm, this doesn't feel right. I'm not in the mood for this.'

If this happens, then it doesn't matter who is in the room; Water won't want to be there.

Then, Air will want to know what Water's problem is and will ask for a rational explanation. At this point Water feels overwhelmed because, as a mute, non-verbal Element, it is difficult to put words to the feelings.

Naturally, at this point Air begins to feels frustrated and irritated. Water then feels deeply misunderstood because it needs to have the problem intuited out of them, and might retaliate by saying something like: 'You don't understand me. You're so cold!'

This will probably be interpreted as an irrelevant statement by Air, whereas it was intended by Water as a way to protect their inner feelings.

The Elements of Earth and Fire have their own ways of responding to the detached, objectivity of the Air Signs. The Fire Signs would get impatient and just leave Air to carry on debating with itself, because Fire is subjective and doesn't really care what other people think. And practical Earth would not see the point of sitting around endlessly discussing concepts and theories and find the nearest cocktail … fast.

These kinds of difficulties happen all the time because we don't understand that people process information and experiences in ways which are innately different.

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