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The
Elements have to do with your way of Being, with the basic foundations of your life. The
distinction is very ancient. Astrologers gave these groupings the
names of what at the time were thought to be the four elements:
Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. Today we know that Earth and Air are
mixtures, Water a compound, and Fire a chemical reaction.
Nevertheless, the distinctive traits of the element groupings
still hold true. In
simplest terms, Fire
is inspirational, Earth
is practical, Air is intellectual, and Water
is emotional.
What is the difference between
an Element and a Quality?
Qualities show how we Act.
In astrology, there are three ways. We can charge right in and
solve the immediate problem (the Cardinal
Signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) take
our time, consider the long range consequences, and take action
based on principle (the Fixed
Signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius) or
endlessly discuss things and reach a decision based on negotiation
and compromise (the Mutable
Signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces).
Elements
introduce another dimension. For instance, we can act directly
(Cardinal) action inspirationally (Fire) emotionally (Water)
intellectually (Air) or practically (Earth).
If you have a majority (at
least five) planets in any one element, the characteristics of
that element will stand out and be clearly recognizable in your
life. A word of warning. ALWAYS
consider the whole horoscope before jumping to conclusions.
While a majority of planets in an element is important, having a
planet stand out from the rest by chart shape or by being the only
planet in an element, quality, or house type is more
important when it comes to describing the well known facts of
someone’s life. We will see this with some of the examples
below.
Also, before we start, it is
important to remember that everybody has every element represented
somewhere in their horoscope. Even if there are no planets in one
element, the signs of
that element and the planets that rule those signs must be placed
somewhere on the wheel. That means that the effects will come out
somewhere in your life. Knowledge of astrology will tell you the
place.
Fire
Sign Majority
A majority of planets
in Fire
Signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) can make a
person more self-centered. On the positive side, this is
confidence, inspiration, self-assuredness. On the negative side,
this can be a total lack of empathy, the inability to believe that
other people are alive and have rights.
A negative
example would be Henri
Landru, the serial killer who married ten
women, got them to take all their money out of the bank, and then
made them disappear. He had Eight
planets in fire signs. Six of these were in Aries (direct action)
in his 12th House (psychological
problems).
Now don’t
go thinking that everyone with several 12th House placements is a
serial killer. Landru had the planet Saturn
standing out by chart shape in his 8th
House (death). so it focused the chart’s
“energy” to that area. He also had Pluto
the natural
ruler of the 8th House powerfully placed right on his Ascendant. On top of that, Pluto
was his only planet in an Earth
Sign (practicality and a concern with material
resources). Even with this, there was no “fate” here. “The
Stars impel, they do not compel.” Landru became a murderer by
choice. Pluto
and the 8th House
can heal as well as kill. His horoscope also gave him the
potential to become a doctor!
Pete
Rose is a somewhat more positive example. His
chart has five planets in fire signs, and fire gives energy and
enthusiasm. The
nickname he had during his playing days was “Charlie Hustle.”
Unfortunately, the extra strength these planets gave to his ego
made it difficult for him to acknowledge that he had a gambling
problem.
Brynn
Hartman had five planets in fire signs and no
singletons to focus the chart’s “energy.” Little is known of
her personal life, but, regrettably, she will be most remembered
for two sudden impulsive acts:
shooting her husband and taking her own life.
Marlon
Brando has five
fire planets. His whole life was fiery, from the wild affairs and
stormy marriages to running off to Tahiti. Like many people who
are successful in show business, he has Jupiter
(expansion, optimism, luck) in aspect to his
Mid-Heaven (career).
J.
P. Morgan had
six fire planets. He built an empire, ruled Wall Street, and
personally pulled the economy out of several financial crises. The
energy and enthusiasm of his fire sign planets was funneled to
accumulation of material resources because his Moon
in Virgo was the only placement in an Earth Sign.
Earth
Sign Majority
And that’s a good introduction to discussing the meaning of a
majority of planets in Earth
Signs (Taurus,
Virgo, and Capricorn). Earth is practical, solid, slow but steady.
Fire signs
are inspirational, always wondering what’s on the other side of
that mountain. Earth sees the mountain, period. Anything else is,
to an earth sign, mere speculation.
Louis
Pasteur had eight planets in Earth
Signs, six of them
in Capricorn.
Pasteur was originally a chemist. He was the first to discover
that some crystals could be right-handed or left-handed. But
inspiration comes from Fire
signs. Pluto,
planet of extremes (death and rebirth) was his only placement in a
Fire sign. It was located in his 5th
house (creativity)
and it made a close trine aspect (120 degrees) with his Mid-Heaven
(career). Of course, Pasteur is best known for his work fighting
microbes. Compare the different paths chosen by Pasteur and Henri
Landru.
His other Singleton
was the Moon in Gemini.
It was his only Air
sign placement. According to Paul De Kruif in “The Microbe
Hunters”, Pasteur would rather have a public debate than discuss
research details.
William
James
the philosopher, had six Earth placements. Pluto was his only Fire
planet and Neptune was singleton
twice over. It was his only Air sign planet and his only planet in
a Fixed sign. Unfortunately, since his birth time is not known, we
cannot see which areas of his life they were influencing.
Nevertheless, the sign positions of the planets remained the same all that day. Six
planets in Earth signs. And what philosophy was he famous for?
Pragmatism!
Clara
Barton had five Earth
Sign planets. Four
of them were in Capricorn, sign of organization. She founded and
organized the Red Cross.
While the Earth
Sign placements
made her practical, they did not show the area on which she would
focus. That was shown by her Singleton
Pluto
(Pluto again!) which was her only planet in a Water
Sign, and Venus,
her only Air Sign
planet. Both of these sSingletons
were in her 12th
House (restrictions
and places of restriction, such as hospitals).
Once again,
please note that there is always a choice that has to be made: to
be positive or negative. Compare Barton’s life with that of
Henri Landru above. Both horoscopes had a strong 12th
House and a strong Pluto.
One healed. The other killed.
Air
Sign Majority
Air Signs
(Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius)
specialize in
ideas and communications. Strong emotions (a Water Sign specialty)
tend to throw them off balance because emotions can’t be figured
out. They are just there.
By way of
contrast, Fire Signs work by inspiration (“Let’s go over that
mountain; I bet there’s something real interesting on the other
side!) Earth Signs by practicality (I’ll believe it when I see
it) Water Signs by emotion (I’m not in the mood to over that
mountain today).
An
Air Sign would say:
“That’s very
interesting. What reasons do you have for thinking that there is
something on the mountain’s other side? What are the
possibilities here?”
Barbara
Walters, has five planets in Air Signs. Three are in Libra,
sign of partnership. and she usually works with partners. Her work
is pure Air. But how did she get to be a famous reporter and media
personality? The sign of Cancer is at the top of her horoscope
(her Mid-Heaven, her career) and its ruler, the Moon, is one of
those Air Sign placements. It sits in Gemini, the communications
sign. Pluto is also strong. It’s her only planet in a Water
Sign, so it is singleton.
It focuses her
chart’s “energy” to the 10th House (career). And people with
a strong Pluto are always interested in getting at hidden secrets,
a plus for a reporter.
Gennifer
Flowers, another reporter, also has five planets in air signs.
However, in one famous case, she
became part of the story. Ms. Flowers was the first woman to
reveal publicly that she had an affair with Bill Clinton.
Jennifer
Jason Leigh has Seven planets in air signs, and they are all in the same sign,
Aquarius. She is different, to be sure. We will deal with this
very complicated chart in depth in other chapters.
Fanny
Brice had five Air Sign planets. Perfect for communications of
all sorts, including singing and songwriting. Five planets are
also in Fixed Signs. So
even though she was a Scorpio Sun sign, she frequently came across
as kooky and eccentric, like an Aquarian.
John
Belushi had five Air planets. Again, a good setup for
communications He did everything from the comedy of Saturday Night
Live to singing (The Blues Brothers) to a more serious attempt at
drama (Continental Divide).
Swami
Vivekananda had five Air Sign planets. He was one of the first
to popularize yoga in the west both through lectures and books.
Water Sign
Majority
Water
Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) emphasize feelings,
emotions, and instincts over logical analysis (which is an Air
Sign specialty). Marc Edmund Jones was the first to point out that
while Fire Signs will ignore anything that they are not interested
in at the moment, Water
Signs, by contrast, want to embrace everything. What he didn’t mention was that they also don’t want
to let go. Ever.
Arthur
Miller has five planets in Water Signs. His time of birth is
unknown, but that doesn’t change the sign positions of the
planets. Even though his Sun Sign is Air
(he is a Libra) that Water Sign majority focuses his concern on
emotions. His play “The Crucible”, for instance, was about the
hysterical outburst of the Salem witch trials. “The View From
the Bridge” concerned a man’s subconscious passion for his
niece.
William
Kunstler had five Water planets.
Mars in was his only Air Sign
placement and that directed his horoscope’s “energy” to
aggressive speech. But Gemini would just as easily represent a
large corporation accused of polluting the environment. Kunstler
mostly defended radicals and misfits.
Drew
Barrymore has six Water Sign planets. I read once that she
didn’t want to take acting classes because they would interfere
with her instincts. The negative side of Water Signs emerged early
with her. She was in rehab for substance abuse when she was
thirteen.
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