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The element of water represents feelings and the emotional realm.

Water people are compassionate, nurturing and thoughtful. They are intuitive and sensitive.

Aware of their own emotions, they will be considerate of others.

They may well need security – water has few boundaries.

They can be over sensitive and over emotional, finding it hard to detach.

The water signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces and the natural water houses are 4th, 8th and 12th.

Sophia James Astrology

The element of earth represents the material and manifest.

Earth people are practical, realistic and grounded. They are stable, loyal and reliable.

They will get things done, in an efficient and ordered way, step by step and won’t be distracted.

They are good at goal setting; their goals will be realistic and achieveable and they will make sure they do achieve them.

They may not enjoy being hurried, stretched too far or change and can become too focused on reality and material outcomes.

The Earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn and the natural earth houses are 2nd, 6th and 10th.

Sophia James Astrology

The element of Air represents mental capacity and thinking.

People with air predominating are motivated by exchange and discussion;communication is key. They are rational, detached, calm and social. They are excellent at analysis and strategy and approach issues in an intellectual way, with cool reasoning. They will enjoy probing and synthesising all the information they are given.

Communication is a key strength and they are friendly and approachable, as well as articulate. They are good listeners too, interested in people and the world and are charming, educated, tolerant and cultured.

They are alert, curious and perceptive, seeking variety and interaction. They want to learn and question everything. The world as seen by an Air sign will be an interesting one, as their analysis and subsequent explanation will indicate. They will express ideas in words.

Those influenced by Air are inventive and clever. They are excellent problem solvers – they look for information to give perspective, see all sides of the issue and will identify the best solution. They are easy going and civilised.

Balance is important, as is maintaining good relationships, they will always try and resolve a conflict.

Air manifests itself in a fair and humane way. Air people are objective, cooperative and want to help make a better world. They are reasonable, with no prejudice.

Air Signs are communicative, intellectual, clever and fair – and often inventive.

They need space and may want to avoid emotional closeness; they will prefer talking about emotions to engaging in their feelings more directly.  They will not enjoy or respond well to emotional appeals or confrontation. Although they may not express their feelings in an emotional way, this does not mean that they do not feel emotional pain, this is simply how they deal with it.

They make excellent communicators, persuaders and influencers.

The air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius and the natural air houses are 3rd, 7th, 11th.

Sophia James Astrology

The element of fire represents imagination, intuition and creativity.

Fire signs are enthusiastic, fiery, and most often natural extroverts. They thrive on challenge and creativity and are courageous and lively, dynamic and passionate.

Those influenced by the fire signs are self-sufficient and spontaneous. Like fire itself, they can flare up when they are inspired, making them some of the most passionate and enthusiastic about life itself.

Fire signs can become over-confident and may not stop and reflect before taking action; they can show a lack of consideration for others, their ideas or opinions.

The fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius and the natural fire houses are 1st, 5th, and 9th.

Sophia James Astrology

The Elements and Their Source

Many cultures and traditions include the four elements at the heart of their mythological, philosophical or religious traditions.

Most are based on a single source energy, from which the 4 elements are derived and become the energies which are the building blocks of matter and the manifest world.

The source energy is known by many names, including: universal energy, prana, qi/chi, ether, life force and God.

Traditions using these concepts include Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Zen Buddhism, the ancient Sumerians and the Druids, as well as the ancient Egyptians and Greeks from which western astrology is derived.

The Four Elements

The four elements are fire, earth, air and water. They are the building blocks of all matter and material structures and combine to create all that is manifest in our world.

They represent an energy and a consciousness within us.

All 4 elements’ energies exist within each one of us, although each individual is naturally more attuned to one or more types of energy than the others.

Fire energy – and therefore fire signs – express the life principle; they are energising and warming and tend to be enthusiastic, creative and outgoing.

Earth energy is grounded and slower; earth signs are attuned to the physical and material world and are practical and reliable.

Air energy is focussed on the mind and thought processes, with perception and communication; they are social, analytical and rational.

Water energy is healing and cooling, it is based on sensitivity, emotions and feelings; water signs are responsive.

In some traditions, such as the Chinese, a 5^th element, ether, is included; in western traditions this is regarded as the source of the elements and in that sense is of a different nature.

The Elements and Zodiac Signs

Each zodiac sign carries the energy of one of the elements.

The Fire signs are

• Aries
• Leo
• Sagittarius

The Earth signs are

• Taurus
• Virgo
• Capricorn

The Air signs are

• Gemini
• Libra
• Aquarius

The Water signs are

• Cancer
• Scorpio
• Pisces

The Elements Pairs

The elements are traditionally separated into 2 groups, with natural synergy.

Fire and Air are active and expressive energies; Earth and Water are passive and receptive. They may be described as ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ respectively; these are not gender identities as such, but correlate to Chinese Yin and Yang energies.

The Greeks described them as Apollonian – fire and air, which consciously create life – and Dionysian – water and earth, which represent unconscious and instinctive forces.

The Elements and Qualities

Each element is expressed through 3 modalities, or qualities – cardinal, fixed and mutable. Together they combine to provide the 12 archetypal energies of the zodiac.

Cardinal energy represents action and is a positive, initiating energy, which radiates outwards, in a clear direction.

Fixed energy is centred and is about maintaining structures, it operates mostly in the present and radiates inwards.

Mutable energy is changeable, flexible and adaptable; it correlates with harmony and spiral energies.

The Zodiac Signs by Element and Quality

The Fire signs – Aries (cardinal) Leo (fixed) and Sagittarius (mutable).

The Earth signs – Taurus (fixed), Virgo (mutable) and Capricorn (cardinal).

The Air signs – Gemini (mutable), Libra (cardinal) and Aquarius (fixed).

The Water signs – Cancer (cardinal), Scorpio (fixed) and Pisces (mutable).

To find out more about each of the elements, check out the blogs on each.

Fire

Earth

Air

Water

Enjoy exploring astrology!

Sophia

Sophia James Astrology