The Air Signs
Western astrology posits four Elements – Fire, Water, Air and Earth – as forming the quintessence of the substantial world. In other words, the universe and all things in it are composed of some mixture of these four “substances”, which are the fundamental building blocks of nature. Most things are not purely one element or another, but are instead composed of varying proportions of two or more of them. When one of the elements is preponderant in the composition of something its characteristics will be predominant in the nature and function of that thing. The classical elements are the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based.
In the human being, the elements affect the perspective of a person, that is, how or through what lens or from what standpoint a person perceives the world and acts in it. The predominant element in the composition of a human being (if there is such a predominance – not all horoscopes are dominated by a single element, but most are to a greater or lesser degree) determines the manner in which a person will operate most comfortably and effectively, where the person will feel himself to be “in his element.” The elemental composition of a person, seen in the horoscope, determines certain behavior patterns, or the way in which a person consciously adapts to reality and approaches and comprehends the world. However, the elements are essentially subjective in nature and operate mostly on the internal plane. The conscious mind is geared to deal with external reality; it is what allows us to experience and adapt to the world outside ourselves. The unconscious mind is our inner reality, but is not available to consciousness except as it creates, as if by magic, the events and circumstances of our conscious world. The unconscious mind, of which by definition we are unconscious, is far more powerful than our conscious mind. It creates our life without our being aware of it, beyond our control. I won’t go into the concept of free will here, but if we are dominated by our unconscious mind... draw your own conclusions. Long observation of what we do, and how and why we do it, leads me to believe that our entire being and all of our acts and creations in life are nothing more than our inner self projecting itself into the outer world. In biblical terms, we are Spirit (the inner reality) made flesh (the outer manifestations of that inner reality.) Although the elements express themselves very strongly in our conscious being, they are even more powerful in the dark realm of the unconscious. The elements are among the most fundamental and essential, and therefore most powerful, of all horoscopic factors.
Let’s explore the element of Air. Today (22 September 2012) the Sun entered the sign of Libra, the Cardinal Air sign; today is the autumnal equinox, and the Air signs proceed out of this moment. Unlike the opposing Fire signs, which delineate the ultimate in self-contained reality – they are unconcerned with anything external and not immediately pertinent to the self – the Air signs attempt to affirm themselves through their own characteristic reaction to the outer world and the typical reaction of that world to themselves. In other words, the Air signs depend on relationships. The individuality of Air sign people requires continual validation or reassurance in and through others. Air signs are the most tentative and uncertain of all the elements. Air signs are particularly adroit in dealing with meaning, significance and implication. Like the Earth signs, Air is oriented toward change, is an agent of change.
Air is the element of Thinking. Like Water, it is rational and judging. Air is more concerned with judging an object or situation on the basis of meaning than it is with the actual object or situation itself. The emphasis with Air is on abstract thought, theory and ideas. Air is concerned with the connections between facts, that is, how they are related. Consciousness is directed at the most logical and objective approach and assimilation of things observed or experienced. Air is the element of communication and exchange. What is a strength as flexibility may become a weakness as instability or volatility. Air can be seen as cool and unfeeling because it is always examining not only itself but also the behavior of everyone around for consistency of logic. Practicality is not the strong point in the Air element, for this type places reality in his own thoughts and theories; for the Air sign person, these are his reality.
Air sign people require change and variety. They are constantly on the lookout for new relationships to stimulate them and to test their resourcefulness against. Their high flexibility, their innate ability to quickly trim their sails to every change in the wind, allows them to adapt to any change in circumstances almost effortlessly, but on the negative side this may make them flighty, unstable, undependable, lacking in persistence of effort. Air signs tend to be superficial and oriented toward the immediate.
The Air signs are passionate, enthusiastic, and seek to participate in whatever is going on around them. They seek to contribute in some tangible way and thus establish for themselves a better place in the scheme of things. Among the four elements, they are superficially the most willing and helpful. Air sign people are generally very keenly aware of or attuned to the motivations of other people.
How do we determine the predominant element in a chart? Let’s look at the horoscope of Bobby Fischer (9 March 1943; 1439; Chicago: B Rodden) as an illustration.
http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Fischer,_Bobby
The first thing we notice about this chart is that the entire structure is built within the confines of a Grand Trine in Air signs. The trine between Neptune and Mars is empty; the other two-thirds of the sky is occupied. Secondly, this grand trine is partile; the widest separation among the three planets is only 4 minutes of arc. Third, Mars is exactly on the western horizon and is also the Cutting planet of this Locomotive Pattern, thus pointing him out as a super-power in this chart and he is in Air. Also, secondarily, the three planets defining the entire structure of the chart are posited in Airy houses.
Also in Air signs are Saturn and Mercury. With five planets (half or more of the ten planets) in Air, we have preponderance. The weighting of this chart is clearly Air. There is another factor here, and a very important one. While Uranus, who is a stand-out planet in this chart for several reasons, is in the First degree of Airy Gemini (ruled by Mercury), we find Mercury in the Twenty-eighth degree of Aquarius and ruled by Uranus. Although the planets are in elemental trine, in Air, they are in zodiacal square (orb 3 degrees). The two planets are in mutual reception, and furthermore between the two they rule all the other planets in the chart: they are in mutual disposition of the chart, from Air signs.
The chart is exceptional in its pointing toward Air as the predominant element. Fischer had an IQ of 185; IQ tests, as nearly as I can understand them, measure the power of a mind to create relationships and to think abstractly, exactly the qualities we have described above as belonging to Air.
The preeminence of Mars (Cutting planet of the whole-chart pattern; partile conjunction with the western Angle; opposition to Pluto across the horizon, with the square to the exalted Moon (of the three planets involved in the Grand Trine, Mars is the one who also participates in the Fixed T-square); rulership of the detrimented Venus who is partile conjunct the MC – the two planets are in mundane square – makes of this man a fierce competitor. Mars is in the Seventh House, the house of “performance or competition at the highest level” (hence the connection of the Seventh to both “the fine arts” and “war”.) Fischer was all logic; the rational mind was razor sharp, deeply and quickly penetrating the intricacies of chess, but on the other hand was totally inept socially and crippled emotionally; he was incapable of carrying on a normal conversation. In the competition of chess, the greatest moment in a game came when he realized he had destroyed his opponent’s ego. He escaped from the terror of any normal human interaction by submerging himself in chess.
Water (feeling) is the antithesis of Air (thinking). Only one planet in this chart is in Water, and that is Jupiter, who though empowered by being in his sign of exaltation, Cancer, is sorely afflicted by his position in the Twelfth House where he is intercepted (imprisoned), his retrograde motion, and his partile (to the minute of arc) square to the precisely angular Venus – herself sorely afflicted but quite powerful – who is the lord of Jupiter’s ruler Moon (feeling) who is under focused attack (she is aspectually besieged – her last aspect was to Mars, her next will be to Pluto) by the implacably violent and ruthless Mars-Pluto opposition.
Western astrology posits four Elements – Fire, Water, Air and Earth – as forming the quintessence of the substantial world. In other words, the universe and all things in it are composed of some mixture of these four “substances”, which are the fundamental building blocks of nature. Most things are not purely one element or another, but are instead composed of varying proportions of two or more of them. When one of the elements is preponderant in the composition of something its characteristics will be predominant in the nature and function of that thing. The classical elements are the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based.
In the human being, the elements affect the perspective of a person, that is, how or through what lens or from what standpoint a person perceives the world and acts in it. The predominant element in the composition of a human being (if there is such a predominance – not all horoscopes are dominated by a single element, but most are to a greater or lesser degree) determines the manner in which a person will operate most comfortably and effectively, where the person will feel himself to be “in his element.” The elemental composition of a person, seen in the horoscope, determines certain behavior patterns, or the way in which a person consciously adapts to reality and approaches and comprehends the world. However, the elements are essentially subjective in nature and operate mostly on the internal plane. The conscious mind is geared to deal with external reality; it is what allows us to experience and adapt to the world outside ourselves. The unconscious mind is our inner reality, but is not available to consciousness except as it creates, as if by magic, the events and circumstances of our conscious world. The unconscious mind, of which by definition we are unconscious, is far more powerful than our conscious mind. It creates our life without our being aware of it, beyond our control. I won’t go into the concept of free will here, but if we are dominated by our unconscious mind... draw your own conclusions. Long observation of what we do, and how and why we do it, leads me to believe that our entire being and all of our acts and creations in life are nothing more than our inner self projecting itself into the outer world. In biblical terms, we are Spirit (the inner reality) made flesh (the outer manifestations of that inner reality.) Although the elements express themselves very strongly in our conscious being, they are even more powerful in the dark realm of the unconscious. The elements are among the most fundamental and essential, and therefore most powerful, of all horoscopic factors.
Let’s explore the element of Air. Today (22 September 2012) the Sun entered the sign of Libra, the Cardinal Air sign; today is the autumnal equinox, and the Air signs proceed out of this moment. Unlike the opposing Fire signs, which delineate the ultimate in self-contained reality – they are unconcerned with anything external and not immediately pertinent to the self – the Air signs attempt to affirm themselves through their own characteristic reaction to the outer world and the typical reaction of that world to themselves. In other words, the Air signs depend on relationships. The individuality of Air sign people requires continual validation or reassurance in and through others. Air signs are the most tentative and uncertain of all the elements. Air signs are particularly adroit in dealing with meaning, significance and implication. Like the Earth signs, Air is oriented toward change, is an agent of change.
Air is the element of Thinking. Like Water, it is rational and judging. Air is more concerned with judging an object or situation on the basis of meaning than it is with the actual object or situation itself. The emphasis with Air is on abstract thought, theory and ideas. Air is concerned with the connections between facts, that is, how they are related. Consciousness is directed at the most logical and objective approach and assimilation of things observed or experienced. Air is the element of communication and exchange. What is a strength as flexibility may become a weakness as instability or volatility. Air can be seen as cool and unfeeling because it is always examining not only itself but also the behavior of everyone around for consistency of logic. Practicality is not the strong point in the Air element, for this type places reality in his own thoughts and theories; for the Air sign person, these are his reality.
Air sign people require change and variety. They are constantly on the lookout for new relationships to stimulate them and to test their resourcefulness against. Their high flexibility, their innate ability to quickly trim their sails to every change in the wind, allows them to adapt to any change in circumstances almost effortlessly, but on the negative side this may make them flighty, unstable, undependable, lacking in persistence of effort. Air signs tend to be superficial and oriented toward the immediate.
The Air signs are passionate, enthusiastic, and seek to participate in whatever is going on around them. They seek to contribute in some tangible way and thus establish for themselves a better place in the scheme of things. Among the four elements, they are superficially the most willing and helpful. Air sign people are generally very keenly aware of or attuned to the motivations of other people.
How do we determine the predominant element in a chart? Let’s look at the horoscope of Bobby Fischer (9 March 1943; 1439; Chicago: B Rodden) as an illustration.
http://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Fischer,_Bobby
The first thing we notice about this chart is that the entire structure is built within the confines of a Grand Trine in Air signs. The trine between Neptune and Mars is empty; the other two-thirds of the sky is occupied. Secondly, this grand trine is partile; the widest separation among the three planets is only 4 minutes of arc. Third, Mars is exactly on the western horizon and is also the Cutting planet of this Locomotive Pattern, thus pointing him out as a super-power in this chart and he is in Air. Also, secondarily, the three planets defining the entire structure of the chart are posited in Airy houses.
Also in Air signs are Saturn and Mercury. With five planets (half or more of the ten planets) in Air, we have preponderance. The weighting of this chart is clearly Air. There is another factor here, and a very important one. While Uranus, who is a stand-out planet in this chart for several reasons, is in the First degree of Airy Gemini (ruled by Mercury), we find Mercury in the Twenty-eighth degree of Aquarius and ruled by Uranus. Although the planets are in elemental trine, in Air, they are in zodiacal square (orb 3 degrees). The two planets are in mutual reception, and furthermore between the two they rule all the other planets in the chart: they are in mutual disposition of the chart, from Air signs.
The chart is exceptional in its pointing toward Air as the predominant element. Fischer had an IQ of 185; IQ tests, as nearly as I can understand them, measure the power of a mind to create relationships and to think abstractly, exactly the qualities we have described above as belonging to Air.
The preeminence of Mars (Cutting planet of the whole-chart pattern; partile conjunction with the western Angle; opposition to Pluto across the horizon, with the square to the exalted Moon (of the three planets involved in the Grand Trine, Mars is the one who also participates in the Fixed T-square); rulership of the detrimented Venus who is partile conjunct the MC – the two planets are in mundane square – makes of this man a fierce competitor. Mars is in the Seventh House, the house of “performance or competition at the highest level” (hence the connection of the Seventh to both “the fine arts” and “war”.) Fischer was all logic; the rational mind was razor sharp, deeply and quickly penetrating the intricacies of chess, but on the other hand was totally inept socially and crippled emotionally; he was incapable of carrying on a normal conversation. In the competition of chess, the greatest moment in a game came when he realized he had destroyed his opponent’s ego. He escaped from the terror of any normal human interaction by submerging himself in chess.
Water (feeling) is the antithesis of Air (thinking). Only one planet in this chart is in Water, and that is Jupiter, who though empowered by being in his sign of exaltation, Cancer, is sorely afflicted by his position in the Twelfth House where he is intercepted (imprisoned), his retrograde motion, and his partile (to the minute of arc) square to the precisely angular Venus – herself sorely afflicted but quite powerful – who is the lord of Jupiter’s ruler Moon (feeling) who is under focused attack (she is aspectually besieged – her last aspect was to Mars, her next will be to Pluto) by the implacably violent and ruthless Mars-Pluto opposition.
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