Astrology divides its psychic reality into four "elements"-fire, earth, air, and water. Like so many other aspects of the astrological tradition, these four elements appear to have come to us from ancient Greece. Psychologist Carl Jung, a close student of the Western mystical traditions believed that these four elements were symbolic of the four functions which govern the human psyche.
These functions were intuition (fire), feeling (water), thinking (air), and sensation (earth). The four functions are comprised of two pairs or opposites: intuition and sensation, thinking and feeling. Intuition and sensation are ways of perceiving, while thinking and feeling are ways of judging. Each of us develops one of these four functions to a higher degree than the others; this is our dominant function.
It's opposite automatically become our inferior function, representing a way of judging or perceiving which is our blind spot, part of our undeveloped self. Thus those who are dominated by their feelings may think in a scattered or illogical way. Those who are profoundly practical (sensation dominant) are usually skeptical or fearful in the inner world of dreams and visions (intuition). Each function may operate either in an introverted or extraverted manner.
Jung believed that no human being could be completely balanced and whole unless he/she balanced these psychic functions. This according to Jung, was why mystics such as the alchemists were always concerned with transforming the square into the circle- because they recognized that the true enlightenment consisted of shaping our four fold inner nature into a harmonious whole.
While discussing each of the four elements separately, they serve unique and important purposes in the shaping of human consciousness, and the ultimately, integration. Most of us will remember the Wizard of Oz, which tells of Dorothy's mystic journey to find her way back home. Before she could reach her ultimate destination, however, she was joined by some very curious characters (parts of herself). The Tin Man was searching for a heart (water); the Cowardly Lion was in pursuit of courage (fire); the Scarecrow lacked a brain (air). When the magical ruby slippers were finally placed upon Dorothy's feet (earth), her wish was granted and she was quickly whisked back to her home. Her odyssey allowed her to integrate the four elements.
Astrologers place an emphasis on the fact that two elements, fire and air, embody masculine, active, or yang qualities. While earth and water are feminine, receptive and yin.
Each of the twelve Sun signs is categorized in a number of ways. First of all there are two energies, or genders, and each of the twelve signs is one or the other. Then there's are three quadruplicities, called qualities, each of which appears in four signs. Lastly there are four triplicities, each of which appear in three signs; these are the elements.
People born in signs with the same energy, quality, or element will have certain things in common. For example, people born in signs with a cardinal (or first) quality are likely to be leaders; and people in signs with an air element may seem to be thinking or communicating.
Now, each combination of energy, quality and element appears in only one sign. Aries for example has a yang energy, a cardinal quality, and the element of fire. Once you understand what each of these characteristics represents, you can also begin to understand certain aspects of an Aries personality.
