THE PRINCIPLE ELEMENTS OF THE ZODIACS
各星座屬性

Contrary to popular belief, the sun sign is not who you are, but who you are becoming during this existence. Some people identify firmly with their sign and others do not. The variations are usually related to whether the moon or any of the planets were in the same section of the zodiac as the sun at birth. If the sun's sign has the support of one or more planets, an individual is more likely to recognize him in the trait description. It is fairly common for a person to feel affinity for the sign preceding or following the birth sign. This is due to the fact that the planets Mercury and Venus are often located one sign away from the sun and the traits they represent may "confuse" the issue.

In addition to the individual characteristics listed on these pages, the signs of the zodiac are classified in three other ways. Each is either positive "masculine", (spontaneous and self-expressive) or negative "feminine" (withdrawn and passive).; each is assigned one of the four principle elements of fire (Fire is lively and aggressive), air (Air is lively in mind and fluent in expression), earth (Earth is matter-of-fact and controlled), and water (Water is sensitive and intuitive). These are known as the triplices. Fire, air, earth and water. "Triplicity" meaning triplicate or three, because there are three zodiacs signs for each element.

Each sign is cardinal, fixed or mutable (the quadruplices because there are four zodiac signs to each one). The qualities of cardinal, fixed and mutable are respectively, initiative (cardinal), steadfastness (fixed), and changeableness/adaptability (mutable). 

Fire signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) are warm, enthusiastic and outgoing. They need a lot of fuel and therefore are constantly on the search for something new to "feed" them. Other signs must often create boundaries in order to prevent the fire signs from absorbing all the resources and space in the vicinity. One cannot really find fault with this, as the fire signs are usually quite unaware of the effects of their massive energy. When they reach a clearly defined edge drawn by another sign, they rarely take offense, and readily move in another direction. The fire signs are very intuitive and rely heavily on an element of luck which seems to be always with them. Fires often attract Earths to stabilize and center them.

Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn) are usually solid and dependable, just as the ground beneath us. They are gifted at manifestation in the concrete world and take pleasure in finding useful purposes for everything. Earth signs are natural recycles--they deplore wasted resources of any kind. The disadvantage of Earth signs is that too often attention is focused on material production. They can become caught in repetitive ruts, forgetting to use their imagination. Earths frequently attract fire signs into their lives to provide an element of excitement and change. But then, of course, the Earths must deal with anxiety over what the more unpredictable fires might do next. The dance of life continues.

Air signs (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) move constantly, like the wind. Even if the body appears to be still, the mind of an Air Sign is racing from one thing to another. They are generally talkative and tend to be winners in games of Trivial Pursuit. The Airs are gregarious and work to develop their social skills early in life. It is, however, difficult for them to make commitments because they know there are so many possibilities they haven't yet explored. Though Airs have lightening quick mental ability, they struggle in the world of emotions. Ask an Air sign how he feels about an issue and he will speedily rattle off what he thinks. Airs need help in this area and therefore are prone to attract Water Signs who more naturally breathe in emotional pools.

Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces) are fluidly feeling and the range of their disposition moves readily from ice storm to placid river to hot steam. Waters love the comforts of home and family and generally are strongly nurturing of anything that lives. They have compassionate instincts and are drawn to care for whomever or whatever seems weakened, defective or on the losing side. Waters are adept in the world of feeling and rarely are unduly frightened by any emotion they encounter. Airs (Gemini, Libra and Aquarius) and Waters are often mutually attracted. Airs need support when encountering deep feelings and past memories--they are prone to minimize the value of their emotional experiences. Waters, on the other hand, need help in the realm of logic and reason, so they draw heavily from the more verbal Airs.

WESTERN ASTROLOGY西方星空