The Air and Water Signs

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Author: Miki

The elements of air and water create our second pair of psychological opposites. In Wilber's quadrant system these two elements concern collective truth. For the air signs, the truth is objective, 'out there' in the systems created in the external world, and for the water signs, the truth is subjective, a connection to the emotional undercurrents and feelings which belong to us all, 'in here'. 

The air signs of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are the most civilized, most social, detached, abstract, rational and, in fact, the most 'human' of all the signs of the zodiac because they all concern the mind and the intellect. The word 'zodiac' means 'circle of animals', and yet the air signs are symbolized by human or abstract figures, with the twins representing Gemini, the scales of justice representing Libra and the figure of the water bearer representing Aquarius.  The air signs describe the left and right brain functions, the capacity to think in opposites and to weigh up opposites - a duality which is symbolized by the roman numeral II in Gemini, the two horizontal lines of Libra and the two wavy lines of Aquarius. The qualities of this element, which is positive and masculine, are valued in our culture and encouraged by our education system, which prizes and rewards the ability to think and communicate logically and rationally.  Air signs are impersonal - they have the gift of detachment and objectivity and the gift of perspective. As signs of social interaction, they are articulate, natural negotiators, arbitrators and communicators, able to weigh up opposites and see both sides of the coin.