The Fire and Earth Signs

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Author: Miki

I want to look at the fire and earth signs together because, as opposite elements, they both challenge and complement each other. It makes it easier to grasp the meaning of an element if we compare it to what it is not. Fire is positive and masculine, earth is negative and feminine. Using Wilber's quadrant model, these two elements share the same personal, individual orientation to the world. For fire, this orientation is subjective. An example of this would be a religious experience or personal conviction, which is absolutely real to the individual but which cannot be, and does not need to be proved, explained or justified to anyone else, since it is true for the individual. For the earth signs, the truth is objective, but just as personal, arising from earth's own experience, via the five senses, of the outside world. For example, if earth doesn't like the smell, taste or colour of something, then that is that. Nobody can argue otherwise. If we can really understand how each element experiences and interprets the world, then we can appreciate that each element has its place as part of a greater whole.

Fire is, of course, hot, but it is also magnetic - it pulls us in. If you have ever stood watching a bonfire or sat around an open fire, I am sure you will have experienced this fascination. As we watch the flames, they pull us into a trancelike state which leads us away from the 'real world' and into our imagination. It is in our imagination that the visions, myths and fantasies of fire are most at home. Our imagination leads us into a world where everything is exaggerated, colourful, larger than life and full of exciting potential. It is from the imagination that fire signs draw their contagious warmth and enthusiasm, fired by a unique and personal connection to a grand vision, a quest, a big picture which sets the stage for their own lives. 

The fire signs have an enthusiastic, spontaneous child-like quality. Fire is exaggerated, larger than life, and fire signs need to - and must, if they are to be true to themselves - live right at the centre of their own individual dramas and mythic dreams. Fire signs have an innate sense of their own unique specialness, which explains why they have a tremendous faith in themselves and why they will take the kind of risks that other elements shrink from since they believe intrinsically that they will be lucky, or 'specially favoured' in some way. 'Objective truths', such as the statistical odds against winning the lottery, for example, are meaningless to fire signs and often a cause of incomprehension, frustration and impatience. Even when things don't turn out as planned, even when they crash and burn, fire signs normally have the faith to pick themselves up and carry on. For the element of fire, relationships are about the excitement and fascination of the chase, the as yet unconsummated desire for an object - be it another person or an ideal. Fire cannot and will not be contained or restricted - it is not concerned with commitment and stability. This explains why so many people get burned when they 'play with fire'.

The other interesting thing about the elements is that, in a very concrete way, we use up our main element quickly and need to replenish it constantly in order to keep our energy levels up. This is why, on a very basic level, people with an emphasis on fire in their charts really need plenty of sunshine, since the sun, which is the physical manifestation of fire in our solar system, actually restores their energy levels and their vitality. Fire signs also need to replenish and restore themselves through physical exercise, travel and adventure, or by going to the theatre, a rock concert or to the opera - since they need plenty of drama and fantasy. These experiences will not only restore their energy levels but also their basic optimism in life. When fire gets what it needs, its warm spontaneity and instinctive generosity is enormously healing for others, although fire signs themselves are often unaware of this fact, since it is simply a by-product of their natural vitality. On the other hand, if you don't have much fire then you might find that fire people drain your energy because they are simply 'too much' to be around. Your job will be to learn how to play, how to have fun, which is not an easy thing to do if it doesn't come naturally.