THE GODDESS AND MAGICK
Understanding the Four Elements within Astrology:
Fire
Imagine filling a room in your home with all the furnishings and then touching a lit match to it. Let the fire fill the room. Look at what happens. At first there is a fluttering of flames, the lighting changes, the temperature rises. Flames are seemingly appearing out of nowhere then disappearing just as quickly. Something is happening to the furniture, it's changing into something completely unrecognizable and the flames appear to be actually seeking fuel. There is an excitement in the air as a colorful show appears before you but it's totally improvised. You have no idea what to expect next. As the fuel is used up the fire dies down and eventually disappears leaving a vague resemblance of the original room.
All fire signs have a bit of that display inside them. Look at the key words, hot, unexpected, appearing out of nowhere then leaving, inspiring, exciting and transformational. Fire is active and masculine. If you make the temperament of fire Cardinal, it becomes more assertive, seeking its fuel, inspiring others and much more active. That would be the sign of Aries. If you make the temperament of fire fixed it becomes like the Sun, stable, warm, and immovable, the sign of Leo. If you marry the fire with Mutability, it becomes sporadic, unpredictable, sometimes inspired, and sometimes not and that would touch on the energies of Sagittarius.
Earth
Now fill the room with moist Earth and note the difference. Here you enter the room and feel embraced. You can shape it into any design you want, building walls, making furniture, or hide things in it. You can plant seeds or yourself into a mound with a dug out for your seat. Sound seems almost muted and quiet. You know you can sleep here deeply and can go inside into your own world and not be bothered. You are at peace with hardly a thought except what you can "do" to the room or with this earth.
Earth is a receptive, feminine sign. Keywords for the earth nature are sensual, solid, stable, and practical. If you match them up with each of the modalities you get Cardinal Earth or the solid building talents of Capricorn. Combine the earth element with the fixed modality and you get the stability of Taurus and mix Earth with Mutable energies and you have the practical detailed eye of Virgo.
Air
Fill our room with Air and nothing seems to change. Yet in comparison to the other rooms you find that there is a feeling lightness, an unobtrusive quality. You can talk in this room, have others over and socialize. Try to grab the Air and it wisps away just out of your grip which is where the rule of thumb "not to try to capture an Air Sign" is more easily understood. Though there may not be much visible activity here in this room you may find that your mind can drift off into a million thoughts, noticing the colors, sounds and sites that are around you.
Air is an active, masculine element and when combined with a Cardinal quality gives us the relationship pursuer of Libra. Add the Fixed Modality and you get the cold genius of Aquarius and when mixed with Mutable energies you get the multi-talented translator of Gemini. The keywords for Air are thoughts, ideas, social, charming, intellectual, and logical.
Water
Finally fill the room with water. You will have to make it airtight. Notice how the water starts to take the shape of the container, filling every nook and cranny. As the water rises, you may notice that you can see yourself in its reflective top layer. You may notice that things inside the water are starting to look a little funny as the water is first absorbed by everything in the room and then the water starts to absorb everything into itself. Over time, everything will be dissolved.
This points to the quality of all Water signs. They take the shape of who they are with, fill themselves and you with their feeler energies, and reflect back to you, your own persona. The keywords for water are sustaining, providing, protecting, emotional and compassionate. Add the Cardinal energy to Water and you get the active nurturing of Cancer, add Fixed energy to Water and you have the brooding Scorpio and with Mutability you get the ever changing, compassionate Pisces.