The Meaning Behind Your Zodiac Elements

Everything in our natural world was created using the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. While each western star sign is associated with a planet, it’s also associated with one of these precious natural elements, breaking the 12 horoscope signs into 4 specific groupings. A star sign may be a fire sign, an earth sign, an air sign, or a water sign. The star sign cycle begins with Aries, a fire sign, and then goes into the earth sign of Taurus, the air sign of Gemini, and the water sign of Cancer. This cycle repeats itself three times throughout the star signs, and ends with the water sign of Pisces.

Knowing what the zodiac elements are, how they cycle, and which star signs are associated with different elements is only half the battle. Each element has its own distinct meaning and tells a person quite a bit about themselves as an important part of one’s natal chart. When pairing signs together, pairing zodiac elements is also important. Those with the same or complimenting signs tend to blend better together than those with signs that clash with one another

The Fire Element

Beginning with the fire element, this is an important part of the Aries, Leo, and
Sagittarius personalities. Like fire, those under the fire signs are typically filled with both the light and the dark of what fire brings. They’re known to be passionate, brave, extroverted, ambitious, and valiant on the fire’s light side, but they’re also hot-tempered, uncontrollable, snappy, and destructive on the dark side. It’s important to remember that there is no light without darkness and no darkness without light, and the fire signs represent both sides of this element characteristic.

Fire signs tend to be the trendsetters of the horoscope signs, and they love to play with new ideas with a sense of confidence and charisma few possess. Like fire, every fire sign is an individual, doing their own authentic dance through life. One of the worse things one can do with a fire sign is to box them in to someone else’s standard. When able to thrive and dance to the beat of their own drum, fire star signs tend to go far and do so proudly.

Some fire signs may find that they possess some but not all of these qualities. If their natal chart shows that a portion of their planets rests in Capricorn or Libra, they could possess earth or air traits alongside their fire characteristics. This could give them a combination of elemental characteristics that are the best of several worlds in some circumstances.

The Earth Element

The Earth element encompasses the star signs of Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Simply put, those with earth zodiac elements are just that—down to earth. They’re reliable, dependable, and hard workers, and they’re the sort of people you can always count on no matter what. Just as the earth helps us live our fullest lives by providing food, space, and shelter, earth signs are the helpers of the group.

There are numerous mineral compounds that make up the land beneath our feet, and there are many facets that make up those of earth star signs. These determined individuals pursue new endeavors frequently, and they do so in a way that never skimps on authenticity. When they try something new, they try it with everything they’ve got, and they embrace the experiences and lessons they learn from it.

Rather than taking risks, earth signs tend to choose the sure fit. This can help them avoid costly or silly mistakes, but it can hold them back as well. While the wildfire sign might pick up an eccentric new idea and run with it, learning from their mistakes along the way, the earth sign is far more likely to choose the path they know will work. In some instances, earth signs might sell themselves short by not taking the big risk with the big reward.

The Air Element

The Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius star signs all fall under the air element category. Air signs tend to be the intellectuals of the star signs, and they love nothing more than puzzling out and analyzing the world around them. They’re surrounded by curiosity, and they’re natural communicators excited to express those curiosities along with their findings to anyone around them.

Balance is paramount to air signs as they naturally look at any and all situations from all sides. Of all the zodiac elements, they’re the most likely to place themselves in the shoes of another to inspect the world from every possible perspective.

The downside to this, however, is that air signs can grow cold and dissatisfied when this balance is thrown off because they cannot compute the “why” of a situation when all sides aren’t equally recognized. Additionally, they can take quite a long time to make decisions or fall victim to indecisiveness altogether. Subjecting themselves to information overload is a common problem that most air signs experience frequently.

The Water Element

Lastly, we have the water element, which encompasses the Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces star signs. Water signs are the feeling signs, with stronger intuition, sensitivity, and nurturing than any other sign. Their feelings run deep, much like a river full of the water that represents them. Where the air sign will analyze, reason, and use their intellect to formulate a plan or an opinion, the water sign is far more likely to simply “trust their gut.” When something feels right, it must be right, and they’re satisfied with the decision whether or not they have the concrete facts to back it up.

The water star signs are flowing and wavering, accepting the feelings that situations bring to them. Due to their free-flowing emotions, star signs under the water element tend to be artistic and expressive, creating beautiful things that help others feel what they’re feeling at any given time. Water signs can also be prone to brooding and getting lost in their own emotions, regardless if they are positive or negative.