Elements or Triplicities

Each of the four elements is associated with a sign of the zodiac, so that three signs share the same element. It doesn't take a physicist to understand how compatibility-or its opposite-works with elements.

Fire feeds fire, air fuels fire, water feeds earth, earth extinguishes fire, air and water tolerate each other but exist independently of each other. You get the general idea. The important thing to remember about elements is that each one has a particular attribute.

Fire signs are enthusiastic and impulsive. They're terrific at starting projects, but they sometimes have a tough time finishing what they start. Earth signs tend to be grounded, focused, stable. They don't sweep through a project; they plod, they plan. They're often concerned about financial security. Air signs are mental, studious, often intellectual. They are also flighty at times, living in their own private worlds of ideas. Water signs are intuitive, sensitive, emotional.

These are only general attributes. I've met a number of children who don't seem to fit the parameters at all. Nine-year old Samantha, for example, is obsessive about rules. She reminds other kids that they should wear their helmets when they ride their bikes, adheres strictly to the rules in any game, and is the first kid on the block to report an encephalitis scare at Disney World, even though it's four hours north of where she lives. I figured Sam for a Capricorn, an earth sign concerned with structures, parameters, limitations. When I found out she was a Sagittarius (fire), I was floored.

Sagittarians tend to be free-spirited rebels who go their own way, with little regard for what authority claims is the right way. I finally asked her mother for her birth data and discovered she has a Capricorn ascendant, with five planets in that sign. It means her rebellious Sun, her need for travel and independent thought, constantly struggles against a basic thrust in her nature for practicality, rules, structure.

Once you have your child's natal chart, the astrologer will note the distribution of the ten planets through the elements. A preponderance of any single element will amplify the attributes of that element, particularly if that element applies to the Sun, Moon, and the ascendant.

The absence of an element among the planets is also significant and several things may result. The child might gravitate toward children who have a lot of that missing element-or the missing element will never be a big deal. It depends on whether the characteristics of that element were mastered or avoided in other lives. You'll know which it is by the time your child is old enough to get around on his own.

My daughter has no planets in fire. One astrologer interpreted this to mean that she wouldn't have much initiative or impetus to act on her convictions. But so far, this gloomy prediction hasn't panned out. If anything, she seems to be the opposite.

In table 2, the attributes listed for each element are general. If they don't seem to fit your child, then dig deeper. Check out the signs of your child's Moon and ascendant.

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