EARTH - Element Series 4 of 4

Earth - Element Series 4 of 4

YOUR STARS WITHIN - ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELING

Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)

Hi and thank you to the earth signs for your patience, as this was the last of the Elemental Series. I started with the elements because they are a solid foundation, which I know speaks to the earth signs reading this. It taps into your inherent understanding of the natural world. You have been interacting with these elements your entire life. Beginning to picture the world and the people in it as their own unique chemical compound, their own constellation of these elements is the first task to understanding astrology. I hope you enjoy this article and the others in this series. Stay tuned as I will walk you through how to apply it to your chart next!

Each element has 3 signs, for Earth it is Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. They are all grounded, preferring to deal with real world activities and ideas. How they each express this is a little different. Taurus has a reputation for being stubborn. Often Taurus is slow to change, and thoughtful in where it’s going. Taurus enjoys luxuries in life and pleasantness and they can bring beauty to what they touch. Virgo uses the grounded energy different, as she wants everything to be perfect. She over focuses on details and gets lost in the trees, unable to see the forest. If you want something done right- give it to a Virgo! They have an anxious energy and work hard in how they present themselves to the world. There is a kind innocence to Virgo, always willing to give her best and not seeing how others may feel criticized. Capricorn also wants things to be tangible, but they like it to be tangible in monetary rewards or official titles. They’re often business minded and just find it easy to see each step up the mountain. They take their time and are steadfast, but they climb and they reach the top. Capricorn is an abundant sign, bringing security and safety wherever it goes. These examples just begin to illustrate how we will later tease out the differences in elemental expression.

In the article we’ll focus directly on the element of Earth.

Earth is a grounded, stable element. Every day we wake up and trust that our feet are safe to walk on the ground. Its consistency and reliability give it tangible results. It appreciates the practical, useful and real. It has the ability to keep plodding along, not ebbs and flow of energy but rather consistent application leading to real life results. Earth can get rigid, unwavering and, like rock, it will eventually give under enough pressure or consistent pushing, but it takes a while. This is why earth signs earn a reputation of stubbornness and predictability. They do not like fast or unexpected changes. Security, especially physical comfort, assured safety and abundance are the focus of this energies values.

Earth signs respond to clear expectations, they like to take tangible steps and to see verifiable outcomes. The abstract or over emotional confuses earth and the raging unbridled power of any element scares it, as it does not like uncertainty. Its response to that fear is to put rigid weight on it- sit on it, try to restrict its power. Earth can contain other elements , at least for a time, and tries to out of its own fear of the unknown. Sometimes that containment feels good to others and sometimes it feels restrictive, it really depends on the planets and signs it is containing, as well as how balanced the earth sign is. People in positions of authority are often represented by earth signs. Earth signs are very connected to their bodies; health & exercise play an important role in their life and well-being. Where ever earth touches it will give you grounded application of that energy.

Elemental Interactions:

Earth and Fire- Fire can bring some needed warmth, passion and joy to the earth. Helping it to breakdown the old, dead and worn out elements and recycle them so new earth can grow (think of dead branches being fed into the campfire). Fire however moves too fast for earth, rushing and dancing all around and making changes it isn’t quite ready for. Fires’ impulsivity makes it seem unreliable to earth, earth is never quite sure if fire really knows what it is doing and if they’re going to come out ok. For earth, it seems fire may burn down the whole forest in an impulsive moment. Earth tries its typical reaction to contain fire and in this attempt will either smolder the fire out or fire will burn its way through, hotter than it was before. These two need each other, but in the right doses and right relationships.

Earth and Water- Earth feels safe with water, it is gentle and adaptive and slowly wears down the earth to help it transform. Earth appreciates the patience of water and doesn’t feel pushed for change the way it does with fire. There are times when earth doesn’t understand water, water’s form always changing feels confusing to earth. Earth can experience disillusionment about water, having taken water at its word but not seeing the emotional context behind it. Earth can be dense to the undertones and is sometimes surprised at the way the water acts. There is a good kind exchange between the two. Earth giving structure and security to the water and water returning this with gentle soothing to quench the earth and make it capable of supporting life.

Earth and Air- There is a colder feeling here as neither are fast paced on their own. Air can be distant and earth stoic, so between them they co-exist, at best with appreciation for one another’s contributions to life. This can be a good business dynamic if the idea person and the practical person can see how much more they accomplish together. Earth can really be the investor for a good air idea, but air has to display its ability to follow through and be trusted. Often earth is left feeling a bit off center from the cerebral air sign; air being content in living in the world of ideas and earth gets anxious if it doesn’t have anything with tangible plans.

Planets in Earth:

Now let’s think about how earth will influence the planets. As always, it depends on the nature of the planet itself how well it reacts to being ruled by an earth quality. However, we can know that any planet in an earth sign will tend to be painted with certain characteristics, such as stability, rigidity, practicality and physical manifestation.

If the Moon (emotions) is in an earth sign, the person will tend to be emotionally stable and not chaotic. They will be able to be steadfast and handle what is going on around them. They have a strong inner ground to keep them balanced. However, they can become rigid, stuck in how they feel or unable to see it from others perspective. They can tend to close themselves up emotionally and harden. Going with the flow is a challenging lesson for these folks and learning to let go will be a hard-won emotional experience.

If Mercury (thoughts/communication) is in an earth sign, the thoughts will be practical by nature. The person will quickly boil every idea down to how it would actually work and what the barriers will be. They would not have much use for philosophies that don’t have practical application. They tend to like things with a physical end result, such as an actual product they produce instead of a service. Overall the person’s mental instinctual responses would be practical in nature. Hands-on learning is where this person would thrive.

If Venus is in an earth sign this will be a person who is trust worthy and dependable in relationships. They will not be bothered with those who are flaky or inconsistent. They need to feel secure and they offer security. Ending relationships, letting go of past loves and moving forward are very challenging for these folks and it will often take a long time. They are cautious with whom they give their heart to.

So, I hope that gives you a picture of the earth element.

• ·         When we look at a chart, we look at how many planets do you have in earth?
• ·         How many personal planets? (Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Mercury, Venus, Mars)