The four elements in astrology are fire, earth, air and water. Each element has three signs, and each group of three is called a triplicity. Going round from Aries, the order is fire, earth, air, water, three times over.
Which signs belong to each element?
The groups below are the ones the Roman poet Marcus Manilius gave. The qualities column pairs hot or cold with dry or wet, as the old tradition did.
| Element | Signs | Classical qualities | Polarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Aries, Leo, Sagittarius | Hot, dry | Positive |
| Earth | Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn | Cold, dry | Negative |
| Air | Gemini, Libra, Aquarius | Hot, wet | Positive |
| Water | Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces | Cold, wet | Negative |
The three signs of one element sit 120 degrees apart, a third of the circle. Astrologers call that angle a trine. Fire and air are the positive signs, and earth and water the negative ones. These terms mark a traditional grouping, not good and bad.
Where do the four elements come from?
The idea of four elements comes from Greek philosophy. Around 450 BC, the philosopher Empedocles was the first to propose the four as a set. As astrology passed from Babylon to Greece, the elements were linked to the signs.
Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, from the 2nd century, groups the same signs into four triangles. Later writers named the triangles after the elements; Ptolemy himself doesn't.
Indian astrology adds a fifth element, ether, but it matches the signs to the elements the same way Western astrology does.
How do I find the element of my sign?
- Find your Sun sign from your birth date. If you were born on a day the Sun changed sign, you also need your birth time.
- Count its place in the zodiac, starting with Aries as 1.
- Divide by 4 and look at the remainder: 1 is fire, 2 earth, 3 air, and 0 water.
- SunLeo
- No.5
Leo is sign 5 (Aries 1, Taurus 2, Gemini 3, Cancer 4, Leo 5). 5 ÷ 4 = 1, remainder 1.
Remainder 1 means fire, so the Sun on 9 August 1995 was in a fire sign.
The same count works for the Moon and the rising sign. For how a sun sign and a rising sign differ, see rising sign vs sun sign.
What this means for your day
For your day
Do
Look up your sign's element in the table before you read what it is said to mean.
Don't
Don't treat an element as a verdict on who you are.
Questions people ask
Is Aquarius a water sign?
No. Aquarius is an air sign, even though its name means the Water-bearer. The water signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
Are the elements the same in Vedic astrology?
The signs match the elements in the same way, but Indian astrology adds a fifth element, ether.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Triplicity. A triplicity as three signs of one element, the signs per element after Manilius, the hot, cold, dry and wet qualities, and the 120-degree trine.
- Wikipedia: Astrological sign. The link between Empedocles' elements and the signs, the positive and negative polarity, the Water-bearer, and the same mapping in Indian astrology.
- Wikipedia: Classical element. Empedocles, around 450 BC, first proposed the four elements as a set.
- Wikipedia: Tetrabiblos. Ptolemy's triplicity groups, later named after the elements, though Ptolemy doesn't use those names.