Love and Elements

Venus in the air element... if your venus is in Libra, Aquarius, or Gemini then it's in an air sign. That means you may run the risk of falling in love with the idea of your relationship more than the person you're actually in it with! It's just something to watch out for. It's also important to keep in mind that people with this trait can be indecisive when it comes to matters of the heart. They may struggle to choose between potential lovers.

Venus in Libra - Love easily becomes an obsession. And because Venus is expressed so clearly in the sign of Libra it becomes one of the dominate traits in the person's personality. This signs is cardinal so it wants to take all it's love and shove it in your face haha. It's also prone to idealizing things beyond the actual reality. But you don't always have to look at that as a bad thing. If a person can use this ideal in their mind as a goal to achieve and inspire drive then it can be productive and positive. People with this gene will really go the extra mile for the ones they love. These people may also be artistic souls and are attracted to things with a certain elegance and symetry. You could call them people of refined taste.

Venus in Aquarius - Love is friendly and unposessive and unjudgemental. This person will take a much more hands off approach. Venus in Aquarius loves all it's friends and is genraly good to strangers too so it might be hard for them to show it if they like you in a more personal way. But the good news is that if you DO make it through the barrier and become someone they really love then you always will be. People with this gene do not fall out of love easily. They are attracted to things that are out of the ordinary. They love novelty so even if it's not really new, but just new to them, you'll have their full attention. These people can also dream pretty ambitiously.

Venus in Gemini - Of all the air signs this one may have the most trouble making up it's mind when it comes to love. Venus in gemini loves mental stimulation. So as with the other air signs, a person who is thought provoking will have their attention for a long time. Venus in Gemini is a very friendly gene to have, it ususaly means that the person loves conversation and talks to many people through the day. It might also mean that they gossip a bit. People with this gene can be very popular. But tread carefully, because someone this friendly might easily mis-lead others into thinking it's more interested than it actually is.


We'll be talking a lot more about Venus in the next few days!
Here is a piece of a very famous painting by Botticelli called
The Birth of Venus

Mars and Venus!

You can never look at one of them without seeing the other. And you've gotta know how your own Mars and Venus signs get along togeather before you go comparing them to someone else's. Mars and Venus can help eachother take over the world or they can cause eachother a lot of headaches. Let's make an example. If a girl named Autumn has both her Mars and Venus in the same sign then we know the things she likes and the things that inspire her to action are the same. Also we know that the qualities she's looking for in another person are also the same qualities that pull her in on a physical level. Now let's say that the sign these two planets are in on her birthchart is Libra. Well now Venus is in it's glory! What does that mean? It means that the personality traits given to her by the Venus gene are going to be more dominant, and stronger than the Mars gene. You might wonder why that is, I mean they're both in the SAME sign right?

Well it's because each planet has a sign that it finds easiest to express it's self in. Astrology books will often  call this a " ruler". So in most books when you look up Libra you will see that Venus " rules" Libra. And that just means that Libra is the sign which Venus has the easiest time expressing it's self through. But it's a difficult sign for Mars to express it's self through. What does that mean for Autumn? It might mean that she's surrounded by things she likes and things that spark her interest and her passions but that passion is very fleeting for her. She might feel like it's difficult to get in touch with the passion and physical energy that her Mars sign should be giving her. So now you have an idea of how these planets can be weakened and strengthened by the signs they are trying to express themselves through.

Now let's say that Autumn is in love with a man named Collin. And Collin's Mars and Venus are both in Aquarius. How will that help or hinder Autumn? Will he like her? Will it be a love that lasts? Well those are big questions that require you to think about ALL of their personality and not jus Mars and Venus. But the good news is that Aquarius and Libra are both air signs. That means that Autumn and Collin both appreciate the same basic things. If you look back to where I talked about the air element you will have an idea of what those " basic things " are. Autumn's Mars and Venus are in Libra, which is the cardinal air sign, the one that feels a big push to take it's energy to other people. So she is going to be very focused on the man she loves, probably a little obsessive in that she will make everythign else in her life somehow about Collin. But since her Mars is in the same sign and since it is also at a disadvantage expressing it's self, she may have trouble translating that obsession into physical passion.

Collin's planets are in Aquarius which is the fixed air sign. Because they are the same element, he can appreciate her form of affection and devotion and enjoy it but when he goes to return the favor it will look a little different because Aquarius is the fixed air sign. All of the fixed signs are very grounded in themselves so it's possible that many of the things he says he is doing for her will look like things he is just doing for him. And this will probably annoy Autumn. She might greatly enjoy his expressions of love, but at the end of the day be stuck wondering ..... wait a moment... did he really do it for me? Or did he just want to do it and then decide to bring me along for the ride? She might ask him this and he might say " Why does it matter? As long as we're both enjoying ourselves." But to someone with their Venus in Libra the answer is yes, it matters. Because now Autumn is stuck hateing the idea that she is making every part of her life about him, intentionaly makeing him the center of her universe, and he is acting like she's not anyone in perticular. And He may say to her " Of course you're important! Why is it I did something nice and you are so upset with me?"

Well a big part of the answer is that Autumn and Collin are both expressing their love and motivations with air signs. And air signs put huge importance on the idea of something. The mental framework of who they are and what this relationship is in their own minds, who they have decided to be for eachother, has never been more important. Air signs are very stuck in the relm of mental energy. All the thougths behind the actions count for double! So it's good that they both put importance in the same thing. But Autumn is showing it buy pushing her thoughts onto Collin, trying to absorb him and Collin is trying to return the affection but he dosen't feel the need to BECOME Autumn. One of the beautys of Aquarius is that it is almost never forcefull. It won't tell someone else who to be. And that may confuse Autumn because she may worry that his lack of agressive affection is also a lack of careing.

Interesting isn't it? In this situation Autumn and Collin are not a bad match for eachother. They value the same types of expression. They both value that relm of thought in the mind that motivates us and which prompts us to compliment eachother and verbaly show affection. Their relationship is never lacking in verbal affection. And it's likely that they enjoy and aspire to add to their lives very similar things. But they will need to learn how to understand eachother's way of expressing it. In this case, as with most relationships, listening to eachother and putting yourself in the other person's shoes becomes very important.

The Elements - Air

The next element we're going to talk about is air. Everyone loves a warm windy day right? It's important to remember that Air and Fire are natural compliments to each other. The reasoning behind that statement is that our idea of " elements" follow a give and take rule. Now in most astrology books they explain this by saying that Air and Water are sustaining or nurturing elements but I think that might be confusing. Instead we will compare it to food! You need food and water to live right?  And you need even more of it if you're going to climb mountains or invent a time machine. Air and Water represent the type of energy we get from food and water. Earth and Fire are the elements that allow us to put that essential energy to work. Food goes to your body's internal furnace to be processed and burned. Now Air is the type of food that works best for Fire. Both of these elements are a little more mentally stimulating and like to communicate with words, ideas, passions, etc. So this pair is more likely to help you build a time machine. And the Water + Earth combination is more likely to help you climb a mountain. Remember that Fire can still draw energy from Water, it dosen't mean that energy isn't being shared and transferred. The fire will still burn but it will be harder to reach it's full potential because the engine will still be running on  gas, but not the type of gas it was made for.

So let's talk about Air more specificly. What is the essence of this element when you get right down to it's core? Most books will tell you that it's intelligence and mental power. And it's true that people who have a lot of air signs in their personality's DNA are often very smart and quick thinking. But I think the real essence, the real treasure of air signs, is their ability to be separate from other people. Does that sound odd? I'm sure it does. Air signs have the ability to detach themselves from other people and events. They can simply exist. Why is that wonderful and what does it mean when we are talking about personality traits???

Why it's wonderful:  Because that means people with air signs can be more self sufficient. They might like living with other people but they don't need to for the sake of mental or emotional sanity. And it gives them the ability to look at situations fairly without as many personal judgments. They are able to meet new people without any particular expectations or judgments. They give new friends a fair shot. Last but not least, isn't it wonderful to think that someone has the ability to be happy in a truly light-hearted child like way, even if the whole world is crumbling down? Because they can form an inner sense of calm and balance which the outside world can not touch.

Why it can be a problem: Air signs are often described as being cold or unsympathetic because they can detach their emotions from others and it makes the empathy they give less personal and much more general. If they do you a kindness you may feel like ... " well he would do that for anyone. It doesn't mean I'm special or that we are close." Some people have trouble feeling close to people with these traits. It can seem like they are walking around with a shield over their heart at all times so that you can't get in.

The three signs that express the element of air are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. You might recall that yesterday we talked about the 3 modes of astrology and how they help us measure the intensity that each element has in the three signs that express it.

Libra ------------ - - - - - - - - - - - - Aquarius - - - - - - - - - - -    -    -    -    -   -    - Gemini   -   -   -   -   -


Cardinal - Libra is the cardinal air signs. It reaches outward to try to shape and influence the world.
             So Libra is taking that great energy and trying to do something with it. This sign is especially
             good at fairness and likes to meddle in things.
Fixed - Aquarius is the fixed air sign. Like all fixed signs it is securely rooted in it's self. Sometimes
             being " rooted " in yourself can look like selfishness, vanity, or tremendous self confidence.
             Aquarius is the one who most often seems to be wearing a shield over it's heart as a means of
             self preservation.
Mutable - Gemini is the mutable air sign. It is the most adaptable and we usualy think of that as a
             good thing. But remember that it can also make a person look uncommitted, or unreliable.
             Gemini is often the most social of the air signs and does not find it as easy to detach from the
             world as the other air signs.

You can imagine this as a very strong wind that starts near the Libra with a very concentrated flow of air which begins to spread out a little near Aquarius, and by the time it reaches Gemini it's rushing off into all different directions.

I hope you enjoyed the description of air signs and that it got you thinking!!! Please feel free to leave your thoughts and comments. I'd like to hear what ideas and questions this information inspires in your mind!