Love and Earth

Venus in the earth signs.... this gene will indicate a person who requires a certain feeling of stability in their love life. It will also indicate a person who wants to " build" their relationship with another person, often this means that they have a strong desire to build a home or family. These people are often cautious about love and don't leap in blindly. They will appreciate other people who are direct, honest, and mature. They have no time for pretenders or people who dont know who they are yet! And they all seem to appreciate the nicer things in life, nice house, nice furniture, good food, quality AND quantity are important here. Read on for details!

Venus in Taurus - These people tend to like comfortable surroundings that appeal to the senses. They aren't thrilled by the thought of a fast paced life or a whirl wind romance. They want constance, permanance, safety, and comfort. They will be very loyal lovers. You'll never have to worry about them cheating but you may also have to convince them that they are valuable to you. They want to know that they bring something important to the relationship. And they will take promises and comitments very seriously. They are definitly the type who want to get married and build a sense of home or family with the person they love. You will have a good chance with these people if you are straitforward, open, and natural. Expect them to be stubborn but consistent.

Venus in Virgo - These people will show their devotion through their eagerness to help you all the time and their desire to remember all the details about you. But they are shy in love and might need to be extra extra sure that you like them before they speak up and say they like you. They will try to help you at every turn, maybe more than you will want. But at least you know that if you need a hero there is someone right there waiting to be that person for you. They will always try to improve the relationship so be prepared to talk it out.

Venus in Capricorn - They are very practicle and responcible people in love. They need to be able to predict where your relationship with them will go. They like to look sure of themselves and very confident but they may be very hesitant to get attached and have their feelings hurt. They are attracted to people who know what they want in life and a plan for getting there. They admire hard work and determination in others.

Quote of the Day

It's sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Here is a nice quote for today.

"We are born at a given moment in a given place and like vintage years of wine we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything else." - C.G.Jung

That's a great way of thinking about it. Looking at some of this man's other quotes has been very thought provoking for me. If you'd like to read some of his other quotes yourself then here is a site for finding them.

http://www.danapanduru.co.uk/quotes.php

Tomorro we will continue with the Earth Element!

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!

An Introduction to Astrology

When I was 13 I had a rather strange friend with a very different background than mine. She wasn't my best friend but she was the type of person you never forget. We were both about the same height and build with long red hair. Kristin was the type who leaped without looking and I was the type who never leaped at all for fear of all the things I couldn't control. So here we were, good twin and bad twin, sitting at a lunch table, our attention riveted in an enormous purple book. It was her mother's, that she'd brought into school that day. The pages were yellowed, the corners were folded, and we turned each paper with care as they tried to escape the binding. The book looked so mysterious and important to us that we took it as seriously as if we were opening the tombs of pharaohs for the first time. And in that book were descriptions of all the twelve zodiac signs along with descriptions of the different planets and what they mean in your chart. Kristin and I drew up charts for ourselves with her mother's help. And this became an ongoing theme in our lives for many years. Even when I thought I had exhausted my interest in astrology and even though I hit dead ends and gave up sometimes, eventually I always return to my original fascination with this ancient science.

I've heard astrology described as a pseudoscience. If you're not familiar with the term, it means a fake science! But chemistry is a very real science and all the ideas and innovations in chemistry can be credited to ancient people's fascination with the idea of alchemy. Ancient alchemists were obsessed with the idea that they could turn ordinary substances into gold. Their thinking was that all things in the world are made of the same little pieces, and if they could just rearrange those pieces then they could make anything into what they wanted it to be. That sounds a lot like wizards and magic but it is also the founding principle of chemistry. Every thing in the world IS made of the same elements. Rearranging them is far harder than ancient alchemists could've ever dreamed but the concept was still true. And I would like to suggest the same thing about astrology. I believe that the methods astrology uses are outdated and no one can dispute the fact that the stars HAVE changed since the ancient Babylonians were looking at them. However, I believe that the underlying principle to astrology is that the time and place of a person's birth is an indication of their personality, their relationships with other, and to a MUCH smaller extent, their destiny. I know a lot of people don't believe in destiny and I'm not out to prove that it exists. The truth is that when your life seems unremarkable you want to tell yourself that you were " born for greater things" but then when you feel like you're stuck in an awful pattern where bad things keep happening you tell yourself " I'm the master of my own destiny! I decide" Funny thing isn't it?  People are rarely happy or satisfied, and when they do manage it, they don't like to stay that way for long.

So here's what this has to do with astrology the way I see it.... weather you believe you have an ultimate destiny or not, most of you will probably agree that your life has a pattern to it. The pattern may be subtle or it could be very obvious. These patterns probably happen because of the similarities in the decisions you've made over the course of your life. These similarities are a representation of your personality and where you are on your personal journey of emotional development. I'll talk more about all of these things later but for now I will wrap up the point. Astrology helps you understand your personality and your personality is what causes you to make similar decisions throughout your life, and so it can help you understand the destiny you are going to make for yourself, through your own actions.