Healing With Earth, Air, Fire, and Water-- Part 1

Just as the elements fire, earth, air, and water are the building blocks of life, to an astrologer they provide the foundations and vital indicators for the health and well-being of an individual. Each of us has a dominant element in our makeup. When we identify it we've got an excellent tool for improving our health. How do you identify your dominant element? Start with your Sun sign for an indication of your essential vitality. The fire signs, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, are the most radiant and vital of the signs. Next are the air signs, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. The water signs, Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, are more dense. They are a much more difficult medium through which to manifest, and take longer to charge up again. Earth signs, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, are the most dense, giving tenacity rather than vitality. Fire signs are conductors. They like to spread their energy around. Air signs are curious and ready to relate. Water is more self-protective and indirect. Earth is cautious and conservative. Water is accented in childhood, while fire is strongest in adolescence. The air element increases with age, and earth strengthens with maturity.

The Fire Constitution
(Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) Fire rules the function of internal combustion, or digestion, in the body. Fire is needed to burn up and absorb foods cleanly and efficiently. Fire is purifying; it is necessary for removing toxins, viruses, bacteria, and fungus from the system. Fire signs have the ability to burn off viruses and fight diseases more aggressively than any of the other signs. The extremely high temperatures and sudden acute inflammations that are natural for a fire sign can be terrifying without the knowledge that this is quite the norm for them. The fire element is strongest from puberty to middle age, in the summer, and daily at noon. Fire has good recuperative abilities from ailments that are extreme and short-lived. Fire sign people tend to ignore warning signals from their bodies. If injured, they will attempt to stay mobile, seeing no reason to stop to recuperate.

The Earth Constitution
(Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) The earth element rules the skeletal and eliminatory systems.. The earth element is essential to growth, reproduction, and repair of tissue. Like water, the earth element is vital and active in childhood, becoming more dense with age. Earth signs know how to conserve themselves, and have a natural instinct as to which foods are right or wrong for them. Earth is more accomplished at building up than breaking down, hence there is a tendency toward weight problems, tumor growth, and glandular disorders (especially involving the thyroid). Overeating and a diet of heavy foods create excess earth, which is aggravated by sedentary habits and lack of exercise. The earth signs have strong sense impressions and thrive on contact with the earth. Theirs is a strength of endurance and persistence. They are more resistant than fire or air to transient colds and flu, but find it harder to throw off bugs once they have taken hold.

The Air Constitution
(Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) Air rules the nervous and circulatory systems, and the function of movement, i.e., peristalsis, urination, and breathing. Air people are easily stimulated, with quick and extremely sensitive minds that are easily stressed. The air constitution tends to catch and throw off health problems quickly, but can suffer from lingering aftereffects because of impatience and inconsistency, and unwillingness to slow down or remain focused long enough to recover fully. They tend to have a low threshold for pain. The air element is accentuated between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m., by dry or windy weather, excess sunlight, x-rays, computer and TV radiation, loud sounds, and by shock and fear. The air element strengthens with age, which works to your advantage if you are naturally low in air.

The Water Constitution
(Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces) The water element rules the reproductive and lymphatic systems, and all the liquids of the body. Water lubricates and cools the body. Water signs are exceptionally sensitive to their environment, particularly to fungi, bacteria, and viruses. They are sturdier than they look because of their accentuated ability to flush toxins from the system. Their body type tends to be well rounded and full, with good skin. The water element is strongest during childhood. Health issues for water signs generally have a strong emotional component, though it is not necessarily their own emotions they are responding to. They easily pick up negativity from others. They tend to brood on their health and imagine problems to be greater than they are. Frequently there is a periodicity to their health problems, which they can use to their advantage if they learn to anticipate these periods of lowered vitality. They respond well to a practitioner who is sympathetic, cheerful, and optimistic, and willing to spend time with them to ferret out underlying emotional issues.

Types of Constitutions Division of human constitutions into different classifications has been around for thousands of years. In the fifth century BCE Hippocrates developed four basic types, which he correlated from the elements of astrology. There's the phlegmatic or earthy constitution, valued for its unemotional calm, and the cheerful optimism of the sanguine, or air constitution. The melancholic, or water constitution, has its emotional sensitivity, and the choleric, or fire sign type, has a hot temper. This methodology was developed and widely used by physicians into the nineteenth century. There is currently a revival of interest in constitutional types by many practitioners in the mainstream and alternative health fields. Conventional medicine has ignored the unique makeup of each individual when recommending treatment, and yet we all know we respond differently to illnesses, stresses, and even to medications. By identifying the constitution of individuals we can have an idea of the progression of their illness and choose the best form of treatment for them. The information gained is focused on what sort of patient has the disease rather than what sort of disease the patient has.