by Ko Hashiguchi.
One of the more confusing parts of Western astrology versus Chinese astrology concerns the Elements. Some of the same names have been used for the Western elements as the Chinese, but the MEANINGS of those same-named elements are quite different.
In the West, we have four elements. They are Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. In the East, we have five elements. They are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal.
Though we in the astrological West have dealt with the four elements all of our lives, I believe the Western elements are less-well understood than the Eastern! That is because the MODERN Western definition of “element” and the CLASSICAL definition of an element are vastly different. A modern person might say: “Those ancient Greek guys sure were stupid…How could they talk about only FOUR elements when we know that there are 118 of them?”
We have to understand what a Greek meant by an “element.”
According to Aristotle, before you have the elements you have the four primary qualities; which are Hot, Cold, Wet, and Dry. These terms did not mean to Aristotle what WE think they mean. Aristotle said that the Qualities are the first distinctions made from the formless, primordial “stuff” of the universe.
“Hot” is not the rapid motion of molecules which, when applied to paper, causes it to burst into flames and reduce to ash. Heat is the quality that REFINES impurities out of a substance, leaving openings or pores, which permit free-passage.
“Cold” is not the slowing down of the motion of molecules which, when applied to water, causes it to turn to solid. Cold is the quality that coalesces things that are unlike.
“Wet” is not the presence of H20. Wet is the quality of having no internal boundaries or limits so that a substance that is wet will have no shape of its own, but assume the shape of its container.
“Dry” is not the absense of H20. Dry is the quality of having inherent internal boundaries and limits so that it has its own distinct shape, but will not conform to the shape of that which tries to contain it.
Hot and Cold were thought of as active qualities. Wet and Dry were thought of as passive qualities.
As Aristotle saw it, each of the “elements” was composed of one of the active qualities, and one of the passive ones: Hot and Dry combine to make Fire. Dry and Cold combine to make Earth. Cold and Wet combine to make Water. Wet and Hot combine to make Air.
However, when we look at the elements of the signs of the zodiac, the sequence as described by Aristotle breaks down and does not work! The sequence is supposed to be: Fire, Earth, Air, Water.
And this is how the signs work:Aries/Fire, Taurus/Earth, Gemini/Air,
Cancer/Water, Leo/Fire, Virgo/Earth, Libra/Air, Scorpio/Water, Sagittarius/Fire, Capricorn/Earth Aquarius/Air, Pisces/Water.
But if you track the elements as they are constructed from the qualities Aristotle sets up, the system breaks down:
Aries Hot + Dry = Fire
Taurus Dry + Cold = Earth
Gemini HOT + WET = Air????
Cancer Wet + Cold = Water
Between Taurus and Gemini two qualities are changing at once, which means that the generation of elements between Taurus and Gemini breaks down. The same breakdown happens between Virgo and Libra.
HOWEVER, competing with Aristotle, we had the school of the Stoics, who assigned only ONE quality per element. For them, Fire is only Hot, Earth is only Dry, Air is only Cold, and Water is only Wet, which works perfectly well with the signs of the zodiac:
Aries/Hot/FIRE, Taurus/Dry/EARTH, Gemini/Cold/AIR, Cancer/Wet/WATER, etc.
The qualities of Hot, Cold, Wet, and Dry STILL have relevance to today! Let us start with a substance that has no H20 in it, but starts as Dry and becomes increasingly wet:
A chunk of stone is Dry. It’s dry by Classical standards and Modern. If you try to package it up, it keeps its own boundaries and limits. What happens if you crush the stone into smaller chunks? It can be more easily bounded by whatever container you put it into; it becomes more Wet. Do you doubt me? What if you pound those chunks of stone into gravel, and then into sand? Because the mass of mineral has less internal boundaries and structure of its own, it becomes more Wet as the particles become smaller. If you grind the stone until it’s as fine-grained as talcum powder, it will behave quite like a liquid, although there is still not a speck of H20 in it!
Even shape will affect the Wetness or Dryness of a stone! Take two stones of the same weight, but one is jagged and the other is smooth. The jagged stone is Dryer than the smooth stone because it retains its limits and resists the hand that tries to stroke it. The smooth stone readily allows that same hand to stroke it. The smooth stone is more Wet.
I will give you one more example that does not come from geology: what is the difference between DRY humor and wet humor? “Wet” humor is humor that makes you laugh on your own terms: it tries to be universally funny. “Dry” humor is humor that makes you laugh on ITS terms: you have to meet the humor half-way, or you don’t laugh.
Don’t be deceived that the classical elements or the qualities are obsolete! We might as well say that Classical French cooking is obsolete because it’s not fast, inexpensive, or easily eaten “on-the-go,” with cell phone in one hand and steering wheel in the other. Classical French cooking may fit very poorly into “modern” society, but it uses natural ingredients, tastes delicious, and has a much harder time giving you cancer.
The Classical Four Elements from the Greeks are not obsolete because ASTROLOGY IS NOT OBSOLETE. If you want to understand Western astrology properly, you have to understand the Elements the way the Greeks did. Aries is not Fire because an Aries Sun Sign person has flames coming out of their mouth: they are Fire because Refining Impurities and Leaving Openings in a substance or situation GIVES YOU FREE PASSAGE. The Greek word for Free Passage ALSO was a synonym for Success. And THAT’S why Aries is Fire!
I will compare the Western Elements to the Taoist Chinese Elements, starting with the next issue.
Ko has studied the Four Pillars Chinese astrology since 1986. Ko has lectured at the UAC in 2002, the NORWAC and the AFA conferences in 2003. He can be reached at his web site, AsianAstro.com, and by phone at 253-486-7742
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