Balance of Elements

As a first step towards the analysis of your horoscope, you should find the balance of elements in the sign positions of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Venus.

First, you need to get your horoscope. Then, go through the sign positions of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, and classify them according to element: fire, earth, air, and water. This following summary is for US Vice President Kamala Harris, her horoscope data is drawn from Astro-Databank (AA accuracy rating):

Now look at the balance of elements, i.e. how many planets in each element. In Kamala Harris’s case we find that the elements are as perfectly balanced as it can get, with the slightest of tilt to fire. (With 5 planets in consideration, that’s the least amount of imbalance possible.) Interestingly, the perfect balance amplifies her Sun in Libra – the sign of balance (scales)!

In any horoscope, the Sun and Moon are the most important factors, they are the foundation of the personality. Harris has an air-fire mix in this regard: she leads (Sun) with her mind (Air), but instinctively reacts (Moon) in a highly spirited manner (Fire) when stimulated. She communicates (Mercury) with feeling (Water), relates to others (Venus) in down-to-earth way (Virgo), and asserts herself (Mars) in a dramatic, take-no-prisoners (Fire) style.

In contrast, here is the elemental distribution of planets in US President Joe Biden’s horoscope, also obtained from Astro-Databank (A accuracy rating):

Saying there is a strong emphasis in water would be an understatement! This man lives and breathes feeling and emotion. He is empathetic with a capital E. But, there is that Moon in earth, which helps him employ those deep reserves of feeling toward getting stuff done. (Right now you are probably thinking, but hey, isn’t he the “gaffe machine”, flubbing lines, going on and on. For sure he is, and that comes from his ascendant in Sagittarius–fiery spirit, optimism and bombast–but that is a story for another post.)

How will Harris work under Biden’s leadership, as the second-in-command? Harris does have some water and some earth, but neither of these are via her Sun or Moon, so not the foundational traits of her personality that would come naturally. So her relationship will have to be ad hoc, consciously (Mercury) following his lead (Sun), trusting (big deal for Scorpio) that he is doing the right thing. Proactively, she can delicately (using the Sun’s Libran diplomacy and tact, something that she is really good at) suggest bolder initiatives and action (Moon and Mars in fire) when appropriate, being careful to outline the practical here-and-now value of these initiatives so as to appeal to his Taurus (earth) Moon.

When you look at the balance of elements in your own horoscope, keep in mind that the distribution shows the degree to which you can function authentically in the manner of each element.

Someone whose horoscope shows a strong bias toward the earth element would bring an innate practicality and grounding to how they live their life. On the other hand, without any presence of the water element, for instance, they would be unsettled in the presence of strong feelings or emotion. It’s not they cannot feel, it’s just that they don’t find it to be natural. So they might either dissociate from emotionally charged environments, or react in an emotionally overwrought way. To. them, emotions are mostly alien territory.

Lacking in a certain element, or overly provided for in another is not cause for concern. The value of knowing our own elemental distribution is to bring more awareness to our interaction with others who are different from us. We may not be able to freely emote like our friend, or be full-on adventurous like our sibling, or be soberly grounded like our parent, or be routinely coming up with great ideas like our colleague. But that shouldn’t make us feel we are somehow worse for not being like them. We want to be ourselves, doing justice to our uniquely personal blend of elemental energies.

Lastly, while the elemental placements of the “big five” planets are extremely important, they are not the complete story. There are many other factors in the horoscope that contribute to the elemental balance, which we get into in other posts.