The Four Elements in Astrology: East and West

7/31/2019 The Four Elements in Astrology: East and West

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EAST & WEST: WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?AN ASTROLOGICAL EXAMPLE

By Michael Erlewine

The Four Elements

I have long been fascinated by Asian philosophy andpsychology and how it differs from that used here inthe West. It can be difficult to explain the differencebetween these two systems, but I have one clearastrological example that you might appreciate.

I have been studying astrology for some fifty years, so

long I forget when I actually started and whatconstitutes studying anyway? I have also beenstudying Chinese astrology for a long time. I findChinese astrology very profound and not somethingone can learn in a month, day, year, or even years. Ihave never written much about the subject because Iam still just a student, but I do want to share a little bitof Chinese astrology with you so that you have a taste

and see if you like it too. To do this, I will compare justone facet of astrology as we view it through Westernmethods, and as the Chinese see it. You will get theidea, I am sure. I am going to use the Four Elements.

The Four Elements in western astrology (Fire, Earth,Air, and Water) and the Five Elements in Chinese

astrology (Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood), whilecalculated quite differently in each system, are similarenough in use for this comparison.


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There are twelve zodiac signs, three fire signs, threeearth signs, three air signs, and three water signs. Sothe Sun, Moon, and planets at your birth were each ina zodiac sign, and each zodiac sighs is one of thefour elements. In modern astrology here in the west,we tend to add up the elements for the Sun, Moon,and planets to get what is called the ElementalBalance. The elemental balance at my birth looks like

this:

Earth Signs: 4 planetsFire Signs: 3 planetsWater Signs: 2 planetsAir Signs: 1 planet

As you can see, I have a preponderance of Earth andonly one planet in Air. The way I have taught this foryears is as follows: The elements we have the mostare What we have to do, while the element we havethe least of or lack (Air in my case) are what we lackor What we want. Then I tell my students that we dowhat we have to do and we become what we want,

using the word become in the sense that a dressbecomes a woman, to turn toward or accent. So, if wehave zero planets for a certain element, we endlesslyturn toward or try to fulfill that emptiness, etc.

In other words, we do what we have to do, and webecome what we want. In Western astrology, we

draw attention to what we most want or lack. This isroughly how I teach it. However, the Chinese have adifferent approach, one that I believe will show you


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how different their philosophy is from ours, and aprofound view it is.

In Chinese astrology, the element you have the leastamount of, the one you want or lack, is called yourLucky Element, which is the polar opposite of whatwe call the missing element here in the West.

The Chinese say it is your lucky element becausewhen it occurs and you find some of it in the world,you then come into balance. What you want or lack iswhat will make you whole. In my case, I want Air, sowhen I get any Air in life, I become more whole andbalanced. You get the idea. Note the differencebetween the two systems.

As you can see the Chinese have an interestingpositive twist on what we tend to make a liability. It isthis kind of (I call it profound) view that makesChinese astrology so fascinating for me. Perhaps youcan see why it interests me. Any thoughts?

Aversion is just another form of attachment.


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Klesha, disturbing emotions, affliction, Poisons

Attachment, Desire, Passion

Aggression, Anger,

Ignorance, Delusion

Jealousy, Envy

Pride

Creative Force: 3rd Saturn Cycle

I have written here many times about my first spiritualteacher, Andrew Gunn McIver, who was a travelinginitiator for a Rosicrucian order. I knew him as aretired person living in Ann Arbor that I connectedwith in the mid-1960s. One of the concepts he

empowered me with is that of the 30-year SaturnCycle (29.4 years), similar to that presented in thequintessential book by astrologer Grant LewiAstrology for the Millions, perhaps the only book Iwould take to a deserted island, although by now Iknow it by heart and have added my own two cents.

Andrews take was different, yet supplemental to thatgiven by Lewi.

My teacher Andrew would explain to me that duringthe first thirty years of life, each of us is busy in time(within Saturns first orbit) building our body orvehicle, which he likened to a space capsule thatwould be launched, ready or not, at the age of thirtyyears. If we build that vehicle strong, it would last wellinto the future. If we did not, it would essentially not

hold together and sustain us.


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Andrew saw life beyond thirty years as if we were atthat time launched into space, free-floating and

endlessly separating from Earth as we know it,launched BEYOND time, beyond the grasp of Saturnand the physical. After that first Saturn return at 30years, each of us is like in a space capsule, perhapstethered to Earth, but beyond reach or touch. Afterthirty years of age we can no longer build our vehicle,any more than when the body reaches its physicalprime, we can further enhance it. Instead, we sustain

for a while and then fail in one way or another.

He would also say things like, When does ice melt?and point out that between 32 and 33 degrees iswhen ice melts. Or when did Christ die on the cross?Again, at 33 years of age, or he would mention the33rd degree of Freemasonry, and so on. His pointwas that it was somewhere around the Saturn cycle at

30 years or soon thereafter, that we leave the body,not at the live-long end of life. The real death is in themiddle of life, not at the end. Think on that sometime.

He went on to say that the second Saturn cycle, from30 to 60 years, we spend repairing the damage wemade being launched or born, and here is theinteresting point for this particular blog. Andrew alsosaid that in the 3rd Saturn cycle, from 60 to 90 yearsthat, should we live so long and be aware, that wecould actively partake in the creative process of life. Itis this third Saturn cycle that I want to draw yourattention to, which of course, is the cycle of Saturn Iam in now.

I pretty much understood Andrews description of thefirst two Saturn cycles, but of course that 3rd cycle I

had very little clue or idea of. Well, that is changingnow that I am in that cycle and I want to comment on


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it as best I can. And an encounter with a very famousastrologer years ago now begins to make sense.

I can remember the great astrologer Dane Rudhyarvisiting the Heart Center in the early 1970s to give atalk. Of course we were honored to have him at ourhome, but a strange thing happened. Since I havemany astrological ideas, I wanted to run some of thempast Rudhyar, and one of them had to do withheliocentric astrology, my personal favorite technique.

I dont rememberhis exact words, but when I askedRudhyar about helio astrology, he seemed to dismissit as of no importance or something like that. Ofcourse, I was disappointed, but the story continues.

Later in that same visit Rudhyar quite spontaneouslybegan to speak on heliocentrics, this time praisingand extoling it in a very forward-looking manner. He

seemed to be speaking automatically, in an oddvoice, almost as if he was reading from some innerscript or source. Needless to say I was surprised atthis reversal of opinion and also at the kind of robot-like tone in which he spoke. It gave me pause and Ihave never forgotten that event.

Now that I am well into my 3rd Saturn cycle, I ammyself experiencing something quite similar, the

ability to pull from the ether ideas and insights almostat will, especially when asked a question.

It is almost if as I grow older the top of my headbecomes space itself and all that is in it, and here Iam talking about the mind and mental space. Themind itself is a rich field of ideas, a wealth ofinformation that just exists in there, ready to be read

by anyone sensitive or open enough to do so. It wouldseem that age enables this to happen when coupledwith developing basic awareness.


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If there is a need, a question from a younger person,some reason to access these mind treasures, the

information appears with even greater authority andstrength.

The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion which isemitted in the form of gamma rays that travel from thecore until when they reaches the surface it is primarilyin the form of visible light which radiates as sunlight.

An image I will share with you is that of a shaft ofenergy shooting out from the Sun, fueled at the baseof the shaft by magnetically charted plasma that formsa stalk of light that shines far out from the Sunscenter into the darkness shining. Now imagineinnumerable shafts of light all over the surface of thesun shining in all directions (all ways) and we have

the image of the Sun, that ball of fire radiating in thefirmament.

Inside the surface of the Sun is this very dense massof molten plasma and far from that surface the stalk oflight shining. Somewhere near the surface there is theconversion or transformation of the energy from

This image of the active Sun is something we might

study in physics class, but the inner and esotericmeaning is breathtaking in its profundity. This energychange is mirrored by the exchange between youngerand older, student and teacher. Something isendlessly exchanged and everything also remains thesame. Everything happens and nothing happens. Thisis the mystery.


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The title of my first book published in 1975 was TheSun is Shining! And the image of the Sun shining hasdominated my thoughts for many years. It is such anobvious symbol, but almost impossible to describe asregards its meaning.

I mean the Sun shines! That ball of fire is what we callthe Prime of Life, fueled from within by youth pushingto be born and from without by the shining light ofolder souls.

The Point of No Return

Feb 14, 2006 2-4 PM, Grand Sextile Helio

By Michael Erlewine

A Poem for My Daughter Michael Anne

The point of the point of no return is that:

When you have reached the point of no return,

From which there is no return,

The point is to turn and return.


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That is the turning point.

Every life has a turning point,

Whether its in the echo of age,

Or in the very midst of lifes prime.

As we reach our point of no return,

We pause,

Then we turn.

And, in turning, we begin to reflect.

In our reflection,

And rising into view,

Perhaps for the very first time,

The Sun.

Where before it was we who were seen,

And others seeing,

Now we are the mirror in which they see themselves,

And we can see our self in them.

What we once saw shining before us, as youths,

That which we gladly embraced in our prime,And what we now see etched in the mirror ofreflection,


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Is our eternal Self,

The Sun,

Ever burning in the darkness of our life.

Thats it.

I understand this.

What I find harder to understand,

Yet still believe is:

We didnt know it then;

We dont know it now.

We never knew it.

In truth,

It never was.

IT NEVER WAS;

It never will be.

It is not now,

And still, it is.

It still is:


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This most brilliant illusion,

Shining in the mirror of the mind.

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The Four Elements in Astrology: East and West