Management of Measurement Constructs

Articulating Element Imbalance

The Noel Tyl essay here extends from the fine “Analytical Techniques” guest essay by England’s Richard Swatton –“Elements Emphasized and De-emphasized” published five years ago. For that essay, please see the Archives in the “Analytical Techniques” department, and click on April 30, 2001.

In talking shop, astrologers often say, “This or that horoscope doesn’t have any Water!” Or “I don’t have any Earth.” –This is actually a poor way of stating a measurement situation that can contribute strongly to analysis.

What we mean to say is that “There is no articulation or expression of the Water element … the Earth element, etc.” The four elements are all there; one in particular may not be significantly expressed. Regarding it this way allows much creative thought to come to the fore.

There is no planet posited within a certain element.There is no need symbol or behavioral faculty taking on the characteristic of the particular element and being expressed by the particular Sign modality. [This condition refers to planets only; neither the Midheaven, Ascendant, or Node is considered.]

Someone with Mercury in Capricorn, for example, will probably show a need to hear the grass grow, to be perceptive, down to earth, realistic, practical … and being in the cardinal mode, to make things happen. –Now, if that placement were the only planet articulating the Earth element in the horoscope, we would expect the Mercury to be in high-relief, singing a very loud song indeed. The needs would flow through the mind-state, how the person needs to think in order to be efficient.

Needs and companion behaviors are what bring the horoscope to life.

That Mercury in Capricorn could very well be part of several accentuations in the Earth family. If there are many, many accentuations, the Earth approach to life, fulfilling all sorts of needs colored by the Earth accentuation, there is an imbalance; the individual becomes known for those ways of behavior, keyed by the element.

BUT: if there are no needs pointed up in Earth signs, no behaviors depending on Earth element fuel, something is probably missing in a person’s balanced trafficking of life development. Indeed, some other faculty will undoubtedly be over-tenanted and over compensate for the lack. –And individuation begins to emerge.

Going Further When there is a lack of articulation of an element, the system cries out for balance; there is a strong need manifested for that “missing” element accentuation and all that it stands for. But there are analytical concepts keyed to the “lack”, to the outreach for balance, something to fill the hole, so to speak.

Adolf Hitler [born April 20, 1889 at near 6:30 PM LMT in Braunau am Inn, Austria] had no behavioral potential-focus in the Water Element. –So often an absence of Water articulation corresponds to a difficulty finding a relevant and rewarding structure for personal emotions and sense of spirit; the person connects with a large movement, a “universal church-mindedness” to provide meaning.

Hitler screamed out for parameters to define emotional significance in his life. He identified himself and his movement with successive kingdoms (Atlantis, the Renaissance, his “third realm of life experience”), with many, many occult/spiritual undertones.

This drama played strongly into the major dynamism of his horoscope: Venus-rx exactly conjunct Mars and tightly squared by Saturn!

Charles De Gaulle did the same (no Water articulation): identifying himself (as Louis the XIV before him did) with the entire country: “L’Etat, c’est moi!”

Boxer Cassius Clay reached out to embrace Islam and, in the process, gained a new identity, Mohammed Ali. This allowed him to feel at home with emotions and spirit.

How about Bill Clinton his management of political power? Emily Dickinson and her poetical dwelling place?

With an absence of articulation in the Earth family, there is usually a lack of day-to-day resourcefulness, a lack of practicality, to contend with. To overcompensate, one usually overanalyzes, investigates, exacts perfection from others in order to stabilize personal experiences. –Bill Gates is a very clear example of this. Marilyn Monroe. Judy Garland.

With an absence of articulation in the Fire family, there is the suggestion that energy levels are low, spontaneity is low. Strategy replaces passion. Deliberation replaces impulse. In overcompensation, the person looks for attachment to others or organizations or movements to make things happen; seeking others to lead him or her to the fire! Richard Nixon and (surprisingly) Wayne Gretzky are examples.

An absence in Air points of behavioral focus seems to make it difficult to see one’s self as others do. The person cannot cope easily with what is expected intellectually or socially. This suggests awkwardness, an eagerness to do things that will please others, but not quite sure what they are. The intellectual and social guidelines are often blurred. In overcompensation, the person will usually over-ally him or herself with others, will network friends and organize contacts in order to define the personal, social, and intellectual position more clearly. There can also be the appreciation of manipulation, exploitation. Napoleon, Marlon Brando, Johnny Cash, Celine Dion, and Lyndon Johnson are very clear examples.