To understand the philosophical principle with which the ancients linked
astrology, one must consider the great importance that they attached to the Four
Elements - Fire, Air, Earth, and Water - together with the properties inherent
to each of them and the qualities they manifest.
Fire was believed to be the greatest active and elastic element, and the cause of all motion, consequently of all mutation or change in nature. It was the principle of all generation and the fountain of primal source of all forms. Its universal center was the heavens and its local in the earth.
Air, or pure ether, was supposed to hold in itself the substantial principle of all natural things and was regarded as the universal bond of nature.
Water was the symbol of life and the menstruum of all things, while earth was the passive element, the womb in which the other elements operate, and was the final receptivity of all the heavenly bodies. It was the common mother from whence all things sprang, whose fruitfulness was produced by the threefold operation of fire, air, and water.
It is to these principles Zoroaster refers in the words: "He makes the whole world of fire, and water, and earth, and all nourishing ether," and again, "we learn that matter pervades the whole world as the gods also assert."
The signs of the zodiac are equally divided amongst the Four Elements, and are referred to collectively as the Four Triplicities:
Original text by C J S Thompson, edited and revised © 2004-2006.
You can also search our site for specific terms or phrases: