Sun Sign, Moon Sign: Discover the personality secrets of the 144 sun-moon combinations. Charles Harvey
Water is undoubtedly a feminine-oriented element, and hence generally much easier in our society for females to handle than males. Whilst men can be sympathetic, caring and compassionate, it is still not easy for men in the West to show their feelings or to allow themselves to be seen dissolving into tears. In consequence, strongly watery men may actually swing into the opposite pole and become ultra-rational, detached, and unemotional to a degree that some would see as almost pathological. This can lead to men of this type, and some women, taking pride in showing no emotions and acting only through reason.
When this does happen, however, this type of polarized individual will almost always be found surrounded with highly emotional people and situations that ‘act out’ the inner emotional life they find themselves unable to handle. This can be seen in the super-rational husband with the hysterical wife, and the calm, reasonable psychologist who is deeply concerned in a supremely rational way to help those who have become ‘confused’ and ‘emotionally disturbed’.
Fire – Earth Combinations (See nos. 2, 6, 10, 13, 17, 21, 50, 54, 58, 61, 65, 69, 98, 102, 106, 109, 113, 117)
The Fire Sun – Earth Moon type is a strong, compelling personality. We can see this as the volcano pouring forth lava which will eventually become new, fertile lands. This individual can deal with molten metal like the blacksmith or the engineer shaping raw material into serviceable tools. Here is the practical enthusiast, the doer who can also enthuse others to action.
This combination has been called the bull-dozer, for he has tremendous weight and drive to push ahead in exactly the direction he wants. J. Pierrpoint Morgan (Sun Aries, Moon Virgo), the American industrialist, typified this combination well when he said:
I don’t want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do; I hire him to tell me how to do what I want to do.
Likewise, the Earth Sun – Fire Moon combination is also the practical visionary who consciously keeps his feet on the ground but has the instinct to go for the main chance, to know when to risk, and to pull rabbits out of hats when least expected. This individual could be the hard-headed pragmatic entrepreneur who sees future opportunities and can seize them with confidence and know-how, turning them into solid and often lucrative realities in the present.
Earth – Fire types may possess a raucous sense of humour, a pronounced sensuality and a real penchant for the good life, as can be seen in the life of Alexander Woollcott (Sun Capricorn, Moon Sagittarius), the American drama critic and wit, who said, whilst surveying an elegant country estate:
Just what God would have done if he had the money.
Either way, with this Fire – Earth combination there is a strong practical, rational bias coupled with a powerful intuition and a compelling need for freedom and power. When the positive interaction between Fire and Earth is not working, this person can become very tense, swinging between a burning, intuitive faith and a down-in-the-dumps inertia and Doubting Thomas scepticism.
Shadow
People with Fire – Earth combinations tend to have enormous conviction and certitude about themselves and their beliefs. As a result, they can suffer from the defects of their virtues and become fixed, dictatorial and insensitive to others and to the subtler nuances of human relationships.
Whether it is Fire Sun – Earth Moon or Earth Sun – Fire Moon, this combination produces a powerful ego which can easily run the show in any relationship. When the urge to dominate meets with resistance, they can become baffled and frustrated until they begin to respect the rights and needs of others.
Relationships
Fire – Earth may find his own type atttractive, but can enter into very creative and complementary relationships with Air – Water types who can both fan the flames and water the garden! Often a benevolent dictator in relationships and in the home, this type nevertheless is usually a very committed mate, tending to show his romantic feelings through actions. His stubbornness can, however, sometimes block domestic harmony and get in the way of intimacy.
Male v. Female
This is a good combination for people in politics and managerial positions who must make high-powered decisions and push through policies and procedures. Indeed, these individuals can be quite pushy and competitive, qualities the Western world feels are more acceptable in males.
The female of this type is authoritative and pragmatic and is unlikely to waste time over failures or adverse reactions to her independence. Both males and females tend to have substantial ambition and terrific stamina.
Fire – Air Combinations (See nos. 3, 7, 11, 25, 29, 33, 51, 55, 59, 73, 77, 81, 99, 103, 107, 121, 125, 129)
The Fire – Air type is a real ‘live-wire’, full of exciting ideas and able to communicate them with tremendous zeal which impresses and persuades everyone around them. If taken to the extreme, this makes this individual full of bluster and bombast, long-winded and prone to be carried away by his own rhetoric and eloquence. Others may also be carried away as he tends to have lots of joie de vivre, cleverness and charisma. Noel Coward (Sun Sagittarius, Moon Gemini) expresses the wit and impatience of this combination well:
I write at high speed because boredom is bad for my health.
Indeed, boredom is something this type shuns and can usually avoid because they think and live at such a fast pace.
If the Sun is in Air and the Moon in Fire, the effect is rather like that of a hot-air balloon – a beautiful way to travel that takes you way up into the giddy heights. So likewise this type tends to be a Utopian idealist, seeing ever more distant sunny shores to which the human race may travel, loftier vistas and wider horizons. Alternatively, if this type gets on a high horse, they can be very moralistic, ‘knowing exactly what is good for us’.
Shadow
This type is a potential visionary, but visionaries need earthiness in order to bring ideas to fruition. The Fire – Air individual can be impractical and may exhaust himself with his intense sociability and the generation of stimulating ideas and new risks. If he remains in the realm of impersonal possibilities, he becomes cut off from body and the more mundane but essential needs of human life. And without emotional vulnerability, he misses out on real intimacy.
Relationships
Fire – Air types are so mentally active and gregarious, so keen to understand and to share their understanding, that they rarely play the role of the loner in the crowd. Their interests drive them on, and when they get to their destination they meet and strike up conversations and relationships with other interesting mavericks. In a relationship they need intellectual rapport and plenty of freedom to pursue their own interests.
They may often be out of touch with their feelings and emotional needs, and an Earth – Water type can help remind them that they are in fact human. There is a kind of restless, eternal youthfulness about the Fire – Air type which is very appealing, but without the challenges of a serious relationship they can remain somewhat emotionally immature and superficial.
Male v. Female
The extroverted, enthusiastic and argumentative qualities of this type are applauded in males, whilst females of this type tend to be seen as ‘masculine’ and intimidating. Female Fire – Air types tend not to settle for traditional roles that limit their potential, and are therefore often at the cutting edge of social change. Both males and females of this type lead pacey lives to some extent, and can often live by their wits and land themselves at opportunity’s doorstep with the