Elemental imbalances occur when an individual has a limited element present in their birth chart and most often an excess of another. An unattended imbalance can cause stress of extremes of an element being projected by ones personality (Think of the knights in the Tarot).
Having 10 planets in the natal chart, including the rising sign, we naturally have a high chance of having an elemental imbalance in our birth chart and personality.
An imbalance of elements often looks like a minimum of 2 planets in an element, often seen as only having 2-0 planets missing from being familiar with that elements associations.
Having aspects from planets that naturally contain the missing elemental energies prominent in the natal chart (example, if you lack air but have many mercury aspects), this can aid the elemental lack, though it will not necessarily bring the elements in ones personality into balance for the planet will still be in an excess sign (example mercury in pisces), and it will still act accordingly to the element it’s placed in.
Fire Signs: Aries/Leo/Sagittarius
Air Signs: Gemini/Libra/Aquarius
Earth Signs: Taurus/Virgo/Capricorn
Water Signs: Cancer/Scorpio/Pisces
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Signs, symptoms and manifestations of having a limited element in the chart
Limited Fire:
- Lacking passion and enthusiasm to do things
- Having difficulty standing up for yourself
- Tending to drift along with the flow of things which ends up being time consuming and making things progress slower than others
- Feeling easily offended by harsh words or criticisms
- Feeling uncomfortable around those who are quite flamboyant and expressive
- Can’t stand noise of fast movement of things and people
- Being highly introverted
- Often feeling a lack of creativity
- Lethargy and low energy often
- Inertia and lack of motivation to take action
- Feeling cold often
- Often being too passive
- Hypersensitivity to everything/everyone
Limited Air:
- Leaping before thinking which ends up resulting in problems later on
- Cognitive issues
- Disconnected from others (either from self isolation of difficulty relating to people)
- Limited socialising
- Difficulty understanding other perspectives and ideas
- Prefer expressing the self through non-verbal ways of communicating
- Not a fan of social media and/or technology
- Quiet (or very loud) speaking voice
- Difficultly conveying thoughts and ideas cohesively
- Tending to care more about ones own endeavours or how one self feels over another
- Putting oneself down in analytical and ‘logical/rationalising’ areas of life (aka “Im dumb because i don’t know or understand this”)
- Getting too emotionally involved with people, places and situations
- Having a difficult time when it comes to standing back and rationally observe whats going on.
Limited Earth:
- Having difficulty creating a practical plan and routine
- Not caring too much about the material world and possessions
- Having a difficult relationship with ones own body (can develop eating problems, wanting body modifications, excess dieting and bodybuilding)
- A difficulty getting in touch with the body and its functions (can’t tell if hungry or full, if its hot or cold ect)
- Having a difficulty staying grounded and often day dreaming
- Giving things away to freely
- Having a poor sense of taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing in one form or another
- Difficulty creating the reality one wants
- Not feeling connected to nature or animals
- Getting too lost in thoughts, ideas and feelings and forgetting the reality of whats going on around you
- Not caring about money or material possessions making the day-to-day life difficult
- Not bothering keeping track of money and bills
- Avoidance of hard work if possible
- Easily physically fatigued
Limited Water:
- Difficulty bearing with ones own emotional nature and that of others
- Repressing emotions then realising them in private when they overflow
- Becoming angry/agitated
- Difficultly empathising with others
- Not truly understanding what one is feeling
- Expressing feelings inappropriately (getting angry over the little things/being calm when a tragedy occurs ect)
- Rejecting ones own pain/refusing to feel it
- Getting frustrated with those who are in an overly emotional state
- Trying to rationalise and make feelings a practical and manageable thing
- Thinking oneself out of feeling (excess air)
- Expressing rage then calming down immediately after (excess fire)
- Over spending (excess earth)
- Difficultly in discriminating or recognising inutile hints and psychic messages
- Avoiding closeness and touch of others
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Signs, symptoms and manifestations of having an excess element in the chart (3+ planets in element)
Excess Fire:
- Feeling restless and having trouble sitting still/relaxing
- Constantly thirsty/Drinking very little water
- Feeling restless
- Fluctuating Temper/Easily provoked
- Loud and bold (at inappropriate times)
- Over enthusiastic about ones own passion
- Expression can overbear others at times
- Can be desensitised to the feelings of others
- Frustration when things are going ‘slow’
- Leaping before looking
Excess air:
- Talking too fast/Too loud/Too much
- Not listening to others
- Excess thinking to the point of blurring out reality
- Dominant and sometimes intrusive thoughts
- Fluctuating emotional stability
- Difficulty relating to others on an emotional level
- Detachment to people, places and things
- Over intellectualising and over processing things
- Consistent/loud mind chatter
- Inability/Difficulty relaxing due to a need to move or fidget
- Short attention span
Excess Earth:
- Stubbornness
- Low energy/Vitality
- Slow process on tasks
- Can lack drive and enthusiasm
- Set in ones own ways
- Emotionally distant by focusing only on what the 5 senses can provide
- Focus on material gain and maintenance
- Excluding family and relationships for work
- Over/Under eating
- Obsession with body (for good or bad)
- Overworking ones self
- Slacking and lazing around excessively
Excess Water:
- Fearful and oversensitivity
- Focusing too much on feeling to the point of creating a foggy reality
- Not seeing reality for what it is
- Living in a world of daydream
- Feelings hurt easily
- Fluctuating emotional state that can be difficult to control
- Lacking drive to take action
- Avoidance of everyday tasks if possible (chores/jobs/managing money)
- Excess desire to connect with the higher realms and detach from the body
- Physical weakness/lethargy
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How to balance your elements
When we are unbalanced, we either draw others to use (or us to them) to act as an external reflection of the things we lack within ourselves, however, its possible to engage in other activities that can help bring our elemental lack into appropriate balance that can allow for self-healing and improved wellness.
At times due to elemental imbalances in out chart, we may be drawn to another who has excess of the element we lack (even signs) as to experiences a sense of ‘ying and yang’ by interacting with another. You may find you personally may greatly clash with another, yet you are reluctant to part because they seem to ‘fulfil’ you in a way you can’t explain.
For the element you lack the most in your chart, see the table below to find out ways you can help bring the lacking element in your personality.
