Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Air Adept


I discovered a very interesting concept recently while doing a bit of reading online. It revolves around the concept of an Elemental Adept in Astrology. Before discussing the concept, we should review the following points.

  • None of my major planets are in any of the three air signs.
  • I have just one minor asteroid, Ceres, in Gemini.
  • None of my immediate family members have a sun sign of Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius.
  • My maternal grandmother and my aunt Salome are the only two members of my family who had air signs. My grandmother was a Gemini. My aunt is a Libra. My grandmother died when I was still relatively young. I have had comparatively little contact with my aunt Salome, as she lives in Ecuador.
  • Until recently, I have had relatively few people around me who were air sign people. Now, suddenly, most of the guys around me in the MIS/IT Department are air sign guys. This is not a bad thing. I am very comfortable with this group.

So what does all that mean? Well, there is a funny little thing about all this… This has to do with the astrological concept of an Adept. Those who have Zero (0) major planets in a given element are said to be Adepts in that element. I have no major planets in the air signs. I am, therefore, an Air Adept. If you have no planets in the Earth signs, as is the case with my Brother, you are an Earth Adept.

Okay, fine, so what does that mean? It means that I mastered the skills, nature and character of the air element in my past lives. The 7 Masters of fate, sitting in the Akashic Record Library, wish to guide me away from the air I know so well. They are pushing me to master another element in this lifetime. The temptation to do the same old thing has been removed in this lifetime. Since I have 5 major power planets in Earth signs (Virgo and Taurus), I would presume that my new challenge is the Earth. Presumably, my brother has mastered the Earth, and is being pushed in a different direction this time around.

Hummmmmm… Sounds strange, eh? Hold on. It gets even stranger and more interesting than that. To quote the Astrological Dictionary:

“An adept has highly evolved traits, skills, or expressions in the element that is missing from their birth chart, presumably because those abilities have already been mastered. Adepts are able to pass the energy of their mastered elements to other people, but not to themselves unless they have made the other elements conscious as well in their own lives.” [The Total Idiots Guide: Astrological Dictionary, Page 3]

The really interesting thing about that is that I found myself in pretty strong accord with many of the things I read about the three air signs. This was not true with the fire or water signs. Interestingly, I have found the many descriptions of the three water signs to be the most distasteful and repugnant descriptions I’ve read. Of all the descriptions of all 12 constellations/signs the ones I find most attractive, winsome, appealing and interesting are the descriptions of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. I would rank the three air signs from last to first in terms of my personal preference: Aquarius, Libra and Gemini; Aquarius being my favorite.

Now for the riddle: Virgos ain’t supposed to feel that way. We’re not supposed to find Water repugnant and Air attractive. We are supposed to find Water winsome and Air tiresome. Virgo and Aquarius are not supposed to match up well in a romantic or sexual sense. Most Virgos score low against Aquarius, and visa-versa. Not me, baby. I do not score low. I have some infrared Grill romance scores versus Aquarius. Scores over 400 are not uncommon for me. I have some approaching 500. This is bizarre because Virgo is supposed to be a cold sign, and Aquarius is supposed to be sub-zero. Why so much heat between generally incompatible—and cold—signs?

Just to thicken the riddle a bit, almost all Virgos score highest against Capricorn and Taurus. My Capricorn and Taurus scores are far from my best. I score better against Virgo than either Capricorn or Taurus. I like Capricorns, but they don’t seem to like me. I think Taurus girls are usually drop-dead sexy, but I have never dated one. Virgos are supposed to score high against three water signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, with Pisces being the best of the three for Virgo. My scores are indicative of that generalization, and I have dated Pisces girls, but I am far from comfortable with this fact

Now if you sit back and think about the legend and lore of the zodiac for 20 minutes, all of this might make some sense out of the riddles of my chart. If I am an air adept, I am supposed to be able to pass the energy and skills of my mastered elements on to other people; for instance, Aquarius women. They should feel something they recognize in me. Further, I should have a strong sense of familiarity with them. Moreover, if I have mastered the air, I should prefer the most highly evolved air signs over the less developed air signs. This means Aquarius first, Libra second, Gemini last.

Conversely, this helps to explain why I find the descriptions of the three water signs repugnant, and read those pages with disdain. According to the many descriptions I have read, water is about the triumph of emotion and feeling over and against logic and evidence. The proposition that emotion should trump reason not only seems false to me, but incredibly dangerous. Still, I do know emotional foolhardy buffoons who subscribe to this bad philosophy. I see it every time a political street mob forms somewhere in the world and executes a riots.

Are you saying high-emotion threatens social order? Yep, high emotion threatens order. It is a disorderly, wild, irrational thing.

It is said that water people coined the term “emotional intelligence”, a phrase I consider to be an oxymoron. Emotion is not intelligence, and should not be confused with it. You feel with the lower reptilian brain, with lots of help from your endocrine system. Emotion is supplied by the most ancient and primitive components of the brain. Intelligence is supplied by the cerebral cortex, the latest and most modern component of the human brain. You should not confuse emotion and intelligence any more than you confuse fire and ice.

Incidentally, Dr. Freud tells us that the intellectual component of the brain, or the cerebral cortex is engaged in a constant struggle with the animal drives of the lower brain. But I digress…

The concept of the Air Adept helps to explain why I am leery of Scorpio and Pisces, when I should not be. Generally speaking, I am fine with Cancer. The nice, cool, cold, logical, mathematical, precise, dispassionate character of the air does not mix well with the high-emotionalism of the water. Ergo, I find water signs the least trustworthy and most suspect of the dirty dozen. The more developed you are in the direction of Emotional Intelligence, the less likely I am to view you as solid or reliable.

This concept would also help explain why Capricorns and Taurus don’t find me to be particularly compelling company. If I come off Airy, they would find me abstract, boring, pedantic, and a trifle cold. Earth people do maintain a stone-face in ordinary life, but they can be very warm in the right (homey) setting. On the other hand, my fellow cerebral Virgos just might (and usually do) find me to be pretty interesting company.