Elemental Balance: How to Read Your Chart for Elemental Lack
A bit of blue smoke against a black background.
Why do the elements of our chart even matter?
Understanding the ratio of elements in our chart can help us more easily understand ourselves, whether we know a lot about our placements or nothing at all!
I like to begin many of my natal and solar return sessions by looking at the elemental balance of a person’s chart especially if I know they are witches or hella spiritual folks. There is so much you can learn about how you interact with the world just by starting with the elements. In this article, I’m going to walk you through how to figure out your elemental balance (hint: it doesn’t just matter how many planets you have in one element), explain how a lack of an element may manifest in your life, and also share some easy exercises you can do to help you understand and connect with each element.
I find that the exercises are especially helpful in understanding how elements manifest in our lives, and they also helped me understand the energy of the signs as well! Let’s go ahead and dive in, shall we?
A person balancing on a rock with a sunset background.
Let’s talk about calculating the weight of each element!
So, when it comes to elections and calculating dignities, sometimes astrologers ascribe numerical value to planets based on key traits. We are going to do something similar to calculate the weight of each element in your chart.
So we need to do more than count the placements?
Yes, often, what I find when people start to look at their elemental ratio, is that they will put the same weight on each planet in the chart. As a traditional astrologer, I don’t put much weight on outer planets given that they are more generational planets than personally affecting planets. We also need to consider the weight of the inner planets and their affects more than the transpersonal planets.
So, how do we weigh each planet?
Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign will each carry a weight of +2.
Mercury, Venus, and Mars will each carry a weight of +1.5
Saturn and Jupiter will carry a weight of +1
All outer planets will carry a weight of +0.5
So what you’re going to do is write Earth, Fire, Water, Air on a piece of paper. Beneath it, you’re going to write out the points for each placement. At the end, you’ll add each element up and try to figure out the weight of each one. Let’s look at a practice chart together! I’m using whole sign houses as is common in Hellenistic Astrology but you’re welcome to look up the chart in a different house system.
Ariana Grande’s Birth Chart
Earth: (ASC) +2, (Mars) +1.5, (Venus) +1.5, (Neptune and Uranus) +0.5, +0.5. TOTAL = 6
Water: (Sun) +2, (Mercury) +1.5, (Saturn) +1. TOTAL = 3.5
Fire: TOTAL = 0
Air: (Moon) +2, (Jupiter) +1, (Pluto) +0.5. TOTAL = 3.5
Now, if you are learning astrology with the goal of giving consults (even if to friends and fam) this is where you can also take a few extra steps to really consider the weight of each element. In this chart we can see immediately that Ariana lacks fire energy. We can also see that Water and Air are at the same weight with Earth having 6.
Most folks might think of Ariana as being pretty water-y, however. That might come from the fact that her chart ruler (Saturn) is at 0° Pisces. When a placement is at 0° it really takes on the energy of that sign in many ways.
So, that’s how you do it folks!
Now, let’s look at what it means to be lacking. (Fun fact, I had not realized that Ariana was lacking in Fire completely!)
What's more important, lack or excess?
BOTH! By balancing, we help to counter the abundance and help to fill the lack. In the remainder of this article I will be explaining an exercise for each element to help you connect to that element if you experience lack. I have also created a Notion sheet with other ways to connect to the element. You can find that by heading over to this page.
A pair of hands holding a small plant seedling above a forest floor.
Earth
Those who lack Earth might find that grounding their reality may be tough at times. They may be people who have difficulty making decisions and sticking to them, even more so if they have a good deal of Air in their charts. Those who lack Earth may also find that they can be considered “flakey” by some. They are the type of people who are so good at remaining youthful (even more so with heavy fire) and more so focused on experiencing ease or exploring their emotions (water-heavy) instead of thinking about mundane responsibilities.
Exercise
For those who have elemental lack, I recommend doing the following exercise each day for a week or so. See what you notice. If it seems to help you connect to the element, consider adding this to your daily routine.
First, gather an Earth-focused object. This can be a crystal, some dirt, a potted plant, etc. Ideally, you would choose a new item each day or connect with one item for a week at a time. Once you have your item, find a space where you can sit quietly with this item. Ask it to help you understand the element. Notice how the plant or the rock or the sand is stable. The Earth item doesn’t move without you. Sand can fill a container but it won’t suddenly leak out of the container. Notice how the earth item feels in your hand. If you have a plant, what can you see about the plant? What can’t you see? To quote Baron’s article, “But under the thin visible crust of the patch of earth, insects, animals, and plants are very active.” There is a whole world within the earth! Even within Sand are microcosms that lived millions of years ago.
Questions to Ponder
What world exists within me that is unseen?
In what ways am I grounded and stable?
In what ways am I unmoveable?
In what ways do I wish to be more rooted?
A pair of hands against a black backdrop catching water as it flows down from an unknown source.
Water
Those who lack Water might find it difficult to connect to their emotions, or may struggle to feel and express them. People who lack water feel destabilized by their emotions and may suppress or ignore them until it interferes with their lives. Those with more fire placements may more easily connect to inspiration, joy, and their creativity, but have difficulty with “tough” emotions like grief, sadness, or longing. If a person lacks fire and water, they may then rely more on facts and logic versus how someone/they feel. They may struggle to understand how or why they hurt someone when they do if there is no clear reason why what they did was “wrong.” Folks who have heavy earth but lack water may find that they don’t give themselves space to sit with their feelings and instead rush to process, heal, and move on. Those with heavy air and less water may try to intellectualize their emotions.
Exercise
For those who have elemental lack, I recommend doing the following exercise each day for a week or so. See what you notice. If it seems to help you connect to the element, consider adding this to your daily routine.
When possible, visit a natural body of water. Take some time to feel the water in your hands. What do you notice about the way it moves and shifts? What does this tell you about the emotional body? What about the way water connects to land? If you’re at the ocean for example, how does the water move towards the land? When it crashes on the shore, how might that translate to the way emotions move through you?
If you’re unable to visit a natural body of water, take some time to gather water in a bowl. Tap your finger to the center of it and notice the way the water ripples out towards the edges. How do your emotions move? In a similar fashion? Notice specifically the way water may be willing to fill a space but it is never to be contained fully. Even when you bottle water, it still sloshes around in the bottle freely with every movement.
A campfire against a sunset sky.
Fire
Those who lack Water might find it difficult to connect to their emotions, or may struggle to feel and express them. People who lack water feel destabilized by their emotions and may suppress or ignore them until it interferes with their lives. Those with more fire placements may more easily connect to inspiration, joy, and their creativity, but have difficulty with “tough” emotions like grief, sadness, or longing. If a person lacks fire and water, they may then rely more on facts and logic versus how someone/they feel. They may struggle to understand how or why they hurt someone when they do if there is no clear reason why what they did was “wrong.” Folks who have heavy earth but lack water may find that they don’t give themselves space to sit with their feelings and instead rush to process, heal, and move on. Those with heavy air and less water may try to intellectualize their emotions.
Exercise
For those who have elemental lack, I recommend doing the following exercise each day for a week or so. See what you notice. If it seems to help you connect to the element, consider adding this to your daily routine.
When possible, visit a natural body of water. Take some time to feel the water in your hands. What do you notice about the way it moves and shifts? What does this tell you about the emotional body? What about the way water connects to land? If you’re at the ocean for example, how does the water move towards the land? When it crashes on the shore, how might that translate to the way emotions move through you?
If you’re unable to visit a natural body of water, take some time to gather water in a bowl. Tap your finger to the center of it and notice the way the water ripples out towards the edges. How do your emotions move? In a similar fashion? Notice specifically the way water may be willing to fill a space but it is never to be contained fully. Even when you bottle water, it still sloshes around in the bottle freely with every movement.
An image of the blue sky with some whispy white clouds with a seagull.
Air
Those who lack air will have a hard time being detached, and may find that they are unable to think through things in a logical and rational manner without their emotions. Folks who lack air may not be as interested in connecting with others or exchanging ideas, as they’re more drawn to learning for the sake of expanding inwardly. Those with more air placements may desire to interact with others frequently, they may want to share all they are learning and find they are most lit up when they are able to connect with others. Those with heavy air placements who lack a good amount of water may find that they are seen as more cold and detached than they intend to be. For them, solving issues and move foward is their mode of operating and thus, they can’t help but try to move through emotions quickly. Folks with heavy air and heavy fire are creative forces. They are artists and writers and creators who can’t help but put what they make out into the world as often as they possibly can.
Exercise
For those who have elemental lack, I recommend doing the following exercise each day for a week or so. See what you notice. If it seems to help you connect to the element, consider adding this to your daily routine.
Find an air tool to help you connect to the element. I highly suggest working with sound as a key way to connect to this element. One of my favorite tools is the Tibetan sound bowl. I like to strike the sound bowl and wait for the sound to fade out completely. The more you do this, you’ll find the longer you’re able to hear the sound, and the more you’re able to feel the vibrations through the air each time you strike the bowl. You can do this with chimes as well!
For those who don’t have these tools, who don’t wish to use them, or for users who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, I recommend working with incense and smoke. When I smoke CBD joints, I like to watch the smoke spiral in the air, and watch how it dances as it interacts with the surrounding air. You can also do this by watching the smoke from incense sticks floating around you. Often, you can scry images within the smoke and gain messages from your spirit team through this act.
In summary…
There is a lot of info you can gather from your chart outside of just looking at the placements of the planets, pulling back, looking more broadly, can tell you a good deal about yourself and what elements you can work with to bring more balance into your life. Want access to more tools for each element, check out the Notion sheet I created for y’all!
