The fourth element in the chart is water, which symbolizes the flow of emotions.  As mentioned earlier in this series, Jung saw water aligned with air, making water an element of judgement, rather than one of perception.  With people who are dominant water signs, their ability to think is usually illogical.  Water is of feminine polarity, receptive and yin.

 

Introverted water signs are those souls we refer to when we make notice of them, saying.'still waters run deep'.  They tend to be brooding, locked in their own internal world.  Extroverted water signs are socially graceful, attuned to the feelings of others.  Water signs tend to express themselves through opinions rather than sharing ideas.

 

Cancer, water in its liquid state, represents cardinal water.  It conforms to the boundaries of what contains it.  The specific container is determined by the other placements in the chart.  Cardinal feelings are active, like a bubbling brook meandering its way along.

 

Scorpio represents fixed Water, water in a frozen state.  Like a lake iced over in winter, Scorpio is steadfast, tenacious and secretive.  You cannot easily penetrate below the frozen surface into the murky water below.

 

Pisces, mutable water, is water in a gaseous state, such as clouds or vapor.   Like clouds in a stormy sky moved about by the changeable wind currents, Pisces can find it difficult to settle in one position.

 

An abundance of water in the natal chart confirms that the native has a great capacity to feel.  Well aspected or well-placed, water flows with a natural flow.  With hard aspects or lack of placements in water signs the flow is restricted and feelings are not easily expressed.  Instead, feelings get dammed up inside, the depth and nature of which are completely hidden.

 

Many of the diseases we suffer from today are a result of repressed emotions.  We guard against exposing ourselves, our feelings, out of fear of ridicule and rejection.  Our natural release in emotional situations is by specific design, tears.. water.  The release of emotions, the release of water, is actually disease prevention in the most basic form. 

 

Pent up feelings require a lot of attention.  One must be diligent in keeping the dam sturdy enough to keep the emotions contained.  With all that attention focused on the retention of emotions, other parts of the body are being neglected.  That opens the door to allowing unwanted free radicals within the body to create cell mutations, what we call disease.  Viruses find easy access, with the barriers all broken away and barricading the avenues of emotions.   

 

We are emerging from a society that suppressed expression of emotions as a sign of weakness, into one that recognizes the need for expression to maintain a healthy, balanced psyche.  We have a long way to go before we get to the point where we can say society has a healthy attitude toward emotional expression.

 

Sources:

 

Mythic Astrology: Archetypal Powers in the Horoscope by  Ariel Guttman & Kenneth Johnson