Astrology in the Workplace: The Zodiac Guide to Creating Great Working Relationships

The element fire

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of the fire signs in the workplace, we need to understand the concept of the element: fire.

There are four elements in astrology – fire, earth, air and water² – and each element incorporates three signs. All element groups have a multitude of features in common, although there will be differences from sign to sign.

Think of fire. What comes to mind? Flickering flames in a log basket or a forest fire, out of control and destroying vast tracts of land? Fire can warm or it can burn you to a crisp. And so it is with the fire signs: they can bring warmth, humour and sheer brilliance to their endeavours, yet their incendiary natures can destroy their efforts and their relationships.

The discovery of fire, or more precisely the ability to make fire, was one of the most seminal achievements of early man. With the power to create fire came heat and light independent of nature and the time of year. Fire was also used to cook food, to clear the land for planting, to keep predators at bay and to forge tools and ceramic objects and ornaments. Fire also had a social function, being a focus for gatherings and beacon for travellers.

We can learn a lot about fire signs from this little foray into the Stone Age, not least that fiery Aries in particular has something of the cave-dweller about him or her! Fiery people are creative, resourceful, sociable and generous. Their warmth draws people toward them; they are beacons of information, ideas and activities and the starting point for almost anything.

The psychologist, Carl Jung (a Leo) made several studies of astrology and likened his ‘intuitive’ function to the element, fire. The ‘intuitive’ type converts facts, details and concepts into larger pictures. ‘Intuitives’ define where something began and where it is going. They thrive on possibilities, atmosphere and opportunities. They look to the future, act on hunches and enjoy speculation.

Fire signs exude confidence and enthusiasm; they are dynamic, spontaneous and original.

Your typical fire sign approaches the world with a refreshing naivety. Aries, Leo and Sagittarius find adventure and drama around every corner. They can blag their way into and out of jobs, relationships and difficulties – most of the latter of their own making. They are energetic, strong, carefree, assertive, vital, frank and loyal. They propel themselves through life with an enviable lack of concern for their safety, their old age and sometimes other people.

Fire signs are not reflective. Nor do they make good strategists. They prefer to intuit their way forward, relying on instinct to get the desired result. They’re doers, not thinkers.

Now, this does not mean fiery people lack intelligence. What they tend to fall short on is foresight. They simply do not have time to put together a list of pros and cons and to perform the required research. (They would prefer to rely on others for that, although their secondary problem – a resistance to advice – means guidance is almost always ignored anyway.) They rush into situations without due thought, only to discover problems and drawbacks halfway through, resulting in many bruises, largely to their egos. Nonetheless, it is surprising how often this gung-ho attitude breeds success. Ah, well, fortune favours the fearless.

When we think of fire, we see flames. Flames rise and fall, change colour and intensity; they crackle and spit. Fire signs do not like standing still. They enjoy being on the move and require the stimulation of new places and new faces. They rise to a challenge and relish competition. When blocked or criticized they crackle and spit!

Patience is not a virtue in the fire camp; ambition drives Aries and Leo in particular, and even the more easy-going Sagittarian usually finds a place at the top table. But with impatience comes intolerance and fire signs can be very dismissive of those who are slower, less able and more reticent. They learn the hard way about the power of ‘the quiet ones’.

Subtlety and innuendo are invariably lost on fiery folk. They themselves are incapable of artifice so they cannot detect it in others. This is both a plus and a minus: a plus because the carefully disguised insult rarely penetrates the veneer of their super self-confidence, yet on the minus side it makes them extremely easy to manipulate.

Aries, Leo and Sagittarius believe life should be simple. They expect to get from A to B in a direct line, and they become irritated by complications, detours and red tape. To their credit, you know where you stand with a fire sign and they endeavour to make life simple for others.

There are degrees of fieriness, however, and whether you are rocket fuel in a three-piece suit or sunset in a little black dress depends upon how many planets and points you have in fire besides the Sun in your birth chart.

Fire on a scale of 1–10

If you are curious to know just how fiery you or your boss, colleague or employee are, you’ll need a birth date and, ideally, also a time and place of birth. Whether you use an online service to tabulate the chart for you or you yourself have the knowledge, establishing the degree of heat is easy: add up all the planets and points in fire signs, according to the list below. It’s simply a numbers game.

If you score 9 points or more in fire signs, you are a true firebrand; between 5 and 8 you are hot, but not too hot to handle; between 1 and 4 and you’re nice and toasty.

Even without the benefit of a chart to inform you just how fiery an individual is, you’ll know by the behaviour. A surfeit of fire breeds over-aggressiveness, recklessness, impatience and intolerance; a manageable amount inspires confidence, leadership, courage and ingenuity. Even one planetary body in fire, as long as it rates 3, will provide drive, assurance, warmth and sociability.

Think of the actor-comedian Russell Brand and President Donald Trump: these two men epitomize the drama, supreme self-confidence and aggressiveness of fire. Both these men score 9 on the fire scale: Russell with the Moon, Mars and Jupiter in Aries and Neptune in Sagittarius; and Trump with Mars, Ascendant and Pluto in Leo and Moon in Sagittarius.

Helen Mirren and Angela Merkel both score 7 on the fire scale – Mirren with Mercury, the Sun and Pluto in Leo and Merkel with Mars and the Ascendant in Sagittarius and Pluto in Leo. Neither of these women has the brashness and ballsiness of a surfeit of fire, just enough to take them where they wanted to go – the top – and to keep them there.

Even having only the Sun in a fire sign can get you places. Author and philanthropist, J. K. Rowling, has nothing else in fire in her chart except the Sun in Leo. And look where that took her.

I should just mention that Joseph Stalin was born with the Sun and Venus in Sagittarius (6 on the fire scale) and Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605, had the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus in Aries (12 on the fire scale). Combustible indeed.

2. The elements and modalities are discussed in the section on How Astrology Works.

Aries in the workplace

20 March–19 April

Element: Fire

Modality: Cardinal

Ruling planet: Mars

Curriculum vitae

At the vernal equinox on 21 March, the Sun enters Aries, and during the following 12 months works its way through the remaining 11 signs. Aries is thus the first sign of the zodiac, and in keeping with its pole position breeds a bunch of people who like to be first in the queue, individuals who like to win and believe they are the leaders of the pack.

All fire signs are spontaneous, creative and sociable, but Aries is a Cardinal³ sign and the Cardinals are self-motivated and fiercely ambitious. It is this combination of fire and Cardinality that makes members of team Aries high-flyers and certainly contenders.

All well and good so far.

The downside to this sign is a serious shortfall in patience and persistence and a degree of pig-headedness and wilfulness that often results in a failure to reach the heights of their expectations.

Arians are the sprinters of the zodiac, not the marathon runners.

Aries is ruled by Mars, the Greek god of war, which explains its assertive and fearless nature – the Martians can be a tad scary at times, and they’re always ready for a fight. This is a physically strong sign – often athletically built and blessed with good muscle tone – and all Arians require an outlet for their energy. An Aries who has gone to seed and become a couch potato is one who is dealing with a catalogue of failure.

Aries rules the head, which means this part of the body is both the weak spot and its strong point: a weakness because Arians are prone to headaches and migraine (usually a response to stress), dental issues and facial damage and a strength because they can have great hair, a strong jawline, firm chin and an innate ability to put mind over