A closer look
Elements in astrology categorize the twelve zodiac signs into fire, earth, air, and water, supposedly defining your core temperament and determining whether you are passionate, practical, intellectual, or completely overly emotional. This four-element system is heavily borrowed from ancient Greek medicine, which believed the human body was filled with different biles and phlegms that needed to be aggressively bled out with leeches to maintain health. While science has thankfully moved past thinking you are sick because you have too much black bile, astrology clung to the concept, using it to explain why water signs cry during car commercials and fire signs cannot handle mild criticism without starting a screaming match. We basically took an outdated medical theory responsible for centuries of medical malpractice and rebranded it as a quirky personality metric to excuse our friends for being terribly disorganized or completely lacking in basic human empathy
