Four Elements Quiz using Modern and Ancient Psychology

You are Earth!

Earth is the element of stability, law, and order. It is the most closely tied to the physical reality. It is also the most enduring. Earth people are known for their steady, patient strength – enduring all hardship, weathering all change. They are strong and stable, honest and loyal, fair-minded and rational, orderly and reliable. Under stress and pressure that would break anyone else, Earth still stands. It can be the tall, strong, majestic mountain; the nurturing soil that makes things grow; the stone wall that withstands the enemy’s fire; the castle that protects those within; the cave that shelters from the storm; the precise, organized, and beautiful gemstone; the deep canyon; the brick and stone that make up mighty towers and humble homes alike; or the caverns of the deep that guard the earth’s riches. Earth is a practical element and enjoys building things and helping things grow. Earth is common sense, memory, organization, details, patience, maturity, and perceptiveness. It is also known as the most family-oriented of the elements and frequently takes on a parental or big sibling role when dealing with younger people. Connected with that is a deep respect for the elderly, for tradition, and for anything that has withstood the test of time. Earning respect is key to earth. Because of its stability and desire for permanence, a close relationship with an Earthen person is likely to last a lifetime. Earth’s greatest strength and weakness lies in its inertia: it changes very slowly and resists all outside influences. This gives it its great strength, stability, and calm, but it also makes it rigid, inflexible, and extremely stubborn. For good or ill, Earth is what it is and that is unlikely to change.

Intellectually, Earth views knowledge as a treasure trove to gradually accumulate and will often delve deeply into a short list of subjects striving for mastery. Earth always asks “how.” Earth’s mental pattern is very organized, concrete, and structured. Earth approaches all of the problems it sees with methodical work and structured thought. As such, Earth is considered the most logical of all the elements. Earth creates order out of chaos, efficiency out of waste, and elegant systems out of aimless wandering. Budgets, long-term plans, engineering, and business management are second nature to Earth. It misses no detail no matter how small and excels at innovation and gradual improvement in general. Its intellectual weakness is its tendency to think in a linear, literal fashion. Earth can miss out on subtleties and has difficulty thinking outside the box. However, no element is more intelligent than any other. It is merely a different pattern of thinking.

Emotionally, Earth is very stable and tends towards introversion. In short, they are moderate emotionally, not showing any of their emotions too much or too little. They strive for balance. It is difficult to get Earthen people to show strong emotion, though when they feel they feel very strongly whether it is happiness, anger, sadness, or any other emotion. They hold onto both good feelings and bad for a very long time Their negative emotional tendency is towards grudges/bitterness since they have difficulty letting go of past wrongs.

MBTI: ISTJ is the ideal example, also Guardians (SJ) in general. The ISFJ is an example of a more emotional form of Earth. Earth is usually introverted, decisive, and highly sensing/concrete. ESTJ (Earth/Fire), INTJ (Fire/Earth), ESFJ (Air/Earth), ISTP (Earth/Air), and INFJ (Water/Earth) also work as Earth to some degree.

Functions: Introverted Sensing, Extroverted Thinking, Extroverted Feeling, and extroverted sensing

Enneagram Types: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9

Platonic Solid: Cube (Hexahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Cool and Dry

Temperament: Melancholic/Phlegmatic

Cardinal Virtue: Self-Control (Temperantia)

Yin-Yang: New Yin

Opposite Element: Air – While Earth is the element of law, order, stability, practicality, diligence, tradition, community, and gradual growth, Air is the element of freedom, spontaneity, change, lofty dreams, bursts of energy, independence, cosmopolitanism, independence, and revolution.

Core Strengths: Earth is stable, honest, loyal, practical, nurturing, orderly, structured, strong, fair-minded, patient, rational, balanced, observant, difficult to trick, respectful, and dependable

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Earth might be rigid, stubborn, bitter, greedy, judgmental, callous, stiff, excessively serious, or envious

Possible traits (overlap with other elements): Earth might be calm, wise, patient, kind, rational, strong-willed, brave, bold, strong-willed, just, dedicated, or ambitious.

You are Water!

Water is the element of calm, kindness, and insight. Water is known as the element of calm, balance, kindness, peace, compassion, harmony, and empathy. Its mere presence is a calming and healing influence. It is fluid, having a balance between the stability and practicality of the concrete and the intuition, imagination, and idealism of the abstract. Water has great clarity of insight, often easily seeing to the core of the issue. It is also generally a very good judge of character. Water is also known for its subtly determined nature. Instead of trying to break through barriers, Water finds another way. Physical water always flows. Even when blocked, it flows around boulders, through piles of debris, over dams, and even through the smallest cracks. When it finds such small opening, it rushes through that weak-point, making it wider and wider. In this sense, Water can be seen as opportunistic since it never lets any opportunity go to waste. Water is adaptable. Rather than try to force the world to conform to itself, it bends and moves to suit the circumstances. It watches and learns to see what form it should be in order to succeed. It can be cold, hard, and strong as ice; warm and soothing as bathwater; deep, powerful, and wise as the ocean; mysterious and inscrutable as mist and fog; or show the surprising ferocity of scalding steam. Family, friends, and romantic relationships are all very important to Water and it cherishes these connections for their deepness rather than their number. Water has a sensitive conscience and feels guilty easily; yet that same conscience gives it great strength and determination when it believes it is doing the right thing. Water is idealistic, always dreaming of a better world. This can make it very hard on itself or very pessimistic about the world, but it also ensures that Water is always looking to grow, learn, and improve. Water’s main weaknesses relate to its tendency to avoid direct conflict as well as the great gulf between its sky-high ideals and the regrettable state of the real world. Water can become depressed, pessimistic, passive, indecisive, self-loathing, overly cautious, unsocial, shy, or withdrawn from reality.

Intellectually, Water seeks understanding. Water always asks “why.” It is the most holistic of all the elements and sees everything in the universe as being connected with everything else. As such, it isn’t one subject, one area, or one line of reasoning that interests Water - it’s everything. Water is drawn to everything deep, abstract, and complex. It intuitively sees the connections between ideas and between cause and effect. It builds up complex networks of information with each bit connected in its mind with all the other bits that compare and contrast with it. It is also known for its creativity and love of the arts. Its weakness is its tendency to become lost in its own mind. This can be due to going down rabbit trails on related subjects, getting distracted, or simply getting so absorbed that it never even gets to make the decision in question. However, no element is more intelligent than any other. It is merely a different pattern of thinking.

Emotionally, Water is introverted and complex. Water has strong feelings and generally understands emotions very well, but tends to suppress emotions it sees as “harmful.” This is due to its desire for peace and harmony. So Water is perfectly comfortable expressing happiness, confidence, sadness, or loneliness, but it strongly suppresses anger, hatred, and harsh feelings in general. This can cause Water to bottle up hurt and anger, appearing calm and unbothered, then eventually releasing days, weeks, or even years of frustration all at once. Water’s wrath is rare, but terrible - especially if Water believes the object of its anger deserves it. However, sadness is the negative emotion Water shows the most. This is due to its kind, empathetic nature and its keen awareness that life is never what it should be.

MBTI: INFP and ISFP are ideal examples, as well as Idealists (NF) in general. INTP (Water/Fire or Ice), INFJ (Water/Earth), ENFJ (Fire/Water), ENFP (Air/Water) and ISFJ (Earth/Water) can all work as water to some degree. Water tends to be introverted, adaptable, and highly feeling.

Functions: Introverted Feeling, Extroverted Feeling, introverted intuition, extroverted intuition, introverted thinking

Enneagram Types: 1, 2, 4, 5, 9

Platonic Solid: Round (Icosahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Cool and Wet

Temperament: Phlegmatic/Melancholic

Cardinal Virtue: Wisdom/Caution (Prudentia)

Yin-Yang: Full Yin

Opposite Element: Fire – while Water is wise, cautious, calm, innovative, and harmonious, Fire is brave, willful, lively, inventive, and visionary.

Core Strengths: Water is calm, kind, compassionate, empathetic, imaginative, wise, patient, adaptable, flexible, balanced, observant, artistic, idealistic, and insightful

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Water might be depressed, pessimistic, passive, indecisive, self-loathing, overly cautious, unsocial, shy, or withdrawn from reality.

Possible Traits (overlap with other elements): honest, loyal, orderly, stable, rational, practical, dependable, strong, fair-minded, respectful, generous, forgiving, socially skilled, and excellent at thinking out-of-the-box and multi-tasking.

You are Air!

Air is the element of freedom, independence, and curiosity. Air is the most flexible, adaptable, and unpredictable of all the elements. Airy people are known for their quickness and freedom in thought, feeling, will, and movement. Just like physical air quickly moves around any obstacle in its path rather than resisting, so Air confronts its problems indirectly. When troubles come, Air is known for avoiding harmful situations, diffusing tensions, deflecting antagonism, using humor, wit, and occasionally using tricks or manipulation. Regardless, Air is known as the most out-of-the-box thinker of all the elements. It always sees things from a different perspective and is adept at approaching and solving problems from an unusual point of view. Air can be light and playful as a spring breeze, clear and confident as the noon-day sky, as swift and daring as the jet stream, as kind as the warm summer rain, or as fierce and destructive as a hurricane. Air is, of course, the element that carries voices, music, and communication in general, so it is known for communication skills and a love of the arts. It is the element that most frequently mingles with the others, such as lightning (Air/Fire), sandstorms (Air/Earth), or rain and hail storms (Air/Water). So Air is the most sociable, the most outgoing, the most cosmopolitan, and the best at people skills in general. Air is highly skilled at compartmentalizing: treating things it doesn’t like or doesn’t care about as if they weren’t real. This can make Air aloof and detached from reality at times. Paradoxically, Air is either the most popular of all the elements or else an eccentric and a non-comformist. This reflects their kindness and sociability, but also their strong independent streak. Air is also known for its cheerful attitude, social skills, sense of fair play, confidence, fierce sense of justice, resilience, spontaneity, curiosity, sense of humor, and enthusiasm for everything life has to offer. It’s greatest strength and weakness is its lightness and changeability. It can adapt to anything, and foresee and avoid problems before they arrive; but immature Air can also be impatient, restless, impulsive, fickle, easily bored, frivolous, flippant, unreliable, or lecherous.

Intellectually, Air is curious. Air always asks “how.” Air loves to learn about anything and everything it sees. There is often no discernible rhyme or reason to the subjects that attract Air’s interest. If there is a pattern, it’s that Air loves to learn anything that is new. Old things are boring to Air, so it is always seeking something new to see, something new to learn, someone new to talk with, something new to do, or somewhere new to go. Air is very aware of its surroundings and rarely misses any detail. Air’s mind lacks the rules and structure that characterize other elements. As such, Air tends to come up with very unique and inventive ideas that seemingly come out of nowhere. This can make Air seem random, chaotic, and eccentric, but there is a method to its madness – even if only the Airy person him/herself knows what that method is. Air is also exceptionally good at multi-tasking. The drawback to Air’s mentality is a tendency to be easily distracted, bored, forgetful, or side-tracked. However, no element is more intelligent than any other. It is merely a different pattern of thinking.

Emotionally, Air is very expressive and extroverted. Air experiences all the wide range of emotion and expresses it freely. It doesn’t take much to get an emotional reaction out of air, but it is also easy for Air’s feelings to change from one moment to the next. As such, Air is arguably the most emotional of all the elements. Their negative emotional tendency is towards fear since Air instinctively avoids conflict and hates confronting anything head on.

MBTI: ENFP and ESFP are ideal examples for Air. Other airy types include ESTP (Air/Fire), ENTP (Fire/Air), ISTP (Earth/Air), ESFJ (Air/Earth), and ISFP (Water/Air). Air is generally Extroverted and Flexible.

Functions: Extroverted Sensing, Extroverted Intuition, Introverted Thinking, introverted feeling

Enneagram Types: 2, 4, 7, 8, 9

Platonic Solid: Diamond (Octahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Warm and Wet

Temperament: Sanguine

Cardinal Virtue: Justice (Iustitia)

Yin-Yang: New Yang

Opposite Element: Earth – While Air is the element of freedom, spontaneity, change, lofty dreams, bursts of energy, independence, cosmopolitanism, independence, and revolution, Earth is the element of law, order, stability, practicality, diligence, tradition, community, and gradual growth.

Core Strengths: Air is free in mind, heart, will, and body, independent, cheerful, flexible, adaptable, curious, adventurous, generous, forgiving, optimistic, energetic, creative, communicative, socially skilled, cosmopolitan, and excellent at thinking out-of-the-box and multi-tasking.

Possible Weaknesses: When Immature, Air might be impatient, fickle, easily bored, dishonest, frivolous, flippant, unreliable, fearful, shallow, impulsive, hedonistic, or lecherous.

Possible traits (overlap with other elements): Air might be brave, passionate, fearless, charismatic, independent, kind, sympathetic, empathetic, forgiving, artistic, or imaginative.

You are Fire!

Fire is the element of will-power, courage, and vision. Fire is an active, focused, goal-oriented element. It is courageous, bold, strong-willed, passionate, ambitious, and fiercely dedicated. Fire insists on always moving onward and upward, always boldly going somewhere. It needs a goal, a direction, a dream to pursue. When given a noble goal, nothing is more majestic than Fire as it breaks through all obstacles, transcends all boundaries, and forges ahead through all hardships to make dreams into reality. Fire has a strong sense of justice, honor, and integrity. Fire is the spark of inspiration, flashes of deep insight, and bold visions for the future. It is creativity, plans, goals, intuition, patterns, archetypes, and the sense of a cosmic driving purpose. Fire is passion, so apathy is a foreign concept to it. Fire has strong opinions and beliefs about pretty much everything. This passion carries over into all areas of life, whether it is work, school, hobbies or personal relations. There is no more fiercely dedicated friend, lover, or enemy than Fire. Fire can be the warm-hearted fireplace to give warmth to the weary, the torch to give light and direction in darkness, the Sun that brings life and light to the world, the Promethean Fire that inspires invention and science, the forge that drives industry onward, or the raging fire that annihilates every enemy in its path. It has such tremendous mental and emotional energy that other elements often feel overwhelmed. However, just like physical fire without fuel turns to ash, so Fiery people sink into deep, restless depression when they lose their drive and have no dream and no goal to pursue. Also, Fire’s single-minded zeal can at times turn into arrogance and a tendency to belittle and devalue anything or anyone that stands in the way of Fire’s Goal. Immature Fire can also have issues with anger, harshness, being judgmental, bossiness, hasty decisions, and being excessively competitive.

Intellectually, Fire is goal-oriented. So long as the learning in question is related to one of Fire’s goals or passions, Fire devours knowledge like kindling. Fire always asks “why.” It quickly grasps deep and complicated concepts, easily integrating the new information into its mental structure for how the world works and how best to achieve its goals. Of course, if the information is viewed as useless, then it is quickly disregarded and forgotten. It is drawn to big ideas, grand theories, and deeply desires to understand why the universe works the way it does. Also, Fire is essentially structured and task-oriented. It loves order and efficiency. Fire’s only intellectual weakness is its great focus. In its single-minded desire to accomplish what it sees as good and worthwhile, Fire can easily miss important things that it erroneously consigned to the “irrelevant information” pile. However, no element is more intelligent than any other. It is merely a different pattern of thinking.

Emotionally, Fire is definitely extroverted. Fire has strong feelings, but also is very much concerned with honor and reputation. Fire likes to think of itself as strong and as a leader. So Fire may often hide and bottle-up any emotions it sees as “weak.” For instance, Fire rarely admits to being sad, hurt, afraid, lonely, or depressed. This can cause those feelings to intensify and cause more problems. Happiness, confidence, and anger on the other hand are emotions that Fire is much more likely to express. That anger, of course, is Fire’s negative emotional tendency. Fire can’t stand anything it views as evil or unjust, but often is equally angered by inefficiency, stupidity, or weakness.

MBTI: ENTJ is the ideal example. Fire tends to be extroverted, decisive, and highly intuitive/abstract. Other fiery MBTI types include the ESTJ (Earth/Fire), INTJ (Fire/Earth), ENTP (Fire/Air), ESTP (Air/Fire), ENFJ (Fire/Water), and INTP (Water/Fire). Debatably, ENFP (normally Air/Water) might be somewhat fiery.

Functions: Extroverted Thinking, Introverted Intuition, Extroverted Intuition, and introverted thinking

Enneagram Types: 1, 3, 6, 7, 8

Platonic Solid: Pyramid (Tetrahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Warm and Dry

Temperament: Choleric

Cardinal Virtue: Courage (Fortitudo)

Yin-Yang: Full Yang

Opposite Element: Water – while Fire is brave, willful, lively, inventive, and visionary, Water is wise, cautious, calm, innovative, and harmonious.

Core Strengths: Fire is brave, bold, ambitious, strong-willed, energetic, charismatic, honest, loyal, just, honorable, dedicated, idealistic, independent, creative, and passionate.

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Fire might be arrogant, angry, harsh, have judgmental tendencies, be hasty, impulsive, restless, bossy, rebellious, excessively competitive, and too focused.

Possible traits (overlap with other elements): Fire might be curious, adventurous, communicative, socially skilled, orderly, structured, strong, fair-minded, rational, and dependable.

You are Lightning! (Fire/Air)

Fire is the element of will-power, courage, and vision. Air is the element of freedom, independence, and curiosity. Therefore, Lightning combines the best of Fire’s courage and dynamism with Air’s freedom and flexibility. This is a passionate crusader for freedom, justice, and independence – and often quite the daredevil. Lightning’s overwhelming energy means that it can easily prove to be a dynamic leader in politics, business, science, the arts, or entertainment. Anywhere that quick thinking, adaptability, and fiery determination are in demand, you will find Lightning there to enthusiastically take center stage. Lightning is quite the talker – whether it’s telling a story, telling a joke, giving a speech, acting in a play, or getting into a spirited debate, Lightning always has something to say. Lightning tends to be especially bewildering in debates due to its ability to be both very forceful and jump from subject to subject like the zig-zagging bolt of electricity for which it’s named. If you debate a person whose element is Lightning, be prepared to defend against countless arguments at once. This dynamism extends to Lightning’s personal life as well. There’s never a dull moment for any of Lightning’s friends – there’s always an adventure to go on, a problem to fix, a far-off destination to explore, or a tragedy that needs justice. As might be expected, Lightning is very much a daredevil – no height is too high, no speed too fast, and no thrill too risky. It’s common to see it in extreme sports, martial arts, or exploring the great outdoors. Lightning’s quick reflexes, keen senses, and can-do attitude often mean it is quite athletic. It is passionate in everything it does and can be either a fierce and unpredictable enemy or a passionately devoted friend.

Since this Mixed Element combines the two warm elements (Fire and Air), Lightning will tend to be very hot. Here, “hotness” refers to being highly active – i.e. being extroverted, brave, socially-skilled, excitable, and adventurous.

Lightning can be made by Fire and Air in many ways.

ESTP is essentially Air with the added courage and will-power of Fire.

ENTP is essentially Fire, but is flexible, talkative, and unpredictable like Air.

ENFP is technically a mix of Air and Water, though with enough courage, will-power and vision, an ENFP can end up here.

On rare occasions, ENFJs may end up here.

MBTI: Lightning tends to be highly extroverted, highly intuitive/abstract, and possessing a paradoxical combination of orderly and chaotic tendencies.

Functions: Extroverted Intuition, Introverted Thinking, Extroverted Feeling, and introverted intuition

Enneagram Types: 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8

Platonic Solid: Pyramid (Tetrahedron) and Diamond (Octahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Hot (either Wet or Dry)

Temperament: Choleric-Sanguine or Sanguine-Choleric

Cardinal Virtue: Courage (Fortitudo) and Justice (Iustitia)

Yin-Yang: Yang

Opposite Element: Ice – while Lightning (Fire/Air) is brave, willful, lively, free-spirited, dramatic, and visionary, Ice (Water/Earth) is wise, calculating, self-controlled, dignified, calm, and innovative.

Core Strengths: Lightning is adventurous, communicative, socially skilled, independent, cheerful, flexible, adaptable, curious, adventurous, generous, forgiving, optimistic, energetic, creative, brave, bold, ambitious, strong-willed, energetic, charismatic, honest, loyal, just, honorable, dedicated, idealistic, independent, creative, and passionate.

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Lightning might be unrealistic, lost in fantasy, arrogant, angry, harsh, have judgmental tendencies, be hasty, impulsive, restless, bossy, rebellious, excessively competitive, frivolous, impatient, impulsive, hedonistic, fickle, and lecherous.

Fire Summary:
Fire is the element of will-power, courage, and vision. Fire is an active, focused, goal-oriented element. It is courageous, bold, strong-willed, passionate, ambitious, and fiercely dedicated. Fire insists on always moving onward and upward, always boldly going somewhere. It needs a goal, a direction, a dream to pursue. When given a noble goal, nothing is more majestic than Fire as it breaks through all obstacles, transcends all boundaries, and forges ahead through all hardships to make dreams into reality. Fire has a strong sense of justice, honor, and integrity. Fire is the spark of inspiration, flashes of deep insight, and bold visions for the future. It is creativity, plans, goals, intuition, patterns, archetypes, and the sense of a cosmic driving purpose. Fire is passion, so apathy is a foreign concept to it. Fire has strong opinions and beliefs about pretty much everything. This passion carries over into all areas of life, whether it is work, school, hobbies or personal relations. There is no more fiercely dedicated friend, lover, or enemy than Fire. Fire can be the warm-hearted fireplace to give warmth to the weary, the torch to give light and direction in darkness, the Sun that brings life and light to the world, the Promethean Fire that inspires invention and science, the forge that drives industry onward, or the raging fire that annihilates every enemy in its path. It has such tremendous mental and emotional energy that other elements often feel overwhelmed. However, just like physical fire without fuel turns to ash, so Fiery people sink into deep, restless depression when they lose their drive and have no dream and no goal to pursue. Also, Fire’s single-minded zeal can at times turn into arrogance and a tendency to belittle and devalue anything or anyone that stands in the way of Fire’s Goal. Immature Fire can also have issues with anger, harshness, being judgmental, bossiness, hasty decisions, and being excessively competitive.

Air Summary:
Air is the element of freedom, independence, and curiosity. As such, it’s the most difficult of all the elements to define since there is so much variety in it. It is the most flexible, adaptable, and unpredictable of all the elements. Airy people are known for their quickness and freedom in thought, feeling, will, and movement. Just like physical air quickly moves around any obstacle in its path rather than resisting, so Air confronts its problems indirectly. When troubles come, Air is known for avoiding harmful situations, diffusing tensions, deflecting antagonism, using humor, wit, and occasionally using tricks or manipulation. Regardless, Air is known as the most out-of-the-box thinker of all the elements. It always sees things from a different perspective and is adept at approaching and solving problems from an unusual point of view. Air can be light and playful as a spring breeze, clear and confident as the noon-day sky, as swift and daring as the jet stream, as kind as the warm summer rain, or as fierce and destructive as a hurricane. Air is, of course, the element that carries voices, music, and communication in general, so it is known for communication skills and a love of the arts. It is the element that most frequently mingles with the others, such as lightning (Air/Fire), sandstorms (Air/Earth), or rain and hail storms (Air/Water). So Air is the most sociable, the most outgoing, the most cosmopolitan, and the best at people skills in general. Air is highly skilled at compartmentalizing: treating things it doesn’t like or doesn’t care about as if they weren’t real. This can make Air aloof and detached from reality at times. Paradoxically, Air is either the most socially skilled and popular of all the elements or else an eccentric and non-conformist. This reflects their kindness and sociability, but also their strong independent streak. Air is also known for its cheerful attitude, social skills, sense of fair play, confidence, fierce sense of justice, resilience, spontaneity, curiosity, sense of humor, and enthusiasm for everything life has to offer. It’s greatest strength and weakness is its lightness and changeability. It can adapt to anything, and foresee and avoid problems before they arrive; but immature Air can also be impatient, restless, impulsive, fickle, easily bored, frivolous, flippant, unreliable, or lecherous.

You are Lava! (Fire/Earth)

The Volcanic element combines the will-power, courage, and brilliant vision of Fire with the diligence, stability, and common sense of earth. That is an excellent recipe for success. Lava combines the abstract, big-picture vision of Fire and the detailed precision of Earth to get things done. Lava enjoys setting bold, daring, nearly impossible goals, then slowly but surely making it happen – all perfectly according to plan. Everything in Lava’s life goes to serve The Plan: an extremely complex life-long plan for success that incorporates every foreseeable variable and contingency. Often, Lava begins making The Plan while still a small child and continues to refine it and re-work it across his or her life. Their ability to predict the future is mysterious and can be either inspiring or terrifying depending on whether Lava is a friend or enemy. In some, this predictive power is based on a deep, abstract understanding of the universe and its patterns and meanings. In others, it is due to a keen memory, concrete reasoning, and an ability to predict the future by analyzing past behavior. Lava is also family-oriented; it uses its tremendous energy and consistent devotion to serve and love friends and family. Beneath the fierce, stubborn exterior is a real, genuine, human warmth and a loyal love that will never die. Those lucky enough to be in Lava’s inner circle are blessed indeed. They are fiercely protective of those they love and would do absolutely anything for them. Respect, honor, integrity, and courage matter a great deal to Lava. Such respect is earned, never given.

Since this Mixed Element combines the two dry elements (Fire and Earth), Lava will tend to be very dry. Here, “dryness” refers to being resistant to change or outside forces – i.e. being decisive, consistent, logical, and stubborn.

Lava can be made by Fire and Earth in many ways.
INTJ can be thought of as a cool Fire – just as ambitious, bold, visionary, abstract, and driven, but with a calmer, more patient, more introverted nature. In the alternative, INTJs can be thought of as a more ambitious and much more abstract version of Earth. INTJ may occasionally show up as Ice if the INTJ in question is introverted enough.

ESTJ can be thought of as Earth heated up – just as practical, diligent, stubborn, and stable, but with much more ambition, drive, and extroversion. In the alternative, ESTJ can be thought of as a much more concrete, practical, and methodical version of Fire.

ENTJs and ISTJs may occasionally show up as Lava, though they are normally pure Fire and pure Earth respectively.

Functions: Extroverted Thinking, Introverted Sensing, Introverted Intuition, and introverted feeling

Enneagram Types: 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8

Platonic Solid: Pyramid (Tetrahedron) and Cube (Hexahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Dry (Either Hot or Cool)

Temperament: Choleric/Melancholic or Melancholic/Choleric

Cardinal Virtue: Courage (Fortitudo)

Yin-Yang: Full Yang and New Yin

Opposite Element: Mist/Cloud/Rain (Air/Water) – While Lava is the element of law, order, stability, practicality, diligence, tradition, bravery, willpower, liveliness, and long-term vision, Mist is spontaneous, free, adaptable, idealistic, cosmopolitan, caution, compassion, calm, and artistic.

Core Strengths: Lava is brave, bold, ambitious, strong-willed, energetic, charismatic, honest, loyal, just, honorable, dedicated, stable, practical, orderly, structured, fair-minded, patient, rational, respectful, and dependable.

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Lava might be arrogant, angry, harsh, bitter, jealous, greedy, stiff, callous, have judgmental tendencies, bossy, excessively competitive, and too focused.

Fire Summary:
Fire is the element of will-power, courage, and vision. Fire is an active, focused, goal-oriented element. It is courageous, bold, strong-willed, passionate, ambitious, and fiercely dedicated. Fire insists on always moving onward and upward, always boldly going somewhere. It needs a goal, a direction, a dream to pursue. When given a noble goal, nothing is more majestic than Fire as it breaks through all obstacles, transcends all boundaries, and forges ahead through all hardships to make dreams into reality. Fire has a strong sense of justice, honor, and integrity. Fire is the spark of inspiration, flashes of deep insight, and bold visions for the future. It is creativity, plans, goals, intuition, patterns, archetypes, and the sense of a cosmic driving purpose. Fire is passion, so apathy is a foreign concept to it. Fire has strong opinions and beliefs about pretty much everything. This passion carries over into all areas of life, whether it is work, school, hobbies or personal relations. There is no more fiercely dedicated friend, lover, or enemy than Fire. Fire can be the warm-hearted fireplace to give warmth to the weary, the torch to give light and direction in darkness, the Sun that brings life and light to the world, the Promethean Fire that inspires invention and science, the forge that drives industry onward, or the raging fire that annihilates every enemy in its path. It has such tremendous mental and emotional energy that other elements often feel overwhelmed. However, just like physical fire without fuel turns to ash, so Fiery people sink into deep, restless depression when they lose their drive and have no dream and no goal to pursue. Also, Fire’s single-minded zeal can at times turn into arrogance and a tendency to belittle and devalue anything or anyone that stands in the way of Fire’s Goal. Immature Fire can also have issues with anger, harshness, being judgmental, bossiness, hasty decisions, and being excessively competitive.

Earth Summary:
Earth is the element of stability, law, and order. It is the most closely tied to the physical reality. It is also the most enduring. Earth people are known for their steady, patient strength – enduring all hardship, weathering all change. They are strong and stable, honest and loyal, fair-minded and rational, orderly and reliable. Under stress and pressure that would break anyone else, Earth still stands. It can be the tall, strong, majestic mountain; the nurturing soil that makes things grow; the stone wall that withstands the enemy’s fire; the castle that protects those within; the cave that shelters from the storm; the precise, organized, and beautiful gemstone; the deep canyon; the brick and stone that make up mighty towers and humble homes alike; or the caverns of the deep that guard the earth’s riches. Earth is a practical element and enjoys building things and helping things grow. Earth is common sense, memory, organization, details, patience, maturity, and perceptiveness. It is also known as the most family-oriented of the elements and frequently takes on a parental or big sibling role when dealing with younger people. Connected with that is a deep respect for the elderly, for tradition, and for anything that has withstood the test of time. Earning respect is key to earth. Because of its stability and desire for permanence, a close relationship with an Earthen person is likely to last a lifetime. Earth’s greatest strength and weakness lies in its inertia: it changes very slowly and resists all outside influences. This gives it its great strength, stability, and calm, but it also makes it rigid, inflexible, and extremely stubborn. For good or ill, Earth is what it is and that is unlikely to change.

You are Ice! (Water/Earth or Water/Fire)

Ice is cool, calm, collected, logical, and abstract. It combines the calm, serenity, insight, adaptability, and wisdom of Water with the order, consistency, loyalty, and practicality of earth. They are creatures of cold, crystalline beauty – elegant and unapproachable. They are deep, mysterious, and inscrutable – yet they see the rest of the world with astounding clarity. They have a big-picture view of life and tend to be meticulous planners. Ice is also generally a very good judge of character, so long as Ice does not give in to pessimism or cynicism. That is one of Ice’s great internal struggles – the conflict between an intense inner idealism and pessimism about how corrupt the world is. Ice is exceptionally perfectionistic. Ice is also known for its subtly determined nature. Instead of trying to break through barriers, Ice finds another way. When the barrier is weak or if Ice finds just the right angle, it breaks through with the force of a massive iceberg. Yet against stronger or more aggressive forces, Ice adapts, melts, flows around boulders, through piles of debris, over dams, and even through the smallest cracks. When it finds such small opening, it freezes – expanding and cracking the barrier apart. Ice plans everything meticulously in advance and can be seen as opportunistic since it never lets any opportunity go to waste. Ice is very independent and often stubborn, but not aggressive or bossy. Rather than try to force the world to conform to itself, it bends and moves to suit the circumstances, subtly influences the world from the shadows, or else it simply leaves. Ice knows when to withdraw and leave a hopeless organization, pointless debate, or harmful relationship. Solitude is natural and comfortable for Ice, so it very capable of leaving toxic situations behind and not looking back. This tendency to choose an isolated lifestyle may be in reaction to past hurt or betrayal or it could just as easily stem from being highly introverted. It often views society as a whole as being cruel, stupid, chaotic, or threatening. Ice is very structured, orderly, rational, and logical. They are punctual, organized, detail-oriented, planned, and are excellent at either creating or running vast, complicated systems – whether for business, politics and other practical concerns or for philosophy, religion, science, or other more abstract pursuits. They have both the creativity and wisdom to create as well as the practicality and diligence to administrate. They are strong and stable, honest and loyal, fair-minded and rational, orderly and reliable. Under stress and pressure that would break anyone else, Ice still stands like an ancient, unconquerable glacier. This ability to think well in both abstract and concrete ways makes Ice a natural planner. Everything in Ice’s life goes to serve The Plan: an extremely complex life-long plan for success that incorporates every foreseeable variable and contingency. Often, Ice begins making The Plan while still a small child and continues to refine it and re-work it across his or her life. Their ability to predict the future is mysterious and can be either inspiring or terrifying depending on whether Ice is a friend or enemy. Ice generally uses its towering intellect to solve problems, express deep truths, create inventions, or unravel the mysteries of the universe rather than make money or get fame. Fame is of very little interest to Ice. Ice often has a strong creative and artistic streak, loving music, literature, philosophy, and the arts. The Icy person often has a natural and effortless gift at creating pristine, elegant beauty – whether in artwork, abstract systems, or even in the clothes she or he wears. Yet all of these tremendous strengths do come with weaknesses. Ice is extremely introverted and cautious. If Ice is ever surprised and has no plan at all for the current situation, Ice often freezes up entirely – unable to act. Ice may be adaptable, but improvisation is very difficult. Ice does not like surprises and is often stubborn. Further, Ice is very emotionally withdrawn. While Ice usually has a rich, complex internal world of emotions, Ice is very poor at expressing those emotions to others – and some Icy people may even have difficulty reading the emotions of others. Ice tends to be distant, remote, and very difficult to read - often having a constant poker face or unintentional icy death glare. Even when emotions are expressed, getting the right words out with the right vocal tone is frustrating. This often tends to push away the very people Ice wants most to get close to. This over-abundance of caution, difficulty improvising, and difficulty expressing emotions are Ice’s three great weaknesses. Yet for anyone who manages to get close enough to Ice to make a real emotional connection, they will find Ice to be very loving, devoted, and absolutely loyal. As a general rule, anyone who earns the love or friendship of Ice will enjoy lifelong, unbreakable commitment and they will get the rare treat of enjoying the warm and compassionate heart at Ice’s core.

Intellectually, Ice seeks understanding and efficiency. Water asks both “why” and “how.” It is holistic and sees everything in the universe as being connected with everything else. Ice is drawn to everything deep, abstract, and complex. It intuitively sees the connections between ideas and between cause and effect. It builds up complex networks of information with each bit connected in its mind with all the other bits that compare and contrast with it. Yet it also has an intense drive to make sense of things. Ice creates order out of chaos, efficiency out of waste, and elegant systems out of aimless wandering. Budgets, long-term plans, engineering, and business management are second nature to Ice. It misses no detail no matter how small and excels at innovation and gradual improvement in general. While everything fascinates Ice, it’s logical, orderly systems that are most interesting. Put together, this makes Ice well-suited for the humanities, sciences, and business – at least in theory. One of Ice’s intellectual weaknesses is its tendency to become lost in its own mind. This can be due to going down rabbit trails on related subjects, getting distracted, or simply getting so absorbed that it never even gets to make the decision in question. The other is making the assumption that all people behave logically. Ice can easily misread a situation by failing to take into account the more emotional and chaotic elements of human nature, often missing subtleties and social cues. However, no element is more intelligent than any other. It is merely a different pattern of thinking.

Emotionally, Ice is the most introverted of all the elements or element combinations. Ice has strong feelings and ideals, but has great difficulty expressing them. Due to the fear of an embarrassing emotional outburst, Ice generally suppresses unwelcome emotions like anger, sadness, or fear. Ice may express positive emotions, but even then usually in a controlled way. This can cause negative emotions to build up and churn inside, magnifying them over time. Sadness, fear, and bitterness tend to be especially strong. If not deal with in a healthy way, this can lead either to sudden outbursts releasing days, weeks, or even years of frustration all at once. Ice’s wrath is rare, but terrible - especially if Ice believes the object of its anger deserves it. However, Ice may just internalize their emotions even further, withdrawing into themselves until they begin to view all the world as a hostile, threatening “other.” Sadness, fear, and bitterness are Ice’s negative emotions.

MBTI: INTP is the perfect example – though INTJ and INFJ can work as well. Occasionally, ISTPs may show up as Ice (though they are normally Earth/Air).

Functions: Introverted Thinking, Extroverted Intuition, Introverted Intuition, extroverted thinking

Enneagram Types: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9

Platonic Solid: Round (Icosahedron) and Cube (Hexahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Cold (either Wet or Dry)

Temperament: Phlegmatic/Melancholic, Melancholic/Choleric, or Phlegmatic/Choleric

Cardinal Virtue: Wisdom/Caution (Prudentia) and Self-Control (Temperantia)

Yin-Yang: Yin

Opposite Element: Lightning – While Ice (Water/Earth) is wise, logical, calculating, self-controlled, dignified, calm, and innovative, Lightning (Fire/Air) is brave, willful, lively, free-spirited, dramatic, and visionary.

Core Strengths: Ice is calm, imaginative, wise, patient, adaptable, observant, artistic, idealistic, rational, practical, dependable, fair-minded, respectful, honest, loyal, and insightful

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Ice might be depressed, pessimistic, passive, indecisive, self-loathing, overly cautious, unsocial, shy, stubborn, bitter, judgmental, callous, excessively serious, or withdrawn from reality.

You are Forest!

Forest mixes Water and Earth. It can either be highly abstract or very concrete, but either way Forest has a deep connection to the past, to history, to nostalgia, and to old symbols, archetypes, myths, and legends. It is the place where fairies and monsters dwelled in the old stories. However, it is also a place of peace, growth, renewal, and healing. It is both a place of freedom from the rules of society and connection to the older and deeper laws of nature. The long life of the trees symbolizes long memory and tradition – or else a connection to the timeless. Forest is a decisive element. Whether by tradition and cultural norms or deep, philosophical introspection, Forest knows what it believes to be good and right. It will live by those beliefs and help others along the way. A sense of community is important to Forest, as people with this element combination are highly empathetic and live for their friends and family. Loyalty to the team and its dearly held values are of the utmost important. While Forest is typically calm, peaceful, and patient, attacking one of Forest's friends will bring the rare wrath of the woods in all its fury.

Since this Mixed Element combines the two cool elements (Water and Earth), it will be very cold. Here, “coldness” refers to being more reserved, introverted, calm, patient, cautious, and wise.

INFJ has Water’s abstract reasoning, deep kindness, and love of philosophy and the arts combined with Earth’s decisiveness, stability, and sense of community. It is a harmonious blend. INFJ can also get pure Water in this quiz depending on a few answers.

ISFJ can easily get pure earth, though it can also be seen in the Forest version of the Earth/Water mix. ISFJ has Earth’s stability, order, tradition, and loyalty. There is probably no-one more loyal than the ISFJ – the Samwise Gamgee of the MBTI. However, the ISFJ also has the emotional depth and compassion of Water.

On occasion, ESFJs may get the Forest element combination - though usually only if the ESFJ's extroversion is mild.

Functions: Extroverted Feeling, Introverted Intuition, Introverted Sensing, and introverted thinking

Enneagram Types: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 9

Platonic Solid: Round (Icosahedron) and Cube (Hexahedron)

Aristotelian Environment: Cold (either Wet or Dry)

Temperament: Phlegmatic/Melancholic or Melancholic/Phlegmatic

Cardinal Virtue: Wisdom/Caution (Prudentia) and Self-Control (Temperantia)

Yin-Yang: Yin

Opposite Element: Lightning – While Forest (Water/Earth) is kind, self-controlled, stable, calm, and innovative, Lightning (Fire/Air) is brave, willful, lively, free-spirited, dramatic, and visionary.

Core Strengths: Forest is calm, kind, imaginative, wise, patient, adaptable, observant, artistic, idealistic, rational, practical, dependable, fair-minded, respectful, honest, loyal, and insightful

Possible Weaknesses: When immature, Forest might be depressed, pessimistic, passive, indecisive, self-loathing, overly cautious, unsocial, shy, stubborn, bitter, judgmental, callous, excessively serious, or withdrawn from reality.

Water Summary:
Water is the element of calm, kindness, and insight. Water is known as the element of calm, balance, kindness, peace, compassion, harmony, and empathy. Its mere presence is a calming and healing influence. It is fluid, having a balance between the stability and practicality of the concrete and the intuition, imagination, and idealism of the abstract. Water has great clarity of insight, often easily seeing to the core of the issue. It is also generally a very good judge of character. Water is also known for its subtly determined nature. Instead of trying to break through barriers, Water finds another way. Physical water always flows. Even when blocked, it flows around boulders, through piles of debris, over dams, and even through the smallest cracks. When it finds such small opening, it rushes through that weak-point, making it wider and wider. In this sense, Water can be seen as opportunistic since it never lets any opportunity go to waste. Water is adaptable. Rather than try to force the world to conform to itself, it bends and moves to suit the circumstances. It watches and learns to see what form it should be in order to succeed. It can be cold, hard, and strong as ice; warm and soothing as bathwater; deep, powerful, and wise as the ocean; mysterious and inscrutable as mist and fog; or show the surprising ferocity of scalding steam. Family, friends, and romantic relationships are all very important to Water and it cherishes these connections for their deepness rather than their number. Water has a sensitive conscience and feels guilty easily; yet that same conscience gives it great strength and determination when it believes it is doing the right thing. Water is idealistic, always dreaming of a better world. This can make it very hard on itself or very pessimistic about the world, but it also ensures that Water is always looking to grow, learn, and improve. Water’s main weaknesses relate to its tendency to avoid direct conflict as well as the great gulf between its sky-high ideals and the regrettable state of the real world. Water can become depressed, pessimistic, passive, indecisive, self-loathing, overly cautious, unsocial, shy, or withdrawn from reality.

Earth Summary:
Earth is the element of stability, law, and order. It is the most closely tied to the physical reality. It is also the most enduring. Earth people are known for their steady, patient strength – enduring all hardship, weathering all change. They are strong and stable, honest and loyal, fair-minded and rational, orderly and reliable. Under stress and pressure that would break anyone else, Earth still stands. It can be the tall, strong, majestic mountain; the nurturing soil that makes things grow; the stone wall that withstands the enemy’s fire; the castle that protects those within; the cave that shelters from the storm; the precise, organized, and beautiful gemstone; the deep canyon; the brick and stone that make up mighty towers and humble homes alike; or the caverns of the deep that guard the earth’s riches. Earth is a practical element and enjoys building things and helping things grow. Earth is common sense, memory, organization, details, patience, maturity, and perceptiveness. It is also known as the most family-oriented of the elements and frequently takes on a parental or big sibling role when dealing with younger people. Connected with that is a deep respect for the elderly, for tradition, and for anything that has withstood the test of time. Earning respect is key to earth. Because of its stability and desire for permanence, a close relationship with an Earthen person is likely to last a lifetime. Earth’s greatest strength and weakness lies in its inertia: it changes very slowly and resists all outside influences. This gives it its great strength, stability, and calm, but it also makes it rigid, inflexible, and extremely stubborn. For good or ill, Earth is what it is and that is unlikely to change.