Aries : Essence

Action is the key to Aries. Your first response to any situation is to leap into DOING at high speed. Adventurous, active, energetic and inspirational, you need excitement, constant variety and not too much routine. A cardinal fire sign, you have initiative by the bucket load, inspiration, courage and grand fantasies. You like to be the first and can come across as rather pushy through truthfully you are warm hearted. You just like to make sure you are getting attention, and the top prize. Not always practical you can get in a muddle since you do not check out details, or consider the long term consequences of your actions or words. You need sensible partners to pick up the pieces and do the drudgery after you have got bored and moved one.

Taurus : Essence

As an earth sign, what you look for is a practical end result which is tangible and long lasting. High flying, fanciful notions don't interest you. The second key to your nature is indulgence. Anything which pampers you, even to excess, makes you smile amiably. Rooted in your body, you adore to pleasure your senses with whatever feels good, tastes, smells or looks good. As a fixed sign, you don't jump to adapt to changing circumstances or fit in with those around. You stand rock steady and wait for the world to adapt to you. Slow to make up your mind you are quite immoveable once on track. When you are forced to change it can be tricky for you since it's not your natural way of coping. Placid, reliable, consistent, your strength lies in your ability to maintain the status quo. The other key to your essential nature is power. You may look easy going and laid back but you like to be in control in your life and relationships.

Gemini : Essence

Communication is absolutely your thing, so whether you're chatting light heartedly, discussing avidly or spreading the word, you'll rarely be silent. Nor will you be still. Along with a busy mind and tongue, you've got feet that want to be constantly on the go and hands that keep pace with high speed gestures. An air sign, you are up in your head most of the time, intelligent, bright, inquiring, versatile, energetic, flighty, fidgety, sometimes bored but never boring. Rather detached when it comes to feelings and emotions, you can appear cool, but in truth you are always looking for your perfect other half. Also a mutable sign, you adapt quickly to changing circumstances, can keep several balls in the air at once, perhaps lack a certain stability but your quick silver qualities are a great survival tool. Though a long distance runner you ain't. Your enthusiasms are famously short lived as you dash after whatever distraction catches your attention.

Cancer : Essence

Feeling is your first response to any situation since you are a water sign, which makes you sensitive, emotional, sympathetic and self protective. When you are outgoing and charming, you have a real empathy with those around. Very family oriented, you adore nothing better than being surrounded by your own tribe of relations from childhood and those from your adult marriage. Ruled by the Moon, a feminine energy, which is intuitive but also fickle, you can be moody. When you feel threatened by even the faintest whiff of criticism you withdraw into your shell and snap the door shut. Insecurity can make you jealous and you hate letting the past go, clinging sentimentally on to old memories and possessions. As a Cardinal sign you are ambitious, restless, have a good deal of initiative, and work exceptionally hard. You are highly creative in tune with public taste and the mood of the moment. Though a master/mistress at the art of passive resistance you can be thoroughly frustrating to companions who are trying to encourage you into action.

Leo : Essence

Inspiration and passionate enthusiasm are the key to your personality. As a fire sign you like dashing into action, always convinced that your luck will hold. You have faith in the bounty of the universe. Known as the sign of the heart, you are warm hearted, outgoing, colourful and energetic. You revel in having an appreciative audience. A born entertainer you love to catch the attention of everyone around and keep them admiring and applauding. Ruled by the Sun, you give out light and heat, and see yourself as the centre of action with others revolving around you. As a fixed sign, you stick to your chosen course and prefer those close to adapt to you, rather than the other way round. You can be stubborn and change does not always come easily to you but your strength lies in your perseverance. Despite your seeming confidence you can be insecure if you are not continually praised. If criticised you can collapse into a puddle of self doubt. You need continual morale boosting and seek approval in the mirror of other people's admiration, rather than finding it within the core of yourself.

Virgo : Essence

Finding a practical reason for everything, sorting out chaos and aiming for a tangible result are your main drives in life. That along with communication which is one of your best skills. Which is hardly surprising since you're ruled by Mercury as is Gemini. At times you talk non stop about trivia and need to stand further back to see the full picture. An earth sign, you thrive on doing rather than being, always liking to be on the go and being of service to others. You are a perfectionist, liking everything done exactly as you want. Not half as tidy as you are made out to be, you can still be rather critical of others' chaos. As a mutable sign you are adaptable, fitting in as and when required. This also makes you restless, at times not good at standing up for what you believe since you tend to be pushed around by circumstances and other people. With the Virgin as your symbol, you are often thought to be rather prudish, but really you have passionate depths which you keep hidden from general view and sometimes from yourself.

Scorpio : Essence

Deeply emotional, you react to life and relationships with a fierce intensity and how you feel about situations and people is always more important than any other consideration. Known as the miracle maker of the zodiac, you have formidable perseverance and rarely listen when told something is impossible. As a water sign you are finely tuned to atmosphere so usually know what's going on without having to ask. You have strongly developed psychic and intutive abilities. Extremely self protective to the point of absolute secrecy, you do not always voice your feelings since you are controlled and keep your deeper reactions to yourself. Showing your vulnerabilities is something you only do with those close .Though you can be quite stinging in your responses if you feel threatened or criticised while never letting on that you are hurt. A fixed sign, you are possessive, very determined, and can be both stubborn and unyielding. You are good with confidences, have tons of endurance and courage. You rarely forget and forgive. You always answer back in your own good time. Dynamic Mars and power hungry Pluto are your rulers so you like to be the one pulling the strings. On occasion you can be surprisingly ruthless but usually for good reasons.

Sagittarius : Essence

Upfront, direct action or speech is your response to life which you always want to be a constant adventure. You dash into high speed gear regardless of the consequences assuming your luck will hold out which it usually does. The third of the fire signs, you are cheerful, restless, optimistic, a deep thinker, energetic, confident, adaptable but not always practical or realistic. Next to talking and thinking about life in its broader aspects, you love to roam, being stimulated by travel and intrigued by foreign cultures. Along with Virgo and Gemini, you're really mainly about communication since you have acute observations about people, love to swap ideas, and are a great hander on of useful information to others. Always well intentioned, you can still be honest in your comments and opinions to a degree which makes more sensitive souls wince. Ruled by lucky Jupiter, you have a permanent guardian angel present, ready to rescue you from tight corners. In your life there is always a silver lining no matter how dark the cloud. Possibly the most popular of the signs, you radiate good humour, brush aside difficulties and bounce back from problems with a laugh.

Capricorn : Essence

Common sense, practicality and achieving a solid end result for your efforts is your main thrust in life. A cardinal earth sign, you have initiative by the bucket load, are ambitious, practical, upwardly socially mobile and highly determined. Ruled by Saturn you put material security before almost everything else, and tend to be conventional or traditionalist in your outlook. You can be ultra cautious, sometimes tight with money, but mellow through your middle years to take life easier. You always have a long term game plan, and can plod along for years in pursuit of your goals. Your dogged persistence usually gets you there. If this makes you sound rather dull, it's also true to say that Capricorn can sometimes throw caution and respectability to one side to go off on a super-indulgent escapade, when your deeper sensual instincts surface. Then you'll aim for pleasure, tossing all thoughts of duty to one side. Normally controlled in your responses, you go headlong into deeper passions which surprise everyone, yourself included.

Aquarius : Essence

Your first response to any situation is to stand back and think about it. An up-in-your head air sign, you're a mental sign, rather than a feeling or a doing one. This means you are thoughtful, communicative, curious, friendly, humanitarian and paradoxically rather stubborn. There are two kinds of Aquarians. Those leaning to your Saturn co-ruler, can be conventional, disciplined rather money oriented. Those who lean towards the Uranian side, are original, unconventional, determined to be whacky or eccentric just to prove how independent they are. Most Aquarians can be quite contradictory, a mix of opposites. Highly tolerant you can also be obstinate. Very forward looking, you can also be rooted in the past. Interested in people and society at large, you can also come across as unfeeling or at least unemotional. Traditional in some of your attitudes, you can also be ultra-modern in others. With quite a scientific bent, you like find out how the universe works and hand that knowledge on. You'll be well informed about psychology and how societies work but will be constantly puzzled by those who don't respond as you do.

Pisces : Essence

Your responses to life are first and foremost emotional since you're a water sign, kind, caring, sensitive to atmosphere and self protective. You yearn to be connected to a peaceful, benign universe which can make all your dreams come true. Ruled by Neptune and Jupiter, you are charitable since other people's problems and hurts affect you a good deal, and creative since you have such a rich imagination. Though you do not find connecting with reality easy or pleasant so often you retreat into an inner fantasy world or rely on luck to see you through. Which it often does. Your symbol is the two fishes, swimming in opposite directions. The Piscean temperament can have that backwards and forward quality, unable to decide which way you are going, though it can also suggest a useful ability to go with the flow. You have acute antennae picking up the undercurrents in the atmosphere around you and have a strongly developed intuition which is almost telepathic at times or psychic. There are also little fish Pisces - timid souls. And big fish Pisces - more akin to whales in temperament than minnows. The latter don't lack courage.