How Each Astrological Sign Handles Their Alcohol

Maybe you’re the type of person who sips your go-to drink with care, maintaining a nice, respectable buzz. Maybe you’re not. We all have our tendencies when we go out, and as much as we like to think that we’ll drink better next time or we’ll finally let loose, we too often fall into the same old routine. It’s not your fault, though. Blame the stars.

All of your drinking habits, like so many things these days, can be traced back to astrology. The 12 astrological signs are grouped by elements (fire, water, earth and air), and each element handles alcohol differently, Angel Eyedealism—an internationally renowned astrologer in New York—tells Supercall. The elements that are essential to life, it turns out, are also essential to understanding your drinking temperament.

But before getting too deep into it, it’s important to know your symbol and your symbol’s attributes.

All signs are located on the 360-degree astrological circle. That circle is broken into multiple parts. For understanding your drinking temperament, there are two important things to pay attention to: The 12 individual signs and the four element signs. Every fourth sign on the circle is the same element. For example, Aries and Sagittarius are both fire signs, with Pisces (water), Aquarius (air) and Capricorn (earth) in-between them. Each sign is visually connected to the other signs in their element by a triangle inside the circle that links the signs together.

The four elements represent the four basic tenets of life, with each exhibiting a general nature. It’s more true for some than others, but if you want a little insight into your psyche, it’s a good place to start.

General traits: Air signs tend to float wherever their heart desires. Don’t mistake that for being an air head, though. While they can come off as spontaneous, air signs are very intellectual and think everything out before acting.

Drinking traits: “Air signs are less prone to drinking,” Eyedealism says. “They like to keep a clear head in general.” Libras in particular tend to watch how much they drink.

General traits: Earth signs are the opposite of Fire. They’re solid, thoughtful and take their time to make decisions. The earth signs are also rooted in their beliefs—one doesn’t simply change an earth sign’s mind on a whim, it takes patience and a well thought out idea. Every group needs that rock to hold everyone steady, no matter how indecisive and persuasive the group text gets before a night out.

Drinking traits: “The earth signs tend to be a little more on the stable side,” Eyedealism says. “They can handle alcohol a little better. They can be more on the prude side, especially Capricorns, and they don’t want to get sloshed unless there’s something in it for them. They tend to be very repressed, so on the rare occasions that they do drink too much, it’s not pretty. They’re the mean drunks.”

General traits: People represented by the fire element are drawn to making themselves the ringleader. They’re energetic and use spontaneous outbursts to be the center of attention. From the outside, this can seem narcissistic, but they’re not hamming it up in front of a mirror—everyone else is just drawn to their charisma. They’re also not a group of signs credited with subtlety or thinking things through before acting.

Drinking traits: “Fire signs are the extroverts in general,” Eyedealism says. “They tend to not need alcohol, but they like it to keep the drama going. [They are] the drama kings and queens bar none.”

General traits: Water signs exhibit all of the moods, all of the time. Sensitivity is a defining characteristic, as is imagination and creativity. It’s easy for water signs to get lost in their feelings and narratives, grabbing life by the reins and riding those ups and downs wherever they go.

Drinking traits: “Cancer, Pisces and Scorpios can just put it down like nothing,” Eyedealism says. “Water signs are more prone to drinking [than others] and tend to be more emotional and in touch with their emotions through alcohol.” You never know what’s going to come out when water signs are drinking and, like it or not, it’s an unknown you have to deal with a lot. Going with the flow can mean tears or it can mean cheers (never a casual “oh, hm, OK that was fun”). Water signs will throw back a drink for any occasion.