AQUARIUS STRIPPED

Around this time each year I start inwardly grumbling. And, no it's not courtesy of regular doses of huevos rancheros cooked up by Himself to ward off the cold weather! It's about Aquarius, and how the sign has come to be commonly perceived.

I had a wee grumble last year towards the end of January (here). I described a handful of Sun Aquarians I'd known and loved, and found little in them to match astrological interpretation of the sign.

What has gone awry? Is it me? I'm probably as guilty as anyone else of being drawn into the crowd's expectations - calling Aquarius quirky, avant garde, rebellious, unpredictable, cold and aloof....you know the rest. Humanitarian, another commonly stated characteristic of Aquarius is often apt, but it fits more nearly with Pisces in reality. Most people with Sun in Aquarius have a planet or two in Pisces. Intelligent? I'll go along with that one, it's the only description common to all Sun Aquarians I've ever met. Intelligent, mind you, not genius or even highly intelligent. They simply possess an innate cleverness irrespective of schooling or higher education, which, in some instances when applied can bring out inventive talent. Aquarius is Fixed Air. Air relates to mental processes, so it's reasonable to expect that all Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini and Libra) will share natural intelligence, honed to sophistication by education, or not, as the case may be.

I don't agree with the "love of groups" thing for Aquarius. Where did that come from? In any case it contradicts the "aloof, detached and cold" motif. I haven't ever met a Sun Aquarian who loves to join groups. I run away from them as fast as my little legs will carry me, so did my Dad, and my Aquarian friends. So perhaps we are a tad aloof and detached, but I prefer to think of it as independence.

I think the rest of the commonly used keywords, apart from humanitarian, belong more properly with planet Uranus, delegated to replace Saturn as ruler of Aquarius in modern astrology. I continue to suspect that Saturn was more appropriate as ruler of Aquarius; a Saturn in Airy mode, lighter and less tied down, whereas Capricorn hosts a heavier, Earthy Saturn.

Where does Uranus truly belong among the signs? Its accepted characteristics can infect and invade any of them with its presence, and with equal intensity. The rush to allocate the outer planets to rulerships was curious, I think. Why was it necessary ? Weren't things working satisfactorily in personal astrology beforehand? The outer planets seem to relate far more to mundane issues.

In my old copy of Llewellyn George's "Student Chart Reader" (1934), he says this about Sun in Aquarius:

"In Aquarius the Sun gives a quiet, patient, determined, unobtrisive and faithful nature, as a rule. The Aquarian is refined, pleasant, friendly, generous, charitable, dignified and humanitarian; fond of art, music, scenery and literature; cautious, steady, intelligent, intuitive, discriminitive, concentrative, studious, thoughtful and philopsophical. Good reasoner, practical as well as theoretical; strong likes and dislikes and often with very radical and advanced ideas; is cheerful, sincere and honest, easily influenced by kindness, slow to anger, but will not be driven; loves liberty and is fond of occult research."

I like that description, even though parts of it are too general to be identifiable as purely Aquarian - eg. pleasant, fond of art, music, scenery. I especially like the the last few phrases (easily influenced by kindness, slow to anger, but will not be driven; loves liberty). Interest in the occult applies to this particular Aquarian, but I haven't personally met any others with the same leaning. Perhaps this is another facet belonging more properly to Pisces, although there are two Fixed Stars in Aquarius with traditional connection to astrology.



So this is my own, stripped down, bunch of keywords for Aquarius:

freedom lover, independent, naturally intelligent, quietly determined, loyal, faithful, studious, practical but also theoretical, stubborn, slow to anger, will not be driven.

Radicalism, the avant garde, rebellion and quirkiness will, in my view, be a part of the Sun Aquarian, or any other sign's makeup only if Uranus is in close aspect, or on a sensitive point in the chart. Other characteristics occasionally found in Sun Aquarians come via emphasis on neighbouring sign Pisces. That's my story and I'm sticking to it -'cos I won't be driven !