Aquarius Traits & Personalities

(January 20 – February 18)

DUALITY: Masculine
TRIPLICITY: (ELEMENT) Air
QUADRUPLICITY (QUALITY): Fixed
Aquarius is assertive, independent, progressive, analytical, original, and inventive, has strong dislikes and firm opinions.
RULING PLANET: Uranus – Ancient Greek sky god, first ruler of the universe. It was the first modern planet to be discovered (in 1781). In astrology, Uranus is the planet of change, disruption, the unconventional, and the unexpected. It rules invention, aerodynamics, and modern science.
SYMBOL: The Water Bearer – Dispensing a gift that flows freely and equally to all; representing creation and the giving of life. The water that the Water Bearer pours out symbolizes truth, which you freely give out to the world.
GLYPH (WRITTEN SYMBOL): ♒ The pictograph represents the water that flows from the vessel of the Water Bearer. It is also a picture of the human ankle in motion (the part of the anatomy that Aquarius rules). In symbolic terms, the ridged unbroken lines represent electric energy, universal thought, and the wisdom of the future.
DOMINANT KEYWORD: I KNOW.
POLARITY: Leo
Aquarius is the sign of hopes and dreams, friends and wishes. Its natives tend to be idealistic humanitarians who are concerned with the larger issues of the world but remain personally detached in their own relationships. Leo, Aquarius’ opposite sign, is the sign of pleasure, affection, and love affairs. Leo people look for fun and good times to make them happy; they need close ties with others and tend to dominate in love affairs.
PART OF THE BODY RULED BY AQUARIUS: The circulatory system, shins and ankles: Aquarius natives are prone toward ankle sprains and breaks; also to varicose veins and hardening of the arteries.
LUCKY DAY: Wednesday
LUCKY NUMBERS: 1 and 7
MAGICAL BIRTHSTONE: Amethyst – Brings faithfulness in love and bestows the gift of prescience.
SPECIAL COLOR: Electric blue – The clear color of the sky.
CITIES: Stockholm, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Salzburg
COUNTRIES: Russia, Sweden, Ethiopia
FLOWER: Orchid
TREES: Fruit trees
METAL: Uranium
ANIMALS RULED BY AQUARIUS: Large birds
DANGER: Aquarians are innovative, unconventional, and sometimes eccentric, and are therefore often targets for attack by narrow-minded people. Aquarians also have a tendency to get into unusual situations and take up with oddball individuals.

All About Aquarius

Astrologers are fond of this eleventh sign of the zodiac, for Aquarius is the sign of the future, of the visionary, some say of astrology itself. Aquarians are unorthodox, original people—sort of wacky, witty madcaps who refuse to follow the crowd and go their own way. You like being different. You not only march to a different drummer, you make up new music as you go along.

Intellectual independence is your most marked characteristic. In the sign of Aquarius, the combination of a fixed quality (representing persistence) and an air element (representing intellect and communication) under the influence of the planet of change, Uranus, creates a personality that is liberal, progressive, yet fixed in opinion. Your inflexibility shows up when others least expect it (in keeping with your penchant for unconventionality). It may be in defense of an idea you have, a trip you’ve decided on, a habit of yours that you refuse to give up—whatever the cause, someone will suddenly come in conflict with your Aquarian obstinacy. You refuse to compromise or give an inch. You’re a strange mix of an avant-garde thinker whose opinions are written in stone. You cheerfully ignore what others think and strike off on new paths, unbound by precedent, because there are so many more exciting things for you to discover that way. You think boredom is a communicable disease and take every opportunity to avoid it.

Your character is a system of paradoxes. You enjoy being with people but are content to be alone. You like to travel but love relaxing at home. You are friendly and out- going but also detached and reserved. You have both a scientific and an artistic turn of mind. In career you often are involved in two distinct areas of work.

Your astrological symbol is the Water Bearer—often Aquarius is mistaken for a water sign. Aquarius is an air sign. You are a communicator, an idea person. People born under this sign live most intensely in their minds. The “water” being poured out by the Water Bearer stands for truth. You are a truth-teller; you give out opinions and observations. You dispense wisdom. You are a seeker of knowledge, rational, open-minded, gifted with breadth of vision. Chock full of information, you still search for more. You always want to know what lies on the other side of the mountain. One Aquarian recently declared, “It annoys me to find out there’s something out there I’ve never heard of. I need to know what it is!”

You can be objective in judgment, for you don’t let emotion get in the way. This appears to give you the ability to stand outside yourself, to rise above ordinary human frailty. Your built-in distrust of emotion compels you to struggle against its chains, and this may become a source of inner conflict.

Problems arise when your sense of identity becomes inextricably linked to your ideas. Like Gemini, another air sign, you have a lot of ego invested in your opinions. When others disagree, you take this as an attack on your personhood. Your fixity turns into willfulness and rebelliousness for the sake of being a rebel. You deliberately refuse to recognize that your idea isn’t working in the real world of your relationships or career—and you sabotage yourself by insisting on your way even if your way proves to be unfeasible.

You are very people-oriented, addicted to the study of human beings and an inveterate people-watcher. Outgoing and amiable, you attract friends wherever you go. You have a talent for making people laugh with a pithy phrase that sums up a situation—though those who tangle with you quickly discover how your sharp verbal skills can deflate pomposity and pretension. You possess a true common touch, yet never lose your own strong individuality. Whomever you meet, you remain you—that amusing, inquisitive, interested person who wants to know what makes others tick. Your gift is for dealing with all kinds of personalities from every walk of life, no matter what their station or status. You never put on airs, nor are you cowed by anyone’s wealth or position. If you met the Queen of England, you would be your natural self. We’re all related, you believe, because we’re all human beings. You are genuinely interested in why a person thinks this way or that. The nicest part is that you do not judge. You willingly grant to others what you consider an inalienable right: the freedom to be unique. For you, the ultimate liberation is simply the freedom to be oneself.

As a student of human behavior, you have great tolerance for the weaknesses and foibles to which all mankind is heir. You are a humanitarian, concerned with the welfare of the world, but do not get deeply involved in intimate relationships. There is always a certain distant quality to you, a detachment or aloofness of spirit. You seem to disassociate yourself from emotion. However, the cool, arm’s-length impression you give can be deceiving. In the zodiac Aquarius symbolizes friendship, and you can form close and enduring ties. Beneath your detached, seemingly unemotional exterior beats a stubbornly loyal heart. No one is a truer, finer friend than Aquarius. Completely free of malice, you’ll do anything to be helpful. Yet you’ll never let the other person become dependent on you. Your affection comes with no strings attached.

Because independence is your way of life, you will sacrifice even a close personal relationship in order to maintain it. Trying to fence you in or tie you down won’t work. If you feel trapped, you try to break free at any cost. Your sign of Aquarius also represents future hopes and yearnings, and for you, what’s over is done with. You want to escape the past and, like Peter Pan, head straight on to morning. You’re wonderful at hatching schemes and dreams, plotting trips, setting goals. The unusual—in people, places, and projects—is what really interests you.

As an idealist you would like to see that everybody is happy, and your ambition is to do something important and meaningful. Many Aquarians go into politics or become involved in social causes. This is the astrological sign of hopes and wishes, and you are the kind who follows a dream. History is dotted with progressive Aquarian thinkers such as Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

An Aquarian will hatch up a grandiose scheme for improving the way things are, but your main interest is in creating the idea, not translating it into action through work. Hard work doesn’t interest you. You are creative, imaginative, endlessly willing to experiment, but the drudgery of detail and the minutiae of management are not your style.

You’d rather invent a new utopian scheme and let others grapple with the hard realities.

Your great weakness is a tendency to inflate your own importance, to pose as an expert on any subject.

You are so determined not to be like anyone else that you are sometimes contrary just to be different. You have the least regard for convention of any zodiacal sign, which often gives you a reputation for being eccentric. Just as you are broad-minded about the faults of others, you take for granted that your shortcomings will be overlooked.

Sometimes you will be argumentative not because you feel deeply, but simply because you enjoy the intellectual exercise. You are quickly bored and take delight in verbally provoking anyone you consider stodgy and dull.

Nevertheless, Aquarians are among the kindest people in the world. Easygoing, reasonable, slow to take offense, never mean-hearted, you believe in live-and-let-live. Honest, helpful, altruistic, and best of all never boring, you can change anyone’s life for the better just by becoming part of it.

The Inner Aquarius

The most frequent question you ask is “Why?” You want to understand what makes other people tick. Their lives fascinate you because you hope they will offer you insights into your own. You have plenty of love to give, and you want nothing more than to have lots of interesting friends, a wonderful love relationship, fulfilling work, and for the world to be a better place and everyone to be happy. Not much to ask, is it? One of your best-kept secrets is how shy and insecure you are. You wonder if the people you care about feel the same way about you—this is why you work so hard to make others like you. You want to share yourself, but are afraid of losing who you are or becoming what other people think you should be. Yet somehow your feelings of insecurity manage to coexist with a belief that you are someone special.

How Others See You

You’re often regarded as slightly eccentric—not necessarily strange, but certainly an independent character, a kind of daredevil with an unusual way of looking at things. People consider you a pathfinder, a member of the real avant-garde. They think you have a wicked sense of humor, an ability to shock and amuse at the same tine. They know you’re open to new ideas, especially when these ideas are yours. People are drawn to your friendliness and enthusiasm, but they withdraw quickly when you turn acid-tongued. Sometimes, because you need so much personal freedom, you give the impression of being uncaring or distant. Those around you may also become annoyed at your stubbornness.