Could've been me!Aquarius is an odd one! Well, yeah, of course you may be thinking, Aquarius is the confirmed oddball of the zodiac.
But I think there’s a paradox at the heart of Aquarius. I mean, if Aquarius is so unconventional, how come Aquarius is also the sign of the ordinary, common man or woman, the ‘any old Tom, Dick or Harry’ on the street? You see, unlike Leo, his opposite sign, he doesn't want to be the king of all he surveys, he knows that everyone is equal and if everyone is equal, then everyone is ordinary.
Aquarius will fight for equality, will fight for the common good, for the group, but, as one of my first astrology teachers, Sue Tompkins, said, once the battle is won, Aquarius is likely to turn down the invitation to celebrate down the pub with the hoi polloi. This is perhaps the point where Aquarius channels the spirit of Leo. Yes, Aquarius is equal, but doesn’t he sometimes think he’s more equal than others? Perhaps this is also why Aquarius has the reputation for aloofness. Or is that just a cover for a little bit of secret shyness? After all, Aquarius' traditional ruler is none other than stern, reserved Saturn!
But, being an Air sign, sociability eventually gets the better of Aquarius and when it does he can be life and soul of the party enough to put any Leo in the shade. Case in point, my ever-gregarious Libra mother always, always, had trouble getting my father out of the house for a social event. Using her powers of persuasion she usually managed to sweet talk him into it. Later however, her problem was getting him home again! You see, Aquarius is a stubborn, fixed sign and once he gets into his groove, you have a hard job dragging him out of it.
Now, you might be asking, what about the weird, wacky, eccentric, unconventional, innovative and inventive Aquarius? This is where the Uranus’ ruler-ship of Aquarius comes in. I can verify all of the above from growing up with an Aquarian father, but here’s our paradox again, because there is also something weirdly, strangely conventional about Aquarius. While his ruler Uranus is all about change and upsetting the status quo, Aquarius’ fixity makes him one of the zodiac's stickers, stayers and fixers. Mmmm! How does that work? Well to quote Tompkins again, she says that Aquarius often gets stuck in an unconventional rut. Imagine a young idealistic Aquarian 25 years ago, making an ‘alternative’ career choice. For example, campaigning for an eco-charity; working in a new age shop; training to be an alternative health therapist or something at the cutting edge of IT. Back then this choice would have seemed fairly out-there. Fast forward to now and our Aquarian friend is still working in the same industry, doing things in the same way as they did back then. Here you have your unconventional rut and from the current perspective, those careers no longer seem quite so weird, do they? Avant-garde Uranus matured into responsible Saturn and these turned out to be the people we needed.
I have Moon, Mars and Venus in Aquarius as well as my Mid-Heaven. When I was in my teens and early twenties I was a bit of a goth and prided myself on my avant garde (Uranian) style in clothes, music, literature etc. Us goths were distinct from what we perceived as the ‘trendies’ (the hoi polloi, from our point of view), but as a friend pointed out to me at the time, rather insightfully, you think you're being different, but you all look the same as each other. She was right of course. There were rules (a nice Saturn word) for being a goth that were just as strict as they were for any kind of fashion tribe, but being part of a special group/clan/community felt good and isn't that sense of belonging what Aquarius is really all about?
See you all in the pub….if you twist my arm enough!
With love,
Mandi
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