Aquarius: Bearer of Knowledge

Aquarius is the most misunderstood sign of the zodiac. Ask anyone what they know about Aquarius, and 9 in 10 people will tell you it’s a water sign. This may sound like common sense, or a fact reasonably deduced from the contextual clue “aqua” meaning “water” in the name. However, Aquarius, the water-bearer and 11th sign of the duodecimal zodiac is one of four air signs. The twelve signs are divided into four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. In addition, they are associated with a modality, as described as follows. As the activist, feminist, modern lesbian astrologer Chani Nicholas describes in her 2020 book You Were Born For This,

“Each sign is categorized by modality and element. There are three modalities (cardinal, fixed, and mutable) and four elements (fire, earth, air and water). The modality of a sign tells us what its job is. Cardinal signs innate new seasons. Fixed signs stabilize the existing season. Mutable signs let go of one season in preparation for another. Because of this, no two fire, earth, air, or water signs work exactly alike.”

Thus, the cardinal (initiating) signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. Aries (March 21-April 19) is the fiery first sign, aptly represented by the constellation the Ram, who literally “marches” us into the zodiac, introducing Spring. Watery Cancer (June 21-July 22), ruled by the Moon and represented by the constellation the Crab, introduces the swollen waves of sweaty summer. Then lovely Libra (September 23-October 22), represented by the constellation the Scales, escorts us into the fall equinox, where day and night again grow equal and its ruling planet Venus, the evening star, shines brightly. Capricorn (December 22-January 19), the old Goat, shepherds us into the cold winter.

Then we find the fixed signs situated in the middle of the seasons accordingly: Taurus (May 20-April19), whose constellation is the Bull, is a fixed earth sign that comes after Aries and harnesses the power of spring, or the physical world. Leo, (July 23-August 22) a fixed fire sign found in the constellation of the Lio that harnesses the Sun’s undeniable power in the peak of summer. Scorpio, the fixed water sign represented by the constellation the Scorpion, channels the power of emotional intensity during the spell of time that hosts the Day of the Dead and Halloween, when the veil that separates the living and the dead is at its finest. Aquarius (January 20-February 18), the fixed air sign, is represented by the constellation the water-bearer and is felt in the electric cold of mid-winter.

Finally, The mutable signs then round out the Zodiac by serving as the transition between seasons. Gemini (May 21-June 20), the mutable air sign represented by the constellation the Twins, disperses information gleaned during the bountiful spring. Virgo, represented by the constellation the Virgin, (August 23-September 22) disperses skills acquired the accumulated spring and summer. After a long winter, Sagittarius (November 22nd to December 21st), found in the constellation the Centaur, disperses enthusiasm that propels us through the end of the long winter. Finally, Pisces (February 19-March 20), represented by the constellation the Fish, a mutable water sign, disperses dreams and visions upon which we sail into spring, into new life.

Many people know the name of the sign that they are associated with, according to their birth date. However many are not aware of what “sun sign” really means. What it means that one’s “sun sign” is Aquarius means that the Sun, as seen from Earth, was visible in the portion of the sky where the constellation the Water-Bearer appears to be located, again, from our unique vantage point on earth. Astrology is an ancient science that is continually growing as we discover more about our solar system (and ourselves), but astrology is also an ancient science, based upon thousands and thousands of years of human observation. Long before electricity changed our days into nights with artificial lights, and technology brought TVs, computers, and cell phones that changed our lies, humans were watching the Stars as they changed in the sky, along with tracking the movements of the Sun and Moon. These ancestors, all over the world, for thousands upon thousands of years, drew pictures in the stars, the same constellations we see today — the Ram, the Bull, the Twins, the Crab, the Lion, the Virgin, the Scales, the Scorpion, the Archer, the Sea-Goat, the Water Bearer, and the Fish. They saw that the sky, from our vantage point on earth, appears to be split into twelve relatively equal parts, each with a dominant Constellation as just listed. The ancestors noticed, noted, discussed and wrote how children born during the early Spring had qualities of the Ram that ruled the part of the sky that hosted the Sun. They noticed that those born during harvest time, the time of the Virgin in the fall, had qualities that strove for beauty and equality. They noticed that children born under the sign of the Water-Bearer would bring their intellect to help others.

Thus it can be deduced from this pouring-out of knowledge, that the author is a proud Aquarius. Okay, pop quiz: What element is Aquarius? If you said water, you’re fired! If you said air, you’re…getting warmer! The astrologer, polyglot, traveller Gahl Sasson actually describes Aquarius as being ruled by electricity. He explains that the ancestors who described Aquarius as the waves in the air affecting people and things, did not yet have an understanding of electromagnetics. We see in the glyph of Aquarius two wavy lines that have been understood for thousands of years to represent water. However the author has strived to demonstrate that the “wavy lines” that Aquarius so magnanimously bestows upon humanity, is not simply water, but electricity, technology, and knowledge.

The fact that the author has written this essay about her sign, while really discussing in depth each sign of the Zodiac equally, has demonstrated the democratic qualities of an Aquarius while acting in a most Aquarian way — distributing knowledge for all.

So please don’t call us a water sign.