All About Aquarius
Aquarius is a seeker of truth, especially one's own personal truth. Aquarius knows better than anyone that what is true for one person is not necessarily true for another. Aquarius is typically known as the sign of the rebel who 'marches to their own tune,' but to concentrate on that misses the point. Aquarius is not here to rebel, but just to be herself. When Aquarius is living according to her own internal compass, acts of rebellion are merely an occasional side effect, perceived as such only by others around her that don't understand where she's coming from.
Aquarius is known for being 'different', but her uniqueness comes in her willingness to pursue her own truth, even if it looks bizarre - and sometimes it does. Aquarius has an element of genius, or rather, she is better equipped to acknowledge her own genius than some of us, by being willing to think and act in ways that are free from convention. She does not think along regular conventional lines, and therefore she is able to put ideas together that perhaps haven't been taught before, but simply make obvious sense to her. For this quality, Aquarius is known as the sign of the inventor.
We learn so much about cultural expectations and social 'norms' as we grow up, and it takes a lot of effort and courage for us to be able to go against that grain when necessary. The trickiest arena for Aquarius is to be able to be herself and follow her own path when it conflicts with what her loved ones think is best for her. Whether or not the behavior is 'right' is not the point - the truth is, Aquarius may sometimes be digging herself into a hole, since we all make mistakes, but the point is that she needs to walk her own path, wherever it may take her.
That's good advice for anyone, but it's nothing less than the life blood of Aquarius. She simply cannot pretend to be anything but who she is; that need is her core. Aquarius can get really tangled up here though. First of all, she may have to battle loneliness and feelings of alienation. Does she need to be alone in order to be herself? No. Does it sometimes seem like she does? Sure.
If Aquarius gives in to the sense that she has to fight against everyone in order to be herself, she can go down one of two dark paths. One is to just to avoid the fight - give up and try to fit in - fit in with her parents' wishes, her friends' genuine but misguided advice, the 'common sense' speeches about what will and won't get you somewhere in the world, and try to play it safe. If she follows this path, eventually she will become a ghost, a walking body with no one home inside. What often happens if she succumbs to this is she will find herself wanting to rebel in situations that seem trivial to others but can turn into huge wars to her. If she is not able to direct the important things in her life, she will turn all that individualistic energy into outlandish quirkiness - fighting small battles that are unimportant because she is not fighting the ones that really matter to her. Sometimes this quality, while it can have some tricky side effects, is actually helpful to Aquarius. She may find herself using the rebellious energy to push away from family and friends that don't understand her, rebelling because that's the only way she knows to maintain enough strength in herself to follow her heart and to give herself the room she needs. If this is her method, it may not be the best way, but it can help her keep her priority of personal truth at the top of the list, if she needs to do it that way.
The other extreme of this shadow is to embrace her rebel status so deeply that she assumes the role of the outcast, deciding that this is the cost of being herself and that there is no possibility for relationship because relationship means compromise and losing your individuality. While Aquarius needs to maintain a certain detachment from others so that she doesn't get too tangled up in who they are and lose herself, she also doesn't need to shun companionship just to be 'who she is.' She can actually end up fostering mistrust for others that keeps her alienated if she stays with this belief. The relationships she needs to seek out are ones that allow her enough freedom and space to be herself.
Aquarius needs her gift of stubbornness to be able to stick to her guns when she knows she's doing something she needs to do, since the barrage of advice from worried family members and the disapproval of society can sometimes be great. This is also a double edged sword because if she's not careful, she can shoot herself in the foot by assuming that she's always 'right'. While she has to make sure she is the final word on all her decisions for herself, it is a challenge to keep herself open to learning from others and she needs to realize the difference between letting others tell you what to do and simply being open to other ideas besides your own. This is another way she can risk alienation, if she becomes so sure of herself that she is unapproachable and selfrighteous. She needs independence and a certain amount of detachment from others to stay in touch with her own sanity and identity.
Aquarius itself may not be the most obviously 'touchy-feely' sign. Of course we all have feelings, even Aquarius, but her ability to empathize and identify with others is not her strongest one, simply because over-identification with others can get her into situations where she can't hear her true self and too much empathy is not the talent she most needs. However, Aquarius has gotten a reputation for being a humanitarian. This is a different picture of the humanitarian than we might first imagine. For Aquarius, it comes out as the spirit of the freedom fighter - the one who is frustrated by the lack of freedom in the world and in her society and others, by whatever definition - whether it's that people are not free because they are being suppressed by their government or culture, religiously, issues of gender and orientation rights, whatever it is - but also even if it's oppression because of lack, such as the hungry or homeless. Aquarius believes in and fights for personal freedom; it is her philosophy and belief that the right to personal freedom is the first and most important right that everyone deserves, and where she sees that right being threatened, she will fight.
So give your favorite Aquarius the benefit of the doubt and let her be herself.