Side by Side

We all relate to the elements every day. Water, air, earth, and fire are inescapable. The zodiac divides people into elements and so we are related to an element by birth, no choice of our own. It’s strange how there are twelve zodiac signs and twelve months but they don’t align exactly. Is that by design? In order to understand this clearly, we need to embrace the idea that the symbols and the elements all “speak” to us. Looking at the symbol for each of the signs there are two parts to each symbol. These parts can be seen as opposites in a way. My sign, Aquarius, for example, has two wavy lines. It is also interesting that Aquarius is called the water bearer but is actually an air sign. Aquarius starts on January 20 and ends on February 19. For the longest time, I didn’t really feel like the Aquarius that every horoscope described. We’re called crazy, flighty, off the wall, stand-outish, loud, and anything but subtle. I suppose some of those can apply but not always and much more limited than imagined. So how can this be?

If we look closer we see that there are two parts to every sign. There is the bold “look at me” side and the quieter “this is me” side. When these are put together we get a complete picture of the person born under the sign and their mission. The world is organized chaos! So as a January Aquarius my quiet side is the dominant side. In general, I have big crazy ideas but I’m not a really “crazy” person. I’d love to help all people, in small groups. I’d love an international business that can be run from a smaller place with only a few employees. I guess I’m “glocal”, global and local at the same time. While I thought this was unique to me I began to see it in all the other signs. There is a dominant and secondary aspect to each one. If this is true, is there a way then to predict which characteristics are dominant? As a matter of fact, I think there is.

In studying a little deeper, the texts describe the world as rotating backward through the astrological signs. It’s called precession. Beginning at Pisces we move backward to Aquarius, then Capricorn, then Sagittarius, etc. Following this idea, it would seem then that as a January Aquarius I should take on some of the characteristics of Capricorn, and so it is! But wait, which characteristics if Capricorn, the outgoing side or the quieter side. As it turns out it’s the outgoing side because it is the January side of Capricorn. Is this making sense? So going forward through the zodiac the strong outgoing side is the month clockwise, the quiet side is the month counterclockwise. Remember, all zodiac signs are in a time span that includes two months. So the pattern that is created is observable and allows us to get a feel for people, it lets us know a little about by their birthdates, and its awesome,

As a January Aquarius that makes me have big ideas that can be shared with lots of people (the air sign) and I like to do it in a quietly bold way (the bold Capricorn from January). This describes me exactly. I have all the descriptions of Aquarius just in subtle ways. Analytical, fast, bold, reserved quiet, shy, are all words that describe my personality just as predicted. Aquarius is tasked with bringing people together for big projects. It’s our job to understand the people and be able to group them accordingly. We connect things and move them into place. We explain so that others understand and can use new tools. I never thought I fit my description until the pattern became apparent. Now it all makes sense!