Sylvan E Thorncraft © August 2003

     Aquarius is the innovative and creative mind, the revolutionary, concerned with society, fairness, equality, and community.  She seeks her own way of being (I’m different).  Her traditional symbol is the water bearer.

      In tarot she is the Star (17), the card of self-sufficiency and talent recognized by others.  She is the guiding light, the way Aquarian energy lights the way for future change, the way Imbolc (February 2) holds the promise of lengthening days through winter’s chill.  The seed sun of Solstice begins to stir and gather strength to sprout.

     The moon is now steadily waning from last quarter to balsamic.  A slim crescent, the fruit and stem are withering.  This is a time of great uncertainty, wisdom gained through the cycle must be concentrated, seeds begin to form.

     When I began working this sign I thought about what it means to bear water.  Water is the substance that all life depends upon.  Water symbolizes intuition and the collective past.  Water gives birth to all things.  Water can represent mother, it is a metaphor for love, the essential element of fertility and creativity. 

     In Greek myth Hebe, the virgin form of Hera, was the cupbearer to the Gods.  She held the cup of ambrosia, which granted them immortality.  In the Helenistic period she was replaced by a male youth as cupbearer and sent to heaven to dwell in the stars as Aquarius54.  I felt her cup holds ambrosia as the Aquarian cup holds water, both liquids vital to the existence of its recipients.

     I chose Pallas Athena as Aquarius because of the way she generates mental and artistic creations from her mind.  She represents the principle of creative intelligence.  She also carries the head of Medusa, a reminder that as the daughter of Metis (Medusa), the goddess of wisdom, she holds deep feminine wisdom, the water that is necessary for our survival.  It is these truths that will fuel the Aquarian star, illuminating new ideas and systems as the future is dreamt into reality.