According to Rav Berg, in his book “Kabbalistic Astrology,” Aquarius is the most stubborn of all the signs. Interesting. In the past I would have said Taurus, but I understand to a great extent where he is coming from, and as time goes on am inclined to agree with him.
He says that even though both Capricorn and Aquarius are ruled by Saturn, the two signs are very different. Capricorn is the part of Saturn that looks inward back into the solar system toward the Sun. It’s all about limitation. Aquarius, on the other hand, is Saturn looking out beyond itself, toward infinity – toward the stars.
According to the Kabbalists, the Aquarian age started about 400 years ago. They refer to it as the Age of Redemption. Aquarius is the sign of unification – the realization that we are all one – the overcoming of fragmentation. The problem with the negative side of Aquarius is that it tries to achieve this oneness by elimination, negation, or denial. The Nazis thought they could achieve oneness by simply eliminating the Jews. The negative Aquarius of today think they can achieve unity by ignoring poverty, or by going into denial about the problems of ecology and global warming. Unity must be inclusive –we are all part of each other.
An important kabbalistic idea is that in the beginning of anything can be found its seed, which contains all the energy of that thing. The first degree of each sign contains the seed of that sign. In the Chandra Symbols the first degree of Aquarius is the image, “A two-headed calf.” My initial reaction to this symbol was repulsion, for I don’t like the grotesqueness of it. But getting beyond this, there is an important message in that symbol: the calf is, of course, a young cow, or Taurus, which signifies value and worth. The fact that it has two heads means that in every dualism there is value to be found on both sides. Some people think work is the most valuable endeavor in the world, but play is just as important. Whenever we deny anything we create a duality that always comes back to us in the form of karma. And so the only way off this karmic wheel is to see that each side of the duality is there to teach us something we need to learn. Ellias Lonsdale says that the problem with this first degree of Aquarius is that if it contemplates this duality too long it miss the chance to take action, and so must work to keep synthesizing everything in its experience in a flowing way.
And really, this is what Aquarius is all about. This is the seed of Aquarius which will blossom into the new Garden of Eden we are creating here on earth.
My dear friend Linda Defeo just had her progressed Sun move into this degree, so the next year for her is about perceiving two sides to everything and working to bring unity and synthesis into her experience.
I would love to relate to you each first, or seed degree of each sign, and hopefully as time goes on I’ll get around to it. One more thing, though, about the first degree of Aquarius: In the Omega symbol system, the image is “Deciding to die, a vampire walks into the sunlight.” I laughed when I first saw this! What the hell does it mean? Going into meditation, I saw the significance: You know, vampires are very selfish, willing to kill others to serve their own needs, willing to suck the energy of other people to keep themselves going. They’re afraid of the Sun, which signifies divine purpose. In the symbol, the vampire gives up his/her selfishness. Those Nazis I accused of being Aquarians, well, they were certainly vampires. It is now the Aquarian age, and all vampires need to walk into the sun, the sexist vampires, the racist vampires, the elitist vampires, the advertising vampires, the Wall Street vampires, and all others.
By the way, the difference between the Chandra symbol and the Omega symbol is that the Chandra symbols tend to signify the “descendant” of a degree, in other words, they’re like the seventh house of a degree, whereas the Omega symbols are like the Nadir, or fourth house of a degree. So the Chandra symbols show how the degrees RELATE (seventh house) to the outside world, whereas the Omega Symbols show the FOUNDATION or HEART of a degree.
One of the best gems I gleaned from Rav Berg’s vision of Aquarius is that Auarians need to allow themselves to be channels of spiritual energy, rather then focusing on personal glory.
A friend told me recently about Bob Dole relating the story that back during the Clinton Era when national health care was being considered, a group of his fellow republicans talked him out of voting for it saying, “You plan to run for president. Wait until you do and you win. Then you can pass a health care bill and receive all the glory.” Dole said he was very sorry he followed their advice. Thank you, Bob, for your sincerity and willingness to admit a mistake.
…Channels of spiritual energy rather than focusing on personal glory…YES!!!.
