Aquarian Archetypes

I am writing about the Aquarian Archetypes today, in this last of a series specifically about astrological Archetypes.  It’s been an interesting ride!  It is time to embrace the potential of this sign, turning the spotlight on its Archetypes.

A few words about Aquarian:  Always expect the unexpected.  Their use of the higher mind, through the ruling planet Uranus, ensures that their initiatives always come from left field!  In fact, they are on a roll at the moment, as their planet very recently went Direct again.

So, following as I usually proceed, are some thoughts I highlighted back in my 2016 blog, and then some examples of Aquarius and its Archetypes, including from history:

“Networker

The Networker Archetype is one of the most prominent of Aquarian Archetypes.  It is often found in a chart when the Sun and Mercury, which travel round the zodiac together, are in the 11th House of Friendships and Groups.

Caroline Myss describes it as expanding “sphere of influence by forging alliances and making connections among vastly different groups of people”.

Liberator

The Liberator (from Myss again) “helps to liberate us from the self-inflicted tyranny of negative thought patterns and beliefs, spiritual sluggishness, poor nutrition, destructive relationships, or addictive behaviour”.  We all need that one.

Engineer *

This is an aspect of the Scientist.  In Gemini, the Scientist as an Archetype is related to teaching, academia, writing and research.  In Aquarius the Scientist is more dynamic, and with an association with Electricity.  The conjunction of Mars and Uranus in a chart often denotes a talent for mechanical or electrical engineering.

Trickster

Can the Trickster Archetype add to our understanding of the Coyote animal totem, or the Jay?

Caroline Myss has as its Light attribute “Transcending convention, stuffiness, and predictable behaviour” – all eminently Aquarian!  It “can be a great ally in presenting alternatives to the straight and narrow path, to people and institutions who seek to hem you in through peer pressure and conformism”.

Activist**

With Mars, in some capacity, Aquarius and Uranus produces the Activist.  For example, Mars in Aquarius often produces someone who champions the underdog, or uses networking and pressure groups to engineer social justice.

New Archetypes

Caroline Myss introduces new Archetypes in her book of 2013.  She originally wrote about Archetypes (which she sees in her inner vision) in “Sacred Contracts” in 2001.  She produced her Archetype Cards two years later.  She goes into more depth, and gives more guidance, about these newer archetypes.

Famous Example: David Bowie had both of these two Archetypes which follow, with his Aquarian Ascendant.

Rebel

Caroline identifies four types of Rebel, where the personality has grown into a more mature and cohesive expression of this Archetype: the Noble Rebel, the Anarchist Rebel, the Social/Civil Rebel, and the Feminist Rebel.

Famous Example: The groundbreaking feminist writer Germaine Greer is of course an Aquarian.

Visionary

In her Archetypes book Myss advises: “The lesson for the Visionary is to experience the power of your creative vision, however large or small, and to realize its potential in the larger scope of your life.”

Famous Example: quoting from Caroline Myss: “Oprah Winfrey [Aquarius] built a media empire around her vision to transform people’s lives.” – my brackets.*

Further Clarifications

*For the Engineer

Some of the Archetypes for Gemini and Aquarius can be blurred edges, blend, or meet in the middle.  Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the rational mind, and Aquarius by Uranus the higher intuitive mind.  Technology leans more to Aquarius through Uranus, but at the same time people blame Mercury Retrograde (associated with Gemini and Virgo) for I.T. glitches.  The tradition for interpreting Mercury goes back to ancient times, whereas Uranus is a relative newcomer.

**For the Activist

Where there is a strong connection between Mars and Uranus, sometimes also Mercury, in a chart, there is often a strong impulse towards Activism.  An Aries/Aquarius chart is one such indicator.

The Technician

I would add The Technician, another facet of the Scientific aspect of Aquarius, from the higher mind through Uranus.

The Activist

Rosa Parks (4/2/1913 – 24/10/2005

“I felt that, if I did stand up, it meant that I approved of the way I was being treated, and I did not approve”

~ Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks, dubbed the “mother of the civil rights movement” was the ultimate in effective activism, back in 1950s America, challenging bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama.

She is a true blue Aquarian, born on 4th February 1913, but in addition had Mars closely conjunct her Ascendant, thus exactly fulfilling the criteria mentioned under The Activist Archetype.  Her Moon in Capricorn was conjunct Mars – a bolshy attitude, with quick emotional responses.  Her biographer Douglas G. Brinkley informs us that her refusal to move in favour of a white person on the bus was not premeditated.

She had Mercury conjunct Uranus, so was not afraid of controversy, mentally seeing the need for Change.  Mercury exactly square her Midheaven, was very symbolic of the fact that she was travelling on public transport when her crucial action took place in relation to her “work in the world” (Midheaven).

Uranus closely sextile the North Node in Aries showed a karmic mission to bring about change, making a personal stand.  And Chiron exactly trine her Midheaven meant that her action wasn’t just a personal healing, it had a wider implication

She was born in Tuskagee, Alabama, and her mother was a teacher.  Growing up in Alabama, she was painfully aware of the racial segregation policies and incipient violence.  She met her husband Raymond Parks, who was also an Aquarian activist, when she was 18.  He had Mars conjunct his North Node (karmic mission as a Warrior/Activist).  Her Mars was exactly trine his North Node.

The bus incident was therefore not her first act of defiance or activism.  She was involved in voting rights for black people, and supporting rape victims.

The act which made her famous, and changed the lives of black Americans took place around 5 pm on 1st December 1955.  She had chronic bursitis at the time, giving her a great deal of pain in her shoulders, but it was not the reason for her rebellion.  She got on a bus driven by a man called James Blake who she had some run-ins with.  Some white people got on the bus and he instructed that the black people give up their seats.  She refused, and the rest is history.

Her transits at the time were very revealing and apt:

Chiron was sextile her natal Venus – an act of self-love

Pluto was sextile her natal Pluto – self-empowerment

Uranus was sextile her natal Venus – rebelling successfully against social norms

What followed was a one-day boycott of Montgomery buses, the involvement of Martin Luther King encouraging the continuation of the boycott, and the eventual Supreme Court order of the integration of the bus system in Montgomery.

She lived to the ripe old age of 92.

“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in”

And

“I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed. I had decided that I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen.”

~ Rosa Parks

The Rebel

Germaine Greer – (b. 29/1/1939)

No less groundbreaking within her own field, that of feminism, is Australian Aquarian Germaine Greer.  The focus in her chart is the Moon conjunct Uranus (change on behalf of feminism, where Moon – Women and Uranus = Change) which is situated at the base of her chart, the foundation of all she does, and involving her Sun’s ruler Uranus.  Her rebellious spirit is shown to be intensified by the fact that Uranus, the planet of Rebellion, squares her natal Sun in already rebellious Aquarius!  Uranus is also exactly square to her Ascendant, accentuating the rebellion even further.  She is an iconoclast, in that respect.  Venus closely square Neptune in her chart gives her a super-sensitivity to female issues.  Mars exactly trine Pluto provided a vehemency and strength of purpose.  Mercury opposite Pluto may also be excoriating in speech and writing.  Jupiter trine Chiron points to the attempt to heal something in the collective psyche.

She created Controversy (her middle name, and another name for Uranus) when she published her book “The Female Eunuch” in 1970.  Transiting Neptune was on her Mars in the 10th House of Career at the time, and combined with Pluto sextile her Mars: making it both a sensitive and impactful event.  Mars in 10th House represents Self-Assertion in the world.  Chiron was sextile her natal Sun, making it an important healing for her.  Jupiter was riding high at the top of her chart exactly opposite her natal Moon, the focus of her Feminism.  The book is arguably the first mainstream popular book on the subject.

You may notice that with your Aquarian family, friends and acquaintances, some of them have more than one of these Archetypes.  While the Sun is in Aquarius (until 19th February, this year), you can connect with your own Aquarian Archetypes, or Uranian qualities if you do not have any Aquarian planets, and explore their potential.

P.S. Spot the deliberate mistake, in this blog! ;-}

I’d like to end with my poem to Aquarius, written in 1981:

Aquarius

The human race is my sphere:

I am above petty concerns,

But the wider issues

Evoke my conscience,

And I shall bring everyone

to that realization

18/1/81

Aspects

Today Uranus squares Venus, which may contribute to an abrasive day for meetings.  The way through is to use your intuition, and stay one step ahead.  Relationships can be disrupted, and subject to misunderstandings.  On the other hand, on a higher level, it can open up telepathic communication between individuals.

Venus wriggles free of Uranus by Tuesday (10th) and enters the waters of Pisces.  Where she may have been defiant in Aquarius, she becomes more emotional in the watery sign.  This brings in a higher frequency of compassion.  You may have been looking at things in a mental or practical way, and may be able to relax a little and allow the heart greater expression.  The trend towards tenderness lasts until her entry into Aries on 6th March.  Charities can be honoured and prioritized, and the Arts can be especially inspired during this period.  Collectively, there is more sentimentality and the free-flowing of tears with Venus in Pisces.

Wednesday (11th) brings a sextile between the Sun and Chiron.  This could be a cheery and healing prospect.  It’s onwards and upwards, and also helpful for problem-solving.  What do you yearn to solve?  There will be an attempt to bring everything to a wholeness.  If you are meeting a friend for coffee, you could discover more in common than you thought, and more potential for the friendship.

Mercury conjoins the North Node at 9 degrees Pisces on Thursday (12th).  This can bring karmic information and communication of a subtle but revealing nature.  Follow the cues and clues – they may provide added interest to your creativity and acquisition of knowledge.

Finally on Friday (13th), Saturn re-enters Aries.  We are handed a huge dose of reality, and letting go of the unreality of Saturn in Pisces.  For Saturn-ruled Capricornians in particular, its placement in Aries will bring out the inner fighting spirit.  For Aries people, and depending where in Aries their natal Sun is, they will need to step up, take responsibility, and grow.  For the population in general, it is about personal growth, accountability and maturity.  Saturn, a slow planet, in Aries, the Mars-ruled fast-paced sign means that patience will be needed to adhere to a long project, and see it through (something that Aries-Mars doesn’t usually have the capacity to do). “Rome was not built in a day” may be one of the mottos of this two year period: the impatience of Aries polished by the stamina of Saturn.  It’s good to get a foothold on this ingress around this time, before the great conjunction of Saturn and Neptune at the 0 degrees Aries point on 20th February, as detailed in my New Year blog.  A good strong foothold and foundation will make it easier when Neptune tries to blow the house down, as in the children’s nursery rhyme of three little pigs.  If you have a house made of bricks instead of straw, then you can deal with what Neptune is asking you for spiritually.  As mentioned in my New Year blog, people who have a Saturn-Neptune link in their natal chart will have useful experience in dealing with this dynamic.  One further piece of advice, choose love over fear.

The week in bullet points:

  • Today – disrupted relationships, healing through intuition
  • Tuesday – release some emotion
  • Wednesday – creative and healing problem-solving
  • Thursday – karmic information
  • Friday – setting out new and stronger foundations
Date: Feb 8th, 2026 · Comments RSS · Tags: Archetypes