AQUARIUS RISING

MOTTO:  Reform Life!  Free Self!

With Aquarius rising, you present a one-of-a kind type of identity to others.  You are progressive, inventive, and sociable when you are feeling supported.  When you are not feeling supported, you present a rebel type of identity.  You become angry and emotionally distant. Uranus, the planet representing truth and freedom as well as anything unusual, is the planet that rules Aquarius.  Aquarius is a sign composed of fixed, air, and yang energies.   

With the fixed quality of Aquarius rising, you are determined and persistent in your desire to break free of unwanted limitations placed on you by others.  This fixed quality also brings with it an instinctive need for establishing your personality in the world.  Your instinctive urge is to be who you truly, uniquely are.

The air quality of Aquarius rising lends an articulate, intellectual bent to your nature.  You have a lively mind that is intent on acquiring new knowledge.  With this air sign as your rising sign, your approach to life is sociable, observant, and sensible.  The air influence keeps your personality expression from being overly sentimental or emotional.  Although attentive and friendly in your interactions with others, you still maintain an attitude of objectivity and separateness.   

The combination of yang and Uranian energies has you expressing yourself out in the world as a spontaneous, free-spirited, future-oriented, truth-seeking individual.  Feeling different from others, you are also aware of and accepting of the difference in others.  You tolerate many points of view of what the truth is.  What is important to you is that you are true to yourself.  It is not that there is a single truth out there that everyone must adhere to but that everyone, including you, be allowed the freedom to seek their own truth and be true to themselves.

With this combo of energies making up your Authentic Self’s personality expression, the image you present to others is as someone who is an independent, unconventional, and nonconforming individual.  It is vital to your energetic signature that you are not forced to compromise your authentic self-expression in the world.  An environment of enforced conformity will have you rebelling against it in no time.  You value individuality, not only in yourself but in others as well. To maintain your image as someone who is their own person, the figurative energetic cloak put on to interact with and meet the demands of the world around you with is unique, sometimes eccentric, other times trendy, and more often than not, unconventional. It is uniquely you.  It is not your desire or intention to conform to the expectations of others. The doorway to your Authentic Self freely expresses your sometimes shocking, eccentric, but always, unique Self.

Feng Shui Tips to Creating an Environment that will Support the Expression of Your Aquarian Energetic Signature:

The Feng Shui element that comes closest to supporting your Aquarian energetic signature is metal.  A positive, yang element, it encourages chi to move around in your environment.  It supports creativity, i.e., originality and innovation. It also supports networking, i.e., making friends and exchanging ideas.  Thus, when introduced to your environment, it will reinforce the positive expression of your Aquarian identity.

The most effective places to add the metal element in your home are the areas for networking and for creativity.  In Feng Shui, these areas are called the Helpers/Travel area and the Creativity/Children area.  The Helpers/Travel area is located in the right front (Western) or northwest (Classical) side of your home. The Creativity/Children area is located in the middle right (Western) or west (Classical) side of your home.  Concentrate your Feng Shui enhancements on these two areas to strengthen your personality expression’s needs for freedom to speak your truth, literally and figuratively, as you go about your day-to-day activities. 

Boosting the energy in the Helpers/Travel area of your home will attract people into your life who are:

  • interested in the same areas of life that you are, such as philanthropy and spirituality
  • have similar interests in pastime activities such as hobbies and humanitarian efforts
  • interested in entering into dialogues for the purpose of discussing ideas, especially of the nonconventional and forward-thinking kind

One way to boost this area’s energetic influence is by introducing pictures and artwork representing whatever area in life that interests you right now or with which you want to be more involved.  Other ways to enhance the energy of this area are:

  • adding touches of gray, white, charcoal and metallic colors
  • adding items that are circular or oval in shape
  • adding items made of metal
  • adding any spiritual elements that symbolize your spiritual connection to the divine

Stimulate your sense of innovation and originality by energizing the Creativity/Children area of your home.  Energizing this area will help to manifest your desire to break free of any limitations you feel inhibit the expression of your authentic self. 

Electrical appliances such as TV’s and computers placed in this area not only boost the metal energy here, they also serve to represent and therefore support your affinity for technology.  Having gadgets or other materials to inspire your inventiveness, technology to stimulate your imagination, or anything you feel represents your individualism, inventiveness, and distinctive artistic style would be appropriate for this location.  The same colors that work for the Helpers/Travel area work here also, with the addition of pastels.  Metallic objects and objects representing your sense of fun and your children’s creativity, when placed here, will boost this area’s energy.  Finally, placing healthy plants and having plenty of light and lighting in your home will enhance energetic support for your Aquarian identity as you go about your daily life.

The key phrase for Aquarius is “I know” and the key word is “truth”.  You are not afraid to pursue the new, the unknown, and the different. With Aquarius rising, you instinctively go out and meet each day with the desire to oversee your own destiny.  Aquarius is considered the most unpredictable of all the signs.  Its influence on you is that you are comfortable with, and even desire to have a little unpredictability in your day. (Rising Signs, p. 162) You adapt easily to changing circumstances, preferring this to a humdrum, changeless routine.  With an outlook that is broadminded and progressive, you are a nonconformist and proud of it.  It doesn’t disturb you if others see your views as shocking.  

Your unpredictability can become a negative when you are feeling energetically unsupported or stifled by your environment or by those close to you.  If you feel you are being suppressed, repressed, or limited in any way, you respond by rebelling against these restraints. You can go from being a friendly, helpful team member to becoming a detached observer refusing to join in. What may transpire is your response will be more intense and abrupt with behavior that is more argumentative, contrary, and angry, and, in extreme cases, abusive.   

Feng Shui Tips to Strengthen a Supportive Environment:

You need to be able to put your stamp of individuality on your environment if you are to feel energetically supported.  Because you are considerate and concerned about the people you share your home with, you are not comfortable doing this unilaterally. You want to be able to express your uniqueness, but you do not want to feel like you are preventing others in your home from expressing theirs. The energy associated with the Recognition/Reputation area is best suited to empower you and them to go about each day expressing your unique, authentic selves.  It is located in the rear middle (Western) or south (Classical) side of your home.  Although it is labeled the Recognition/Reputation area, it is more than that.  It illuminates you, who you are, and how you want to “walk in the world”.   It is about shining your light and being able to stay true to yourself.  Enhance the chi of this area of your home to energetically boost support for this intention.  (Journey to Mastery, Feng Shui for Life, p. 138 & 139)

The element for the Recognition/Reputation area is fire, which “is useful for self-expression, encouraging you to be warm-hearted, sociable, and generous.” (Practical Feng Shui Solutions, p.41) It also promotes the illumination of you. 

Ways to add the fire element include adding: 

  • anything in the color of red or its hues
  • candles and lights
  • letting the sun shine in
  • a fireplace or fire symbols
  • anything triangular or conical in shape
  • pictures or artwork of the sun, fire, or representations thereof.  

Lethargy is another trait that can plague you when you have Aquarius rising.  When you are feeling low energetically, you tend to draw back from interacting with others.  You become distant emotionally.  Your aloofness may be interpreted by others as indifference when really, you simply do not feel up to meeting your obligations now.  Rather than causing a scene—which requires a lot of energy— you simply remove yourself from the situation.  

Feng Shui Tips to Counteract Lethargy:

When you are feeling lethargic, look to the Foundation/Family area of your home to concentrate your feng shui improvements on.  It is located in the middle left (Western) or east (Classical) side of your home. This area represents rising energy, health, and family.  Its element is wood, and the color is spring green, both of which represent “rising energy as in spring when trees burst into life.” (Journey to Mastery, Feng Shui for Life, p. 35)

Look over this area for clutter.  Not the kind of clutter that represents projects in progress but the kind of clutter that is stagnant and no longer used.  Stagnant, no longer used clutter represents dead energy that blocks the free flow of energy, your energy.  Therefore, your first feng shui improvement to this area is to remove any clutter of this type, including dead things like dead plants, dried flowers, ashes of the dead and mementos of dead things.  When you do, you will begin to feel free of the bonds of lethargy.

Next, add feng shui enhancements to this area to boost its energetic influence on your get-up-and-go outlook on life.  These enhancements include: 

  • natural wood objects
  • green items and accents of blue
  • Columnar, vertical, upright shaped bookcases, sculptures, and plants
  • pictures of forests, mountains, flowing water, lush landscapes, and gardens
  • photos of cherished family members and occasions
  • symbols of vibrant health and strength.

As you go about your daily life, it is important that you feel you can meet the challenges and the randomness of life with the strengths of your Aquarian identity.  By implementing the above Feng Shui suggestions, you will be aligning your Aquarian energies with the energies of the space you inhabit.  This in turn will strengthen the positive expression of your Aquarian personality and help you to avoid the pitfalls that negative energy of the space you inhabit can have on you.

You are learning about yourself through the reactions of and responses from others to your behavior as you go about your daily life.  Their feedback to you regarding your actions will be either positive or negative.  You will enjoy positive feedback from others when you operate from a friendly, broadminded, and helpful approach.  Whereas, negative feedback can occur when you are aloof, tactless, contrary, or unwilling to join in with others.  Regardless of the type of feedback, you will continue to grow, and your authentic self will continue to learn something new about itself. (Introduction to Evolutionary Astrology, discussion on the archetype of the 1st house/ascendant/rising sign.)