by Robert Wilkinson
February accents the Sun in the Air sign Aquarius, where we can find a larger world service, a wider view of a greater good for all, and a more ideal way to live. This sign sees how and with whom we can make a larger contribution, as well as the power of managing our own or others’ energies on various levels of human experience.
The light force is still at a minimum, though the days are getting longer. This is the time to get things in place for what you want to see grow rapidly in the near future, when Spring begins anew. We are still in the midst of a long term period when many old forms are dying thanks to the 2009 Aquarius Solar Eclipse. There's more for each individual sign here.
This Eclipse allowed for the emergence of new mutations freed from old conditions and karmas over the past 36 months which will continue for another 9 months. Manifestations of Cosmos continue to bring forth new forms, new ideas, new ways of structuring and perceiving our human reality all around the world. And of course, Aquarius is the sign of humanitarian based revolutions based on a higher human ideal. These are in evidence in many parts of our world, and it is safe to presume they will continue in various places until governments meet the needs of the people.
In February 2011, Aquarian energies are much less stronger than in past years, since besides the Sun, only Mercury is in Aquarius, and it only through mid-month. Venus heralded what this year’s Aquarius energy is about when it moved through this sign in late December and early January. And this is the first February in many years that features Neptune in Pisces, so we end one major era and pick up a new one this month!
In Aquarius we can catch a larger vision, a larger effectiveness, and a larger ideal. It's one of the "harvest signs," so continue to capture the momentum toward a greater life, a greater contribution, or greater group effectiveness. This period is giving us more information about the promise and expansions of Jupiter in Aquarius in 2009, just as late February through most of March will give us more insights and vitality into what was set into motion in 2010 during Jupiter in Pisces.
Aquarius is the visionary of the future. Mythologically, this sign of the Water Bearer is the royal nobility of the King or Queen as they represent Divine Order in their realm. They are ruled by both Saturn and Uranus, so are here to embody the best of the old and the best of the new in the light of a greater world service.
Aquarius serves the All in the name of the greatest good for the greatest number. They bow their head to no one, recognize no authority except their own, and embody a consistent independence from traditional bonds. It is said that Aquarians would feel more at home 200 years ago or 200 years from now, due to their extremely progressive yet timeless focus.
Aquarius, when freed of the chains of eccentric willfulness, bizarre behavior as a reaction to socialized expectations, and excessive coolness and tangential theoretical thinking, show their world how to make a greater contribution to their world, easily managing some form of Divine service to their society. When Aquarius' mighty impersonality and vision are leashed by the Higher Self, great works are created that will outlive the life of the creators.
Think Franklin D. Roosevelt, the visionary who prevented class warfare during the Great Depression and mobilized an uneducated, semi-skilled population through visionary public works programs to create the greatest industrial and military power the world has ever known in the cause of democracy. Or Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart, whose music was brilliant, pioneering, and has been found to stimulate the human brain in ways that promote its natural genius. “The Mozart Effect” is now known to be a futuristic tool to promote neural functioning and the brain’s creative wiring. Arguably the greatest Aquarian of all, Abraham Lincoln, saved the United States while ending slavery in our country, offering us a vision of equality and “malice toward none with charity for all.”
Five other immortal Aquarians who made their mark on our world for all time were “the Man For All Seasons,” Sir Thomas More, Copernicus, who laid out the solar system as it is, the brilliant and courageous free thinker Galileo, the Indian sage Ramakrishna, and Thomas Edison, who invented (among other things) the light bulb, phonograph, records, movie camera, fluoroscope, alkaline battery, mimeograph, dictation machine, the incandescent lamp, lighting generators, sockets, switches, insulating tape, electric motor, electric railway, and the stock ticker. Quite a quintet of visionaries!
Famous Aquarians of history in the political arena besides the august Presidents already mentioned include two Presidents that died in office and a third fading away. First, the precipitator of "Tecumseh's Curse," William Henry Harrison. Second, William McKinley, whose assassination paved the way for America's great Ecological President whose trust busting reined in big business for a while, Theodore Roosevelt. Finally, Ronald Reagan, the bad actor and great illusionist.
Another timeless figure in this political group is perhaps the most famous signature in furniture history, American founding father John Hancock. Other political players include Susan B. Anthony, Simone Weil, Jose Marti, Rosa Parks, Adlai Stevenson Jr., Boris Yeltsin, Corazon Aquino, and Kim Jong-Il.
There are quite a few notable authors, some of the best of all time. Among classic authors of history we find Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, Lord Byron, Emanuel Swedenborg, Robert Burns, Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, Frederick Douglass, Charles Darwin, Lewis Carroll, Colette, James Joyce, Zane Grey, Gertrude Stein, Germaine Greer, Sinclair Lewis, William Burroughs, Bertold Brecht, Edith Wharton, W. Somerset Maugham, Virginia Woolf, S.J. Perelman, Sidney Sheldon, Amy Lowell, Brendan Behan, Betty Friedan, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sholem Aleichem, Ayn Rand, and Georges Simenon.
More contemporary literary icons include Thomas Merton, Norman Mailer, Langston Hughes, James Michener, Boris Pasternak, Alice Walker, Judy Blume, Susan Sontag, Toni Morrison, John Grisham, Jules Feiffer, James Dickey, Jennifer LB Leese, and the Theosophical clairvoyant who discovered Krishnamurti, Charles W. Leadbeater.
Legendary Aquarian musicians include the Prophet Bob Marley, blues pioneers Leadbelly and slide guitar master Elmore James, Franz Schubert, Stephane Grappelli, Jerome Kern, Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, Don Everly, Carole King, Tim Buckley, Skitch Henderson, Mario Lanza, Leontyne Price, John Williams, Sergio Mendes, Steve Marriott, Warren Zevon, Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Sonny Bono, Arthur Rubenstein, and Brill Building hitmaker Barry Mann.
Extraordinary contemporary male musical stars include Genesis members Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, and Steve Hackett. Other major talents features Billie Joe Armstrong, Ronnie Vannucci Jr., Graham Nash, Dave Davies, Ray Manzarek, Aaron Neville, Big Boi (Antwan André Patton), Michael Kelland Hutchence, Placido Domingo, Marty Balin, Charlie Musselwhite, Michael McDonald, Alex Harvey, Dan Seals, Eddie Van Halen, Axl Rose, Steven Adler, Steve Perry, Vince Neil, Billy Nicholls, Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Nick Mason, Mike Shinoda, Brandon Boyd, Masaharu Fukuyama, Richard Hardy, Tony Iommi, David "Phoenix" Farrell, Christopher Drew Ingle, Garth Brooks, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Kirk Franklin, and Jonny Lang.
The women of Aquarius feature some equally talented unique musical beings. Featured Aquarian females include Melissa Manchester, Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Alicia Keys, Natalie Imbruglia, Anita Baker, Kelly Rowland, Claudette Pace, Shakira, Sara Evans, and Teresa Teng.
In the movies, we have some of the most famous actors in history, including W. C. Fields, Clark Gable, Jimmy Durante, Paul Newman, Paul Scofield (who played Aquarian Sir Thomas More!), Jack Lemmon, Ernest Borgnine, James Dean, George Kennedy, John Forsythe, Victor Mature, Red Buttons, Ronald Coleman, Lon Cheney Jr., Buster Crabbe, John Barrymore, Lyle Talbot, Arthur Kennedy, Cesar Romero, Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, John Belushi, George Segal, Alan Bates, Dean Jones, Troy Donahue, James Franciscus, and Leslie Nielsen.
Legendary Aquarian beauties of stage and screen number some of the best: Lana Turner, Carmen Miranda, Jeanne Moreau, Carol Channing, Vanessa Redgrave, Katherine Ross, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Piper Laurie, Kim Novak, Tammy Grimes, Dorothy Malone, Mamie Van Doren, Claire Bloom, and Kathryn Grayson.
Notable directors include D.W. Griffith, John Ford, Milos Forman, Franco Zeffirelli, John Hughes, and the first woman director, legendary actress Ida Lupino.More recent film luminaries include Mia Farrow, Bert Reynolds, Rip Torn, Jane Seymour, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Meg Tilly, Barbara Hershey, John Hurt, Bridget Fonda, Geena Davis, Matt Dillon, Nick Nolte, Stockard Channing, Joe Pesci, Pauly Shore, Natassia Kinski, Rene Russo, Gayle Hunnicutt, Ziyi Zhang, Laura Dern, Rutger Hauer, Linda Blair, Kelly Lynch, James Spader, Scott Glenn, Chris Farley, Denise Richards, Izabella Miko, Mena Suvari, Q'Orianka Kilcher, Elijah Wood, Diane Lane, Christian Bale, Michael Sheen, Christina Ricci, Margaux Hemingway, Molly Ringwald, Kerry Washington, Heather Graham, Kherington Payne, Patton Oswalt, Minnie Driver, and John Travolta.
In the world of television we find Aquarians from the classic past include Jack Benny, Ernie Kovacs, Garry Moore, Hugh Beaumont, Audrey Meadows, Anne Jeffreys, Lorne Greene, Donna Reed, Joey Bishop, Telly Savalas, Tommy Smothers, Hugh Downs, Bill Cullen, Ann Sothern, Vic Morrow, Harvey Korman, Dick Martin, Gale Gordon, Tina Louise, Eva Gabor, Farrah Fawcett, Robert Wagner, Suzanne Pleshette, Florence Henderson, Graham Kerr, Ann Jillian, Hal Holbrook, Tom Selleck, Sherman Hemsley, Bill Bixby, Garrett Morris, and Cybill Shepherd.
Modern Aquarian television icons include the incomparable Oprah Winfrey, standup funny guys Bill Maher, Christopher Guest, David Brenner, along with past and present stars Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Stuart Margolin, Morgan Fairchild, LeVar Burton, Ellen DeGeneres, Michael Tucker, Jill Eikenberry, Michael C. Hall, Arsenio Hall, Vanna White, Joanna Kerns, Michael T. Weiss, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Aniston, Sherilyn Fenn, Brett Butler, Renee O'Connor, Mischa Barton, Andrew Keegan, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Maura Tierney, Justine Bateman, Seth Green, Victoria Justice, Lauren Conrad, Lee Thompson Young, Tatyana Ali, Brandy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jennifer Stone, Mariska Hargitay, Guy Fieri, Emma Roberts, and China Kantner.
A special nod goes out to some great journalists: Carl Bernstein, Ted Koppel, Edwin Newman, Roger Mudd, and Tom Brokaw, as well as television financial ace Louis Rukeyser.
Outstanding Aquarians artists feature Yoko Ono, Matt Groening, Jackson Pollock, Edouard Manet, Norman Rockwell, Gahan Wilson, H.R. Giger, Grant Wood, as well as multitalented Desmond Morris, accomplished surrealist artist, author, zoologist, and ethologist. Masters of movement include legends Maria Tallchief, Chita Rivera, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Gregory Hines.
Speaking of masters of movement in another life arena, we find Aquarian sports legends who left their mark on history include Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Nolan Ryan, Ernie Banks, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor, Jack Nicklaus, Oscar de la Hoya, John McEnroe, Wayne Gretsky, Mark Spitz, chessmaster Boris Spassky, and test pilot Chuck Yeager. We also give a special nod to Max Baer the boxer, father to "Jethro" and apparently one of the nicest men ever to grace the ring, contrary to how he was depicted in "The Cinderella Man."
Other eclectic distinguished Aquarians feature the man who discovered Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, the guy who invented mail order, Montgomery Ward, along with Gypsy Rose Lee, Edgar Bergen, Louis Tiffany, Chris Rock, Wolfman Jack, Ted Mack, Stonewall Jackson, Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Hoffa, Alfred Adler, Alessandro Volta, Christie Brinkley, Yakov Smirnoff, Lisa Marie Presley, Paris Hilton, and the great Evangeline Adams, who brought popular astrology into the public eye early in the 20th century.
Finally, a big happy happy goes out to the countries of Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Syria, the states of Arizona, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Oregon. Aquarian cities include Bremen, Brighton, Hamburg, Trent, Tucson, Anaheim, Bakersfield, San Bernadino, Ft. Collins, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Topeka, Bowling Green, Louisville, Lansing, Flint, Jackson, Biloxi, Springfield, Omaha, Carson City, Camden, Manhattan Island, Columbus, Dayton, Salem, Corpus Christi, Ft. Worth, Galveston, Roanoke, Olympia, Yakima, and Milwaukee.
© Copyright 2012 Robert Wilkinson
Robert, what an incredible list of people that have so greatly contributed to humanity! As a fellow Aquarian, allow me to add to the list; actor Gene Hackman, soul blues icon Etta James and my very talented cousin, Lifetime film director Eric Bross.
Posted by: Bruce Kaiser | February 11, 2012 at 08:32 AM