AQUARIUS
Aquarius
in a birth chart
Aquarius is a fixed air sign, traditionally ruled by Saturn and in modern practice by Uranus. In a birth chart it describes the part of a person that stands slightly apart: principled, original, sociable at a distance, and hard to standardise.
- Dates
- January 20 – February 18
- Element
- Air
- Modality
- Fixed
- Ruler
- Saturn, and Uranus in modern practice
The sign itself
Aquarius holds the middle of winter, a season that requires collective arrangements to get through. Fixed air holds a position: a settled idea or principle that does not bend to mood.
Traditionally Saturn rules Aquarius; modern practice adds Uranus. Both are true to the sign — a firm structure of thought, and a refusal to be told what it must be.
Where Aquarius shows up in a chart
Aquarius marks where a person keeps their independence.
- Sun in Aquarius — purpose pursued on your own terms, usually with a community or principle in view.
- Moon in Aquarius — comfort through space, friendship, and understanding a feeling rather than swimming in it.
- Rising in Aquarius — a friendly but slightly distant first impression, distinctive rather than conventional.
- Aquarius on a house cusp — that area of life is done unusually, and not by the standard script.
At its best and at its cost
At its best: originality, fairness at scale, loyalty to friends, and the nerve to be the odd one out. At its cost: detachment, contrariness, and preferring the principle to the person in front of you.
In a child's chart, Aquarius reads as a child with their own ideas and strong opinions about what is fair — one who needs their difference taken seriously.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions people ask
- What are the Aquarius dates?
- The Sun is in Aquarius from about January 20 to February 18 each year, with the boundary shifting by a day between years.
- What planet rules Aquarius?
- Traditionally Saturn rules Aquarius. Modern astrology also assigns Uranus, which is why the sign reads as both principled and unpredictable.
NEIGHBOURING SIGNS
See where Aquarius actually falls in your family's charts.
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