In the middle of winter, from January 20 to February 18, the Sun moves through Aquarius, and astrologers call those weeks Aquarius season. Aquarius is fixed air, ruled by Uranus in modern astrology and Saturn in the traditional scheme, so the month is associated with friends, groups, ideas, independence, causes and plans for the future. The first day can fall a day either side of January 20.
It's the season of the club, the society, the group project and the idea nobody has tried yet.
Aquarius season sits in midwinter
Aquarius is a fixed sign, the middle of the three winter signs. In the Northern Hemisphere the cold has settled in, but the light is now visibly returning: by early February, many mid-latitude places have about an hour more daylight than they had at the solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere it's high summer, the opposite season, and the sign's air reads more like a sea breeze.
Like the other fixed signs, Aquarius holds one of the Gaelic cross-quarter festivals that fall halfway between a solstice and an equinox. Taurus has Beltane, Leo has Lughnasadh, Scorpio has Samhain, and Aquarius has Imbolc, the old first day of spring.
Saturn, Uranus and the Sun in detriment
Aquarius is one of three signs with two rulers. Saturn, the traditional ruler, gives the sign its structure: the rulebook, the committee, the system that works for everyone. Uranus, discovered by William Herschel in 1781 and later given to Aquarius by modern astrologers, adds rebellion, invention and the sudden change of mind. Astrologers read the sign as both at once: a reformer with a spreadsheet.
The Sun is in detriment in Aquarius, opposite its home in Leo. That's the traditional way of saying the self comes second here. Leo season is about being seen; Aquarius season is about the group, the friendship and the principle, sometimes at the expense of warmth.
Despite the water bearer, Aquarius is an air sign. The figure pouring water is often read as knowledge or ideas shared with everyone, and the sign's natural house, the eleventh, covers friends, communities and hopes. In tarot's Golden Dawn tradition its card is The Star, a figure pouring water under an open sky, a card of hope after a hard stretch.
Greek myth usually identifies the water bearer with Ganymede, the Trojan youth whom Zeus carried off to Olympus to serve as cupbearer to the gods. Older still, Babylonian star catalogues called this figure the Great One, usually taken to be Ea, the god of fresh water, who was pictured holding an overflowing vase. Stargazers still call this part of the sky the water, for the watery figures around it: the fishes of Pisces, Cetus the whale, Delphinus the dolphin, the river Eridanus and the Southern Fish, whose bright star Fomalhaut sits where the water bearer's stream ends. It's a strange, lovely fact that the zodiac's most future-minded sign has one of its longest pasts.
The shadow side is detachment: caring so much about humanity that you forget to text the actual human, or arguing a point just to be contrary.
Imbolc, Candlemas, Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day
- Imbolc, February 1, was the Gaelic festival of early spring and is bound up in Ireland with St Brigid's Day. Our Imbolc traditions guide covers rush crosses, holy wells and the old customs.
- Candlemas, February 2, is the church feast of candles, and in North America the same day is Groundhog Day, a cheerful weather forecast delivered by a rodent.
- Lunar New Year falls between January 21 and February 20, so in most years it begins in Aquarius season. It's also when the Chinese zodiac animal changes; see the Chinese zodiac animals in order.
- Valentine's Day, February 14, comes near the end of the season. A sign that values friendship as much as romance might use it to celebrate both.
Aquarius season ideas for the dark end of winter
- Join something. A club, a choir, a volunteer schedule, a running group. Aquarius is the sign of belonging by choice.
- Message the group chat with a plan. A date, a place, a time. Someone has to.
- Try an unfamiliar idea. Read an author you'd usually argue with, or a subject you know nothing about.
- Fix a system, not a symptom. If the same chore causes the same argument every week, change how it's done.
- Do something useful for your street. Clear a neighbor's path, start the list for the block party, return the stray trash cans.
- Plan, don't promise. Uranus loves a bold idea. Write it down and decide in spring.
The point of all six is connection on your own terms, which is Aquarius in a sentence.
Born in Aquarius season
Aquarius birthdays tend to be friend-heavy: the birthday as an excuse to gather everyone you like in one room, however unlikely the mix. For something more personal, our solar return birthday ritual is a short, private review of the year and a hope for the next. Born on January 19 to 21, or February 18 or 19? Check a chart, since the boundary shifts.
Your Sun is only one placement. An Aquarius Moon needs space and friendship whatever the season, and your Venus and rising sign matter as much. For the sign, see Aquarius traits; for the month, the Aquarius monthly horoscope.
Questions readers ask
Is Aquarius a water sign?
No, it's an air sign, despite the name and the water bearer. Astrologers read the water as ideas and knowledge shared freely. The water signs are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces.
Why is Aquarius season associated with friendship?
Aquarius is the natural ruler of the eleventh house, which covers friends, groups and shared hopes. Its air element adds sociability, and its fixed quality adds loyalty to people and causes.
Is the Age of Aquarius the same as Aquarius season?
No. Aquarius season is a month that comes around every year. The Age of Aquarius is a far longer cycle based on precession, the slow drift of the equinox point through the constellations, at roughly two thousand years per sign. Astrologers don't agree on when that age begins, or whether it has already.
What comes after Aquarius season?
Pisces season, from February 19, the last month of the zodiac. Before Aquarius comes Capricorn season, which opens the winter.
