Of all the Zodiac Aquarius is the most different from its historical roots, but we can still trace some of its associations to its origins. For medieval Muslim astrologers, it would come to be a sign of cataclysmic change

A thread on Aquarius in astrology from the Islamic World

Those born under Aquarius or ad Dawl are said to be easily bored, have frequent illnesses, and are anxious.

They are easily annoyed but forthright and honest in speech. They can express thoughts and ideas, but struggle to articulate feeling.

They are said to be curious in mind, but rigid in thinking and thus associated with heresy and orthodoxy both

They can be envious.

Al Biruni has a more critical opinion saying they are overly eager to accumulate things which when not tempered becomes miserly. They are overly contemplative to the point of being inert.

In modern parlance this translates to over analyzing to the point of paralysis.

He says they are indolent and awkward in love but have deep enduring passions and infatuations.

As a Saturnian sign they are said to live long lives, but one filled with health struggles.

Reputedly some have a small mark their heads or shins or ankles.

Aquarius is described as masculine, diurnal, hot, wintry, moist, and sanguine. Its season is winter.

Yellow is a good color for them to wear. They find much of their fortune on Saturday and misfortune on Monday and Wednesday.

They have few children.

They are said to be good merchants, artisans particularly jewelers, and grave-robbers

If they believe in their ruler, they can be the best of servants, but if not, they are unruly

Aquarius is said to be the home of Saturn with fixed or stable qualities and air characteristics

In the Greek myth, Aquarius is associated with Ganymede the cup-bearer. In the Islamic world al dawl is the vessel and the human-figure is Saturn the Lord of Aquarius

See a depiction of Aquarius in the 14th C Kitab al Bulhan above in the first tweet.

It is said Aquarius obeys Scorpio and Gemini and is friendly with Capricorn and Taurus. Taurus and Aquarius friendship are said to be long-lasting but unequal.

Aquarius is said to struggle most with health and love.

Unrequited infatuations are a common theme.

They tend to reap the benefits of Saturn (wealth and longevity) later in life.

They encounter reoccurring and chronic health issues around mid to late 20s that continue until 40s.

The human body was divided up by the zodiac with Aquarius associated with the shins and ankles

Muslim astrologers also designated parts of the world as governed by the Zodiac with Aquarius corresponding to Kufa, Egypt, and places with many running rivers.

Medieval Jewish astrologers would extend this to Jewish lands as well.

Aquarius was one of the more inauspicious signs and generally avoided in major timing elections or ikhtiyarat

For example Libra on ascendant was favorable for war for it would grant just victory, but if Aquarius was on the ascendant then the kingdom would fall to “knaves.”

Similarly, when the Sun entered Sagittarius war was waged but sieges must end by Aquarius season or you’d be stuck.

So while inauspicious for war, Aquarius did take on the reputation of being the season of peace

There is an interesting twist in the history of Aquarius. Al Biruni calls it Kumbha, the Sanskrit word for “vessel” and the name of an ancient storm god.

Aquarius then would come to symbolize storms

Though an air sign, Al Rijal would use Aquarius placements (Moon in particular) to predict rains likely as its humoral balance was moist.

However in world events, Aquarius would come to mean the storms of change, portending seismic transformations

Al Rijal warns when a comet appears in Aquarius it means an old king will die.

Jupiter Saturn conjunctions in Aquarius were associated with pestilent winds and dynastic usurpation (coincidentally 2020 has such a conjunction). Saturn Mars conjunctions in Aquarius signify plagues

Conjunctionalism (which is one of my research interests) was a major Islamic contribution to European thinking. Jewish astrologer Levi ben Gerson would use the 1345 conjunction in Aquarius to predict pestilence. Paris doctors would use this as an explanation for the Black Plague

A great example of the way in which astrology was one of the major sciences of the medieval world

In the Islamic world the Aquarian conjunctions would signal brutal and cataclysmic transformation

Prediction around the shift of the conjunction from earthy Taurus to airy Aquarius in the 13th C was a warning for the Abassids.

Coupled with the Saturn Mars conjunctions in Aquarius (storms of change) and Pisces (spilled blood), the time of the Abbasids were drawing to a close

We know the Mongols were already on the scene by the 1230’s so predictions by astrologers map out the anxieties of the Abbasids who saw the writing on the wall

Interestingly the Mongols in their own way tapped into the conjunctions as auspicious.

Hulagu famously turned to Persian astrologer Al Tusi to ensure the conjunctions were blessed timing for their invasion.

By 1258 the Mongols had taken Baghdad

According to Ibn Khaldun the coming of Timur would be predicted by the conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius and Scorpio.

In turn Timur would die in 1405 CE after another conjunction in Aquarius.

Timur’s descendant Babur would begin his invasion of India and the usurpation of the Lodi dynasty when the Sun entered Aquarius, reversing the older advice against going to war.

Babur himself was an Aquarius. The 16th C founder of the Mughal dynasty, he epitomizes many of the traditional qualities associated with the sign:

He was forged by rebellion facing usurper after usurper. He in turn would overthrow related dynasties to establish his own empire

A deeply ascetic man, he had a strict interpretation of orthodoxy.

He was shy around the ladies and even bashful around one of his male infatuations.

Yet, he was also fond of drink and opium. He eventually gave up the substances and demanded his entire court follow suit.

He brought about a cultural renaissance preserving Timurid & Mongol culture, but did so with a sword and brutal persecution of Sikhs.

Guru Nanak called him the “messenger of death.”

Accounts talk of piles of skulls yet he's also depicted as a wise ruler of arts and sciences

The Mongols, the Timurids, and the Mughals all brought change and transformation with the sword, but preserved what came before them.

The Mongols destroyed the capital of the Islamic caliphate only to convert to Islam and become its champion

Scholar and astrologer @chrisbrennan7 notes Dr. Campion's work on how Aquarius was co-opted in the modern era by the New Age movement and associated with Uranus. https://twitter.com/chrisbrennan7/status/1287832115019681792

Some of the older apocalyptic, disruptive, and transformative associations are re-interpreted through a theosophical and new age lens stripping Aquarius of its Saturnian and cataclysmic history.

Yet for Medieval Muslim astrologers, Aquarius is the sign of the storms of change, merciless, but transformative. It is also a prime example of the intellectual synthesis: Hellenic Aquarius is fused with Indian storm deities and Persianate conjunctionalism.

I’ll cover the rest of the zodiac in future threads