Aquarius I: Black Sheep

Fixed air: exile, iconoclasm, rebellion

• Atmosphere: Black Sheep

• Sign: Aquarius

• Plant: Birch

• Planet: Saturn + Venus

• Dates: 20 January – 29 January

• Tarot: 5 of Swords

The mark of exile is one that is inflicted upon those who are brave enough to forge a different path. It is the mark of the rebel and the iconoclast. Sometimes the exile that exists in this face is not chosen, but forced. It is the black sheep of the family that must find support outside of the home.

– Kira Ryberg, ‘Aquarius I’ in The 36 Decans Guidebook

Aquarius is a place of fixed air – we move from the Saturn-ruled earth sign of Capricorn to the Saturn-ruled air sign of Aquarius.

This is the sign of the visionary.

Where Capricorn was able to build cathedrals from revelatory blueprints, Aquarius looks beyond stone and brick, and instead they make complex, enduring systems that contain multitudes.

They are also able to analyse, dissect, and overturn existing systems that feel set in stone – this is the sign of revolution, rebellion, and transformation.

Aquarius I is co-ruled by Saturn and Venus. This is a place of creation and beauty where whatever is built lasts, but the fruits of this decan are hard-won.

This is the decan of the black sheep.

A black sheep is colloquially understood as an outsider, an exiled wanderer, and someone whose perspective is radically different to their peers.

This term originates from the fact that a sheep whose wool is black is less of a valuable commodity for farming and trading – its wool can’t be dyed different colours. It cannot be processed and used.

The black sheep remains uniquely itself. It is a symbol of self-determination.

From family systems to cults, the black sheep is the one who tells the truth about a monoculture, and whose perspective, from the outside, can be the catalyst for transformation.