Finally, so very finally, it is time to leave most of January behind and thus begin to see more light, more movement and the first dawning of the new reality that the starkness of November, December, and January just can’t go on forever and forever. To quote the defunct Kerry & Edwards (preadultery – not judging!) campaign: “Help is on the way.”

Temperatures will rise with the growing light and a sense of help indeed suddenly comes into being even in freezing Vermont. Though February will have cold and snow, the qualities of this cold and snow will be less severe than of the white stuff of January. February sends the message that the darkest and deepest part of winter is already over… and some kind of thaw is just around the corner. This is where I like to think the sign of Aquarius begins.

The Aquarian sensibility is all about applying a briskly fresh approach and about looking away to a vista that is far off on the horizon. The Aquarian character does things in a determined fashion and at its best involves both innovation coupled with considerable perspiration.

Aquarians seem to know how to make systems, devices, machines, and new inventions work. If they are having a problem with a gadget or some such thing, they will simply retreat into some form of solitary space and try to figure it all out and usually they will succeed. The Aquarian is nothing if not persistent and innovative. Often, they are the mad genius.

Since I know a little about music, I would put forth two innovative and mad genius types: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Eddie Van Halen. Both of these musicians changed things up quite a bit and were able to not only perform original music, but they also came up with new forms of musical expression coupled with glamorous if tumultuous public personas. As a boy of five Mozart was able to read and write music; as a teen he wrote original compositions that transcended genres and later reinvented several of the operatic forms not only musically, but thematically as well. The idea of fiancé swapping that occurs in Cosi Fan Tutte was certainly risqué and novel for the time and Mozart’s opera audiences loved it.

As a result Mozart needed to work quite a bit in order to keep up with the demand for new works. He worked hard as a composer and as a pianist and as a violinist and creativity undoubtedly was an obsession for him.

Eddie Van Halen, too, has made a contribution to Pop Metal and rock music in general. His incendiary guitar playing created new lick patterns culminating with the most original two-handed tapping styles highlighted in the instrumental “Eruption”. His guitar playing technique is novel with the role of his middle finger of his right hand and his use of keyboards. Additionally, he designed many of his own guitars and amps having not been satisfied with playing the gear available at the music store like an Eric Clapton did. Van Halen created artistic designs on his equipment and strangely made the wearing of overalls work as a rock ‘n’ roll outfit.

Mozart and Van Halen together show a bit of the picture that an original and gifted Aquarian is capable of painting. There is the classical skill and poise, yet there is also the innovation and the calculation necessary to achieve greatness.

On a bit of a side idea, in observing a Capricorn-Aquarius cusp friend the other day, I was struck by how these two signs are, in fact, quite similar to one another. As a Capricorn is much grounded in the understanding of hard work and the pursuance of societal betterments (think Cappie Martin Luther King Jr.), so is the Aquarian (think Abraham Lincoln). Maybe it is the winter aspect of both of these signs that so clearly bespeak of the need to accomplish hard work for the good of the larger community. Whereas Cappie will get the work done through traditional and conservative means, the Aquarian will be innovative and perhaps shockingly radical in the pursuit of a fix.

Aquarius tends to govern things like nuclear power and electricity. It is interesting to note that currently we are in a mercury retrograde period in Aquarius, so I suppose that socially radical and innovative communication will be delayed until mercury turns direct on February 1st.

Finally, still up for grabs is whether planet earth has entered the Age of Aquarius with many famous astrologers still undecided about this fact. Let me also put out there that President Obama is Aquarius rising and in this way he resembles my most excellent brother-in-law who is long and lean and smart and kind. Three cheers to our new and fresh President! The young Farrah is included in an image form because she makes me remember my boyhood – and my early love for all Aquarians!