The Age of Aquarius

Astrology and its zodiac signs are not something I’ve studied. But I do know that when Andy and I saw the musical Hair in San Francisco in 1970, I decided Aquarius, the Water Bearer, was pretty groovy – and I was stoked to think I was born under that sign. Or maybe I just inhaled too much of the smoke from the weed that was passed around to the theater audience after the performance.

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

Rather than thinking about how outa sight it was to be an Aquarian, I probably should have been bummed to realize that Andy, a Taurus, and I might be looking forward to a pretty gnarly relationship, based upon the Zodiac. After all, we’d only been married for three years at that point – and had been apart half of those years because of the Army and Vietnam. Andy’s got that Aquarius/Taurus thing all figured out in today’s Andy’s Corner. Frankly, I think it’s bullpucky.

Are we leaving the age of Pisces and entering the age of Aquarius? There’s no clear-cut answer among astrologers. According to a December post on the Well + Good blog (wellandgood.com): on the upcoming winter solstice (December 21, 2020), Jupiter and Saturn conjoin in the sign of Aquarius with the great Conjunction; and also, seven celestial bodies move into Aquarius in February of 2021. Suffice to say, we’re leaving the Age of Pisces, which has been a ride.

According to Wikipedia, this age of Aquarius is associated with electricity, computers, flight, democracy, freedom, humanitarianism, idealism, modernization, astrology, nervous disorder, rebellion, nonconformity, philanthropy, veracity, perseverance, humanity, and irresolution. Mmmm, does that adequately describe this complex day and time?

One of the more exciting analyses about the coming of the Age of Aquarius was penned in an article about feminism in the French newspaper La Fronde from February 26, 1890. August Vandekerkhove stated: “About March, 21st this year the cycle of Aquarius will start. Aquarius is the house of the woman.” He adds that in this age the woman will be equal to the man. What a dear-sounding man, but possibly not so great as a prophet.

Artists seem to be a little confused as to whether the Zodiac symbol for Aquarius is a man or a woman, or maybe he was a man before he became a woman? After all, it’s a new age.

Whether or not we’re officially in the Age of Aquarius or whether or not the Age of Aquarius is a great time – or even whether or not Aquarius is male or female – is beside the point for this blog. We’re interested in Aquarius as the water bearer. After all, water is life. Water is cool.

And thinking about cool water, I want to share an oldie but goodie. I might be accused of always emoting about music from the ’60’s and ’70’s, so I wanted to diversify. I don’t know why I remember this Sons of the Pioneers song, but I do. Maybe my folks listened to it? It was first recorded in 1941…before I was born.

Speaking about cool water, how about an agua fresca?

You know that Andy and I are great lovers of all things Mexican, so it seems appropriate to share our favorite agua fresca recipes with you on this Aqua-rias blog (and, yes, “aqua” is Latin for water and the Spanish language tweeked that to “agua”). Fresca is – you guessed it – “fresh” or “cool.” Agua fresca is simply fresh drinking water with fruit blended or squeezed into it. The result is light and refreshing – and mostly agua. Water.

We’ve been known to make a run to a popular local Mexican restaurant, El Molino Central, just to have a glass of their Jamaica Agua Fresca (pronounced ha-my-ka) – fresh Hibiscus water. When things got iffy during this pandemic, we decided we’d have to learn to fix our own.