The Aquarius Sun people I have met and known fall into either one of two categories: really paranoid or really smart.

The paranoid ones have not figured out how to fit into society yet and keep on trying. The smart ones have figured out that they don't fit into society and that this is not a problem but an asset. The paranoids seem to have a big chip on their shoulder, like some rage against the machine or whatever, while the smarties seem more liberated and not so caught up in infantiie rebelilon against phantom authority figures.

all the aquarius I've met are really freaking weird.

but I like that.

Being an Aquarian, I find that my Aquarian relatives get misunderstood like I do, mainly because we can appear a bit detached on the surface, when in reality we are feeling deeply on the inside. People never quite know how I'll react to something. I give no indication......and just when they think they've figured me out, I do something unexpected. At least that's what my boss used to say to me. :o)

Maybe they just feel misunderstood -clarification within comminucation often works .
if you were to start a post and ask which sun sign is the most understood it wouldn't be one sign that would come up.
You will find it repeated on several of the sun sign bashing posts where someone will come to the defense of the sign by saying it is an often misunderstood sun sign. We don't offer discloser to everyone we meet so much is going to be misunderstood.
I have come to the conclusion that there is observation and there is first hand experience -many of the descriptions out there are observation of what it looks like or possible common traits -for example, not everyone with a full ninth house is a international traveling Guru .
It is about communicating with each other . Most people don't give their profile to the astrologer so it is a long process of elimination -traits and tendencies are part of the general description and these are brought by through by the nature, observation , firsthand account , asking an honest person about it who is living it firsthand.
We can say how come, until we are blue in the face or we can say I am this sign and this is the way I view and experience my expression of this ray.
kate

the main thing with aquarius is thinking that they need something (relationship, job, religion, drug habit, etc.) to fill the emptiness inside. but when they realize that humans are just naturally empty (that's the human condition), then they can be the inspired humanitarians they are meant to be. I've seen aquarius people act crazy trying to run from the simple truth inside that they don't want to face, thinking they are supposed to be something they are not. self-acceptance goes a long way for aquarius!

as for how other people see them, well that depends on who's looking. I think every sign is misunderstood.

dave

In fact, I don't think the Aquarius in me gets that much attention. I think the most expression my Aquarian sun gets is that I tend to enjoy electronics gadgets and goodies (a Uranian influence, really), I like to thini about UFO's sometimes and stuff like that. And I practice astrology. Other than that, people expereince as being somewhat intense and emotional, but also very sensitive about my ideas (which could be consdiered Aquarian). There are always peopel who think that anyone who spends time thinking about UFO's is crazy...but people also think many other people who are into astrology are wierd....which includes all of you NON-Aquarians who are here in this Tribe. So...WHATEVER! ;-)

When people have anything to say about me, it's usually because I'm display an above averge amount of impatient (DO! DO! DO!) energy whuch stems from my Mars in Aires, and also tend to be unusually intense and jealous and deep (which stems from my Moon in Scorpio). Sometimes I am also considered rather philosophical (which stems from my Sagg Ascendant), because I tend to have an interest in like Buddhism and religion in general.

Then there are my occasional quirks which seem to draw the most attention, like the fact that I sometimes offer people money for "a few cigarrettes", because I know that if I buy a pack I'll be tempted to smoke at night or whenever...and I really only like to smoke at work when I'm feeling stressed. Therefore, I prefer to pay as I go. People say "why don't you just buy a pack"?! I say, "Because I'll smoke more! You'll make out on the deal, so...WHAT ABOUT IT?"

I don't think that people have such a diofficult time understanding Aquarius, as they just don't like to think all about the things that Aquarius wants to think about. I noticed that Virgo has a quirky side like this (AQUARIUS ON THEIR OWN HOUSE CUSP, MAYBE?!!! DUH!), but unlike Aquarius, Virgo tried to hide this fact because they are oh-so-conservative and feel they will be blacklisted if they go against the norm. Aquarius (depending on the individual) usually has ineterests such as art, science, history, politics, metaphysics...or all of the above. Most other people want to make small talk, about things which pertain more to their "little world" instead of the Big Picture that includes all people and all things. Most people are not able to foster this broad-mindedness, and they prefer to think about more subjective things which are more personal to them...like football, their kids, Thursday night bowling, hunting trips, Aunt Mabel's trip to the big city, or the great deal they got on lamb-chops at the local meat shop. Aquarius frequently enjoys broader topics and want to share ideas and most of all, EXPRESS THEIRS!

Personally, I enjoy bonding with significant others in my life and going places to abosorb the Feng Shui energy there. Sometime I like to talk about the borader Aquarian topics I mentioned before with others, but most often I just like to eat, cook, sleep and travel with people I like...and usually on a one-on-one basis. But that's hardly eccentric, is it?

THE ROOT OF THE ECCENTRIC
The one thing that I think that confuses some people about Aquarius happens when a traditionally wamer, more senistive, more expressive and more intimate sign like Leo, Aries or one of the Water signs starts getting involved romantically with a traditionally detached Aquarius who doesn't invest much energy in cultivating personal relationships. Many Aquarians feel very uncomfortable with this, and many of them have well-devloped decoys (such as their interest in boring topics like science and politics) which puts conversations with would-be parters on ice so the Aquarius can more easily maintain a distance. Trust me folks, that's it. Aquarius wants to be free to explore and ponder, but sometimes this alienates them and it becomes a self-perpetuating need. So after awhile the Aquarius might actually WANT to have a warm relationship with a lovely person who qualfies as their best friend as well as their lover...(because Lord knows that comes first, right?!). But their lifelong practice of keeping people at a convenient arm's-length might become their personal prison.

Hint:
FOLKS....when you want to understand one sign, always look to the opposite for the most important answers. Think about how Leos are, and how they exxress themselves in relationships...and you'll see why Aquarius is their opposite...and why these opposites attract. Leo loves intimacy and attention, but they are also afraid of it and most of all are afriad of their own need for it and of become "tame"...JUST LIKE THEIR OPPOSITE, Aquarius who starves theirself of love in an equal but oppostie way because they also want to be free.

Duh.

how you appear to the world? i dunno, i don't know you.
i've known many 'aquarians' and they are all very different.
if i was to compare to other signs, i'd say a lot of signs fall into their stereotypes, like i can spot a scorpio a mile away...;-)
aquarius on the other hand wears many hats but is mostly distinguished by holding an intelligent conversation or at least has an air of intellect about them and something interesting to say. not necessarily smart, as stubborness can play a big part, so can a rather inflated ego, but there is an air about then...pun intended...that i enjoy and feel very much at ease with.

my mom is an aquarius, my daughter has aquarius moon, my partner lots of aqurius too... i guess i like the aloof detachment, or just respect for individual space for most part, as i mostly have air in my chart with a lot of uranian influences and hate to be controlled or tied down.
altho i have noticed traits of massive micromanaging in some aquarians, some outright in your face and other's more gehind the back to control the situation.

Hello.

My name is Ergane J.

And I misunderstand Aquarians.

However, I try to keep open to their lessons because I know that, ultimately, I want to be perceived like them. Like the things that sometimes lead to my misunderstandings are the very things that I admire about myself and others seem to hate or want to in some way hurt me for...

I want to discuss this topic, but I find myself... I'd rather listen. With my MC in Aquarius... that detachment can sometimes feel like I have been smacked on the nose with newspaper... because I am a really warm person and when my warmth is met with... flat, just the facts... well, I have had to learn to do something magical with my feelings around Aquarians because I can be unintentionally hurt and I have lots of Scorp influence and like to hold a grudge... and a Merc/Plu conjunction that likes to strike back.

I love their dedicatedness. Their shamelessness. THeir ability to bring together ideas and passion. The manner in which they know and own their knowing -- even if it might step on toes. I like their daring and maverick ways.

... I feel the need to reach out to some of the neglected Aquarians in my life...

I wonder where this idea of the cold, calculating, logical Aquarian comes from. It makes Aquarius sound like Mr. Spock.
The usual astrological tripe dictates that air signs are not connected to their hearts and are logical etc.
People are people and sometimes they require a specific catalyst to release their emotions, or demonstrate them. That doesn't make someone cold...it makes them selective, or cautious, insecure perhaps.

Peace, Bo

My 2 cents:

Aquarians I know are attracted to "the latest" and "the strange". It seems natural for people to not understand them, then to some degree since the latest and the strange are things most people do not understand well, aren't used to, and often are uncomfortable with.

With my aquarian friends and family, I find I can understand them fair enough...it is just sometimes tricky to understand whay they are talking about or where they are going with some thing or where some thing came from sometimes.

Hi petra. here is my personal experience on misunderstanding aquarians...

As a scorpio sun conjunct uranus, moon trine uranus, and 7th house in aquarius, I'd always empathized with aquarians. I'd always been somewhat of a rebellious, free-spirited soul myself. But despite this, for the longest time I never felt as good at pinning aquarians down as I'd felt for the rest of the horoscope. Aquarians have figured prominently in my life in one way or another so I feel fortunate to have been exposed long enough to better understand them, and through them, understand myself

Virtually all aquarians I've encountered had in common the uncanny ability to verbalize my own feelings better than any other sign; even better than I could myself. I felt mystified by this almost superhuman intelligence (or at least this was how i characterized what aspect of aquarius I couldn't grasp). I now feel that I misunderstood them for the very same reason I empathized with them. My scorpionic tendency to personalize things in order to gain insight, (as opposed to the aquarian tendency to depersonalize and universalize) clouded my view. What I didn't realize then was that the conclusions/commentary that many aquarians make tend to be universal in nature - they tend to connect with and verbalize an essential nature of humanity which ties all of us together; an essence that many non-aquarians who are less capable of seeing or verbalizing in these universal terms unwittingly personalize (as I had) into being an appraisal or criticism of themselves, for better or worse. I had the tendency to take the aquarian commentary (and there is plenty of that to go around!) as a direct appraisal of my fragile scorpionic ego. I don't doubt that those with less "universal-minded" chart aspects misappropriate aquarian commentary as personal critique when in fact no directed critique was intended to begin with. The aquarian is more like an advocate for those deep-seated feelings that the other 11 signs are incapable of acknowledging, admitting, or verbalizing for whatever reason, but share, and in many ways, aquarians are shallowly attributed to rebelliousness and nonconformity because its almost as though they represent those parts of us which we are unable to/refuse to acknowledge.

In other words aquarians champion uncomfortable truths which we have grown comfortable ignoring, truths we have to set free in order to grow, and truths that more of us share in common than we are willing to realize. They put things out into the open and get the ball of humanity rolling forward, so to speak.

The only thing you really need to understand about Aquarius is that they enjoy being different and need variety, excitement. There is not much worse than to be considered "normal." Also, Aquarius can be a genius in some area of life. Scorpio squares Aquarius, and anyone with a strong Aquarius will not tolerate being controlled. This is where the detachment and rebellion will show.

<I find that Aquarius people are often misunderstood by others.>

Most Aquarius people are terrorists, aren't they?

aquariandigest.blogspot.com/2004....html

Is anyone familiar with the Aquarian Digest and the 1962 Aquastells? There are lots of archives, good articles for Aquarians and those that wish to understand Aquarius.