Forces of Nature? Fate in the stars?

I received an email the other day regarding astrological signs and what your sign said about you. As someone who has always been into astrology, I was a little taken back by the description of my sign. In the past, I have read here and there about my sign, and I get my horoscope delivered to me daily by email. Some days I agree with the "forecast" for the day and others I shake my head while rolling my eyes. I have always been very attached to my sign because I found it very coincidental that my parents named me Brooke and I was born under the sign of The Water Carrier: Aquarius. I have always been naturally drawn to water. 

So being me and reading the description in this email I decided to take a larger look around and see just how much I was really like all the descriptions I could find of an Aquarian.

First, the description in the email: The Sweetheart (ok, I like that, but who doesn't like being called a sweethear?), Optimistic and honest. (Optimistic huh? well, maybe sometimes) Sweet personality. Very Independent (Me? are you sure?). Inventive & Intelligent (Inventive...right...). Friendly and loyal. Can seem unemotional (WHAT?! I am emotional! I have plenty of emotion!). Can be rebellious (I don't have a clue what they are talking about there...no really!). Very stubborn, but original and unique (I AM NOT!...wait...). Attractive on the inside and out (No comment). Eccentric personality ( I don't know if you know this, but the definition of Eccentric is unconventional and slightly strange!).

So...so far, I am unemotional, stubborn, and slightly strange....oh yeah, I am a total sweetheart!!

Ok, so slightly taken aback, I went to my private collection. I own an old astrology love book that I have had since forever and once upon a time liked to look through in high school, seeing if it as accurate. The last time I looked at this book was over ten years ago, and I liked it back then, so I thought I would look at it, correct the incorrect views that the email had accused me of (slightly strange...honestly...).

Me according to The Astrology Love Book by Ann Mathers (1969):

Overall predominant characteristics: curiosity and personal magnetism. Their curiosity is fervent and imaginative, carried to such a degree that it often becomes sheer genius (me...genius....huh). They probe, they investigate and the invent. Find never-ending fascination with all things curious, wonderful and bizarre. As a result, they themselves are character treasure-troves of the sudden and unexpected, those delightful revelations of the unusual and exotic which make them a continual festival of new life for others to be around (continual festival...unexpected...what?) Curiosity often brings them into fields of science and inventions. Refuses to accept conventional answers simply because they are the established views (by this time I am checking my birthdate again), often makes the Aquarian an astrologer (ok), Electricity and appliances seem to hold special fascination (explains some things), continually tinkering and inventing and improving both. Intuitive faculties, which are unusually strong, allow them to realize their powers and make full use of them (I don't have powers...or not that I know of anyway). Can be a leader, thinker, prober - for good or evil (uh oh) as she chooses. The Aquarian says "I know" and where she doesn't know, she presses ahead with quiet determination to find out.

(Now bear with me, this is a "love" book afterall, so it has alot to do with relationships, but I found it informative...so yeah)

The Aquarian Woman: Vibrant personal magnetism and bright, chameleon like character which emanates from women born under this sign. The Aquarian woman isn't all on the surface. She is a quiet and intensely friendly woman, who is easily influenced by kindness. She is slow to anger (*cough*...huh?). Strong aversion to radical ideals. When a man shows himself to be generous and considerate, willing to go out of his way for her, she feels herself almost helplessly drawn toward him. In her quiet way, deep beneath the bright and ever-shifting colors of her social personality, she will become dedicated to such a man, and end by being so generous in her turn that the will be overwhelmed. 

Art and music are natural interests and activities. If she doesn't become involved in them as a performer or creator at an early age, she'll certainly take an interest in them as a member of the audience or promoter at some time in her life. She tends to be drawn to men in the arts, too, and will often become personally attached to a man who first impressed and attracted her because of his talent. Such a relationship can be one of the most rewarding of this woman's life. If she isn't in the arts herself, she will find intense and often life-long fulfillment in being her man's helpmeet, being the force and female element behind his creative energies.

When this woman does choose a man, it may not be all that obvious at first. Wisely, she will use all the patience and quiet female wisdom at the command of those born under this sign. She will make herself absolutely irreplaceable to the man she chooses, slowly and carefully finding the way to his heart and never, when she's wise, throwing herself at his feet (ok...so I am a little sneaky...so?) Moreover, when she's allowing in all her intuition to come into play the Aquarian rarely chooses a man who doesn't truly want her (well, that's not me...I have made that mistake...plenty!). She has to be wary of letting the social demands made on her absorb her so utterly that she forgets to commune with her knowing spirit, the truest and most faithful guide to her emotional life. Aquarian women tend to have strong maternal instincts. They deal with their children intuitively and with a warm and generous, tolerant wisdom which can make childhood a delight. But, being basically conservative in their intellectual approach, they may tend to neglect new ideas in education (back woods hillbilly...check!). A knowledge of this tendency and willingness to approach such new ideas for the good of those they love, can rectify this. A strong desire to be faithful to one man for her entire life. She will fight to make any relationship a stable and enduring one, and won't five up until she is forced to acknowledge that her fidelity is in the service of a lost cause. Then and only then, with a heavy heart, and a never completely free conscience will she venture afield (um....wow! Ouch, that was on the money...). More than the women of almost any other sign, the Aquarian tends to be deeply wounded by an unsuccessful love affair in her youth, and to carry its scars for the rest of her life. she needs love aplenty, attention, thoughtful companionship and absolute fidelity, to enable her to love anew with all her deep emotional capabilities. If she gets these, she can bloom. She'll feel as if she's been born again, and reward the man who thus renews her with endless devotion. 

The Aquarian woman should dress as her whims demand. She'll rarely go wrong, so intuitive is her good taste, and so charming and elegant her sense of clothes (apparently they've seen my hoodie collection). Food may also be a matter of whimsy with this many-faceted woman. She may tend to fall for ridiculous diets or odd menus, of unheard-of food combinations.

Ok, so there is a lot of that that I can somewhat agree with, but there is also a lot that I can strongly disagree with. The book is highly interesting, in case you wanted to know and borrow it. But, the things that I didn't agree with, only made me more curious (huh...), so away I went to the internet.

Wikipedia had less than lack luster traits associated with the Aquarian, but my favorites were: opinionated/conceited, strong-willed/stubborn, inconsistant, free-spirited, enigmatic/magnetic, intuitive and resentful. Full article here.

GREAT!!! I just keep sounding better and better...

Astrology-online.com:

Friendly and humanitarian

Honest and loyal

Original and inventive

Independent and intellectual

On the dark side:

Intractable and contrary

Perverse and unpredictable

Unemotional and detached

Again with the unemotional? geez... but if you scroll down, they make very good points! Especially about not making friends. I never had an easy time with that for some reason.

Astrologycom.com had some interesting insights. Here's that link.

All in all I looked at several different sights and then did some looking internally and what I found was, that despite how I didn't like it, most of it was spot on. I can be really stubborn and rebellious. If you look at unemotional as not doing cart-wheels or a cheer for the smallest things, then yes, that would be true as well. I usually keep my enthusiasm in check. I am loyal to all my friends. I try hard to be objective seeing thing from all sides and making a decision without emotion influence. I like electronics and arts, but am not much of a cook. I can have a simmering anger when provoked. All in all, it isn't that bad. I still don't agree with some of it, but I will try to make sure that those negative things that are mentioned, I change.

So now my question is...can all of these spot on characteristics really be because I was born at a certain time of the year? I looked into several of my friends as well, and my conclusion is: yeah, it could happen! How cool is that?! Believe it or not, but as for me, I am satisfied. All of this provoked by a chain email sent for entertainment...