PART I: What is Astrology?
Astrology is the ancestor of Astronomy, just as Alchemy is the ancestor of Chemistry. Nobody knows when Astrology began because humans have been studying the sky throughout all our history. One reason was to discern patterns and correspondences between the movements of the “heavenly bodies” and the movements of time (as in the Seasons).
Eventually, humans learned to predict the movements of the heavenly bodies into the Future. When we reference the Future in Astrology, we are usually talking about Transits. If we know that Venus, for instance, is transiting our Natal Sun's position in the sky at a certain time, we might have an experience where we can use our charm, or we may expect a pleasant social experience. This is about the interplay of the energies of Venus (balance, harmony, personal charm) and the Sun (the expression of our core identity, our "Center") coming together.
Some people have used Astrology to predict very specific details....things like when will I marry? how many children will I have? how much money will I make? when will I die? I do not believe these things can be predicted; because I believe that the future is flexible and can be changed by our actions. However, we CAN predict the energies we will encounter in our lives by studying our Natal Horoscope, and the way our Natal planets interact with the transits in the sky that occur during our lives.
Jonathan Cainer, one of my favorite astrologers, put it this way:
"In the ocean of existence, we are all surfers.Want to know which waves to seize and which to steer clear of?"
This means that Astrology can inform us which energies will be good for us, and which ones will challenge us and give us a hard time in our life. For instance, when we encounter the energy of Saturn, it can feel very limiting. Saturn is a "teacher in the school of hard knocks." Experience can teach us many things. Saturn is like a stone....and it can feel like a "stumbling block," or we can use it as a "stepping stone" or build something with it. It really depends on us. Astrologer Caroline Casey says:
"Astrology is not a belief system; it is a language of the dynamic interplabetween our interior life and the exterior world. The astrological language grants us access to the invisible realm it describes, and provides the vocabulary with which we can begin a detailed investigative exploration of the psyche."
The Horoscope is a Map for this exploration, a map of the sky at the moment of our birth. that guides us to our gifts and our blind spots, our talents and our potential. Astrology can show us these. And knowing these, we can meet the Future (whatever it may be) better prepared and better able to handle whatever comes up.
If ancient Mariners used the sky to give them knowledge of where they were and where they were going, why can't we do the same?
PART II: What is the Age of Aquarius?
"Astrology is the study of cycles." –Kaypacha
The great astrological year is one of those cycles. It marks the 25,600 years that it takes for the earth's axis to rotate in a complete circle around the North Star. The 25,600-year cycle consists of 12 astrological ages of just over 2,000 years each. We are now exiting the Age of Pisces and entering the Age of Aquarius.
This movement is called "The Precession of the Equinoxes," because the Earth wobbles just a little and also appears to move backwards through the Zodiac. (You can read about this phenomenon in some of the LINKS given in the RESOURCES section below.)"We are currently in the process of leaving the Age of Pisces and preparing to enter the Age of Aquarius. The symbol for the Age of Aquarius is a human pouring water from a great jug. This suggests that in the Age to come, the powerful waters of the unconscious will no longer be a source of illusion and confusion. Instead, people will start using them in more conscious and beneficial ways." —Atasha Fyfe
Exactly! Or, in other words, more of us will be growing up, becoming spiritual adults who do not need to listen to any spiritual authority (except to our own Greater Self), and who can work with nature, and with each other, in many ways, for the good of all, according to free will.We are at a point in the developmental history of human consciousness where development will accelerate. The major evidence for this is the increased number of meaningful coincidences people are noticing in their lives. –James Redfield
PART 3: The Age of Pisces:
The Age of Pisces (which we are now leaving) has been an age of duality. Think of common symbol for Pisces: Two Fish going opposite ways. Pisces is a WATER sign. The symbol of water is about the flowing of our emotions and feelings. Underwater is the archetypal symbol of the unconscious. The two fish tied together, but pointed different ways, suggests unconscious forces with opposing agendas.
Some cite Jesus as the avatar of the Age, but it was really any person who was unjustly persecuted for their spiritual beliefs or their innocent actions that somehow threatened the "authorities" of the day. And there have been a lot of them.
There is so much karma coming to the fore now. All the karma from the last 2000 years and even from before that: i.e.,The Crusades, the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II...the subjugation and persecution of women, of tribes, of people who somehow seemed to threaten others, whether they did or not! As the Age of Aquarius emerges, we come to terms with all of this! Past lives are being triggered. Old business that was never resolved in those past lives is being activated, here and now.
Not all was bad about the Age of Pisces, however.There was another, hidden side to the Age of Pisces. Peeking behind the grey curtain of official history reveals a big surprise. There was a huge underground veneration of the feminine. Because it had to be kept secret, this was probably more widespread than we can ever know. It flowered especially well in what came to be called the Courts of Love. These were aristocratic strongholds such as chateaux, castles and great manor houses.
–Atasha Fyfe
All through the Age of Pisces, hidden streams of ancient knowledge were kept alive in symbols, secret groups, and not only among the artistocrats! People who traveled (including actors, musicians, soldiers, sailors, wandering tribes, and skilled craftsmen) carried knowledge from one place to another, sometimes having to couch this knowledge within symbols in order to protect themselves. Groups were formed to protect the members who shared the knowledge.
Poets and musicians, sometimes called Troubadours, would spread songs of love and freedom, couched in symbolism and codes. Many artists also hid "clues" in their artworks that pointed to this esoteric underground source of wisdoms.
Fulcanelli (a French alchemist) explained that the great Gothic cathedrals of France were in fact "books in stone" - that is to say, they were designed by Adepts for the instruction and inspiration of the masses towards the secret wisdom, not just the popular religious wisdom of the day.
Of course the Church would never have sponsored such designs, and so the Masters used the Magical Language (also called the Language of the Birds, or the Green Language) to conceal their designs. Only a mind that was ready for the Truth would be able to decode the symbols, letters and numbers of the structure.
In his book, The Sufis, Idris Shah speaks of these underground streams of knowledge and shows how they were international, spreading through clandestine networks globally.
The common people had their own way of honoring "The Old Ways," and much of the ancient traditions were hidden in Fairy Tales or "Old Wives' Tales." Folklore and Folk Music preserved much. Much was incorporated into the religious calendar when the people loved and valued the traditions so much that they refused to give them up. In Christianity, for example, much of the ancient Goddess Lore was folded into the people’s devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus.Religion will survive. I firmly believe we go through these various ages to expand our knowledge and experience, not to discard what we have gone through as we move on to the next thing. The Age of Pisces has been a powerful building block upon which to stand. Hopefully, if we stand high enough we can reach the sky and discover true wisdom, but that does require that we keep building upon what we have learned.
If we lose our spirituality we will have learned nothing from the Age of Pisces. Many scientists say to me that the closer you get to mathematicians and physics the closer you come to God and the underpinnings of our beautifully, magically constructed universe. Our world is ever fascinating, but complete understanding of it is always just out of our reach.
Can we carry on and improve on the spirit of the earth's collective consciousness? It is not, as I see it, a question of spirituality OR science but a question of blending the two. Science will bring up more questions than answers, and if we are to solve them, we will need to rely on the ethical, moral and religious judgements that we make individually. These are the conclusions we draw after a sleepless night, in the quiet pre-dawn hours when we lie awake and meet our true souls. If we are going to be able to live with ourselves, we must find those answers, even if it means pulling those solutions from the bottom of our hearts, and we must bravely state what we stand for out loud. There is a reason we came from the Age of Pisces, so let's hold on to the treasures and mysteries of faith it gave us.
–Susan Miller
Part 4: The Age of Aquarius: Starting Here and Now:
We've had Ages of Monarchs and Authoritarian Rulers of all kinds in the past. The Aquarian Age is the Age of the People. ALL the people. The Whole Earth. Including the plant people, the animal people, the rock people, etc.
The Current of Aquarian Energy is awakening on the planet now and it is electrifying us all! We are waking to our own inner power, and when we move together, we are waking to the power that comes when we gather ourselves for the good of all, according to free will.
The transformation is being performed by WE THE PEOPLE. As the Aquarian Age is shaping up now (as I write this), I am noticing (and appreciating) some features coming to the fore:
Qualities of activism emerging with the Age of Aquarius (I’m sure there will be more):
*Soul Force: power of nonviolent action
*People coming together to stand for Justice
*People using their economic power to force markets to be fair
*The power of Technology (i.e., cell phones to record the facts of the situation)
*The power of Humor and cultural creativity
In Astrology, the zodiac sign of Aquarius rules the circulatory system of the body and of the planet. It is the opposite of the zodiac sign of Leo, which rules the heart. Both are needed for healthy functioning and they need to work together! Leo shows us the Leader, who is nothing without the People; Aquarius is all about “we the people” and “the people have the power.”
Aquarius is freedom-loving and future-oriented! It thrives on the energy of unity, collective consciousness, and ground-breaking ideas. Invention is its strong-suit, but it usually does not like to wear suits! It is all about our uniqueness; we can be ourselves and still be part of All-That-Is, joining with others when it is needed. Group-oriented events will be common in this era because we recognize that, as a planet, we can only make the needed changes by joining with others.
Aquarius challenges us to wake up, become Spiritual Adults able to use all our senses, including the 6th sense, and more, to become truly Multi-dimensional beings.Breathe. Take it slow. The only way out is through. There are plenty of Wayshowers available to assist the collective through these transitions. Above all, listen to your own Heart.
–Karen Neverland
"What better way to express what we discover than through Art? Art is one of the blessings of Pisces. And as we leave the Piscean Age, we need to take our Artists seriously. And they need to take themselves seriously and tell us the story of our times.
"That will begin a great healing of our collective psyche. It's time to bring more healthy nourishment into our collective lives, and that begins in our own lives. Don't forget that we are all artists, so dance and sing, play music, create art and story and share it with your communities."
--Cathy Pagano
Back in 2002, astrologer Mark Lerner wrote:
We are just beginning to taste the Aquarian Age potential. Think literally of a near future of mental telepathy, time travel (perhaps via the intuition and "higher planes"), contacts with ETs, clairvoyance, clairaudience, past-life and even future-life "recall," great advances in medicine, science, technology and environmental protection. There is some TIME--perhaps as much as 9 decades (akin to a pregnancy cycle of 9 months)--to birth a real, solid Aquarian Age--an age where humanity and the Earth as a whole actually go through a bonafide spiritual initiation.
I am feeling this "spiritual initiation," are you?
It's about Transformation, and Pluto (the planet of transformation) has moved into Aquarius for the next 20 years to show us how to do this, from the roots (Pluto) up!
A scholar of Aquarian energies, Marilyn Ferguson, speaks of the paradigm shift to a more mindful society in her book, Aquarius Now. She sees us moving on from a mindless materialism that threatens our material existence. We have been seduced by what she calls the ‘Cult of Numbers', obsessed with competition, with winning and losing, afraid of anything that can't be seen or measured, and in the grip of an economic model that says only that which generates economic growth is worth pursuing.
The task is not to climb a mountain, but to navigate a river. Or perhaps, to surf "the Big Wave." We have to stop thinking of ourselves as conquerors and start thinking of ourselves as fellow travelers with other human beings and every living being on this planet, including the planet itself.
Dan Furst wrote Surfing Aquarius: How to Ace the Wave of Change, in which he spoke of our time as:
The beginning of a spiritual transformation when awakened human beings will create new societies based on Aquarian principles of inventive teamwork and empowered service. The book features the 11 Principles of the Aquarian Age: Revolution, Evolution, Unity, Friendship, Transparency, Magic, Comedy, Abundance, Electricity, Brilliance, and Freedom.
Buckminster Fuller called our planet "Spaceship Earth." And we are all crew of this Spaceship.
And in the Aquarian ideal, each crew member is important and vital to the functioning of the whole planet.
What a beautiful planet
oceans full of life
land to grow food on
polar ice caps reserving water
plants and trees to provide oxygen
atmosphere to collect warmth from the sun
swirling clouds recycling moisture and providing fresh water
It is an ever-replenishing system
Earth - The Blue Planet
https://www.eco-pros.org/blueplanet.htm
Part 5: The Cusp
A Cusp is the transitional time period during which one Age shifts gradually into the next.
Now that the Piscean Age is drawing to a close, these Aquarian vibrations are more widespread and more integrated into our entire cultural atmosphere. So, if any astrologer claims to know exactly when the Aquarian Age began, please take such information with a grain of salt.
As we live through the Cusp period, take careful note of the GRADUAL, SHIFTING CHANGE. We will recognize this change in the growing number of “trends” that move us into the future. Furthermore, Aquarius can bring sudden changes, too, as its glyph suggests. The symbol can be interpreted as waves of energy (or brainwaves) and also as lightning!
A Cusp period is a dramatic, exciting, and important time in which to live. The transition from one Age to the next is felt by everyone. The air is literally crackling with change..During a Cusp period, the astrological influences of both Ages are felt: the one that is coming up, and the one that is passing. People are constantly confronted by choices between the old and the new..
Astrologer Marion Weinstein wrote of "the shadow of the Cusp" showing itself as far back as the Victorian Age. But I believe it can be seen even earlier, with the discovery of the planet Uranus, as well as the state of people wanting to govern themselves (democracy) and rebelling or revolutionary acts of overthrowing authoritarian governments, including the U.S., France, and Haiti, in the 1700s.
The people learning to rule themselves is part of the "growing up" process in becoming spiritual adults.It takes time to learn to be a spiritual adult. Especially when our cultures have done their best to tamp down such things so that the Authoritarians could tell us what to believe spiritually.
This Cusp period is giving us a chance to see the Choices in front of us, stark and plain. Aquarius encourages us to making brave, optimistic choices in a spirit of community.
Pisces was a time of duality.
The main duality theme was the concept of good vs. evil,--Marion Weinstein
God vs. devil. Thus we see the ideas of sin (including original sin) and redemption, damnation, and salvation.
"Following orders" was a Piscean Age trait. Rulers were authority figures outside the self. Government was initiated outside of and away from the people. People had titles that said some were better than others, by right of birth. Kings, queens, priests, cardinals, dukes, and other rulers were higher; peasants and serfs were lower. The institutions of feudalism, monarchy, hierarchy, and government bureaucracy were all Piscean; so were the concepts of unequivocal allegiance, regimentation, nationalism, and patriotism.
Duality also applied to man and woman, considered literally two different species. Man was higher, woman was lower. Thus patriarchy was perpetuated in the Piscean Age, and God was unquestionably male. There was duality also within male/female relationships: "sacred" vs. "profane" love. Spirituality was higher, sexuality lower. Hence chastity, chivalry, asceticism, celibacy, and sexual repression—all Piscean.
Now, let's take a look at the Aquarian––and current Cusp—counter-parts of the above themes.
The dominant themes of Aquarius are equality and the oneness of all life. Duality is NOT an Aquarian issue. Neither is the concept of higher vs. lower, winner vs. loser, inner vs. outer. There are no polarities.
This can be seen in the Aquarian view of sex. The unisex style popularized during the 1960s was an Aquarian phenomenon—men and women dressing alike, looking alike, acting alike. The Gay Movement, the Women's Movement, transsexualism, the open recognition of bisexuality as well as homosexuality—are all Aquarian. In the Aquarian Age, male will no longer be superior, but neither will female. There will be equality and oneness between the sexes.
In male/female relationships, sexuality is no longer considered "lower" than spirituality. Love includes sex, instead of being seen in contrast to it. The acceptance of open sexuality workshops and therapies, beginning with Masters and Johnson, legalized abortion, sex education, widespread birth control, the so-called sexual revolution, and the idea of sex-as-healthy—these are all Aquarian.
People totally governing themselves will demonstrate the Aquarian ideal of government, but this hasn't actually happened yet. Democracy, socialism, and communism are self-government in theory, but they are still dominated by hierarchical practices, bureaucracy, and authority figures. They are Cusp phenomena because the idea is Aquarian, but the for is still Piscean. Organic, or "quiet," revolution is Aquarian, the change from within—as opposed to social revolution of a violent nature, which is both Piscean and Cusp.
Aquarian religious adepts will serve new functions, because people will no longer require the intercession of clergy or saints to reach God. People,will be able to reach Deity directly, because Deity is within everyone.
Meditation is Aquarian. But any rigid, structured, or commercial organizations selling meditation—and/or other "spiritual" techniques—are Cusp. This includes the so-called human potential movement. Enlightenment sold for a fee and delineated according to a given set of rules, is an Aquarian idea in Piscean form.
East/West blends of religions, gurus, messiahs, and cults are all Cusp— because they embody Aquarian religious ideas within a Piscean structure of following a leader. Nuns wearing street clothes, women rabbis, married priests, gay churches—Aquarian innovations grafted onto Piscean religious forms—are also Cusp.
It was Piscean to see a duality between the practical and the mystical. In the Piscean Age, you could either be a man of God (such as a holy mystic in a hair shirt, living on a mountain top), or you could be a practical man of action (warrior, king, or knight—and later, businessman, politician, or scientist). If you were a woman, these choices were not open to you. You could be either a good woman (celibate nun or holy wife/mother) or harlot (rich courtesan or poor whore).
Now in the Cusp, the practical and the mystical are beginning to merge. Science as a Piscean institution categorically denied the existence of occult phenomena. The Cusp science of parapsychology works with occult phenomena. So does the "New Physics," quantum physics; although words such as "occult" and "magic" are not used, the same ideas are very much present. The emotional transference of old religious feelings to newer ideologies, such as psychiatry, is Cusp. Experimental psychiatric and psychological techniques are also Cusp, as is the use of psychotropic drugs.
Exploitation of the planet is an idea which grew out of Piscean dualities—man as separate from God, humans separate from the rest of nature. The Aquarian counterpart is environmentalism: save the planet and revere nature because we are all inextricably linked to it. A Cusp phenomenon occurs when oil, coal, or other (Piscean) energy companies, which
are still exploiting natural resources, use advertising campaigns to "pass" as ecologically sound (Aquarian) ventures.
Psychic communication is truly Aquarian: ESP techniques such as telepathy and spirit contact, cannot be owned, bought, sold or regulated. Now, in the Cusp, they are just beginning to be explored and accepted. Interplanetary and interspecies communication are also Aquarian, although space travel is cusp at this point, because of the expense and consequent ownership.
Man-as-center-of-the-Universe is a Piscean belief. Racism is a related Piscean belief. Equal opportunity legislation, integration, minority liberation, and anti-defamation groups are all Cusp. By the time the Aquarian Age is really set in, racism, nationalism, and sexism will no longer be significant issues, because the prerequisite feelings of duality will be gone from the culture.
Another Cusp problem may be a "doomsday" feeling. Sometimes it may appear that the world is going to come to an end, and we hear talk of Apocalypse, Armageddon and other dire predictions. Hollywood disaster movies depicting destruction by fire, flood, or Satan are outlets for the doomsday fear and are harmless—unless they are taken seriously. Such doomsday thought is a primitive fear reaction and it is important not to yield to it. The feeling seems to surface during every Cusp, and is a misunderstanding of the turning point between two Ages. The world is not com ing to an end, the Piscean Age is!
Negative predictions can put forth negative vibrations into the atmosphere. It is far more productive to look ahead optimistically and plan for the coming Age.
We can afford to be optimistic about Aquarius! It has long been heralded in occult lore as a Golden Age for the planet. Also, in assessing the Piscean Age, there is no reason to say that it was all negative. We must acknowledge the positive accomplishments of the passing Age so that we can build on them in the next Age. We can then clearly turn our attention to new themes and choices, bearing in mind that every individual choice, in each person's life, influences the culture of the Age.
A major theme of Aquarius is that God is within. The goal in the Age of Aquarius will be how to bring this idea into meaningful reality. The choices will involve innovative ways of helping everyone to be happy, secure, and fulfilled, making sure that no one is hungry, exploited, or poor. And this is to be realized, not according to some authority's ideas, but in response to the genuine basic needs of everyone.
During the Cusp period, we may find ourselves grappling with the themes of the past Age versus the themes of the new Age: the old ways versus the new. This is deceptive. Ultimately, there is no real choice between old and new, because as Tennyson told us, the old order is destined to yield place to new.
Yeah, I know there's LOTS here, but it's a pretty big deal and we are really lucky to be born in a time when we can influence the ENTIRE AGE OF AQUARIUS NOW BEING BORN! We are the ones who are sowing the seeds that will be blossoming many decades into the future! YeeHAW! ;-)
The Ruler of Aquarius is the planet Uranus, the “maverick” planet:
Uranus is all about uniqueness, intuition, innovation, ingenuity, rebellion and rascalry. We all have a maverick within. Intuition connects us to the larger dance of creation and, through the agency of synchronicity, keeps us all in touch with each other. Through the intervention of meaningful Uranian coincidence, a new world comes together, organically and naturally.
Caroline Casey identifies Uranus with OYA, the African Goddess of Change. Her "prayer" to Uranus goes:
"Let the winds of change blow through my life, bringing the most radically enlivening thing that could possibly happen. I am hoisting my sails. Parasail me into the place where I can connect with my allies, and together we can do the most good."
Part 6: COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS
The Real Message of the Age of Aquarius:
This era isn't about becoming "better."
It's about becoming so aligned that your life reorganizes around truth.
The old world was built on external control.
The new world is built on internal coherence.
And that's why it's intense.
Because this isn't a cosmetic upgrade.
It's a root-level rewrite.
–John Roma
Understanding these huge cycles of time gives us a new perspective. We can see the earth as part of a giant cosmic dance with dance partners that come from far beyond our solar system.. Considering the great sweep of the ages, our individual lives look so brief and fleeting. This however, is another illusion. In fact, we are eternal spirits who experience many lifetimes and can never die. Our long reincarnational journey may go through similar seasonal cycles – wintry lives of difficulty moving into easier, summery lives. As the old saying goes, ‘as above, so below’Aquarius will certainly encourage us to expand our Consciousness, in a myriad of ways. This is the true Age of Exploration of the Mind, Soul, and Spirit.
Ptolemy said that when you know about the great cycles of the stars, it gives you inner peace. It provides a higher perspective and a more cosmically centered consciousness. Thinking of the earth as the center of the universe, with everything revolving around it, is how infants see themselves. It now feels good to know that our world could be one of squillions of others, and is an integral part of the giant cosmic wheels of time. The full benefits of this knowledge are wonders waiting for discovery in the exciting new worlds that now lie ahead for us.
--Atasha Fyfe (link to her article about cycles)
The Earth’s consciousness will also be expanded and S/he will take us along for the ride! We might as well do our best to learn to truly become spiritual adults and express our vast hidden potential!
I know some of you are thinking you are helpless to steer the change. But you're wrong! It can happen. All it takes is for you and I and the next guy to change our thinking and values to align with the coming new Age of Aquarius. Once the synergistic ball starts to roll, it will be unstoppable.
– by Sandra Weaver
Achieving this (adult) level means that you can enter a synagogue, a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple, or an Andean cave with the same feeling of sacred in your heart. The capacity to do this indicates someone who can see, feel, and recognize the sacred energy of people, places or objects, directly. They are able to see through the symbol, beyond it, moving into direct energetic perception. This is the real meaning of being a Mystical Seer.
When you move into the (adult) level, you become one with PACHAMAMA (the Earth). This means that your energy bubble literally resonates with the spirit of the entire earth. At that point in your development, you can no longer be under the tutelage of an APU, but you must come under the tutelage of a being from the HANAQ PACHA (the dimension of the Stars).
--Juan Nunez del Prado
