We have anniversaries, biennial events, diamond jubilees, centenaries, bi-centenaries and even millenarianism but rarely do celebrations arrive around every 7,000 years!  Between 2015 and 2029 a very special event takes place that has not occurred since 5122 BC.  The world in 5122 BC was a very different place.  The population of the world was about 25 million people in 3000 BC, and so perhaps 10 to 15 million people were alive in 5122 BC – about the size of present day Los Angeles.  Nevertheless great things were stirring in the world as this period marked the first widespread settling down of humans, farming and domestication of animals.

Until 5122 BC the world was the closest in temperament to the society still being shaped by mankind in today’s Aquarian age in the 21^st century.  5122 BC marks the end of the Gemini age.  The Gemini age and Aquarian age are both Air signs.  The Aquarian age that arrived in 1433 AD is the first age of the same Air element since the Gemini age (7351 – 5122 BC).  Obviously the world’s inhabitants in 5122 BC were not concerned about broadband, computers, the price of fossil fuel, pollution or over-crowding, but their heads were in an intellectually creative mode – something common with Air signs. 

While these ancients may not have been making technological discoveries of the modern world, they were making farming and agricultural discoveries that allowed them produce more food than they required – spurning on population growth and spreading their new agricultural technology far and wide.  The Gemini age also saw the first large villages or hamlets and the introduction of many discoveries around the world including the relatively simultaneous cultivation of newly domesticated crops in most continents of the world.  Pottery became widespread, primitive canoes were built, irrigation trenches first appeared and the white skinned race continued to evolve as they turned to milk and trekked further north where the sun shines weakly.

The world in the Gemini age was on the move.  Probably more discoveries and inventions occurred in the Gemini age than in the previous 50,000 years.  While life was much slower and far less intense in the Gemini age compared to the current Aquarian age – similar intellectual inventiveness was evident.

The relationship between the Gemini age and Aquarian age deepens when the full context of each age is taken into account.  In reality it was the Cancer-Gemini age and today we are in the Pisces-Aquarian age (see Is the Aquarian Age Like a Block of Granite?).  Cancer and Pisces are Water signs and Gemini and Aquarius are Air signs.  There are four elements associated with the 12 zodiacal signs – Water, Air, Fire and Water.  Each of these elements has specific characteristics.  Fire and Earth signs promote conservatism, patriotism and the status quo.  Water and Air signs promote change, evolution and instability.  The more Water and Air signs the more change and instability.  The more Fire and Earth signs the more conservatism.  When Reagan was president of the USA, and Thatcher prime minister of the UK the world was experiencing a mainly Earth and Fire micro-age influences and even here we can see the rise of conservatism on the small scale following the heady 60s when the progressive Water element was dominant.

The current Pisces-Aquarian age being Water and Air promotes evolution, change and instability.  Within the current Pisces-Aquarian age are 12 sub-ages.  Currently the world is in the Scorpio-Libra sub-age.  Scorpio is a Water sign and Libra is an Air sign – the same combination as Pisces and Aquarius.  This is the first time in the Pisces-Aquarian age that we are in a Water-Air sub-age.  This is the first time in over 7,000 years that both the ages and sub-ages are all in Water and Air territory.  The plot deepens.  Each sub-age also has 12 micro-ages.  In 2015 the world enters a little 15 years Cancer-Gemini micro-age with Cancer a Water sign and Gemini an air sign – the same combination of Air and Water again!

Therefore in 2015, for the first time in over 7,000 years the world will be passing through an age, sub-age and micro-age that all aligned with Water and Air – with no Fire or Earth in sight.  This occurrence will occur nine times in the Pisces-Aquarian age, with the first three occurring between 2015 and 2148.  This period will therefore see the extreme of change, evolution and instability.  Over the last 7,000 years the world descended into the opposite of what we are now facing.  In the Taurus-Aries age (2916 – 732 BC) the world experienced nine times when Earth and Fire elements ruled supreme without any Water and Air signs in sight.  The world was turning to the bedrock of conservatism, war and nationalism, during that time.

Early societies were mainly democratic orientated often involving elders in a tribe. The Taurus-Aries age coincided with the firm arrival of an entrenched aristocracy, pharaohs, kings and other forms of totalitarian governments who by and large were hell bent on waging war with each other.  The world is like a pendulum that swings from conservative totalitarianism to ‘democratic’ liberalism. After 7,000 long years the world is returning to progressiveness, liberal change but instability.  Those revolutionary and heady days of the 1960s and early 70s have nothing on what is coming – at best the 1960s and 70s is a preview of what is to come.

The conservative backlash (mainly in the USA and Islamic fundamentalists) following the1960s and 70s was due to a small digression back into the conservative Virgo and Leo micro-ages – Earth and Fire micro-ages respectively. The stepping stones to the first all Air and Water period commenced with little fanfare in 2000 with the arrival of the Leo-Cancer micro-age (Fire and Water), but changed gear in 2007 (one year before the election of the first black president of the USA) when the Water element in the Fire and Water  Leo-Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) became stronger.  The world will finally move into all Water and Air territory in 2015 for the first time in over 7,000 years.

What can be expected in the period 2015 to 2029 – the first of nine such periods in the Pisces-Aquarian age?  Unfortunately the extent of what we can expect is hard to determine because historical records going back 7,000 are insufficient to provide us with clear antecedents.  Alternatively we can examine some of the previous two hundred years or so and look for periods where they are closest to the ideal scenario of all periods elements being Air and Water.  In the Sagittarius-Scorpio sub-age (1791 – 1970) only Sagittarius was Fire, all other signs were Air and Water, so those micro-ages within the Sagittarius-Scorpio sub-age that were also exclusively Air and Water may provide us with a guide.  The particular periods include: the Cancer-Gemini micro-age (1851-66) and the Pisces-Aquarius micro-age (1910-25). 

Both these period witnessed many instabilities including in the Cancer-Gemini micro-age (1851-66) the American Civil War, The Crimean War and the Taiping Rebellion with an estimated death toll of between 20 and 30 million alone.  Wikipedia states that

“The 1860s were an extremely turbulent decade in the world, with numerous cultural, social, and political upheavals in Europe and America.”

In the Pisces-Aquarius micro-age (1910-25) saw the end of European millenarianism and conservative influences with the arrival of the 1^st World War.  This triggered the abdication of various conservative monarchies and the fall of the last world empires (German, Ottoman and Austria-Hungary).  The arrival of the communists in full force with the Russian Revolution in 1917 introduced radical new concepts of how societies could operate.  The USA attempted to outlaw alcohol with prohibition. The Irish commenced throwing off their British overlords leading to the Irish Rebellion.  Fascists took advantage of political instability.

The instability in these periods was extensive, but so was the progressiveness.  Probably the most important breakthrough in the Cancer-Gemini micro-age (1851-66) was Charles Darwin’s publication of The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859.  On a minor note Paris became the fashion capital of the world.  In the following period, the Pisces-Aquarius micro-age (1910-25) Einstein did to physics what Darwin did to biology, and produced his revolutionary theory of general relativity while Alfred Wegener suggests that the continents drift and collide with each other.  Culturally radio, movies and jazz became popular and Pablo Picasso became the leading 20^th century painter, first with Cubism than moving on to Surrealism.  The 1920s introduced the Roaring Twenties or Jazz Age.

As a guide to the Cancer-Gemini micro-age (2015 – 29) we can expect great instability, but also progress – one way or another.  Though doom and gloom pundits may predict a 3^rd World War I don’t think this is a possibility as astrologically the world is turning away from war.  There is a bigger problem facing humanity than war – climate change.  However even climate change can precipitate division.  One way or another the USA fractures in Gemini-Cancer micro-ages so some serious division, conflict or discord will occur in the USA.  Possibly this will occur due to a perception by conservative elements in the USA that they are losing control.  Mass dislocation of people and massive legal and illegal immigration is sure to be a factor in the world. 

Climate change requires great adaptation by societies if it is to be successfully tackled, and this period does to a certain extent promote such change – more so from the general population than leaders.   If the last two Water and Air micro-ages produced Darwin’s evolution and Einstein’s relativity – some very significant breakthrough may occur in 2015 – 2129, perhaps the understanding of dark matter and dark energy that supposedly constitutes around 90% of the universe? Other alternatives include breakthroughs in nano-technology, AIDS immunisation, a new and superior internet, longevity, DNA in medical technology, a cure for many cancers or even a replacement for fossil fuels.

It would be nice to say that in a Water-Air period that is soon to arrive in 2015 that positive elements will succeed at the expense of negative elements but this should not be expected. In the 1960s and early 70s though revolution was in the air for youth, many countries witnessed military coups and dictatorial governments.  Water-Air periods while producing advances both technological and societal, also produce instability which can be taken advantage of by the unscrupulous – particularly the military.  The desire by many people to be free will rise, and some existing totalitarian governments are sure to falter, but others will tend to extract revenge upon many of their citizens – such is the ugly nature of politics.  While public opinion and sentiment is sure to rise, leadership may be wanting in the years 2015-29.  Some key political leaders may actually suffer mental illness and behave like a modern day Nero or Caligula.  Hopefully they will not have their finger on the button!

The period 2015 – 29 is a celebration of over 7,000 years in the making – but what kind a celebration will it be?  Will it be more like a party or a wake?  It is bound to have elements of both, but at the bottom line and despite whatever conflicts and turmoil occur, some very interesting, evolutionary and progressive developments are sure to claim out attention, awe and wonder like we collectively have not experienced for over 7,000 years. 

 Copyright Terry MacKinnell 2009

What is the relationship between the Age of Aquarius and a block of granite?  There is an expectation by most people that the Age of Aquarius will arrive (if it has not done so already) to replace the Age of Pisces.  The Age of Pisces supposedly produced this sorry world full of greed, war, inequality, corruption and so on.  With the arrival of the Aquarian age the sorry state of the world under Pisces is going to be replaced by a glorious world under Aquarius bringing consciousness, spiritual renewal and peace amongst many other paradisiacal expectations including a virtual return to the Garden of Eden. 

The sorry-state block of granite is going to be replaced by the Garden-of-Eden block of granite.  This is what I mean when I say ‘is the Age of Aquarius like a block of granite?’  In the urban myth of the Aquarian age the answer is a resounding YES.   Is there any foundation for such an expectation of a monolithic Aquarian age replacing a monolithic Pisces age? A resounding No!

One way of examining the current age is to research the major factors appearing in the world and assigning an astrological archetype to these elements (similar to the process taken with the lyrics of the song Hair in my article Aquarius in Pisces Sheep Clothing).  If ages are like a block of granite it should clearly demonstrate this in this exercise.

What are the major developments affecting the world today?  The following list which is not exhaustive indicates from a top down view, the major issues and developments affecting the world today.  Next to the items will be the respective astrological sign usually affiliated with the topic:

•  Iraq War – Aries
• Pollution and global warming – Scorpio & Leo
• Poverty – Taurus
• Massive economic growth – Sagittarius
• Computers and the internet – Aquarius
• Peak oil – Pisces
• Medical breakthroughs – Virgo
• Genetic engineering and GM foods – Scorpio
• Nuclear power – Scorpio
• Rogue states with nuclear weapons or dirty bombs – Scorpio
• Globalisation and multi-national corporations – Pisces & Sagittarius
• China’s economic miracle – Cancer
• Ethnic cleansing – Scorpio
• Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims – Capricorn
• Born-again Christians – Scorpio & Pisces
• Illegal drugs – Pisces
• Anti-depressants – Pisces
• Terrorism – Scorpio
• Paedophiles – Leo & Scorpio
• Sex slaves – Scorpio & Pisces
• Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter – Pisces & Scorpio
• Growth of cities – Gemini
• Capitalism – (Pisces)
• New Age movement – Pisces & Aquarius
• International travel – Sagittarius
• AIDS – Scorpio
• Population explosion – Sagittarius

From the above list the following table of occurrences per sign is produced:

(Note: The above results can easily be distorted by the omission of important developments, but in broad terms the above represents most key aspects of our modern world.)

The first thing noticeable is that there are two signs which produce the highest number of correlations to current world developments – Scorpio and Pisces, with Scorpio almost half a body length ahead of Pisces.  This clearly indicates that no one sign has taken control of all developments.  Secondly, while Pisces can be explained from the effects of the Pisces age, how can Scorpio be explained?

The above methodology is a rectification technique.  Examining any period in history, and correlating the zodiacal signs with the developments at that time, produces a zodiacal map as illustrated in the above table.  Rectification is reverse engineering.  If the zodiacal map indicates that Scorpio and Pisces are the strongest signs present, then any solution must explain these two characteristics.

The presence of the sign Pisces does not indicate that we are still in the Pisces age, but it does indicate that its presence is definitely stronger than Aquarius at this point of time.  Taking a step back and looking at longer term developments it is easy to see the appearance of Aquarian archetypes such as democracy, electricity, computers and the internet have made a large indent in the world recently, even if these appear to be overshadowed in the current events arena by Pisces for the time being.

How can Pisces be so strong if I am declaring that we are in the Aquarian age in my last post?  It is really simple.  The arrival of a new age is like the election of a new government.  For example, when a new conservative government gets elected replacing a left wing or socialist government, the new government inherits the treasury, budget, policies, judges and laws of the old government.  Certain things it can do swiftly such as how it manages its ministries or government departments that it now controls. But these departments must still comply with the laws of the land, the previously passed budget bill of the left wing government and any laws passed while the previous government was in control.

Slowly the new government can replace the left wing policies of the former government with its right-wing policies.  In the budget it will attempt to lower social security payments, keep wage increases as low as possible, reduce taxes to businesses and corporations, lower the tax rate to the rich and so on.  The new conservative government may not have control of both houses of government.  Therefore it may want to reduce pensions but the Senate remaining under left wing control opposes the measure and it fails.  As the years go by slowly the conservative government swings the country to the right but even after many years it still may get thwarted by the previous government. 

The former left wing government may have stacked the Supreme Court with left leaning judges who sit there for life.  The new conservative government, that now controls both houses of government, passes a law preventing homosexuals from having a legal marriage that have been passed by some states in its country.  Some of these states take the government to court, and the left leaning Supreme Court justices find some arcane clause in the constitution that claims all citizens are equal, therefore homosexuals are equal and can have the same marital rights as heterosexuals. The conservative government has been again stifled by the influence of the previous left wing government.

The same occurs with ages.  When the new Aquarian age arrived it faced the effects of Pisces with a 2150 years momentum.  Momentum does not disappear quickly!  Research indicates that the momentum of the previous age is so strong, that its influence remains stronger than the new age for at least the first half of the new age.  Therefore when the new age of Aquarius arrived, it faces at least 1075 years of the underdog position to Pisces.  This is why there is so much evidence of Pisces in the modern world – far greater than Aquarius, even though we are actually in the Aquarian age. 

The world is definitely in the Aquarian age but with Pisces at the dominant position.  This can explain why in the zodiacal table the sign Pisces correlates with so many developments in the world at the present time.  But where does Scorpio come from?

This returns us to the question – does an age behave like a block of granite?  No because firstly it shares the period with the effects of the previous age, especially in the first half of any age.  Secondly, each age has twelve sub-ages.  This will come as a great shock to many people but amongst astrologers that actually research the ages, this approach is common.

If each age has twelve sub-ages then the effects of each sub-age must correlate to historical events in the same way as ages, but with shorter timeframes of around 179 years each.  The reason why Scorpio figures so strongly is because within the Aquarian age, the world is experiencing the effects from the Scorpio sub-age.  The reason the world is experiencing the effects of the Scorpio sub-age is that it recently came to its end around 1970.  Since 1970 the world has been in the Libra sub-age, but sub-ages behave the same as ages but only smaller.  The momentum of the Scorpio sub-age is so strong, that in this portion of the Libra sub-age, the effects from the Scorpio sub-age dominate Libra.  As a practical example this is why around 1970 the Sexual Revolution (Scorpio rules sex) swept over the developed nations of the world as a direct result of the availability of effective birth control in the Pill.

The cusp of the Scorpio Sub-Age in 1970 also explains why the urban myth believes this period herald the arrival of the Aquarian age.  Some astrological archetypes are shared.  Scorpio shares with Aquarius revolutions and revolutionary activity.  Revolution was in the air in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, not just the Sexual Revolution.  The revolutionary spirit gripped many youths as they cast away outmodes conventions, habits and cultural relics such as preferring marijuana over alcohol, and embarked on a new journey with the new found freedom.

What happened soon after the arrival of the Sexual Revolution – which also tended to allow homosexuals to come out of the closet?  AIDS.  This devastating and generally sexually transmitted disease also shows its Scorpio credentials.  The pervasive influence Scorpio has had on the world, particularly since the 1960s and 70s covers a wide range of influences and is the subject of a magazine article I wrote that was published in November 2006 in The Astrological Monthly Review.  This article examines the peak influence of Scorpio around 1970 (plus and minus 15 years) and the first Scorpio `hotspot’ following this period centred around 2010 (plus or minus 5 years).  This article is available at this blog at http://macroastro.wordpress.com/published-articles/scorpio-–-the-sign-of-the-times/

A brief review of the territory covered in this post clearly shows that in any age, not only is it strongly influenced by the previous age, it is also subject to the wiles of each sub-age as they come trundling along.  Because each zodiacal sign is represented amongst the sub-ages, this puts the stake into the heart of the block of granite approach to the ages.  The world is not only facing the developing influences of the current age, every 179 years or so, a new major influence also arrives, promoting archetypes of the sign of the sub-age. 

In many ways the influence of the sub-age energy is more prevalent than that of the energy of the new age and even the strong influence that has carried over from the previous age.  This was demonstrated in the zodiacal map based on the current major events and developments facing the world.  Scorpio was in number one position, followed by Pisces while Aquarius barely rated a mention.  The current emphasis placed upon the ages both by astrologers and the urban myth generators does not stand up to scrutiny.  The sub-ages are as critical, if not more so, than the ages at any point of time. This shatters the block of granite that people evoke when they think solely in term of ages. 

This emphasis upon the sub-ages does not remove the effectiveness of the ages.  The sub-ages must work within the confines or parameters of the energy of each age.  This can be demonstrated with the Scorpio sub-age (c.1791 – 1970), working within the Aquarian age (c.1443 – 3574).  Both promote revolution, and if any revolution occurs, it will favour democracy and fascist style dictator ships over monarchs (that are ruled by Aquarius’ opposite sign Leo).  I can hear the gasps from here! How can Aquarius be associated with fascism?  Again this is simple, each sign has positive and negative archetypes.  Dictators (Hitler was a perfect case in point with Uranus, the planet that rules Aquarius, the strongest sign in his horoscope) are also associated with Aquarius. 

Look what happened between 1791 and 1970 in the Scorpio sub-age.  In 1791 the world was basically ruled by monarchs, except the USA, and maybe a few other small political entities.  By 1970 only a few monarchs remained in power in some Arabic countries, Nepal and in democracies such as Great Britain.   This was a massive world-wide revolution that virtually dethroned the monarchs that had been ruling the world for almost 5,000 years.  This is both Scorpio and Aquarius in action.  Though a significant part of the world replaced monarchs with democracy, another significant part was replaced by virtual dictatorships.  Regardless of the political orientation, what effectively suffered in this greatest revolution ever experienced in the world to date is the dethroning of monarchs, or their separation from real political power.  Scorpio is working within the parameters set by its parent age – the Age of Aquarius.

The Aquarian age, Pisces age or any age is not like a block of concrete.  There is a cacophony of mixed influences like a fruit cake.  At any time the various astrological influences can be correlated to the ages in question and the sub-ages.  So while Hair was proclaiming that this was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, they should have said:

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius

And the Sub-age of Libra

But the Pisces age still affects us

Not to mention Scorpio

It certainly is not melodious or even poetic, but it is far more accurate!

Note: This was originally posted on 27 March 2008 but subsequently got lost in cyberspace.  I am reposting this with some minor editing.

The astrology of the Aquarian age strongly supports the reality of progressive adverse affects upon earth from climate change at this section of the age.  However while the scientists claim the major problem is global warming, the astrology of the Aquarian age does not agree.  The astrology of the Aquarian age indicates that as the earth’s atmosphere is contaminated and polluted at an alarming rate over the foreseeable future, different symptoms will be expressed.  Global warming is just the first of many symptoms. 

At present the world is in the Aquarian age (c.1433 – 3574), but each age has 12 sub-ages of approximately 178 years each, and each of the 12 sub-ages has 12 micro-ages of approximately 15 years each.  The world is currently in transition from the Leo micro-age to Cancer micro-age.  Global warming arrived first as a contentious idea then as a more certifiable scientific fact under the influence of Leo.  This conforms to the fact that the sign Leo is ruled by the hot sun and is a Fire sign (along with Aries and Sagittarius) so it makes sense that in a Leo period, concerns and symptoms of global warming are paramount.  In this transition time as Leo wanes and Cancer waxes, the importance of global warming will also wane while the water woes in the world will grow. 

Cancer is a Water sign (along with Scorpio and Pisces).  Cancer rules homes and real estate.  The current global financial crisis was precipitated by the sub-prime real estate fiasco where countless bonds based on almost worthless real estate lost most or all of their value sending banks, finance and insurance companies to the brink of collapse if not for government bailouts.  Cancer rules more than homes and real estate – many issues related to water are also ruled by Cancer.  Other key water items associated with Cancer are: water supply, dams, canals, and riparian corridors and shipping disasters.

In this transition time however Cancer is still growing in strength and will not come out in full glory sometime around 2012 or 2013 – but will have a strong impact until 2022, with a residual influence until about 2029.  The Cancer micro-age will divert the attention from global warming to water woes.  This is already occurring.  The 2005 flooding of New Orleans is a classic example of Cancer as when the levies broke, New Orleans was flooded.  On March 26 2009 a state of emergency was declared in Minnesota crippled by flooding in icy conditions at much the same time as a dam collapsed in Indonesia killing many thousands of people as villages were washed away.

Further evidence of widespread water problems can be found in all directions.  For example where I live in Queensland, Australia, the state government has recently constructed a sewerage recycling plant which basically purifies ‘toilet water’ and pours the purified water back into the dam that supplies the states capital city.  Other cities in Australia are building desalination plants to convert sea water to drinking water.  Australia’s major river system (equivalent to the Mississippi River in the USA) is in dire straights due to lack of water flowing in the river system – in many areas it is just a series of mud puddles. 

China in 2009 announced drastic plans to cut water usage by its industry and agriculture by 60% by 2020 following its worst drought in 50 years.  This drought is compounded by the rivers that are so polluted the water cannot even be treated effectively ⁽¹⁾.  China interestingly has more dams than any other country (China and dams are ruled by Cancer), and the recent earthquake in Sichuan that killed 70,000 people is also the location of the greatest concentration of dams in China.  Many of these dams were damaged.  Three decades ago a dam collapsed in China killing 80,000 people.  The frightening possibility is that as more dams are built in China, the likelihood some will collapse with significant deaths and damage will increase ^(2).

California declared a state of emergency in early 2009 as below average rainfall and snowfall has caused a major drought ⁽³⁾.  The United Nations has warned that by 2025 a third of the world may be scavenging for safe drinking water.  Places like Mexico City, Jakarta and Bangkok are depleting their non-renewable underground water sources at alarming rates.  Beijing’s aquifers now must go down an extra 40 feet to find water for the city.  Similar alarming situations are developing in India and Israel⁽⁴⁾.  

Some unresolved issues about the allocation of water between different countries may exacerbate political tensions as many rivers pass through or border multiple countries.  This is the case with the Nile in Egypt, Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Turkey, Syria and Iraq and the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States.  Five of the 10 fastest-growing U.S. states are on the Colorado River’s catchment and consequently only a trickle of water arrives in Mexico.  Other shared rivers include the Amur River between Russia and China, the African Niger River plus the Mekong in South-East Asia, and Indus and Ganges in Asia⁽⁵⁾.

We are at very early days for Cancer and the water problems that will be associated with Cancer.  No matter how dire and detrimental any damage or problems caused by excess water or drought over the coming two decades will be, this will not be the final or greatest problematical symptom of climate change.  The sign that follows Cancer is Gemini, and it will be three times more powerful than Cancer. 

The fault with current predictions of climate change and global warming is that most scientists extrapolate current trends into the future in a straight line or following a fixed projection from the present data trends.  The earth is under great stress, and as more and more pollutants are injected into the finite atmosphere, many new symptoms will appear that were not originally factored into the equations.  The astrology says that climate change will first foist global warming onto the world, then move on to water problems from too much or too little water, then move onto the even more serious issue of the quality of the air we breathe.  It will not stop at air quality as it will keep moving – it may even lead to destructive global cooling in the last quarter of the 21^st century.

However I am an optimistic pessimist, I am not a doom and gloom merchant.  There are some very positive sides to Cancer.  It will promote the role of women, reduce the impact of iconoclastic authoritarian figures that believe they have the right to tell other people how to act and behave, increase the sensitivity or diplomacy between nations and increase the joy of day-to-day life.  Every cloud has a silver lining!

References:

(1)   New Scientist, 21 Feb 2009, Pg 6

(2)   New Scientist, 7 Jun 2008, Pg 5

(3)   Water Calamity – California drying up, The Sunday Mail, Mar 1, 2009

(4)   A thirsty planet looks for solutions to water shortage by Marlowe Hood, March 20, 2008  http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/a-thirsty-planet-looks-for-solutions-to-water-shortage-20080320-20ko.html

(5)   http://whyfiles.org/131fresh_water/2.html]

As a young child I remember many cartoons depicting some misfit carrying a placard saying that ‘the end is nigh’ or the ‘world is doomed’.  There was a good reason for this despondency – there were enough nuclear warheads ready to blow humans to smithereens.  I remember a graffiti message from this era ‘mutate now and avoid the rush’.  However now, in addition to the nuclear arsenal, humans are attempting to pollute themselves into oblivion. 

One thing we know for certain is that the world is definitely doomed.  Eventually the Sun will reach its terminal stage, expand and snuff out the Earth like some unlucky cockroach wacked with a folded newspaper.  However this reality of certain doom is not due for many billions of years to come.  In the meantime we have to contend with the world’s nuclear arsenal and carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere at unnaturally high levels.  Will either of these potential doomsday scenarios arrive on our doorstep in the immediate or near future?

James Lovelockdeveloped the Gaia hypothesis in the 1970s.  He basically stated that the Earth as a whole can be viewed as an interaction of living (organic) and non-living (inorganic) material that in combination with each other regulates the environment of the world.  Lovelock was instrumental in the worldwide CFC ban to protect the slowly depleting ozone layer that provides a protective shield for the world.  However he is less enthusiastic about global efforts to protect the world from carbon emissions.  Basically Lovelock says:

 “I don’t think we can react fast enough or are clever enough to handle what’s coming up”   

[ref: We’re doomed, but it’s not all bad, New Scientist, 24 January 2009, Pg 31].

The astrology of the Aquarian age agrees with Lovelock.  Each age has twelve sub-ages that interact with each other and the Aquarian age to produce a basic outline of what can be expected.  Between 1970 and 2148 the key sub-age is the Scorpio sub-age.  The previous sub-age was the Sagittarius sub-age.  In line with Sagittarius’ expanding and positive qualities, the world went into overdrive with the Industrial Revolution and the world population explosion – both the key factors producing pollution.  Scorpio is a very different zodiacal sign – it does not promote expansion and positivity but rather contraction, pollution, vulnerability and financial duress amongst a menu of Scorpio archetypes.

Since 1970s the world has been in a transition time where the baton is being passed from Sagittarius to Scorpio.  There are key timeframes in this transition.  The 1970s saw the first glimmer of Scorpio with the rise of environmental groups concerned about the degradation of the environment or promoting sustainability.  However despite some improvements the world continued in its merry way of expanding with the associated expansion of pollution.  Money, profits, economy and jobs were more important than the atmosphere or environment. 

Even in the current economic crisis many politicians are saying that measures to limit pollution should be put on hold – clearly implying that the economy (i.e. profits) are more important than the environment.  A good argument can be made that it is the quest for profits that is either the key factor or a key factor in the degradation of the environment.  Another key ingredient that results in environment degradation is debt – especially credit card debt.  Debt allows people to consume now what they cannot afford.  It is consumption that creates pollution.

Between 2005 and 2015 a second key Scorpio period appears, and during this time it is driving its point home – the world is on a collision course with global warming and environmental degradation.  In addition Scorpio is the sign associated with debt – and the recent global financial crisis is one manifestation of debt gone feral.  This is the time that serious remedial action should be put in place – but this is unlikely to occur to the extent necessary.

James Lovelock discredits the current approach that world leaders are giving lip service to.  He is especially scornful of carbon trading (this merely props up the economic establishment with profit in their sights), carbon sequestration (“it’s a crazy idea and dangerous”) and believes that it’s already too late for emissions reduction measures.

Lovelock believes that the result of humanity’s collective stupidity is that the world’s population will have to plummet from a projected nine billion people to one billion people by the end of this century as a world four degrees centigrade hotter than now cannot support more than about one bullion people.  Though the astrology of the Aquarian age cannot be as proscriptive to the actual numbers as Lovelock indicates, Scorpio is the sign that wants to contract.  Think of the biblical seven fat cows and seven scrawny cows – Scorpio is the scrawny cows.  The population of the world will contract – but the amount of contraction is difficult to say based exclusively on astrology.

Population contraction has already been occurring for decades – first in most of the developed First World countries, and now in the second tier nations such as Korea.  It is just too expensive to have many kids in the modern world.  This contraction is hidden by immigrants so that First World countries can still log an expanding population – but not by the birth-rate alone.  The comical result of this natural contraction of birth-rates is that many countries (including Australia) are providing significant financial bonuses for parents to have children. 

The reason that the Earth is suffering from pollution is that there are too many people who are consuming too many goods and services that are producing too much pollution.  These same governments that are supposedly going to save us from our own folly in the environmental area are encouraging (Sagittarian) population growth – the old paradigm.  As Lovelock states, Kyoto was 11 years ago and the only thing that has happened is endless talks and meetings.  The reason that governments behave the way they do is that they reflect the views of the general population.

Any study of history will show that human beings can rise to challenges, produce mighty artworks, cultures and civilization but equally go to war, persecute their citizens or neighbours and murder and kill enormous numbers of people.  This is all done in the name of patriotism, ideology or religion – in essence masking stupidism.  What will happen in the coming century? Is stupidism or awareness going to be the dominant paradigm that guides the world to either destruction or rebirth?

The current Scorpio influence within the Aquarian age cannot answer this question, but it does provide a short list of outcomes.  Scorpio promotes death and destruction, pollution, secret deals, debt and tyranny.  It also promotes rebirth, renewal, environment sustainability and minimalism.  Minimalism indicates a limit to the number of off-spring, currently occurring voluntarily in the West, and by government edict in China’s one child policy.  Which path will the world go down?  Will the world continue in its current trajectory towards environmental doom and a massive population cull?

I essentially concur with the outlook of James Lovelock but with an added twist.  I believe that the world will go the point of no return before serious effort is put into turning around our current consumption and polluting paradigm.  This may seem like a contradiction but in reality the result is surprising similar to what James Lovelock surmises. Lovelock says he is an optimistic pessimist about the dire environmental issue facing the world. 

Global warming and water scarcity are stepping stones to much greater problems.  The sub-periods of the Age of Aquarius indicate that air quality will be a much more serious problem from about 2030 onwards (at the latest).  When significant numbers or people commence dying prematurely due to atmospheric degradation (remember the air we pollute is the same air we must breathe), when breathing without coughing plague much of the world (with the attendant lung diseases and problems) – surely something more realistic and drastic will be done?

Fortunately some very significant astrological elements appear in the current century that has not occurred in the world for around 7,000 years.  These astrological elements involve progressive and lateral thinking of the highest order.  The first one comes online between 2015 and 2029.  The second appearance occurs at 2074 – 2089 and wraps up with a final one around 2133 – 2148.  More of these revitalising elements appear about 700 years later. 

From a rational perspective (as provided by James Lovelock) the world is in a bad way and getting worse.  The astrological configuration on one hand supports this pessimistic assessment but equally it supports the addition of an unexpected new spirit or sense of renewal that is available to humanity this century.  Even the election of Barack Obama as president of the USA may be a titillating foretaste of the potential change that is coming our way.  Barack Obama may be part of the advance guard preparing the way for a new perspective that does not have companies’ profits as the base.

There has been no century in recorded history that is not a combination of various degrees of difficulties, natural calamities, adversity and problems with advancement, survivability and relative peace.  There is no reason to believe that the 21^st century will be the perfect century or that any century can ever be a perfect century.  The 21^st century will be a century of change, fragility, passion, catastrophe, financial losses, renewal, transformation and rebirth.  The ancient Chinese would to say to their enemies: ‘may you live in interesting times’.  Interesting times was a euphemism for upheaval.  The 21^st century will be an interesting time!

James Lovelock’s latest book is The Vanishing Force of Gaia

The crash of share indexes leading to a lack of confidence in the world’s financial systems is at a very low point.  Some people say that this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Some forecasters are having a field day enunciating with virtual glee the prospect of economic recession and other predictions of doom and gloom.  However from the perspective of the Aquarian age this is all so humdrum.

The development of corporations, growth in free enterprise and international trade and finally globalism are perfectly in line with the arrival of the Aquarian age in the 15^th century.  Sure it took a few centuries to get its momentum going but the fact that the economic system of the modern world arrived in time with the Age of Aquarius indicates that  capitalism is not going to be extinguished in the near future (i.e. the next century or two). 

Capitalism is aligned to the (Aquarian) free spirit desiring to undertake some profitable venture.  Personal gain from your own efforts is an extremely strong motivating factor.  However capitalism is not the only economic approach aligned to Aquarius – socialism is also incorporated into the stable of Aquarius archetypes.  Aquarius is the sign of friends and groups of people combining their energies to undertake some joint task for the mutual benefits of all.  A classic example of Aquarian socialism is NASA and the various space agencies around the world including the International Space Station.

The neo-cons and extreme capitalists throw their hands up in horror at the thought of socialism.  To these extremists socialism is akin to communism and therefore socialism needs to be beaten on its head whenever it dares to show itself in public.  The recent bail-out of banks around the world and the virtual nationalizing of many banks at the brink of collapse has opened the Pandora’s box of socialism in the heart of capitalism – much to the anguish of die hard conservatives.  Socializing space stations is one thing, socializing banks is a massive insult at the heart of capitalism.

The Aquarian age will continue to strongly foster capitalism for thousands of years but it will also foster socialism.  Though socialism has been reviled, discredited and ostracized there are signs that it has been making a surreptitious return to the world stage apart from the recent nationalization of banks.  In a recent Time magazine [October 27 2008] Joshua Kurlantzick makes the case in his article Central Command – The financial crisis spotlights the benefits of government-guided capitalism – like China’s that many countries are looking at the gains that China, Russia and some Persian Gulf states have made in recent years by a hybrid capitalism and state control.  State control means socialism.  For example these state control economies usually foster key industries such as oil or automobile production but then let them compete on the international market in a free trade platform from the strength of economy of scale.

The collapse of the former communist block left the world basically in the hands of the capitalists.  This is an extreme situation and therefore can only last so long.  The middle path indicates that capitalism and socialism must coexist.  China, Russia and some Persian Gulf states may adopt a hybrid capitalism-socialism model, while other countries will probably revert to a partnership of capitalism and socialism.  Has the privatization of electricity benefited us? Does the privatization of virtual monopolies promote free enterprise? 

The reason why socialism will return as an economic reality on the world stage is not limited to its association with the Age of Aquarius but also due to the first decan of the Age of Aquarius.  Each age has three age-decans and the first age-decan of the Age of Aquarius is the Libra age-decan.  Libra is the balance.  As the world trundles along towards the Libra age-decan high point around 2148 the pressing need for balance and the middle path (between extremes) increases at an exponential rate.

The balance that Libra brings is of course not limited to the economy – it also apples to the sexes, the environment and opposing political ideologies amongst numerous other fields.  The neo-cons cannot accept the place that socialism has within an economic system as they believe that capitalism is perfect.  If that is the case then we have just had the perfect capitalist crisis.  Only last week Alan Greenspan said he made a mistake in assuming that capitalism worked best if left alone – a basic extremist capitalist viewpoint.  Furthermore if Eastern mystics have any credibility they state that perfection does not exist in this world. The problem with holding up capitalism as the perfect economic system is that its basic underlying premise is seriously flawed.   There is no perfect person, nor perfect country or perfect president or political leader. 

There is also another critical problem with capitalism overlooked by most commentators.  Capitalism requires an expanding market and we have witnessed this phenomenon over the last three centuries to the point that the world will choke and drown in its own pollution if some serious remedial action is not taken over the coming decades.  Pollution is the direct consequences of consumption powered by capitalism.  An environmentally sustainable world needs a lower population with people who on average are all consuming less – this is in basic conflict with capitalism.  Can capitalism and an environmentally sustainable world coexist?

Apart from the age-decans there are also smaller divisions of the ages into sub-ages.  The sub-ages indicate that we are at the tail end of the strong influence of the Sagittarius sub-age – the sign of expansion.  Astrology always includes a balancing mechanism and the opposite sign to Sagittarius is Gemini – which is now growing in strength.  [The Gemini influence comes from the first sub-age decan of the Libra sub-age (c.1970 – 2148)].  Gemini will reach its full potential around 2029 but the exponential curve commenced in 1970.  It stepped up a gear in 2000, and another step will be attained around 2015. Additional steps are indicated between 2015 and 2029.  So while the arrival of Gemini in 1970 had little influence (apart from reducing populations in First World countries), it will progressively reign in Sagittarius. 

The world economic situation is not solely due to Aquarius, Libra, Sagittarius and Gemini – Scorpio is also taking a key role.  The Scorpio sub-age (c.1791 – 1970) has gone into its powerful overflow mode since 1970 [see Scorpio – the Sign of the Times].  Scorpio prefers minimalism and contraction.  Scorpio wants the world to shrink.  It wants the population lowered, consumption reduced and therefore it promotes downsizing.  Its ability to get its way increases as the power of Sagittarius wanes. 

Downsize now and avoid the rush!  This may be too melodramatic as history shows that most fundamental changes in the world take a long time to flow through to their conclusions.  It will take until the middle of the next century at least for the world to wind down to the level required for a sustainable environment.  What we will experience in the meantime is numerous incremental adjustments that most of the time are not too great, but accumulate to exact a great change over the next one and a half centuries.  In addition there is the three-steps-forward-and-two-steps back rule which indicate that some short term reversals of the long time contraction will occur.

Nevertheless in the short term over the next decade we can expect that contraction and instability will be the order of the day, and the instability is not limited to economics.  The world hit a Scorpio hotspot in 2005 which then saw its first exponential increase in 2007 around the first stirrings of the sub-prime crisis.  Another significant Scorpio increase occurs around 2010 (possibly 2009) and between 2010 and 2015 some serious unsettled times are due but definitely nowhere near the proportion of the Great Depression.  In fact very few people alive will witness anything of the same magnitude as the Great Depression as the astrological circumstances associated with the Great Depression will not return until around the year 2089.

Despite this prediction for unsettled times it is extremely unlikely that the doom and gloom currently disseminating around the world will be evident one year from now (or even by Christmas 2008).  The current doom and gloom outlook is associated with a very small part of the Aquarian age that lasts for only around 15 months.  A short digression into the bowels of the Age of Aquarius will show where the world is in relation to the roadmap through the Age of Aquarius.

Ages are around 2160 years long while age-decans exist for about 720 years.  Sub-ages are about 179 years and these can be divided into 12 micro-ages of approximately 15 years each.  Currently we are in a Cancer micro-age (c.2000 – 2015).  Cancer equals real estate.  Cancer dramatically increased its strength at its halfway point in 2007 coinciding with the first widespread reaction to the US sub-prime debacle. 

Drilling down into the Cancer micro-age are three micro-age decans – and the Scorpio micro-age decan sits from c.2005 to 2010.  Scorpio equals debt (and derivatives).  Scorpio is also opposite Taurus – the sign that rules banks.  Not only are banks on the wrong foot in a Scorpio period, they are bound to be experiencing even more serious opposition in the period from 2010 to 2015.  Scorpio introduces the debt and derivative aspect of the present crisis and the role played by banks. 

This is not the end of the story.  Within micro-ages are also 12 nano-ages of some 15 months each.  Due to the overflow effect the 15 months immediately following any nano-age is the most powerful manifestation of the nano-age.  Currently the world is experiencing the effects of a Capricorn nano-age overflow.  When the world experienced the Great Depression the world was in the Capricorn micro-age (c.1925 – 1940).  Capricorn periods nearly always bring difficult times plus doom and gloom.  The current difficult economic situation however is only 1/12^th the strength of the Great Depression.  So while the world is experiencing a wee little Capricorn nano-age it may feel like the roof is falling in (if you are an investor or employed in the financial world) and people may hark back to comparisons with the Great Depression of the 1930s.  However this is a relatively short lived situation.

On the nano-age level there will shortly be a reversal when the overflow of the Sagittarius nano-age pushes Capricorn aside for slightly more than a year.  This will temporarily push some optimism and exuberance back into the spotlight, but with a broken arm and bandages.  Capitalism will not recover its former glory after this current financial mess.  2009 may see a suckers rally as the short term optimism and exuberance will not be sustained past 2009 or 2010.

Capitalism may be down but it is not out.  For as long as the Aquarian age exists or has influence capitalism will exist.   In the same way that the worst extremes of socialism manifested as communism in the 20^th century, the worst excesses of capitalism have now also seen its day.  The world is looking for the middle path.  It is no longer the time for extremist capitalism or socialism – but rather somewhere in the middle.  This is what the sub-periods of the Aquarian age indicate.   And finally, the 21^st century will be the most dynamic progressive century seen in the world for over 7,000 years – judging by the condition of the world at present it has its work cut out!

The Age of Aquarius arrived in the 15^th century exactly in tune with the arrival of the modern world.  Anything modern is aligned to the sign Aquarius.  If you want a good rundown on the Age of Aquarius check the Modernity topic at Wikipedia.  This topic is not about astrology, it is about history, but it accurately narrates the arrival of the Aquarian age in the 15^th century.    

Wikipedia’s Modernity splits modernity into three time frames.  The Early Modern Period is 1500 – 1800, followed by the Modern period, and late in the 20^th century some commentators state that the post-modern period arrived.  The commonality of these three periods is ‘modernity’.  Furthermore there are very sound astrological reasons why modernity since 1500 has been divided into three sections.  These three divisions align themselves very well with the first three sub-ages of the Age of Aquarius. 

There is another archetype associated with Aquarius that is often overlooked – the future.  The future is ruled by Aquarius which is why astrology is considered to be ruled by Aquarius.  You may think – what is the big deal about the future?  The big deal is that before the Age of Aquarius arrived in the 15^th century, people did not think about the future.

There is one very good reason why people did not think about the future – because by and large the future was much the same as the past.  Perhaps someone made an improvement to the plough, or someone learnt how to build arches and so on, but change occurred rarely and infrequently so that each generation lived much the same way as the previous generation.

Contrast this with our modern Aquarian world.  I was watching a movie recently that was made only twenty years ago.  Already it was markedly dated as no one had cell phones.  In the IT world, the performance specifications of computers generally double every two years but with the same or lower price tag attached.  We are surrounded by change, and this change does not appear to be abating.

According to Robert Heilbroner in his book Visions of the Future there is no reference in ancient clay tablets or Egyptian texts that there was any mention of a future any different to their present.  The past was basically the land of changelessness.  Heilbroner claims that around 250 years ago the changeless Yesterday ended and “…. that the future now enters into human consciousness as a great beckoning prospect.” [Pg 11]

This change did not occur universally, it was a notable development limited to Western Europe and North America, which is where the Aquarian age made its first major impact.  Ages do not impact the entire world the same way at the same time.  Astrological ages are like the bow wave from a boat.  The bow wave slowly spreads out to affect a wide expanse of water.  Those nations closer to the bow get affected first. 

We take the future for granted.  Today kids have Futurama but Baby Boomers had the Jetsons.  At school in the 1960s it seemed like only a few decades in the future that we would have the option of a holiday to the Moon.  We think about the future and in the Aquarian age the future has become commonplace.

A classic example of how futurism has entered our world is the prospect of climatic and environmental devastation from pollution.  Most pundits are claiming that the biggest problem the world is facing is the environmental catastrophe if we do not reign in pollution.  The environmental catastrophe lies in the future.  When in the historic past has human society been faced with a future problem of similar magnitude? In the past societies faced problems as they arose, usually due to some marauding army.

In the modern world the future has become just another space to fill up.  We expect the future to be technically more stunning than the present provided we don’t all die from the consequences of our consumerist extravaganza.  The future holds both positive and negative issues for us to consider, think about and debate.  This is another example of the Aquarian age in action. 

The mass confusion amongst astrologers and laypersons about the arrival of the Age of Aquarius is sure to make a comic documentary one day.  Aquarius is associated with numerous familiar archetypes other than the future such as flight, democracy, electricity, computers yet astrologers do not have anywhere near the consensus that the Aquarian age has arrived. 

The reason why there is so much confusion amongst astrologers about the arrival of the Aquarian age is that astrologers have inherited a methodology applied to the astrological ages that is over 2,100 years old.  In the 2^nd century BC an ancient Greek astronomer and astrologer ‘discovered’ the astrological ages.  He applied a specific technique to the zodiacal constellations to calibrate them. 

Since the 2^nd century BC astrologers have continued to use this ancient technique.  This situation is very similar to science.  Many ancient Greeks and Romans stated many scientific concepts such as Aristotle, Galen and Ptolemy.  In the scientific world, all these ancient claims were thoroughly examined commencing with the Scientific Revolution commencing in the 15^th century (naturally in the same century as the age of Aquarius arrived).   Most ancient claims were relegated to the dustbin of history once empirical evidence confirmed or denied the ancient claims. 

Since the 15^th century science has been funded by governments, and so scientists have the means to check all the ancient claims.  Unfortunately astrology is not funded by governments, and so any research must be funded by individual astrologers.  This has seriously impeded some aspects of astrology.  Astrologers have not reviewed the claims of the ancient Greek astronomer and astrologer who developed the technique of calibrating the ages. 

My research clearly shows that the ancient technique which is still revered by astrologers is patently incorrect.  I don’t intend to go into detail here about the ancient technique and its errors but the result of these serious errors has created the current confusing situation.  Based on the ancient technique the Age of Aquarius is not due until around 2600.  To get around the problem that so many Aquarian developments are occurring in the world astrologers fall back upon the cusp argument.

The cusp argument states that before a new age arrives that there is a blurring of influences from the old age and new age before the new age arrives.  No serious or reputable astrologer has ever claimed that cusps in astrology work in this manner.  The cusp argument is just one of a number of band aids that have been put on the astrological ages to hide the incongruity of a world full of Aquarian developments occurring in the supposed age of Pisces.

Perhaps in the future astrologers will come to terms with the Aquarian age that arrived in the 15^th century.  Until then we must reside in the comical present situation where over five hundred years of the Aquarian age has already transpired yet astrologers are still arguing if the Aquarian age arrived in the 20^th century or if we must wait until 2600.

Very few people realise that sitting here in the modern world in 2008 that we exist within the Age of Aquarius, the sub-age of Libra (there are twelve sub-ages in every age), and eight years within the Cancer micro-age (there are twelve micro-ages in every sub-age – think of wheels within wheels within wheels). If we go back to the last age, the Pisces age, and also search for its sub-age of Libra, and eight years within its Cancer micro-age – we arrive at the year 27 AD.  What was happening around 27 AD? 

From the top down this was only three years before the execution of the Christian Messiah – Jesus Christ.  But this must be put into perspective.  The death of Jesus at the time had no impact upon the world outside of his family, very small band of followers and agitated opponents in Jerusalem – an unimportant distant outpost in the Roman Empire.  Think of some local in modern Croatia, Bulgaria or Outer Mongolia being killed by a small mob of angry townsfolk – it would not even appear as a blip on the radar screen of modern media.

Therefore if ages regurgitated events along a similar timescale as previous ages, anyone in the world today fulfilling the role of Jesus would be unknown, out of the public eye, and their death would go as unnoticed as did the death of Jesus in the year 30.  Nevertheless at the time of Jesus’ death, akin to our year 2011, a very specific astrological signature was present.  This signature is based on the signs Scorpio and Pisces. 

Since the late 1960s, Scorpio has been the key sign within the Age of Aquarius, and will remain in this powerful position until midway through the next century when Libra takes over.  Whenever a smaller Scorpio period arrives within this major Scorpio period the results are magnified.  At the same period in the last age, the most powerful time for Scorpio was 29 – 34 AD while in this age a similar status exists from 2010 to 2015. 

How is Scorpio related to Jesus?  Most astrologers relate the sign Pisces to Christianity and Jesus due to the symbol of fish used by early Christians and various analogies to fish in the stories, parables and life of Jesus.  However very little in astrology is the preserve of only one zodiacal sign despite the confidence trick played onto the general public by sun-sign astrological columns in newspapers and magazines.  Scorpio takes rulership of death, rebirth, regeneration and inner experiences.  All these Scorpio trademarks are closely associated with Jesus.  Jesus and Christianity at the early stage was an amalgam of Pisces and Scorpio.

The critical issue at the death of Jesus from a predictive astrological context is the conflict and discord that was created in this small Jewish settlement by the new Christian/Jewish cult.  One of the key signs associated with Jews is the sign Taurus.  Coincidentally the signs Taurus and Scorpio are opposite.  What this means for Jews is that a Scorpio period created dissension within and without.  Enemies are at their throats (i.e. the Roman Empire) and dissension exists within with new cults (i.e. Christianity amongst others).

Taking a leaf out of the Scorpio period 29 – 34 AD the same stress and pressures should be expected by Jews and Israel in the period 2010 to 2015 (even 2009).  Jewish interests around the world and Israel in particular can expect to have to deal with the enemy without, and possibly dissension within.  The last time Israel encountered a powerful Scorpio time was from 1962 to 1978 – the peak of Scorpio power from the end of the Scorpio sub-age.  During this time Israel had to deal with the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1972 Munich Olympic Games hostages and deaths, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War amongst a medley of attacks by the PLO and related groups.  Another potent Scorpio time is on the way for Israel.

Will Israel attack Iran, or will Iran attack Israel?  Will Hamas deal a mighty blow against Israel or will Israel drive Hamas out of Gaza?  The details are uncertain, but what is sure from the astrological age’s standpoint, the aggressor is not favoured (see Will There be Peace in the Age of Aquarius?).  Alternatively or additionally it is possible that the hawks and doves within Israel may be at odds with each other and that internal dissension is the order of the day.

Another interesting development occurred in Rome in the former Scorpio period when in the year 33 the Roman Emperor Tiberius founded a credit bank offering interest-free loans to offset a severe financial crisis. Real estate values plummeted, and interest rates increased leading to a crisis of confidence severely affecting the upper classes and wealthy.  Many wealthy Roman families were ruined by this credit crunch.  Sounds familiar? 

The year 33 is akin to our 2014.  Scorpio is rarely a good sign for banks, money, wealth and the wealthy as they are ruled by Taurus – Scorpio’s opposite sign.

The recent sub-prime and banking crisis originating in the USA may be the preview for a more serious banking and financial crises that may hit between 2010 and 2015.  The Roman experience supports this.

One final note on this time last age.  The current Cancer micro-age affects 2000 – 2019 while the former Cancer micro-age one age ago affected the years 19 to 49 AD.  This period covered the Roman Emperors Tiberius (reign 14-37) and Caligula (reign 37-41).  Tiberius was depressed, reserved and “the gloomiest of men”.   Caligula was considered an insane tyrant who was cruel, extravagant and sexually perverse.  The next insane Roman emperor was Nero but he came later.  The relationship between these mentally troubled Roman emperors and Cancer is that Cancer is one of the key signs that indicate insanity, lunacy and depression.

It is extremely possible and probable that in our modern Cancer period covering 2000 – 2019 that some significant world leader or leaders will also be insane or severely depressed.  Time magazine recently reported that huge numbers of US soldiers in Iraq are being given anti-depressants – the seeds of Cancer are being sown!  This reflects the massive number of people in Western societies taking anti-depressants.    Certainly there has been a spate of shootings by mentally troubled people in recent times.  However the world has not even arrived at the strong point for Cancer yet.

The likelihood of adverse mental health issues affecting the world today is far greater than in the last age because Aquarius is another sign that indicates mental problems.  Aquarius plus Cancer equals a double whammy.  The worst time in the period 2000 -29 for mental health issues to negatively affect the world is the period 2015 – 20 but the tempo is quickening every year from 2007 to 2015.  Hopefully one of these depressed or mentally deranged people will not have their finger on the big button.  The mad Roman Emperors could murder and create havoc but they did not have access to atomic weapons that can create so much misery.

There is much wisdom to be gained from the astrological ages.  In my research and study of the ages I have taken the novel approach that to understand the ages it is necessary to ‘stand under’ the ages and let the ages teach me how they operate.  The ages do not operate in the way that the urban myths of the ages have spread.  Most astrologers define the ages and what supposedly occurs within ages based on theoretical considerations and wishful thinking, not from evidence.   The ages never indicate that paradise, utopia or a world exclusively based on consciousness, reason and rationality is around the corner – or even a possibility at any time. 

In our modern world we have enough information and knowledge to examine ages in detail all the way back to the deglaciation of the world that commenced around 14,000 year ago.  It is true that highly detailed information is thin on the ground for the first few thousand years, but what information that is available from those ancient times not only support the existence of the astrological ages, but also that each age consists of positive and negative archetypes associated with the astrological sign concerned.

This is not new to astrologers.  All experienced astrologers know that the horoscope for each individual person is a combination of positive and negative elements.  Most people have a relative equal number of positive and negative astrological attributes.  There is no perfect human being and there is no perfect age. 

The perspective of the ancient Chinese philosophers and sages got it right – everything associated with physical reality is composed of a combination on yin and yang, with a little bit of yang in the yin and vice versa.  What happens as each new age arrives is that the positive and negative archetypes associated with the new sign slowly take over from the positive and negative archetypes of the influence from the previous age.  This is what is happening in the world today.  The Pisces momentum from the Pisces age has promoted the positive and negative archetypes of Pisces while the new Aquarian age has commenced pushing its own positive and negative archetypes to the fore.

What are the positive and negative archetypes of Pisces?  On the plus side we have compassion, charities and social security (less so in the USA compared to most other Western nations); great poetry, drama and artworks from the likes of Shakespeare, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci onwards (including the modernists such as Picasso), an incredible array of movies, fictional novels and abstract concepts; pharmaceutical drugs for a whole range of ailments.

On the negative side of Pisces are alcoholism, poisonous chemicals, prisons, addictive drugs, propaganda (spin) and swindlers, religious delusions; slavery and now sex slaves.  In addition there are a number of areas that can be either positive or negative depending upon your point of view.  These ambivalent Pisces activities include Buddhism, Christianity and Islam; European culture; petroleum, corporations and recreational intoxicants.

These positive and negative aspects of Pisces remain the dominant archetypes in the world but Aquarius has progressively introduced its positive and negative aspects since it arrived in 1443 (or 1442).   For example Aquarius has promoted democracy on the positive side counter-balanced by fascism.  Whenever Aquarius is strong the sea-saw will tend to go towards fascism or democracy as both are strong Aquarian archetypes.  This is keenly demonstrated by the USA that so strongly promotes democracy within its borders yet since the Second World War has supported fascist dictators and governments around the world over democracy whenever it suits the commercial or political interests of the USA.  In fact the USA is an excellent example of democracy and fascism conjoined – but that is another story altogether.

Positive developments associated with Aquarius include flight, electricity, humanitarianism and idealists, inventions, modernization, civic organisations and associations, and free thought.  Negative elements include lack of stability, mental instability and illnesses, emotional detachment (think of the Holocaust).  Other elements that can go either way are rebelliousness and revolutions (some bring democracy and freedom while others bring tyranny); and socialism (which can be extended to communism).

Are all zodiacal signs equal in their positive and negative aspects?   There are two schools of thought on this – the modern school typically indicates that each sign and planet is basically equal in its positive and negative aspects.  Traditionalists believe that some planets and the signs they rule are more orientated towards either positiveness or negativity.

In my observation I believe that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  No planet or sign is all bad or good – each contains both good and bad, but some planets and signs do tend slightly more to the negative while other tend towards the positive but some sit in the middle.  I believe that Pisces does err mildly on the negative side but Aquarius is either balanced or very slightly biased towards the positive side.  This does not make the Pisces age negative and the Aquarian age positive.

Therefore, though the world is not passing from the ‘dark’ Age of Pisces to the radiant Age of Aquarius, Aquarius does seem to offer some advantages over Pisces.  This can be easily demonstrated.  Whenever the ubiquitous Jehovah Witnesses would arrive at my doorstep they would quickly draw my attention to all the problems and deteriorations in the world.  My standard counter was ‘if the world is so bad today, when in the past was it better?’  This perspective always left them floundering.  Do you think 1978, 1988, 1998 for example were better than 2008?

Even with all the problems of pollution, corruption, inequality, terrorism, war, violence, criminal activity and so on, the world in general today is better for a higher proportion of the world’s population compared to any time in the past.  It reminds me of something I heard not too long ago.  Someone said that if your life is 51% positive and 49% negative then you are experiencing a positive life.  The same situation applies to the world.

The majority of the world does not live the relatively gifted lifestyles of the populations of the First World countries.  The proportion of the world that does get to experience modernity is growing.  Even over the last few decades hundreds of millions of people around the world have been embraced by modernity partially or fully – one way or another, especially in China and India.

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.  The arrival of modernity from its seed that was planted over 500 years ago when the Aquarian age first arrived unannounced is steadily embracing a greater proportion of the world.  The modern world is not a perfect world but from my subjective perspective it is superior to the medieval (Pisces) world it is replacing.

This is the wisdom of the ages.  There is no perfect age, and the Age of Aquarius is definitely not perfect.  The quest for the mythical perfect Age of Aquarius is just the hangover from Pisces.  Pisces rules delusions and self-deception.  You have a choice – you can continue to listen to delusions about a fantasized Age of Aquarius that will never arrive – or you can open your eyes and perceive the dawning of the Age of Aquarius – warts and all, that is occurring all around you and has been for over 500 years

There are many warts associated with the Age of Aquarius but in the end it comes down to a simple issue – is the glass half full or half empty?  On a daily basis I give thanks to whatever reality that produced the universe and world we live in.  Is there any other time in history that is superior to today?  For the huge majority of us living in the modern world we should be truly thankful for this unique experience since our evolution from the animal kingdom.

I sincerely hope that the dawning of the Age of Aquarius continues until all the people in the world have the option to live in this modern world.  The wisdom of the ages indicates that this will not occur this century and may not even be completed in the next one thousand years.  This is not based on my personal preferences but on what investigating the ages has taught me.

Is the peace orientated New Age movement related to the Age of Aquarius?  This is murky territory as the term `New Age’ has become a virtual brand image for a whole range of disparate concept and images.  Behind the ubiquitous New Age sits the Aquarian Age, but if the New Age is murky, the Aquarian Age is ethereal.  There are a number of reasons why the Aquarian Age is a wraith-like figure, and they all lie with the uncertainties surrounding the astrological lore associated with the great ages. 

The Aquarian Age, along with the Pisces Age and all the other ages associated with the zodiacal signs do not have a monopoly on large scale epochs or periods.  The Hindu Yugas, Mayan and Aztec calendars, cycles of the outer planets (especially the combination of Jupiter and Saturn) and cycles based on the monthly lunation cycles are examples of some well trod avenues by the ancients in an attempt to corral historical events into meaningful brackets.  However it is the ages based on the zodiacal signs that have made the greatest inroads into urban myth.

Though the term `the Aquarian Age’ gets bandied around regularly, few people outside of the arcane world of astrologers know why these ages exist.  Without going into astronomical detail, the world spins on its axis every 24 hours as it makes its annual jaunt around the sun.  However this axis behaves like a spinning top, and like a top this axis wobbles.  It takes almost 26,000 years for this wobble to make one revolution.  This has direct consequences on earth, because very slowly, the orientation of the earth based on the seasons slowly move in relation to the position of the stars and constellations.

The evidence suggests that 4,000 years or more ago the ancient astrologers in Mesopotamia defined 12 zodiacal constellations circumnavigating the earth in a band where the sun, moon and planets are usually located – and it is very possible they did this to calibrate the effects of the wobble.  Due to the 26,000 years wobble of the earth’s axis, as seen from the earth, all the stars and constellations shift by one zodiacal sign approximately every 2150 years. 

About an hour before dawn on the March Equinox (northern hemisphere spring equinox) around 21^st March each year, you will see the constellation of Aquarius just above the eastern horizon – but very quickly the stars will disappear due to the rising sun.  2150 years ago at the March equinox, you would have seen the constellation of Pisces.  2150 years in the future you would see the constellation of Capricorn.  It is this slow movement of the zodiacal constellations against the eastern horizon at the March equinox that traditionally has been used to calibrate the ages. Did the ancient astrologers know that their zodiacal constellations slowly moved over thousands of years?

Though we lack the understanding of the motives of the ancient astrologers there is very little agreement or understanding in the astrological world today about the ages such as the Age of Aquarius.  Astrologers who research ages, such as the Aquarian Age, are few and far between, with less than 200 recognised as contributing significantly to the ongoing debate over the last century or so.  Astrologers agree on very little with respect to the astrological ages, and differences of opinion dominate the ongoing arguments. 

The approach to the ages I have pioneered is almost considered heretical by most astrologers because my research clearly indicates that not only is the world in the Aquarian age, it has been in the Aquarian age for many centuries.  This is extremely disappointing for those believing a new Aquarian age is around the corner to bring peace to this world.

The focus of my research is not on the ages, but sub-periods of the ages. My big breakthrough in understanding these ages occurred in 1988 when I discovered that each age of some 2150 years each, had 12 sub-ages of around 179 years each.  These sub-ages are much more manageable when dealing with history compared to the cumbersome ages.  Many people now know that the common zodiacal signs can be subdivided, and the most common division is decanates (abbreviated to decans).  A decan is a third of a sign.    

For example the world is in the first part of the Aquarian Age, the Libran decan of the Aquarian Age.  Libra rules peace (amongst many other things), and the desire for peace expressed by so many people around the world is allied to the fortunes of this Libran decan of the Aquarius age.  The fortunes of this Libran decan are increasing all the time, albeit slowly, but it is not until the end of the Libran decan around the year 2148 and beyond, that full expression of Libra’s peace will appear.  This is due to a little known quirk of the ages – the ages go `backward’ through the zodiac, and so they are strongest at their end and weakest at their beginning – the exact reverse of traditional zodiacal signs that go `forward’ through the zodiac. 

Therefore when the Libran decan of the Aquarius age comes to its end c.2148, it will be at full strength.  This peaking of the Libran decan of the Aquarius Age around 2148 will be like a breaking wave.  The wash from this breaking wave will pass over the succeeding several centuries.  This is a key time when the world is at one of its greatest potential to be a garden paradise and focused upon beauty, compromise and peace plus equality of the sexes. 

Though the epoch of peace is not yet arrived, it is under development.  Before something occurs it must be aspired to.  There is no doubt that significant sections of the world’s population aspire towards greater peace and equality of the sexes and the astrology of the ages indicate that this aspiration will see fruition in the centuries to come.  We only get to see the early formative stages of this push towards peace and appreciation of beauty.  We should value whatever peace there is, and foster the desire for more peace as this sentiment is a growing phenomena.  We  may not see the tree but we can watch the sapling grow!

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