The Wisdom of the Ages

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 years 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 organizations 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 others 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’s 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.

The Quest for Peace in the Age of Aquarius

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 recognized 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 indicates 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 phenomenon.  We may not see the tree but we can watch the sapling grow!

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