The Myth of Modernity

On an extremely elementary level, myth is associated with Pisces and modernity with Aquarius and this dichotomy provides the crux of not only this post, but the big-picture view of our world at large.  Though the world is currently in the Age of Aquarius, the overflow from the previous age of Pisces is even stronger – especially in the first half of the Age of Aquarius [see Age of Aquarius for Dummies for details].  A more inclusive way to name the Age of Aquarius is the Pisces-Aquarius age, which followed the Aries-Pisces age (when Aries was more powerful than Pisces).  The combination of Pisces with Aquarius means that the influence of ‘myth’ from the Pisces age overflowing into the Aquarian age is greater than the influence of modernity even though modernity is easier to perceive – which is why most people live in the delusion that we are modern.

It is extremely easy to see modernity as it is represented by electricity, computers, technology, the internet, flight and the most widespread application of various forms and quality of democracy in the world to date – with most of this evidence tangible to the eye (with only democracy being the most nebulous item in this list).  Myth is a far more imprecise concept to deal with as it behaves like smoke and mirrors – what you perceive is not necessarily what exists if you can perceive anything at all!

Modernity is not a myth, the myth is that most people perceive that the world is modern without any qualification – an axiomatic situation.  Modernity may be the most noticeable game in town but Pisces’ myth and other Pisces’ associations are more influential in contemporary society and current affairs compared to Aquarius archetypes.  Modernity only plays the supporting role to myth, yet people believe modernity is the main focus.  This surreal situation is created by Pisces – the sign of delusion, illusion and vagueness overflowing into our ‘modern’ time.  Pisces is the branch we are all sitting upon as our reference point which, due to the nature of Pisces, we are generally unaware.  Furthermore, Pisces promotes medievalism – the name historians gave to that period before the arrival of the Age of Aquarius in the 15^th century.

What is medievalism?  There are a number of definitions and associations to medievalism, but in general terms, it refers to that period when there were knights in white shining armor, kings, lords, dukes, barons and so on ruled the lands either benevolently or ruthlessly via a system of feudalism that resembled slavery – another archetype belonging to Pisces.  It was a time when (Pisces) Christianity had an extremely strong influence in western society where the beliefs of individuals could be classified as heretical at the whim of the church followed by punishment of one form or another – including the possibility of execution.

A 13th-century French text representing the Medieval tripartite social order: those who pray (clerics), those who fight (knights from the nobility) and those who work (peasants and members of the lower middle class).

In medieval society, logical understanding and rationality took the back seat to knee-jerk reactions and decisions based on dogmatism, chauvinism and sectarianism rather than fact – similar to how many or most contemporary politicians and governments often operate today.  Facts were scarce in medieval times, and to fill the vacuum, beliefs filled the void.  The time of medievalism was known as “a period contrary to reason.”[i]  Anything different was generally feared, ostracized or condemned and very little accurate information was known about the laws of physics or science.  Society was marked by prejudices and taboos – females were considered inferior, and people could and would believe anything – just as many follow this pattern today.

The more correct term for the current Age of Aquarius is the Age of Pisces-Aquarius, and this indicates that while medievalism is supposedly finished, it actually has continued to exist and dominates society – though feudalism has disappeared.  Another difference between contemporary society and medieval society is that our society has made some progress in extracting itself from irrationality, but the main difference is our harnessing of technology since the arrival of the Age of Aquarius in the 15^th century.  This is why historians claim that medievalism finished in the 15^th century and was replaced by Early Modernity. Wikipedia states that Early Modernity, based on traditional historiography, arrived in 1453 – only 20 years after the arrival of the Age of Aquarius (or Pisces-Aquarius age).  Some historians claim Early Modernity arrived in 1436[ii] – displaying a scant three year error to the correct date.

Early Modernity led to Modernity around the 18^th century but while historians and people, in general, congratulate themselves on modernity, this places the focus upon mainly technological developments and ignores the root medievalism that permeates contemporary western society.  Just consider that at the apex of modernity supposedly sits the USA – but about 25% of Americans refute the idea of evolution and the Big Bang about 13 billion years ago, and embrace a conception of the world that has existed for only about 6,000 years.  This is not the only example of contemporary medievalism.  A better description of western society since the arrival of the Age of Aquarius in the 15^th century is that we live in the age of Techno-Medievalism.

There are so many examples of contemporary medievalism in society, and when we leave western society and examine Second and Third World countries – the medievalism jumps in magnitude. One easy way to see this is that in many Second and Third World countries, religious doctrine of one sort or another is written into law and enforceable by governments – with some ‘modern’ western countries also enforcing religious doctrines usually based on some fundamentalist Christian belief.  Another classic example is President Trump – irrational, often incoherent, appearing deceptive and deceitful but supported by a very large minority of voting Americans because he promises to support their values – with most of these values based on conservative belief systems sourced from medieval outlooks.

There is a very good reason why the USA embodies technological advances and democratic practices on the one hand, and atavistic belief systems with strong fundamentalist Christian overtones on the other.  The USA was settled by basically medieval Europeans who brought their medieval belief systems with them.  Europe continued to evolve, but their colonizing cousins who went to America held on to many of their medieval beliefs far longer than Europeans due to their ‘isolation’ from Europe.  Europe at that time was at the nexus for the cutting edge of progressive developments and European society moved on somewhat.  This is similar to what many 20th-century immigrants experienced when migrating from post-war Europe to the USA, Canada, Australia and so on.

For example, so many Greeks migrated to Melbourne, Australia after the Second World War that Melbourne was labeled the third largest Greek city in the world.  But when many of these Greek migrants eventually returned to Greece after many decades, they were shocked to find that the Greece culture they knew and kept alive in Melbourne no longer existed – as the Greeks in Greece had continued to evolve their culture.   I have heard similar stories about Pakistanis migrating to the UK.

Unless we recognize that we are not modern but live in the Age of Techno-Medievalism, we are deluding ourselves.  However, this does not mean that things do not or cannot improve – the dramatic improvements I have experienced in my lifetime are awesome.  No longer does religion have a stranglehold over western legal systems as it did back in the 1950s.  Then there is the sexual revolution that came out of the 1960s and the decriminalization of homosexuality, abortion and the recent judicial investigations of religious sexual deviants.  Recreational, and in some cases hard drugs, have been partially or completely decriminalized or approaching a medical condition rather than a legal issue in many western nations.  Even Malaysia has recently acknowledged they have lost their war on drugs and plan to decriminalize drugs.  Euthanasia is seeing the light of day.

The problem with the many recent social and legal improvements is that people don’t seem to notice them – their focus remains on the ills and deficiencies of contemporary society and legal systems.  By analogy, it is like entering a room that urgently needed all surfaces painted.  If a painter turns up to do the job, but runs out of paint before the last wall is painted – which wall will draw your attention when you enter the room?  The unpainted wall of course.  This is what many progressives tend to do, not acknowledge the gains and only focusing upon the ills of society.

Modernity is a development in progress.  It did not wait until the arrival of the Age of Aquarius in 1433 AD to start splashing, but with the arrival of the Age of Aquarius – Modernity got down to the serious business of modernizing the world.  But, according to the astrological ages, Modernity, and all its trappings, is a process that parallels the Aquarian age and overflow (1433 – 3574 – 5697) and furthermore, its momentum will strongly extend about another seven centuries past 5697 to  c.6397 AD before it starts experiencing a serious pushback (from the Leo age-decan of the distant Sagittarius age).

Based on the above, if we take the whole period where the process of modernization is under development (1433 – 6397), a period of 4,964 years, in the year 2019 we are only 586 years inside this modernizing period.  This indicates that only approximately 12% of the possible modernization to come has made its impact to date.  The remaining ‘necessary’ 88% of modernization remains to be tackled. This is a very low level of modernization in our world, as the medieval influence can be argued to sit at around 88%.

The world remains at the kindergarten level of modernization (and democracy) – much more is yet to come.  So the big question is – what fills the gap between contemporary modernization and the level we are to achieve over the coming millennia?  It is mainly Pisces archetypes with a dash of Aries.  The world remains strongly influenced by the Aries age and overflow (2916 BC – 732 BC – 1433 AD) and while the momentum from this Aries epoch continues on with its male macho aggressive influence – its days are numbered.  The current Libra age-decan and overflow (1433 – 2148 – 2863) is in the process of overthrowing the vestige influence from the Aries epoch, and the recent strides females have made since the arrival of the Age of Aquarius and Libra age-decan is part of the accelerating Libra influence (which shifted into second gear in 1791).  Libra is even stronger next century (when it shifts into third gear).  In the meantime, we still have leaders in the world mentioning the possibility of using nuclear weapons demonstrating the ongoing legacy of violent Aries.

The Pisces epoch is defined as the Pisces age and overflow (732 BC – 1433 AD – 3574 AD), plus an additional seven centuries at the end (until it hits the might of the Virgo age-decan and especially its overflow around 2,000 years from now).  Pisces is not only the sign of today, it has also passed through about 80% of its time of might and so we know a lot more about the influence of Pisces.  In a nutshell, Pisces is associated with medievalism.  Combine medievalism with the remnant from macho Aries and you have a popular combination for the president of the USA modeled after John Wayne. and a growing number of wannabees around the world such as the UK, Brazil and so on.

No sign is associated with only positive archetypes.  The current Libra age-decan and overflow (1433 – 2148 – 2863) at the beginning of the Age of Aquarius breeds opposition.  This may help explain the developing divide of progressive versus conservatives around the world – but mainly in western society at present as each side of the debate sours with increasing frustration at either lack of progress or too much progress.  Another developing divide is autocratic governments (China, Russia etc) versus the ‘free’ world.  These divides will grow over the coming centuries due to the increase in influence in the Libra age-decan and overflow, especially post 2148 – though the astrology does indicate the possibility of a compromise of sorts.

The currents Libra sub-age and overflow (1970 – 2148 – 2327) is accelerating toward the 2148 high point of the first age-decan in the Age of Aquarius – the Libra age-decan and overflow (1433 – 2148 – 2863).  This suggests that all those science fiction apocalyptic or doom and gloom scenarios that have presented to us about the future are actually the transformation of our current pessimistic outlooks into the future and does not take into account the ‘softening’ of the world social and political situation associated with Libra.  Libra is not associated with austerity or living in caves or ruins of cities in a post-apocalyptic world due to climate change, nuclear war etc.  However, it cannot be absolutely ruled out that Libra will return the world to its garden state because humanity has wiped itself out by nuclear or environmental issues before Libra extends its influence from around 2059 onward.  If we survive, things look much better in the future, if we don’t, the world will improve anyway.

All the above however remains under the long term shift in emphasis from Pisces to Aquarius, and while progressive policies may fluctuate between centuries, it does not change the fundamental outlook that progress is a slow and extremely long term process.  I am sure that in the middle of the next century, progressives will still be gnashing their teeth and conservatives searching for ways to trip them up.  In addition, just to complicate matters, it is absurd to think that all initiatives of progressives or liberals are ‘good’ and that conservative initiatives are bad.  This is an absurd gross oversimplification that would imply that progressives are better people than conservatives.

In my decades of research, I have come to the conclusion that nearly everyone believes they are doing the right thing – and promoting the best policies or outlooks for their family, community, society, nation and world regardless of their political orientation.  It is important to be able to empathize with your political opponents and understand where they are coming from – because your opponent is usually equally sincere in their beliefs as you are.

In the meantime, living in the Age of Techno-Medievalism means that we must deal with a lot of backward and regressive issues due to our early position in Modernity.  There is only so much modernization that can occur in every century, and we will have to realize that the sum total of modernity cannot arrive either in our lifetimes, this century – or even this millennium.

Furthermore, progressive are not anti-medieval and conservatives pro-medieval.  This black and white narrative is incorrect.  Every person, group and country is a mixture of medieval and rational attributes.  The Greens and progressive political parties often demonstrate adherence to medieval values in their pursuit of modern progressive objectives.  A classic example is Greenpeace’s  Rainbow Warrior and its confrontational objectives. Another example is vegans breaking into animal farms and destroying property.   Is it ideal to seek idealistic solutions using yesterdays’ confrontational methods?  Many progressive believe so and indicates how pervasive Pisces medievalism remains out of control in our early 21^st century world.

It is not good enough having progressive policies, it is also necessary to be highly conscious in dealing with opponents.  For millennia to come, every Aquarius archetype that appears will be shadowed by Pisces!  We all have the court jester, a knight in white shining armor, witch persecutor or damsel in distress in each of us. Instead of resorting to medieval tribalism, it is far more rational to respect political opponents and to be conscious in any dealings with them.  The views of our conservative opponents are usually a reflection of their gestational social and family environment which is rarely under their control.  A conservative cannot help being a conservative any more than a progressive can help being a progressive.

In conclusion, if you are a frustrated progressive, there is very little you can do to immediately correct all the ills in society other than by voting, expressing your opinions, belonging to groups engage in progressive change, participating in peaceful demonstrations etc with the understanding that progressive policies are very slow in arriving.  On a recent visit by Al Gore to Australia, he stated to the effect that:

‘expected change is much slower in coming than what is expected, but when it does come, it comes much faster than expected’

Despite the need for progressives to be more realistic in the fulfillment of their expectations, what is under our control is our interrelationships with conservative people, institutions and governments and society as a whole.  Gandhi captured the astrology of our times with his non-violent resistance. Non-violence also applies to the nature of our expression and treatment of people that do not agree with us.  The only limit to our personal modernization is ourselves.  Modernity may remain a myth for a long time to come, but our own personal or inner modernization is something we can all work on every day.  The Age of Aquarius is not going to come along and deliver to us a fantasy world on a silver platter where everything is great – that is just a typical Pisces myth.

See my YouTube Channel for more details on macro-astrology and the video of the above p[ost should be available soon.

RELATED POSTS

Peace has Sent a Message of Peace to the World

Is Western Society Due Another Revolution?

The Real Revolution in the USA

The Progressives’ Lament

Is the World a Calamity in Progress?

Aquarian Age Myths, Fallacies & Distortions

Gemini’s Role in our Modern World (or Battle of the Brains)

Pisces America

Will There be Peace in the Age of Aquarius?

REFERENCES

[i] K. J. Christiano, W. H. Swatos and P. Kivisto, Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments (Rowman Altamira, 2002), p. 77.

[ii] Modernity. Wikipedia, Retrieved 06:37, September 27, 2019

The 2016 US Presidential Election Part 2 Conclusion

Grand Torino, the 2016 Presidential Elections & the End of this Century

I have tried so many times to write my concluding part of the 2016 US presidential elections but just kept losing interest no matter how many coffees I drank.  After much reflection I now know why.   The two major candidates represent the past and will both help the richer half of the population get richer and leave the other 50% of the population stagnant or scrambling for the few extra breadcrumbs thrown their way.

Donald Trump

Having made the tentative leap to a new generation with Obama in 2008 and confirmed in 2012, the nominated 2016 candidates are a retreat back to caveman and cave-women politics!  The November 2016 presidential elections loom as a ponderous choice between a lackluster establishment candidate, who is also the first female contender from the two party stable of American politics, and an outsider who clearly lacks common morals and ethics but champions populace policies that are very attractive to a sizable minority of the US electorate.

In many Western societies in the new global world, it is the poorer half that bears the brunt of the radical international economic restructuring due to globalization.  There are winners and losers in this restructure – the rich are getting richer while the poor stagnate.  Many stagnating voters are beginning to snarl.  However, developing and Third World nations seem to be prospering in this new environment.  They are catching up to the Western standard of living.

It seems a curious quirk of fate that a candidate representing the richer half of society, the Republicans, is attracting a significant number of demoralized or snarling voters from the poorer half of society.  However frightened or demoralized voters do not resort to logic when looking to solutions for their perceived problems.

For example, I recently encountered an enthusiastic supporter of Trump.  Though she acknowledged Trump’s unsavory sexual caveman antics, what she was more riled up about was the continuation of the same old thing represented by Hillary Clinton. This Trump supporter does not have a university background, does not understand economics, had a vague and shadowy understanding of history and represented many working class voters.

What she did know was that she was being duped by the ongoing collusion of government with business (without clearly articulating this concept) and  that this ongoing collusion greatly benefited the richer half of society with little noticeable trickle-down effect upon her life or the lives of her friend. Trump was perceived by her as outside of the ‘corrupt’ political system and she believed he represented her best interests in bringing change that will benefit her.

It is always important to understand opposite points of view because the huge majority of people of all political persuasions believe wholeheartedly that they are sincere in their beliefs and they only want the best outcome.  Denigrating people with different political views comes across as a rejection of their sincerity.  But they know they are personally sincere, so they perceive that their attackers (political opponents) are their enemies because they treat them as underlings.  The only real difference in economic outlook between the supporters of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are their solutions, otherwise it is chalk and cheese with nearly every issue.

Hillary Clinton

If you focus upon the superficialities of the 2016 US elections and many world events you may be dismayed or confused – but if you examine the astrology behind this reality you will see this is part of an arc of a much bigger story.  For voters on the Right, Trump is their lasting hope to restore the “greatness” to America while to voters on the Left, Trump is a crass neo-fascists.  Voting for Hillary appears to be nothing but a vote against Trump.  This is obviously Hillary’s greatest asset in this election.  Both sides are depending upon fear for their support.  This does not mean it is a waste of time voting, and any election requires serious reflection by the public but the astrology strongly suggests that the public will be dissatisfied either way.  In this Cancer time, the public is usually dissatisfied with their leaders.

This election occurs at the peak of Cancer derived from the Cancer micro-age decan and overflow (2007-2012-2017) but if this almost 10 years period is broken down into its four quarters, like the lunation cycle, it is currently in the third quarter of the cycle which is always the most potent quarter of any cycle in macro-astrology.  Specifically, the third quarter runs from December 2014 to mid-2017 where Cancer is at its greatest potency. (see Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World for more details)

On the dark side of Cancer is fear.  Brexit was instigated by fear. Many countries are building walls or erecting barriers on their borders to prevent ‘illegal’ immigrants and refugees from entering their countries. Other countries and Trump are proposing the same.  Many people fear those that are different either due to religion, language, skin color or anything that can possibly differentiate one group of people from another such as people with AIDS, leprosy or whatever. This fear was exemplified by Clint Eastwood in the 2008 movie Grand Torino when an aging American Korean War veteran had to confront having an Hmong family from South-East Asia living next door.  There are always many people in most countries that are fearful of ‘outsiders’. Governments and political parties around the world cultivate this fear for their own purposes.  (see Gemini’s Role in our Modern World (or Battle of the Brains).

In a Cancer time, (Capricorn) leaders are scorned, ignored, repudiated or denounced by the (Cancer) general public who see their (Capricorn) leaders as their (7^th house) enemies.  However from the perspective of ‘leaders’ this Cancer period rules their 7^th house as well so they can go on the aggressive offensive.  This is why we see the pitiful spectacle of the 2016 presidential contenders’ cat fights.  Furthermore, these contenders are no longer upholding their democratic right of the viewpoints of their opponent.  No matter which candidate wins, the Cancer public will be offside.  It is a no-win situation.

However, both Hillary and Trump do represent different sides of Cancer.  Cancer favors females, so in this regard, Cancer gives Hillary and edge as the potential first female president.  Cancer also rules mentally unstable people, and while no one would suggest that Trump is mentally unstable, he does come across as politically unstable.  Surprisingly, this instability gives Trump an edge as it aligns with Cancer.  Unfortunately for Trump, half the voters are female but half the voters are not so keen on an unstable candidate.

There is nothing new to say about this election that I have not already published except that this is probably the last election where both candidates are firmly focused upon yesterday’s world.  The next election will not be an election for the policies of yesterday because the world has recently entered a 10 year Aquarius sub-period overlapping the 10 year Cancer period (both of which are derived from 5 year decans of a micro-age – see Age of Aquarius for Dummies for more details on the internal structure of ages).  This new Aquarian period is the strongest Aquarius influence any Baby Boomer or later generations have ever experienced and harks back to the 1920s and 30s when Aquarius was very strong (see This is the Dawning of the Aquarius Micro-Age Decan for more details).

However, it is not until mid-2017 that this new Aquarius period will gather more strength but by 2022 it’s a new Aquarius heyday. However, in the meantime, the arrival of any new period will have an immediate impact, and in this election, this new Aquarius impact was represented by Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump on opposite sides of the Aquarian coin.  Both had revolutionary and politically eccentric messages that galvanized many supporters.  Aquarius can temporarily supercharge any situation.

Aquarius, like all zodiacal signs, has positive and negative archetypes associated with it.  Most starry eyed idealists see a magical idealistic Age of Aquarius yet if this was the case, every Aquarian you know would stand out as superior to other signs.  This is not the case.  Aquarius is definitely associated with democracy, freedom and liberty (on a good day) but also fascism, dictators and destructive revolutionaries or anarchists on a bad day.  Adolph Hitler was a perfect example of a fascist dictator appearing when Aquarius was at its last peak in the world, but that peak was three times stronger than the current Aquarius blip which has just arrived on the scene.  The new Aquarius period is still in diapers.

Under Aquarius, many people are attuned to be ‘electrified’ by a charismatic leader who will bring back greatness and any other quality they feel is missing.  On the neo-fascist side of Aquarius the means they adopt to achieve their goals do not have to be fair, democratic or rational because their aim is so “pure”, they are above the normal ethics and law that prevail.  This is why so many Filipinos support a president who has legitimized extra judicial murder by the police force against people involved with illegal drugs.  There is no suggestion that Donald Trump is a fascist of the same stature as Adolph Hitler, but he and his supporters promote some neo-fascist policies.  This is why Trump stated in one debate that he plans to appoint a special prosecutor for the purpose of putting Hillary in jail if he wins the election. Also, denouncing or persecuting minorities of any type, such as Mexicans, is another standard approach from the fascist bag of tricks.  Most modern Western countries continue to deploy a range of neo-fascist policies by promoting fear amongst the population.

The most interesting aspect of the 2016 US election is not who wins but what this implies about the future of the USA (and the world) in the second half of the current century.  A major Aquarius sub-age decan arrives in 2029 which will be in full swing by 2089 but seriously picking up speed as early as 2059.  Our little Aquarius period this decade is a preview of the end of this century!  The astrology suggests that the Bernie Sanders preview is what is in store for the USA but Trump is the preview of those nations with less entrenched democratic ideals.  A good current example is the political situation in the Philippines and Poland.

In the last two presidential elections I have analyzed the birth micro-age decans of the contenders and made a prediction of who would win based on the relationships between the birth micro-age decan and the ruling micro-age decan at election time.  However, Trump and Hillary were born so close together that such an analysis cannot be used to differentiate between them.  Both were born in the Capricorn-Sagittarius Pre-Boomer generation (see Generational Astrology – Part 2 Pre-Boomers (Cap-Sag) ).  The two former presidents from this generation were Bill Clinton and George W Bush.

On the 29^th January 2012 I posted on a Facebook group “This election is starting to look like a landslide win for the Democrats regardless of it being Sanders or Clinton”.  Furthermore, the tide of change is sweeping the world, and with this tide, progressive politics is favored over conservative politics until November 2029 (but only in advanced democracies).  What this means is that every US presidential election until 2029 favors the Democrats.  This does not automatically mean that the Democrats will win every presidential election until that date.

However, the post Second World War years at a minimum indicate that when a party wins a presidential election when the wind is technically blowing in the other direction, the incumbent president hits far more headwinds than normal (see table below).  The only two presidents that this applies to is Richard Nixon, who resigned from office, and Bill Clinton who was unsuccessfully impeached.  This means that in the unlikely scenario that Trump won, expect some serious opposition to his presidency and possible impeachment.

START	PERIOD	INFLUENCE	PRESIDENT
Feb 1948	Sagittarius -Sagittarius	CONSERVATIVE	Eisenhower	C
Jul 1955	Sagittarius -Scorpio	Conservative-PROGRESSIVE	JFK	P
Dec 1962	Scorpio-Scorpio	PROGRESSIVE	LBJ	P
	Scorpio-Scorpio	PROGRESSIVE	R Nixon	C
May 1970	Scorpio-Virgo	PROGRESSIVE-Conservative	J Carter	P
Oct 1977	Virgo-Virgo	CONSERVATIVE	R Reagan	C
Apr 1985	Virgo-Leo	CONSERVATIVE	G H W Bush	C
Sep 1992	Leo-Leo	CONSERVATIVE	B Clinton	P
Feb 2000	Leo-Cancer	CONSERVATIVE-Progressive	G W Bush	C
Jul 2007	Cancer-Cancer	PROGRESSIVE	Obama	P
Dec 2014	Cancer-Gemini	PROGRESSIVE
Jun 2022	Gemini-Gemini	PROGRESSIVE
Nov 2029	Gemini-Taurus	Progressive-Conservative

Finally, I am not only a macro-astrologer but also a Vedic-Western fusion astrologer.  Vedic astrology employs a predictive technique called Vimshottari.  One of the most difficult dasas within the Vimshottari system that anyone must navigate is the 18 year Rahu dasa (Moon’s north node in western astrology).  About 80% of people experience a serious loss near the beginning or end of this dasa and Vedic texts often state that a person loses at the end of this dasa all the gains they have made during the dasa.  Trump’s Rahu dasa concludes on November 14 2016.  This does not look good for Trump!

Furthermore, Trump’s Rahu (the dragon) is in his 10^th house tightly conjunct his Sun. Trump is in his dragon period where he feels he can open his mouth and with his fiery outpourings – burn away all opposition.  Who dares to challenge the almighty dragon?  Well, his Vedic chart strongly suggests that his fire is about to go out.  Hillary is in her Sun dasa.  Will Trump’s Rahu eclipse Hillary’s Sun? Extremely unlikely.

In this new 10 years Aquarius period, which overlaps a 10 year Cancer period, Aquarius sorts out the sheep from the goats.  Those countries with shallow democratic ideals entrenched within the population tend to regress to anti democratic and neo-fascist governments or policies with fear the common underlying sentiment. Entrenched democracies tend to push forward into a higher evolution of democracy and liberalism but not without a serious reaction by some elements of society.  What suffers in this process is the middle-of-the-road approach as mainstream values are aligned to Leo, the sign opposite in quality to Cancer.

So while the 2016 US presidential election is mainly affected by the correlation to Cancer, it is also experiencing an input from Aquarius. Most Western countries are experiencing a rise in neo-fascism amongst a sizeable minority of their populations, but it is extremely unlikely that a country like the USA, with such entrenched democratic and liberal ideals, will succumb to this rising tide.  Countries like the Phillipines, Thailand, Poland, Turkey, Hungary and so on do not have this entrenched democratic ethos and are more liable to tip towards neo-fascism.  The 2016 US presidential election is really just a bit player in this larger game.

In conclusion, the 2016 US presidential is not really about who will win but an act in the ongoing struggle towards a more evolved liberal democratic outlook facing growing resentment by a sizeable minority of people in advanced democracies against this evolution while in less democratic environments, the reactionary forces are stronger and neo-fascists forces will temporarily dominate just as they did in Germany, Italy and Japan in the early 20th century.  It certainly will be an interesting world towards the end of this century when the Aquarius input is four times stronger than the world experienced in the first half of the 20th century and 12 times stronger than the current Aquarius blip!

---

POSTSCRIPT (20 October 2016)

I am again attending the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (26 – 30 October 2016 www.ubudwritersfestival.com) in Bali, Indonesia – the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world.  In a number of commentaries by distinguished writers, journalists and organizers, the common theme was presented that currently in the world government policies and election campaigns are no longer about facts and information but (Cancer) emotions.  Even if a candidate makes a statement that is categorically incorrect or a lie by the ‘fact checker’, this means nothing.  In a Cancer time, a significant number of people are not interested in facts but are only willing to emotionally respond.

Another interesting insights gleaned from the festival is that the new neo-fascists politicians such as Duterte in the Philippines, Putin in Russia and Trump in the USA (and many others around the world to a greater or lesser extent) have the ability to ‘electrify’ their supporters.  Electricity is associated with Aquarius – the other key sign currently gaining traction in the world.  Germans reportedly were ‘electrified’ by the speeches of Adolph Hitler in the previous (stronger) Aquarius period.  However this time around, these fascist-orientated politicians are being democratically elected!

---

POSTSCRIPT (2 November 2016)

This new Aquarius micro-age decan (Dec 2014 – Dec 2019) has seen the rise of the new breed of petty neo-fascists around the world, though this time around, they mostly are obtaining power through the ballot box.  It comes as shock and horror to many people that a huge number of people prefer mini-Hitler clones to solve their problems.  If you want to know how the 1930s fascists came to power, just observe how a significant number of the US electorate will vote in November 2016.  History does repeat itself!

On the other side of the coin are Aquarian visionaries such as Bernie Sanders.  There are two sides to all zodiacal signs including Aquarius. Most astrologers think the Age of Aquarius only manifests good Aquarian archetypes and keeps the bad Aquarian archetypes under lock and key.  This is called Pisces delusion.

The new Aquarius micro-age decan is the first micro-age decan of the new Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029) which resides in the Libra sub-age (1970 – 2148) – the forth sub-age in the Age of Aquarius

In the USA, the new Aquarius micro-age decan has manifested in Donald Trump’s triumph in securing the candidature for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination and Bernie Sanders failed attempt to gain the Democratic Party nomination.  However all periods in macro-astrology have a yin-yang aspect.  For example in any period, such as the new Aquarius micro-age decan (Dec 2014 – Dec 2019), there are some anti-Aquarius times but mostly Aquarius is (yang) strong.

This means that while any archetypal activity associated with Aquarius is promoted in the Aquarius micro-age decan, in some parts, not only does this not happen, it can even breed anti-Aquarian sentiments, but only temporarily.

Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders took advantage of the new Aquarian sentiment of the times and each launched into their specific versions of revolutionary outlooks that basically represented both sides of the Aquarian coin.  However recently, a poison apple appeared in both camps.

The current Aquarius micro-age decan (Dec 2014 – Dec 2019) contains four nano-ages of approximately 15 months each.  Currently the world is in the Aries nano-age (March 2016 – June 2017). But here the plot deepens because if we drill down into the little Aries nano-age, it has three nano-age decans of approximately five months each.  Currently the world is in the Leo nano-age decan (August 2016 – January 2017).

There is a little sponginess with the exact month these very small periods commence and end due to the erratic nature of precession of the equinoxes.  Nevertheless, this little Leo period can temporarily upset the intentions of the much larger Aquarius micro-age decan.  This is what has happened and continues to happen.

Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic race on the 26 July, at the nebulous cusp of the beginning of the Leo sub-period.  Trump’s campaign has hit serious headwinds from August onwards.  For example on October 7, 2016, The Washington Post publicized a recorded conversation about Donald Trump and Billy Bush having “an extremely lewd conversation about women” in 2005.   This was a pivotal turning point, not for the diehard Republicans who would eagerly back Dracula if necessary, but it affected many of the undecided voters who decide the election.

Leo periods favor the mainstream over extremists. This new Leo sub-period definitely swings public sentiment away from Trump, and this anti-extremist sentiment grows with every passing week – it technically ratchetted up into second gear in the last week or so.  It will be at full strength by January 2017.

The electorate is fickle and changeable, especially when the primary micro-age decan in force is Cancer (Aquarius is currently the secondary micro-age decan present but will become the primary micro-age in mid-2017).

These nano-age decans hidden deep within the astrological ages are potent and have clear correlations to evolving developments in the world on the month-to-month level.  The anti-extremists Leo nano-age decan will knock Trump off his already tenuous perch.  It’s just bad timing for Trump and a godsend for Hillary.

We should also see some other petty neo-fascist leaders temporarily experiencing greater than expected opposition in the current Leo sub-period – especially in the ‘overflow’ period from January to March 2017 and even up to June 2017.  It’s hard to feel sympathetic to Putin, the Thai military junta, the Polish, Turkish and Philippines presidents, just to name a few of the petty neo-fascist leaders in the world today.  However they will be again in full swing by mid-2017 at the latest.  But in the meantime, they will have to deal with stronger than normal opposition to their petty tyrannies.

It must be remembered that while the petty tyrants, and pretenders to the throne such as Trump, grab the headlines, there is much activity on the other side of Aquarius.  Bernie Sanders may get quickly washed down the drain hole of history but his spirit is representative of the coming world according to the incoming Age of Aquarius.  Just because the tide is coming in does not mean each wave moves further up the beach, but on average, the waves do move further up the beach.

There are many people desperately trying to stop the incoming wave of the Age of Aquarius but while they can win some battles, they cannot win the war.  But this struggle will be played out over the next century and a half and even longer in less developed countries in the world.  It’s the grand theme of our times.

---

POSTSCRIPT NOVEMBER 11 2016

I had the first inkling of flaws in my assumption of Hillary Clinton winning the presidential election about one week before the election, and on November 6th I published on a number of Facebook sites “The Scorpio Lunar Month & the US Presidential Elections” (see www.facebook.com/Macro.Astrology).

In this post I stated:

“For the current Scorpio lunar month, the Taurus full Moon (on 14th November), ….. actively stimulates Trump’s 10th house of status and fame and undermines Hillary’s personal worth in favour of her opponent.”

“There are a number of possibilities. Firstly, the election result may be so close that the final result must wait until after the full Moon effect but in the meantime, Trump is sitting in the sunshine of a possible victory. Secondly, the result is clear on the day but Trump goes on a final ranting binge about the corruption of the US presidential election followed by his last few days as a major news item? Thirdly, Trump actually wins the election?”

“Something strange and unusual is occurring here as Trump gets an immediate election afterglow, one way or another.”

“The only influence from the Dark Moon Lilith is that within 24 hours of the election the transiting Sun will be conjunct Trumps progressed Lilith. This brings either great fame or great loss of fame, but nothing in the middle.”

“In conclusion, ….. it does suggest something that promotes Trump’s image post-election day … . Somehow he gets an election afterglow….. The coming full Moon indicates he will be at his best under the glow of the full Moon.”

However, my mindset was so caught up in the prevailing view that it was impossible for Trump to win the election, that I did not heed the warnings of such a simple and elementary thing as the full moon only days after the election. This full moon in Taurus is located in Trump’s 10th house of fame and prestige and located in Hillary’s 7th house representing her opponent (using whole sign houses).

The lunation cycle and full moons are generally overlooked by the huge majority of astrologers who are always hypnotized with the natal horoscope. Every full moon behaves like a mini-eclipse. Its effects are not limited to the actual few days that the full moon is in the actual sign where it occurs, but it spreads its wings for a number of days either side of the exact full moon. It has personally affected me as the November 2016 Taurus full moon falls in my 4th house of anti-status, thus I am still digesting my hat.

Many astrologers correctly forecasted the election of Trump. The following list (which is probably incomplete), lists astrologers who correctly predicted Trump winning the election: Anil Aggarwal , Steven Birchfield, Barry Goddard, Lisa J Gordon (aka Lisa Lazuli), Hossein Heidari‎, (Steve Judd), Sharon Knight, Inderjit Singh Kallirai, Sachin Malhotra, Peter Novak, Krasi Serguieva, William Stickevers, Ming Wang and Theodore White.

Further details plus list of incorrect predictions available at http://skyscript.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9205

 It is always more difficult to pick the correct winner when the winner appears to be the outside chance plus with politics, it appears that 90% of astrologers are biased towards left wing or progressive political persuasion. Therefore congratulations are definitely in order for these astrologers with the correct predictions in difficult circumstances.

A friend of mine stated after the election that a lot of hats are being eaten. Though I had a late inclination that something was wrong with my expectation of a Clinton victory, it was too late. I succumbed to the old enemy of accurate predictions – I succumbed to my own political bias. I am totally aware of my political bias, and I actually try to counter-balance this bias, but in this case, my bias won. At every point of analysis in weighing up the pros and cons of the positive and negative astrological influences, I gave Hillary the benefit of the doubt.

So it is totally appropriate that the November 2016 Taurus full moon is located in my 4th house – how appropriate! For those non-astrologers, the 4th house is ‘anti-status’.

---

For those interested readers, the following are posts I have previously published on or associated with this topic:

US Presidents in the Age of Aquarius (2008)

US Presidents in the Age of Aquarius (Revised for 2012)

The 2016 US Presidential Election Part 1

Is the World a Calamity in Progress?

Recently I have been exposed to many people with pessimistic outlooks upon the world.  We know that the world has enough food but yet people are starving.  We know that the world has adequate resources for all yet countless millions live in abject poverty.  We see Donald Trump on TV – and though he has redefined the concept of stupidity, he is an actual contender for the most powerful political position in the world.  And his finger could be on the button!  Will a cascade of intercontinental ballistic nuclear weapons rain down upon an unsuspecting world if he has a bad hair day?  What is also of concern is that over 40% of the American voting public apparently are prepared to vote for him.

Former Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) addresses a legislative luncheon held as part of the “Road to Majority” conference in Washington June 18, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Barria – RTX1H57C

This is just a small fraction of all the bad news.  Corporations and governments are facilitating the pollution of our air, water and land to the point that the average person actually must buy pure water to avoid poisoning themselves. Will we have to buy pure oxygen soon due to air pollution? In the Land of the Free (USA), where a greater percentage of the population is imprisoned compared to any other country, they have prisoner ‘sales’ targets whereby governments must ensure that the privatized prisons have at least 90% occupancy. The average prisoner costs the same amount of money to the state as the salary of a teacher.  Despite the trillions spent of the war against terrorists over the last decade or so, the likelihood of a random terrorist attack has increased exponentially many thousands of times.

I am sure that any sane person could spend the rest of their life documenting the ridiculous outcomes of our modern world.  Is modernity a negative concept? Even relatively normal people are expressing concern about where the world is heading.  The general consensus is that the world is like a ball rolling towards the cliff ready to fall over the edge.  This does not inspire optimism or confidence.

The astrology associated with the astrological ages, and specifically our position in the Age of Aquarius, does support the above pessimistic outlook but not the pessimistic outcome.  When we talk about optimism, we usually refer to Sagittarius suggesting that Sagittarius’ opposite sign Gemini is pessimistic.  A superficial examination of Sagittarius and Gemini plus other key signs within the Age of Aquarius reveals the reason for the current desultory outlook by many people, especially in Western Society.

“An Optimist & Pessimist” by Vladimir Makovsky (1846-1920) – Russian painter

In contrast to the West, many people in developing nations are not feeling negative or pessimistic as they are currently riding a secondary wave of economic expansion and material prosperity.  Whenever a new age or sub period of an age appears, the focus of new developments is usually focused upon a specific region, center or culture.  This is what occurred with the arrival of the Age of Aquarius in the 15^th century which firmly placed a focus upon Western society.  It was Western society that pioneered the new Aquarian age ethos which then spreads out to the rest of the world like the wake of a boat.  This is why Western society has become despondent while other societies are still experiencing the wake of the fading expansionary period.  The new despondent wake will also hit Asia and the rest of the world in the future.

Western society started the modern expansionary economic paradigm with the Industrial Revolution feeding into the worldwide population explosion.  This quiet naturally was associated with the Sagittarius sub-age and overflow (1612-1791-1970) which like a giant wave has swept through the world but spearheaded by mainly Western nations.  The majority of expansion and optimism was experienced in the second half of the wave (1791-1970).

Conversely, Western nations are unwittingly spearheading the drive towards contraction and minimalism but have not yet understood that this is actually happening and that this is not some temporary aberration but will continue for a long time.  The rest of the world is not taking over the reins from Western society, but just catching up, whereupon they will also start their own paths towards contraction, especially with their populations and economic growth. (see All Good Things Must Come to an End for more details)

Though the expansionary Sagittarius wave technically came to an end in 1970, this is not how it works in practice.  Basically the Sagittarius expansionary paradigm continues its momentum until it comes to a barrier. Secondly, near the end of this Sagittarius wave was a Sagittarius micro-age and overflow (1940-1955-1970) with the peak of this smaller wave aligned to the Baby Boomers.  (see Baby Boomers in the Age of Aquarius) The Baby Boomers are the last hurrah of expansionary Sagittarius as the world plummets into out-of-control economic overdrive and environmental degradation.  The Baby Boomers are like the captain of the Titanic encouraging the sailors to increase speed as they plow towards the iceberg.

The main sign that undermines Sagittarius is Gemini.  Gemini is currently developing as the new sign of our times. After the Sagittarius wave came the wave associated with the Scorpio sub-age and overflow (1791-1970-2148).  This remains very strong in the world and is part of the reason so many people are feeling vulnerable, sarcastic and desultory – Scorpio has never been known as a cheerful sign … unless you call throwing flower petals on a coffin a pleasant experience.  (see SCORPIO – the Sign of the Times …. Revisited – Part 1 )

However, following in the wake of the Scorpio wave is the relatively new Libra sub-age (1970-2148), and based on previous sub-ages, its main period of benefit will be in its overflow period commencing in 2148 whereupon it will bring in a mini Golden Age – provided there is anyone left around to enjoy it!  The current Libra sub-age (this is why a female is running for US president in 2016) has three sub-age decans, and the first sub-age decan within the Libra sub-age is the Gemini sub-age decan (1970-2029). Naturally, Gemini will be far stronger in its almost 60 years overflow period commencing in 2029.

Gemini is opposite Sagittarius, and it is this Gemini sub-age that is currently bringing a halt to economic expansionism and optimistic outlook mainly in the Western economies.  Because Gemini is unlucky and pessimistic, it has a tendency to resort to cheating and thieving to gain advantage.  This growing phenomenon is being played out by corporations around the world where each year they discover new means and methods to cheat their customers.  Whereupon a few years ago, airlines discovered they could extract more money from their passengers by supplying a relatively cheap basic service than charging often exorbitant amounts for add-ons, flight changes and so on, this is now spreading like an inferno. In the absence of a strongly expansionary market, businesses are trying to extract more and more from each customer using anyone of a number of devious and nefarious (Gemini) schemes.

This anti-Sagittarius new Gemini reality may be hypnotizing the world with handheld mobile devices, but it is also associated with a pessimistic outlook.  If everything is not expanding crazily, things must be bad!  However, while Gemini may be a new and growing reality, it is not the most important player on the field.  A massive revolution is underway associated with the Scorpio sub-age overflow (1970-2148) leading to an incredibly strong Libra period.  This Libra period will greatly affect the world for over 700 years commencing in 2148 – introducing the first mini golden age after almost 7,000 years of mainly war and violence.  Naturally, the last 5,000 years of war is associated with the arrival of the Aries age and overflow (2916BC – 732BC – 1433AD).

In the meantime in our cell phone modern world, it seems like a partnership with sour old Scorpio and pessimistic Gemini being the two key players of note.  Scorpio is bringing a smaller and more evolved world but change always grates because society and culture is always aligned to Taurus – the sign of stability. Scorpio is the opposite sign to Taurus, so all social cultural values have been under attack since 1791, and picking up speed since 1970.   Scorpio is introducing the most unstable of times and people not only dislike instability, they will even fight for their stable cultural-religious values as they dissolve in slow motion before their eyes.  But cultural values will continue to dissolve because Scorpio improves by first pruning the bush then producing new growth which is more appropriate to the times.  The world is mainly in the destructive side of a major metamorphosis.

If you look carefully, there are huge areas of advancement, progress and social evolution in the world today but our minds are more attuned to the disasters and problems when we feel desultory and pessimistic. A steady and growing percentage of Western populations are acknowledging the key role of the environment over short sighted capitalistic practices. Females continue to demand and get greater equality to the point that the most powerful political position in the world is soon to be most likely held by a woman.  Gays are in the process of gaining the right to marry in a growing number of Western nations. Some drugs demonized only a few decades ago are finding increasing support from mainstream society.

However, socio-political-cultural revolutions are painful, and many reactionary elements will do their best to stop the tide from coming in.  Donald Trump is tapping into this reactionary sentiment by many voters who nostalgically prefer the old over the new.   This is also why in the 1960s and 70s so many nations, including Western nations, succumbed to military coups and dictators in place of democracy to prevent progressive change from upsetting their part of the world.  It did not work then, and it will not work now or in the future but it will temporarily re-appear.  The main change to the change occurring in the world is that it will progressively grow stronger and have wider effects and affect more of the world – change is accelerating.  Reactionary elements will also periodically get stronger and try and stop the tide coming in.

So many people get despondent when they realize they will not be around for the mini Golden Age that will arrive mid next century.  There is no need to feel despondent as anyone can be mentally in the Golden Age now, and while the percentage of the population that may already be mentally in the Golden age is a small percentage, this percentage is constantly growing.  More and more people do not want more of the same. (see The Silent Revolution ) Unfortunately, Gemini makes people impatient, and many people are impatient for all the benefits of the Golden Age which cannot fully manifest before midway through next century.

There are important steps along the way towards the mini Golden Age, but the next most important step does not arrive until 2059 – but a preview will appear next decade.  What will happen around 2059?  In western society at least, about 20% of the population will be environmentally friendly and attuned to progressive political and cultural agendas compared to about 10% at present.  20% is the tipping point and research indicates that once 20% of the population has turned to a different direction, they have far greater influence upon society than what should be expected from only 20% of the population.  However, by the mid 22nd century, this 20% becomes 50%.

Finally, there is also very good news hidden behind the turmoil and angst of the modern world.  Of all the signs, Scorpio is the sign most aligned to inner reality or inner Truth.  This means that one of the greatest opportunities in the world today under Scorpio is to find or discover the inner reality that underpins life, the universe and everything.  Scorpio indicates change and turmoil in the external world but actively promotes the benefits of the inner world and the Truth available from going inside.  If truth and ultimate reality are important to you, then you have hit the jackpot for the time you live in.  Search for it because, among other considerations, the astrology is on your side for success in this endeavor.  It is also more fulfilling than complaining and watching the world seemingly go down the gurgler.

There is an old concept associated with the lotus.  While the lotus expresses beauty and enlightenment, it also usually grows in a smelly putrid swamp.  At this point of history, we definitely get the swamp, but we can also have the lotus.  Many ancient and modern seers have stated that they were distracted from smelling the putrid swamp when dazzled by the lotus.

---

Further Reading

Age of Aquarius for Dummies

Baby Boomers in the Age of Aquarius

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Gemini’s Role in our Modern World (or Battle of the Brains)

Will New Agers Rule the World?

Females, Women and Feminists in the Age of Aquarius

A Celebration 7,000 Years in the Making

The 2016 US Presidential Election Part 1

One of the key signs for the 2016 US presidential election is Cancer (based on the five year Cancer quasi micro-age decan July 2012 – June 2017).  During this five year period, it describes what the general public is feeling.  The general public is hypersensitive, emotional, changeable and anti-authoritarian.  They are moody and most likely will not like any outcome as they are also fickle.  They feel their (Capricorn) leaders are their enemies.  They are open to female input.  They are emotional about Cancer topics, most notably refugees and immigration, and some on the growing strength of China and of course the Middle East and Islam.  [For further details, see Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World ]

Research over the years has also demonstrated that there are conservative signs and progressive liberal signs (in macro-astrology).  The Fire and Earth signs all favor conservative and established mainstream values while the Water and Air signs favor progressive and liberal policies, but the times are generally much more volatile (it cannot be assumed that this directly translates to mundane astrology).  Because the current Cancer period is a Water sign this favors the Democrats.

A short review of recent decades from the perspective of periods used in Generational Astrology can quickly demonstrate how the pendulum swings between conservative and progressive values (see Table 1).

START	PERIOD	INFLUENCE
Feb 1948	Sagittarius -Sagittarius	Conservative
Jul 1955	Sagittarius -Scorpio	Conservative-Progressive
Dec 1962	Scorpio-Scorpio	Progressive
May 1970	Scorpio-Virgo	Progressive-Conservative
Oct 1977	Virgo-Virgo	Conservative
Apr 1985	Virgo-Leo	Conservative
Sep 1992	Leo-Leo	Conservative
Feb 2000	Leo-Cancer	Conservative-Progressive
Jul 2007	Cancer-Cancer	Progressive
Dec 2014	Cancer-Gemini	Progressive
Jun 2022	Gemini-Gemini	Progressive
Nov 2029	Gemini-Taurus	Progressive-Conservative

Table 1 – the pendulum swing between conservative and progressive values

What many people may find interesting in Table 1 is that it commences with the post-Second World War conservative times which coincided with the appearance of the first half of the Baby Boomer generation.  Baby Boomers can remember the stultifying social and political conservative times when being different in any way meant being ostracized.  This was the ‘medieval’ witch-hunt period of McCarthyism in the USA where a veritable kangaroo court made judgements on people’s political convictions without the due process of law.  On the economic front, it was a post-war boom time.  Conservative times usually promote good economic conditions.

From 1955 onwards, with the arrival of the Sagittarius-Scorpio period, the tide commenced to change in preparation of the heady days of the revolutionary 1960s which developed into a full-blown progressive period associated with the Scorpio-Scorpio period commencing December 1962.  This quickly turned into a western cultural revolution marked by the arrival of hippies and the New Age movement with their satanic rock-and-roll. The volatility of the times was also on display as many countries were taken over by military juntas or dictators.  Even Greece, the cradle of democracy, was unceremoniously taken over by a coup d’état in April 1967 by the Regime of the Colonels.  This was the same decade reactionary forces most likely arranged the assassinations of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Progressive times such, as the 1960s, breed reactionary forces.  People, groups, organizations, religions and political parties do not like seeing their power erode with the incoming progressive tide.  Despite all the coups and military dictatorships of the period, looking back, who won?  It was certainly not the reactionary forces.  Nevertheless, in any progressive time, reactionary forces try to prevent the inevitable.

However, the progressive influence of the 1960s was short-lived.  After only one short 7 1/2 year progressive period, the pendulum then commenced swinging back to conservative values starting in May 1970.  By October 1977, the world had to settle into three consecutive full strength conservative periods before the pendulum slowly started the swing back to progressive values commencing in February 2000.   As of July 2007, the world has commenced three consecutive progressive periods.

Normally in the pendulum swing, there are three periods of either 100% conservative or 100% progressive periods.  Each of these sets of three periods is separated by a transitional period where progressive and conservative tendencies temporarily co-exist.  However, every 178 or so years an anomaly occurs, and this last occurred in May 1970 (due to a change in sub-age).  When this occurs, instead of three periods of the same flavor existing in a row, it is reduced to one period.  The progressive Scorpio-Scorpio period (Dec 1962-May 1970) was a loner, and was tightly sandwiched between solid conservative periods.

This is why so many people became disillusioned by the 1960s and early 70s, as it occurred in reaction to the stifling conservatism that dominated the times, but instead of having a solid run over 3 periods

Royal Baby Flashback: Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher Celebrate …

(about 22 ½ years), it was quickly slowed down commencing in  May 1970 after only 7 1/2 years of progressive influence.  By October 1977 the conservative backlash was in full swing lasting until February 2000.  The peak representatives of this conservative backlash in the West could be represented by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and by Leonid Brezhnev in the USSR (Russia) up to 1982.

However, the table has again turned.  All those starry-eyed hippies of the 1960s and 70s are now beginning to see a continuation of the liberal-progressive narrative so swiftly truncated when they were still young.  Even some American states have legalized marijuana and the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in most western nations is an indication of the return to progressive policies.

This pendulum swing between conservative and progressive values normally lasting a few decades exists within larger frameworks that also display the same swing but over centuries and millennia.  What very few astrologers realize is that as of December 2014, the world has entered a progressive-liberal phase unmatched for over 7,000 years which also insinuates increased social, political and financial volatility.  The world is on the cusp of a multi-thousand year volatile-progressive landscape.  One way this has manifested is that about 5,000 years ago the opposite pendulum swing occurred and the world seriously went to war, and war has been central to world politics for the last 5,000 years.  See A Celebration 7,000 Years in the Making .  This does not mean the Democrats will win the presidential elections for the next 7,000 years!

Sitting behind the current five-year Cancer period is a major multi-century Scorpio influence that is at the absolute height of its dominance from 1970 to 2059.  This Scorpio influence is in the process of replacing the (Sagittarius) capitalist dream with debt, anxiety and a strong feeling of vulnerability from a number of fronts.  These include the threat of terrorism, lack of income growth, burgeoning debt, rapid societal dissolution from immigration (legal and illegal) and accelerating change in just about everything.  This contributes to the growth of reactionary forces wanting to ‘restore’ the past which is as effective a kids sand wall on the beach to prevent the tide from coming in.

Also since December 2014, Aquarius has reared its head after about 74 years of dormancy.  The new Aquarius (micro-age decan and overflow) will broadly affect the current period until 2024, and be a strong emergent influence up until 2019.  The strongest time for Aquarius will be 2019 to 2024 (see This is the Dawning of the Aquarius Micro-Age Decan ).  Aquarius likes extremes, and whenever Aquarius is strong, the extremists’ views at both end of the spectrum become stronger and more people than normal in the middle class will get affected by these more extreme views. This favors all candidates except Hillary as Hillary is the only top-four candidate in the middle.

Aquarius breeds reactionary fascism such as ISIS in the Middle East as well as many countries with immature democratic institutions.  Even ‘mature’ democratic nations will experience die-hards on the right trying to influence the direction of their nation in undemocratic ways.  One impetus is the push to ‘restore values’ but democratic values are conveniently excluded from the values to be restored.

All the above periods affect the outcome of the presidential election and explains why the current top four are in their exalted positions.  Hillary benefits from being the only female in a Cancer period – Cancer is one of the two key female signs.  The other three candidates all benefit from emergent Aquarius – Saunders for his progressive views, and Trump and Cruz for their extremist right wing views. Cancer both helps and hinders Hillary, the female component helps her, but Cancer is anti-authoritarian, and Hillary is from establishment politics.

The almost permanent background Scorpio influence indicates that the general public is getting

Trump and Cruz

impassioned and they want something revolutionary to change the uncomfortable situation they believe they are in.  Research shows that Republican voters are far more upset than Democrat voters as they perceive progressive policies are eroding their established values.  This may explain why the two leading Republican candidates, Trump and Cruz, are so out there.  The background Scorpio influence favors all four candidates as the first female president, the socialist policies of Bernie Saunders, the extreme right wind views of Cruz and Trump as the jack-in-the-box all satisfy  the quest for a major change.  This is why they are the last four candidates effectively standing.  These four may not last until the elections, especially on the Republican side.

Finally, referring back to Table 1, it is possible to make a prediction on the outcome of the 2016 presidential election with about 80% accuracy based solely on these 7 ½ year periods’ orientation to either conservative or progressive values, or a combination of both in the transitional periods.  Table 2 correlates the US presidents with the conservative-progressive pendulum of Table 1:

START	PERIOD	INFLUENCE	PRESIDENT
Feb 1948	Sagittarius -Sagittarius	CONSERVATIVE	Eisenhower	C
Jul 1955	Sagittarius -Scorpio	Conservative-PROGRESSIVE	JFK	P
Dec 1962	Scorpio-Scorpio	PROGRESSIVE	LBJ	P
	Scorpio-Scorpio	PROGRESSIVE	R Nixon	C
May 1970	Scorpio-Virgo	PROGRESSIVE-Conservative	J Carter	P
Oct 1977	Virgo-Virgo	CONSERVATIVE	R Reagan	C
Apr 1985	Virgo-Leo	CONSERVATIVE	G H W Bush	C
Sep 1992	Leo-Leo	CONSERVATIVE	B Clinton	P
Feb 2000	Leo-Cancer	CONSERVATIVE-Progressive	G W Bush	C
Jul 2007	Cancer-Cancer	PROGRESSIVE	Obama	P

Table 2 – excludes presidential elections when an incumbent president wins the election.  “P” = progressive and “C” = conservative.

The only presidents in Table 2 that were elected in a period where the opposite political influence was stronger were Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.  Maybe this was why Nixon left office in disgrace and Bill Clinton was only the second president to be impeached?  It seems to be dangerous territory for any president to be in office in a period favoring the other side of politics.

There is no suggestion that Table 2 is statistically relevant due to the small amount of data, but if this is representative of the broader whole, only two of the ten presidents listed were presidents in the ‘wrong’ period.  This means that 8 out of 10, or 80% of presidents were originally elected president in a period aligned to their political persuasion.  Based on Table 2, there is an 80% chance the 2017 US presidential election will be won by a Democrat. If the election is won by a Republican or right-leaning independent, they will probably court heated controversy of some kind as they will be a duck out of water.

From left, presidential candidates Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders

 

From a distance, it seems that the main race for the 2016 presidential election is between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. A similar thing often happens at tennis tournaments when the main two protagonists face off against each other in the quarter or semi-finals, and the winner then just demolishes the last surviving player in the finals but the best match was earlier. It seems the Republican race is just to decide the loser in the presidential elections as the field they have produced seems incapable of attracting middle America.  The initial astrological perspective supports this view as do most polls (excluding Fox News).

However, this is only the initial conclusion based mainly on the application of 7 ½ years period and their orientation to conservative or progressive values.  Part 2 will focus on smaller periods associated with 5 year periods (based on micro-age decans that have already been briefly introduced here in Part 1), 15 month periods (nano-ages) and five month periods (nano-age decans).  The smaller periods may not agree with the above perspective.

 

---

If you want to automatically receive emails of new blogs from this site, sign up at EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION at the bottom of the right hand side of this web page.

If you want to participate or closely observe the discussions about the astrological ages and be part of this revolution in astrology focussed upon the astrological ages see the Macro-Astrology Group at Facebook. 

Fore background details on the mechanics of the astrological ages see Age of Aquarius for Dummies

---

Details of the Book by Terry MacKinnell

“The Dawning” is available from Xlibris, Amazon etc

Detailed examination of the astrological ages from the Age of Leo to the Age of Aquarius including age-decans

www.macro-astrology.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pisces America

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali (5 – 9 October 2011).  With an eclectic mix of presenters from Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, this writers festival provided a first account insight into the world today – warts and all.  One recurrent theme introduced by a variety of writers focused upon the destructive political and social input from the USA upon many countries outside of the developed western world.

Before providing the relevant details of the political skulduggery undertaken by the USA since the Second World War (to keep the world free) let me be clear that I am not anti-American, and though I will be dealing with some of these negative issues associated with the USA, I will also be discussing many positive qualities associated with the USA as presented by various writers at the festival. This is actually the essence of this blog post.  There are two distinct sides to the USA, and while many people acknowledge one side or the other, depending upon their personal political views and allegiances, it is necessary to recognise both sides to fully comprehend the Pisces psyche of the USA.

In my recently published book, The Dawning – Shedding New Light on the Astrological Ages, I basically introduce the USA onto the world stage as the modern empire of the Pisces-Aquarius age. In a similar fashion, Ancient Rome was the empire of the Aries-Pisces age, Ancient Egypt the empire of the Taurus-Aries age and Sumer (Mesopotamia) the empire of the Gemini-Taurus age.  Each of these empires introduced specific peaks of achievement associated with the age-pair of the times, with a distinct focus upon the first sign in the age pair.

Mesopotamia of the Gemini-Taurus age introduced (Gemini) writing.  Ancient Egypt of the Taurus-Aries age is known for its massive pyramids, stone temples and monuments carved out of mountains – appropriate for Taurus – the fixed earth sign of solidity.  Ancient Rome of the Aries-Pisces is renowned for its mighty armies that not only created the largest ancient empire based on its military might – it actually pioneered modern military techniques (basically shock and awe).  Aries is the sign ruled by Mars – the god of war.  In the same vein, the USA in the current Pisces-Aquarius age (1433 – 3574) is the champion of Pisces in the modern world – and even on a simplistic level, this can be seen by its cultural capital, Hollywood, which has conquered the world through movies (movies are ruled by Pisces, the sign always associated with fantasy in all its shapes and guises).  Furthermore the USA is the champion of the ethereal corporation – which are fake bodies given the status of real bodies in the legal system, and thus has provided the backbone of the modern capitalistic world.  Most things that are fake are associated with Pisces. All these associations are explored in far greater detail in The Dawning (see:
http://www.macro-astrology.com).

The focus in this blog however is on the bi-polar nature of the USA due to its primary association to Pisces.  The USA is not the Pisces Empire of the modern world, but the Pisces-Aquarius Empire, but Aquarius plays second fiddle to Pisces in the Aquarian age due to the Overflow Effect (see: Is the Aquarian Age Like a Block of Granite?).  Basic zodiacal sign symbology for Pisces displays two fish swimming in opposite direction.  This is reflected in American politics,  foreign policy and society.  At the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival of 2011, the two fish of the USA were on display (without anyone realising the Pisces connection, other than myself).

The author and journalist Tariq Ali is an expatriate Pakistani living in exile in London due to his political views – having a political view in Pakistan is dangerous!  In the two sessions I attended that included Tariq, he repeatedly described how, since the Second World War, the USA has actively undermined the political integrity and the fledgling democracies in the Middle East, in the same way that it did in South America.  Tariq basically stated that the USA would undermine any country that it perceived to be against the foreign policy interests of the USA.  This is a well-documented and widely known fact. Towards the end of the session, Tariq wittingly stated that Australia was the USA’s fixed aircraft carrier in the region.

Andrew Fowler discussed his new book The Most Dangerous Man in the World (about the rise of Julian Assange to international prominence).  One of the reasons Julian is fighting his extradition to Sweden, is that not only is the Swedish government conservative, it was also a stopover point provided by the Swedish government to the Americans sending alleged terrorists to other countries for torture.  The Americans have demonized Assange as a spy with the complicity of the New York Times, and in a show of political corporate (Pisces) support, American companies such as MasterCard, Visa and PayPal pulled the plug on donations being provided to Assange.  Even though the New York Times published some of the information provided by Assange’s Wikileaks, they stated that Julian was a source, not a journalist.  Journalists are protected in the USA due to freedom of speech – but sources do not have this protection.  Even the New York Times was complicit in the demonizing of Assange.

In the session “My Egypt” with Gamal Al Ghitani and Khaled Al-Khamissi, about word on the street in Egypt, it came out that Assange’s Wikileaks provided some important information that helped garner support for the overthrow of the Tunisian regime through people-power.  Wikileaks revealed that American diplomatic sources secretly discussed how they would not support the Tunisian government due to its corruption and despotism.  This fact alone gave moral support to the democratic revolutionary elements in Tunisa – and the rest is history. Tunisia was the first despotic regime to fall, setting in momentum the unrest that spread to Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and other Middle East countries.  So while the USA demonizes Julian Assange, it appears that his altruistic desire to reveal the truth about what our politicians and diplomats are really doing behind the scenes and ultimately on our behalf, has already borne some fruit.  I wonder how the American Founding Fathers in their revolutionary zeal would view Julian Assange?

The final political session “Coups, Crusades and Revolutions” with Horst Geerken (Germany), Oya Baydar (Turkey) and Tariq described a litany of interference by the USA into the internal affairs of many countries resulting in the deaths and persecution of many people – many of whom were just members of a trade union or expressed left-wing political views.  Horst was resident in Indonesia in the early 1960s in the final years of the non-aligned President Sukarno, and witnessed the USA backed military coup against him led by General Suharto.  Once installed in power, the USA gave the names of communists, leftists and sympathisers to be neutralized, and consequently between one and three million Indonesians were murdered, with the numbers killed in Bali particularly high. This is all documented in Horst Geerken’s book A Gecko for Luck.

The reason why the USA orchestrated coups around the world and militarily intervened wherever necessary (Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan etc.) has evolved since the post-World War Two period, but the initial purpose was to contain and stop the spread of communism. There is no doubt that the growth and development of communism in the first part of the 20^th century was an evil and duplicitous enterprise carried out by ruthless and unscrupulous supporters.  Its evil was such that communism was probably equivalent to one of the horses of the apocalypse.  The duping of much of the western intellectual and leftist political supporters morally supporting the evil of Stalinist-style communism was perceived by the USA as the enemy within – and in retrospect this view was basically correct, even though the enemy within were not aware of their own ignorance.  It should be remembered that the key sign in the current Pisces-Aquarius age is Pisces – the sign of gullibility and deception.  Furthermore the first part of the 20^th century was a Pisces hot spot – possibly the last Pisces hotspot of such magnitude for almost another 26,000 years.  Even many western intellectuals and academics were hypnotized (Pisces) by the communists.

The post-war American political agenda had communism firmly in its gun sights, and it did not waver in facing the enemy wherever it tried to break out from its support base in the USSR and China.  Unfortunately America utilised the Pisces technique of demonization and adopted any means, fair or foul, to defeat its enemy – basically the same technique of the communists.  From the militaristic American perspective, the appearance of communism or its supporters anywhere in the world was cause for great concern and it did everything it could to eradicate its enemy and supporters.  If a fledging democratic government had to be overthrown by a military coup – so be it! If millions of people had to be killed, even if they were only of a left-wing political persuasion – off with their heads. America took the view that the end justifies the means.  This may seem incongruous with a democratic nation, but the history of democracy shows that democracy to date has always been limited.  For example in Athens in Ancient Greece, only the male landholder could vote, and they also owned slaves.  In the modern example, while the USA is internally based on democratic institutions, its role, and foreign policy in the international arena has always been based on self-interest (no different than most other powers in the world). Pisces involvement is in the fact ‘the end justifies the means’ – any number of deceitful and sordid calamities could be bestowed on any country deemed an enemy or opponent.

Since the collapse of monolithic communism, the USA was bereft of an enemy.  9/11 solved that problem, and the USA has engaged in a new reign of hostilities against Al-Qaeda or its supporters and allies in the Middle East, or using its War Against Terror to invade or undermine any country it so pleases – in much  the same way it has widely done since the Second World War.  I am sure that none of the key players in the inner American political establishment feels anything other than justifiable righteousness in containing its perceived enemies – be they the former communists or the new breed of terrorist networks.

Most people in the world believe that their personal actions and beliefs are correct – this underlies the Pisces illusion of our modern age.  The unconscious reasoning goes something like this – if I am correct, then anyone who disagrees with me incorrect.  If these incorrect or deluded adversaries cause a problem, or I perceive they may cause a problem, I can further enhance their incorrectness by demonizing them in any way I like.’  This was done to the extreme in Nazi Germany, Stalinist USSR and Mao’s China.  It has been done to homosexuals, some minor religious groups, major religions against other major religions, people who use drugs – and in some countries, people who drink alcohol and most recently to illegal immigrants.  Any use of demonization is evidence of Pisces (i.e. delusion and deception).

The USA, as the Pisces-Aquarius Empire of the modern world, has mythologised its minor Aquarian revolutionary nature that prompted it to become an early democracy in a world basically ruled by monarchical elites.  There is no doubt that the sentiments expressed by America’s Founding Fathers will echo through the world for millennia to come.  Despite this strong Aquarian element in the American psyche, the Pisces element is the senior partner.  One way this Pisces element manifests is that, by and large, American’s believe their own propaganda.  They are proud of their leading role in the world and particularly their democratic traditions – but they let the mirage of their self-assessment over-rule reality.  The reality is that countries may be relatively democratic within their borders, but they behave outside of their own border just like countries have always done since countries were first invented – they act in their own self-interest and, if powerful, they do all they can to make other countries obey their will.

In total contrast to Americas’ international relations, one of the final sessions of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival named “Traversing Cultural Divides” highlighted three different people who have fled to or immigrated to the USA, and now call it home, plus one Afro-American.  Basically Arthur Flowers (USA), Chris Abani (Nigeria), Edel Rodriguez (Cuba) and Shirley Lim (ethnic Chinese Malaysian) waxed lyrical about the benefits of living in the USA, and the many opportunities this gave them.  They believe that anyone who sets their mind to it can live the life they deserve in the USA and achieve fulfilment in their lives.  Such success is not born of race, social status or religion but their own effort in an egalitarian society.

For example Shirley Lim’s family has lived some generation in Malaysia, but Malaysia will not treat them as a full citizen due to their ethnic Chinese background. Edel Rodriguez grew up under Castro in Cuba until his family fled to Florida, USA. Rodriguez acknowledges his childhood memories and he would like to be buried in Cuba when he dies, but in the meantime he is a successful graphic artist in the USA. Chris Abani relates to one incident in the USA, his adopted home, where he had to stay in a strange city one night, in a hotel with no friends to call upon.  The helpful and friendly staff informed him that the tree he could see from his hotel window was famous for lynching Negroes in the not too distant past.  As a black African himself, this did little to make him feel at home. Nevertheless, all the panellists were firm in their conviction that no country in the world gave the same degree of freedom and opportunity as the USA.

The USA has pioneered more than democracy, it has been at the forefront of technological evolution for almost a century, and has recently extended itself into cyber world. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are two leading lights in the new technological world.  In a recent article in The Global Edition of the New York Times[1] it was revealed that sentiment was so high following the death of Steve Jobs, that following the release of the new iPhone 4S, many customers stated that the “4S” meant “for Steve”.  The USA has provided leadership in the cyber world as evidence by the inroads that various American companies have achieved – from IBM, Microsoft to Facebook, Google, Wikipedia and so on.  These innovative developments have been lapped up by a hungry and mainly appreciative world.

In should be noted that Steve Jobs was proud of his (Pisces) drug use – he was a product of the 1960s and 70s and he was an unabashed proponent of this aspect of his life.  The USA led the world, yet again, in those revolutionary and liberating times of the 60s and 70s with marijuana and LSD high on the list.  As one online commentator stated – if Steve had been caught, he would have been put in a (Pisces) cage.  This yet again displays the two fish Pisces paradox that is the USA. On the one hand, the USA led the new drug fuelled world, but simultaneously enacted one of the most draconian laws against drug use in the western world. Currently the American war on drugs is dissembling Mexico and causing untold hardship around the world in its stance against an evolutionary social development that American conservative elements do not like.

Where else in the First World does any other country other than the USA has such a large block of citizens who refute Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in favour of creationism?  This same fundamentalist Christian block maintains an arch-conservative political influence that beggars description and has no known parallel in any other First World country.  The American conservative bloc is another manifestation of the two fish associated with Pisces.

America presents itself as an Aquarian freedom loving democracy – but this is nothing more than ‘white man speaks with forked tongue’.  Americans are not consciously malicious, like everyone else they believe they are doing the right thing in the right way, but even their approach to Julian Assange and Wikileaks indicates a chink in their Pisces armour. They prefer that the delusion of their democratic mystique is maintained rather than be scrutinized and have reality appear.  Assange was merely putting on public display the reality of American foreign policy.  What the American government was telling its citizen’s as its justification for war was in stark contrast to the facts that their own intelligence service provided.  Reality has no association with Pisces other than Pisces is the sign of ‘lack of reality’.  Pisces is associated with public relations and spin – America does everything it can to maintain the mirage of its own spin. Pisces is an ill-defined archetype which is an inherent part of its nature.  It is more like a mirage or fog than a solid object.

Finally, there is no suggestion that the stance and approach that the USA adopts in its foreign policy is in any way inferior or worse than most other nations, past or present – it is just that America is the most influential nation in the world, and so its actions are noticed the most – and criticised the most. The UK was equally malicious in the age of the British Empire as were most European countries – and most countries in the world given the chance.

There is an urban myth developing that the USA is being overtaken by China.  One writer put this in perspective – I think it was Tariq Ali from Pakistan.  Basically he said that if you take the next 10 leading countries in size, after the USA, add all their respective defence budgets together and then double this figure – it still does not equate to the USA’s defence spending.  Though this may be an exaggeration, the military power of the USA is not about to be usurped.  One columnist recently referred to the rise and fall of empires, and stated that the USA had at least two decades left as the world’s superpower. This is where the astrological ages provide greater clarity.  The USA, as empire of the Pisces-Aquarius age, will be at its exalted position for many centuries, if not for another 1,500 years or so – but with some significant turmoil and changes coming in due course.  The first major unsettling development due for the USA will not occur before the middle of next century.

The USA is an enigma within an enigma – it is Hollywood on the grand scale in every sense. It is a mixture of fact and fantasy, where fantasy is presented as fact, and facts are often presented as fantasy. It promotes the glamor of democracy and the deceit of an international bully.  For me this was encapsulated by President Bush immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Bush stated to the effect that “.. he would make the world safe for Americans”. What about everyone else in the word – don’t they also deserve peace?  This is Athenian democracy – it is for the elite only.

In a session “Happiness in Human Nature” Rodaan al Galidi, a long term refugee in Jordan from Iraq, and currently resident of Holland since 1998 reflected upon a CNN news report of the war in Iraq.  “800 Iraqi’s were killed today and an American soldier was shot in the leg”.  CNN then went on and described the convalescence required, input from his family members and other details from the soldier’s wound.  The USA promotes an elitist democracy but hides this reality.  This is Pisces pure and simple. Nevertheless, the USA is the empire of the Pisces-Aquarian age, and the real Aquarian age empire will not appear for at least another 1,500 years. The USA will be perceived as a stepping stone along the way towards real democracy in the same way that ancient Athens is considered the starting point of the western democratic tradition.

As a major consolation for idealists and rationalists, if the Stalinist communist model had been successful and the world had succumbed to their brain-numbing political model of terror, subjugation and genocide, the USA would appear as a saint – but only in comparison.  Now we know that the USA is not a saint but we are left with the Pisces choice – is the glass half full or half empty? Being an optimistic Sagittarian, I take the USA glass to be half full. Furthermore there are exciting times ahead for the USA and the world (see: A Celebration 7,000 Years in the Making).

In relation to Ancient Rome, the USA position today is equivalent to the year 145 BC for Rome.  Rome did not attain its maximum territorial size until around 250 years after 145 BC. 145 BC was towards the end of the period known as Supremacy of the New Nobility (287–133 BC) where there was a kind of balance of power of the aristocratic senate and the plebeian assembly. However this was the most militarily active era of the Roman Republic and it left many Roman citizens bankrupt and dependent upon the state due to the deteriorating economic circumstances.[2] Following 133 BC, Ancient Rome teetered between normalcy and crisis, and various reforms were attempted. The world is not static, and this also applies to the USA.

So in conclusion, when many friends and acquaintances throw their hands up in collective horror at the shenanigans of the USA in world affairs since the Second World War, I remind them that for every evil deed done and every corrupt or deceitful action take, that on the other side of the coin, America attains some major development, goal or produces something uplifting for humanity. The IT revolution is being led by the USA, and the ubiquitous cell phone has been shown to play an important part in recent revolutions – as is the case with social network websites. The two fish will always be stuck to the USA, and unfortunately they swim in opposite directions.  This Pisces paradox lies at the core of the American psyche. To accept only one side is to be part of the delusion. Most people choose one fish or the other as if these individual fish adequately describes the USA.  Unless cognizance is given to both fish, that seem intrinsically opposed to each other, than no real understanding of the age empire of our time can be made.

---

[1] Sat-Sun Oct 15-16 2011 Pg 15

[2] “Roman
Republic.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 19 Oct.
2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.

Now available online and at major book stores.

For a complete background to the above blog, see THE DAWNING, published in 2011

Revolution in the Middle East

The rather sudden and startling quest for greater freedom and democracy in a number of Middle Eastern countries in the last few months is part of a greater orchestration towards political and social evolution around the world that commenced with the French Revolution (in the late 18^th century) aligned with the arrival of the Scorpio subage (1791 – 1970), and continuing on in the Scorpio subage overflow (1970 – 2148) due to the overflow effect associated with all ages and their sub-periods. The Scorpio subage is the third subage of the Age of Aquarius (that commenced in 1443 AD – see figure 1), heralding in the modern world. 

Figure 1 – the first four subages of the Aquarian age

 

 

Most historians and historical reference books indicate that the Modern World commenced in the 15^th century – or, at a minimum, the 15^th century was an extremely exalted time in the history of human society.  Apart from a plethora of other supporting facts, the 15^th century was the first century that humans (i.e. Europeans at least) could comprehend the whole world for the first time due to the maritime exploits of its sailors circumnavigating the world. The arrival of ages is marked by highly significant events!

The arrival of the third subage within the Aquarian age, the Scorpio subage in 1791 basically demarks the end of the Early Modern Period (according to many historians at around 1800) and the beginning of the Modern Period.  Within the Scorpio subage (1791 – 1970), the most significant large scale political revolution that has ever been experienced in the world, took place.  At the beginning of the Scorpio subage most countries in the world were ruled by monarchs or local aristocracy (the USA was the black sheep of the time being already a rudimentary democracy).  By the end of the Scorpio subage in 1970 most of these monarchs had been overthrown and replaced with democratic governments, communism or military juntas.  Only in some less politically developed regions, particularly in the Middle East, did the old monarchial way of life continued – mainly propped up in the 20^th century by Western and European nations to ensure a ready supply of fossil fuels.

The arrival of a new astrological period such as an age or subage does not affect the world uniformly.  The arrival of a new period is like the bow of the boat – surging into previously uncharted waters and leaving its ever expanding wake as evidence of its passage.  This wake then slowly affects all other regions of the world.  The wake from any age or sub-period of an age is even larger after the end of its own period (as represented in figure 1).  The primary focus of the initial Scorpio surge mainly affected western nations (including all of the Americas), but by its close in 1970, over half the world was deeply affected by its wake including an independent and democratic India on the one hand, and a communistic China on the other – but bereft of its former ruling class or aristocracy.

The transference from the Scorpio subage to Libra subage in 1970 actually marks an increase in tempo for Scorpio (due to its ever widening wake).  Libra has arrived, but it is the new kid on the block, and the wake from its bow wave has relatively little impact in the world in comparison to Scorpio.  Until near the end of the Libra subage in 2148, Scorpio is the dominant sign in the world (at the subage level).  The transition between the Scorpio subage and Scorpio subage overflow was marked by the revolutionary sentiment expressed in the late 1960s and early 70s resulting in the almost choreographed student and youth demonstration and riots throughout much of the western world. Other spectacular icons of this period are the hippy movement that sprang out of San Francisco, the music revolution first associated with the Beatles, the Woodstock festival in New York, the anti-war movement against the Viet Nam war, the French student uprising that nearly toppled the government and feminism at full bore and armed with the newly invented oral contraceptive (associated with sex – another Scorpio archetype).

It must be remembered (or recognized by the younger generations) that western society in the 1950s was extremely conservative, mono-cultural, with women knowing their place in society and much stronger fascist elements compared to western society of 2011. The arrival of the 60s and early 70s baby boomers with their long hair, drugs and free love temporarily created the normal fracas when any establishment or society meets a new evolutionary sociological phenomenon.  This is why students peacefully protesting the Viet Nam war were gunned down and killed in the USA, restrictive drug laws savagely enforced to persecute the new social movement and contentious objectors to compulsory military serviced were sent to jail. By and large the formerly stodgy and arch-conservative west has moved on to a certain degree since those heady days of the 60s and 70s. The formerly frowned upon music of the 60s and 70s now appears regularly in TV commercials, men can have hair whatever length they like but, except for some isolated pockets of enlightened thinking, the west maintains a witch hunt against recreational drug users, treats homosexuals as second class citizens and has not given full equality to women. The west is in the ongoing and long term process of assimilating the new cultural paradigm that appeared in the 60s and 70s and it will probably take another 150 or so years before some reasonable progress is made.

With the arrival of the Scorpio subage overflow in 1970, the bow wave of the Scorpio juggernaut continues to spread its influence.  However if you think that the revolutionary spirit has been a little subdued for the last few decades then you are quite right.  This is because subages have smaller periods within them called micro-ages.  Micro-ages are almost 15 years in duration (plus another 15 years overflow) and until very recently, the micro-ages encountered at the beginning of the Scorpio subage overflow have been conservative micro-ages (see figure 2).  

Figure 2 – the first four micro-ages of the Scorpio subage

The conservative (and stable) micro-ages belong to the Earth and Fire signs – Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. The conservative Virgo micro-age was in place from 1970 to 1985, followed by the conservative Leo micro-age (1985 – 2000) with both periods promoting stability over change but also enforcing the status quo as much as possible. It is only with the current Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) that we begin returning to the progressive but destabilizing signs.

Not only is the world returning to progressive micro-ages, this process is still accelerating.  The historical effects from any period associated with the astrological ages are always relatively sluggish to appear in a kind of delayed effect.  So while the current Cancer micro-age rules from 2000 to 2015, it is not until its overflow period (2015 – 2029) that it can fully express its Cancerian intentions. However a significant shift in gears appeared at its halfway point of Cancer micro-age in 2007 in its climb up Mount Cancer – and the current revolutionary fervor in the Middle East is part of this Cancer play (along with numerous floods around the world always associated with Cancer). 

Why the Middle East?  Each region and country is associated with an astrological signature.  One key component of any astrological signature associated anywhere where Islam is strong is the sign Cancer.  Islam shares the underlying commonality of Pisces with Christianity as both came into existence in the Pisces age (along with Buddhism).  However Christianity formed near the peak expression of the Scorpio age-decan of the Pisces age (8 BC) while Islam formed much closer to the peak of the Cancer age-decan in 713 AD (see figure 3).

Figure 3 – the age-decans of the Pisces age

 This is why in Islam their view of paradise is closely associated with rivers (ruled by Cancer), they follow a lunar calendar (the Moon is the ruler of Cancer), and many female adherents either voluntarily or are forced to hide themselves away under burkas and veils (Cancer rules shyness and places a focus upon women).  These are just a few of the major Cancerian associations to Islam.

With the revolutionary Scorpio subage overflow (1970 – 2148) passing over the Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) it is reasonable to conclude that Scorpio’s revolutionary archetype will marry with Islamic Cancer to produce revolutionary ferment in the Middle East.  But this is not the end of the story.  Within the Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2015) are three micro-age decans of Pisces, Scorpio and Cancer in chronological order with the Scorpio micro-age decan influential from 2005 to 2015, and particularly in 2010, 2011 and 2012 (see figure 4). 

Figure 4 – the micro-age decans of the Cancer micro-age

This little Scorpio micro-age decan resonates with the Scorpio subage overflow (1970 – 2148) to create a veritable Scorpio hotspot.  Hotspots, like their name suggests, are more potent than their surrounding periods in stimulating action outside of the norm. Certainly the unrest in the Middle East is extraordinary.

Nevertheless the kind of revolutions we can expect will not, as a rule of thumb, be focused upon violence but with a firm preference to peaceful methods.  This is because the world is in the early stages of the Libra subage (1970 – 2148) and Libra is a peaceful sign opposite violent and militaristic Aries. This does not mean that those expressing revolutionary sentiment will not use force, but their use of force will be in most cases be in response to the force unleashed against them by power-mad autocrats.  Lest you judge these Middle Eastern societies harshly for their despotic rulers, anti-democratic ways and highly visible levels of corruption, you do not need go very far back in history to find the same abominable behavior in western society.  For whatever reason, the Aquarian age has arrived relatively early for the west, but it still took about 500 years to ensconce itself in Europe – Europe was a bloody nightmare for the first 500 years of the Aquarian age.  So we should not be harsh in our judgments of other society’s shortcomings.  The only real difference is that when the west went through its democratic catharsis over the last 500 years, no one was sitting on the sidelines criticizing or forcing them to be democratic with a gun held at their head as the USA did in Iraq. At least with the current Middle Eastern unrest, it is the vision of the citizens that is demanding the change – not an outside entity.

Also see: SCORPIO – the Sign of the Times …. Revisited – Part 1 –Revolution and Tyrants 

Baby Boomers in the Age of Aquarius

Everyone wants to live at the beginning of an age.  Every half century or so someone somewhere thinks we are at the beginning of some new age, era or epoch.  The Nazis thought they were at the beginning of a glorious thousand years age under the swastika.  With the Mayan calendar finishing in 2012, many people will proclaim this the beginning of a new age and some have already claimed (erroneously) that 2012 marks the start of the Age of Aquarius.

Though we are not at the beginning of the Aquarian age, Baby Boomers are an identifiable generation that is associated with the Age of Aquarius.  Where do Baby Boomers sit in the Aquarian Age?  This is not as difficult as it sounds as there is only one sign that booms (if you exclude the boom of cannons which would make it Aries).

The best way to approach this question is to think of a clock with an hour, minute and second hand.  In the Aquarian age the hour hand points to Aquarius.  Just as in each hour there are minutes, each age has sub-ages.    The equivalent to the second hand is a micro-age.  Ages are approximately 2150 years long, sub-ages 179 years and micro-ages 15 years.

It is the second hand, pointing at micro-ages that indicate the relationship between Baby Boomers and the Age of Aquarius.  Between 1940 and 1955 was the Sagittarius micro-age with its momentum carrying over up to 1970.  The Sagittarius quasi micro-age (1948-1962), representing the peak of the Sagittarius micro-age bell-curve aligns itself remarkably well to the baby Boomer generation.  According to Wikipedia, Baby Boomers are those people born between 1946 and 1964, peaking around 1957 but plummeting from 1964 onwards due to the availability of the birth control pill.

Sagittarius is the sign that is associated with expansion, good fortune, optimism and good luck.  The Baby Boomers is the generation that far exceeded the normal population explosion in western culture both before and after this generation.  Expansionary Sagittarius aligns itself well with the Baby Boomer generation.  Sagittarius is the sign that booms – preferably an economic boom.

What can Sagittarius tell us about the Baby Boomers in general?  On the positive side it indicates that the Baby Boomers are lucky, optimistic, fortunate and have had expanding possibilities in their lives.  In addition Baby Boomers have had plenty of opportunities for overseas travel, philosophical reflection and excess materialistic resources.  On the negative side this generation has over-consumed, gained too much weight (or allowed their children to do so), devoured too many resources, overly moralistic and prefers to depend upon luck to solve problems rather than wisdom.

If we pull back from the second hand and examine the minute hand that calibrates the sub-ages, the Baby Boomers were the last generation born under the even larger boom time of the Sagittarius sub-age and overflow (1612-1791-1970) .  The Sagittarius sub-age brought to the world the Industrial Revolution and massive population explosion over the last two centuries.  The Baby Boomers are the last hurrah of this expansion gone mad.

Once the second hand moved on from Sagittarius it encountered Scorpio well and truly by the mid 1960’s.  On a larger note, the Sagittarian Sub-Age was overtaken by the influence of the Scorpio Sub-Age around 1970.  On two counts Scorpio has arrived at the Baby Boomers doorstep just as they were getting out of their diapers.  Scorpio is a very different sign than Sagittarius but the Baby Boomers have brought their innate good fortune into Scorpio territory ever since the 1960s and 70s.

Scorpio is the sign of revolution, contraction, minimalism, pollution, nuclear weapons and energy, sex, debt, instability, the world wide web, underground criminal networks and hidden power plays by politicians to name just a few associations.  The Sagittarian Baby Boomers hit the new Scorpio paradigm with the throttle full steam ahead.  This created those heady revolutionary days of the 60s and 70s where anti-war, anti-conscription and anti-government protests, demonstrations and riots were the order of the day.  Revolution was a growth industry in the 60s and 70s.

Remember when a significant number of the Baby Boomers discovered marijuana.  Their innate optimism thought it would be legalized within a few years.  They flouted sexual taboos, dropped out and created the counterculture.  They did everything in the booming extroverted way always associated with Sagittarius.  The 60’s and 70s was an optimistic Scorpio revolution of the youthful Baby Boomers in an extroverted Sagittarian manner.  Only people without materialistic concerns can drop out – you don’t see many starving Sub-Saharan Africans willingly drop out.

Since the 60s and 70s things have calmed down somewhat because at the end of the day the world has moved on from Sagittarius to Scorpio.  The Baby Boomers may not have been born at the beginning of an age, but they were early witnesses of the transition from the expansionary days of Sagittarius to the minimalist sign of Scorpio, mostly during their teenage years or early twenties.

Scorpio is a cold, brooding almost malevolent sign compared to Sagittarius, with Death as its patron saint.  In the same way that in Lord of the Rings Gandalf told Frodo that the ring wants to be found and returned to its evil master, Scorpio wants the world to contract – and in many ways.  It wants a serious drop in population, output and production but it will foster anything in its own camp.  Scorpio will promote debts (national debt, credit cards etc), financial instability, destruction and death, the world wide web, nuclear weapons and energy, genetic engineering, pollution, AIDS, the sexual revolution, instability and seeking inner truth.  For a full assessment of Scorpio see Scorpio – the Sign of the Times.

It is unlikely the Baby Boomer generation will have to deal with the full impact of what Scorpio has in mind, as Scorpio has all of the next few centuries to reveal its hand.  Baby Boomers continue to bring their sometimes groundless enthusiasm with them whenever they look to the future.  Why bother about global warming and pollution – scientist can go and invent something to solve the problems.

Will future generations idealise or curse the Baby Boomers?  They will probably look back enviously at these carefree (Sagittarian) days.  Days where a significant amount of the world’s oil reserves, that took hundreds of millions of years to create, get consumed in a matter of seconds, relatively speaking.  Days when stock markets, business opportunities and travel appeared to provide a never ending vista of possibilities and new horizons.  Jumping in a V8 and putting your foot down – a Sagittarians dream.

Baby Boomers will want to continue in their modus operandi of expansion until the day they die, but morose old Scorpio has different plans.  Scorpio wants to pull the rug out from under Sagittarius.  The fact that Scorpio will do this is unquestionable, the question is, how much success will Scorpio have in the Sagittarian Baby Boomers’ lifetimes?

One very demonstrative way Scorpio has surreptitiously insinuated its way into our lives is through the collective feeling of vulnerability.  People feel incredibly more vulnerable today.  As a result people don’t want their kids out playing in the streets and parks, they want to see what they are doing all the time.  People feel vulnerable travelling due to the spectre of terrorists – yes terrorists are ruled by Scorpio, so they are a growth industry for the next couple of centuries.

The media is on the payroll of Scorpio – any problem, death, unrest, violence and so on virtually anywhere in the world can be brought into your home in a matter of hours in full colour.  So though war and violence in general are on the decline, reportable incidences have been on a significant increase due to the enhanced ability of the media to present these issues to you in a manifold number of ways.  This is only one way Scorpio has commenced to bite, there are many more waiting.

It is unlikely that the Baby Boomer generation will want to mend its ways much at all.  A lion cannot change its spots.  The generations following the Baby Boomers have the stronger Scorpio credentials to face the serious Scorpio issues facing the world.  The Baby Boomers witnessed the arrival of a significant new (Scorpio) period in the history of the world by getting stoned, dropping out, avoiding conscription and then rolling up their sleeves and getting seriously stuck into it – pushing the world further out on the over-production plank as Sagittarius has been doing for the past few centuries.

Baby Boomers are the last generation of the old paradigm – development, expansion and consumption at all cost.  One the other hand some Baby Boomers have entered the new world of Scorpio (environmentalism, recycling and renewables).  Baby Boomers have one foot in each camp.  If Baby Boomers took their enthusiasm and optimism to face the worlds’ (Scorpio) problems and apply real solutions they may leave a more positive heritage to their descendants.  Or will Baby Boomers be remembered as the generation that consumed far more than their fair share of the worlds finite resources with no consideration for future generations.  Sagittarians can behave like pigs at the trough or they can provide positive counsel!

Further resources from Terry MacKinnell

Online Institute of Macro-Astrology – details on how to learn macro-astrology

www.macro-astrology.com – details of purchasing the book available

At the Cutting Edge of the Aquarian Age – Cutting edge research into the astrological ages for astrologers

FaceBook – keep up to date with what is happening