A Funny Thing Happened in the 21st Century – Part 2

The current 21st century from an astrological perspective is a ‘mild’ century.  In Part 1, an initial examination of the 21^st century was made which proposed that the 21^st century is not as dangerous compared to the 20^th and 22^nd centuries due primarily to the fact that both these centuries have a major sub-age cusp whereas the 21^st century does not.  The primary influence in the 21^st century is from the Scorpio sub-age overflow (1970-2148) and a basic examination of Scorpio archetypes was undertaken.  Sub-age cusps are not the only harbingers of disasters and difficulties, and in this post, a deeper examination of the differences between the current 21^st century compared to the two adjoining centuries is made.

For those readers not familiar with periods used in macro-astrology, you may find your understanding significantly increases if you first read Age of Aquarius for Dummies

The 20^th century saw both the peak of the Scorpio sub-age wave in 1970 and the peak of the Pisces sub-age decan (the middle decan of the Scorpio sub-age) wave in 1910.  Normally a wave associated with a sub-age decan should have only one-third the strength of a sub-age wave – but like the inevitability of Murphy’s Law, there is always an exception.  The peak of the Pisces sub-age decan wave in 1910 was the exception to the rule.  The greatest wave of all is caused by an age, and that last rolled in on an unsuspecting world in the 15^th century.  The age cusp in the 15^th century marked the boundary of the Pisces and Aquarian ages, but in the 15^th century Pisces is the sign of strength while Aquarius is just the new spindly kid on the block.

In the 15^th century, the Pisces age broke like a tsunami and is currently washing over the world for thousands of years bringing all manner of Pisces archetypes along for the ride.  Pisces is traditionally associated with Europe, is the primary sign on the USA’s totem pole, is the sign for corporations (fake bodies) and thus strongly linked to capitalism, and is the apocalyptic sign which is why key Pisces religions such as Christianity and Islam look to the end of the world for salvation.  Even many science fiction and futuristic movies often portray a post-apocalyptic future.  Pisces is the sign of endings, and many people are convinced about the imminent and messy end of human society or society as we know it.

Coincidentally Pisces archetypes include self-deception, delusion and a lack of clarity. Under Pisces’ spell, when Pisces was at its peak the Roman Catholic Church (and the new Protestantism) behaved like the Taliban or ISIS and burnt at the stake many people, exiled or persecuted them by other means due only to their beliefs.  There were massive religious wars between the Protestant and Catholic nations (similar to the Sunni and Shiite antagonism currently playing out in the Middle East).  The Black Death ravaged Europe.  The majority of the American Indians were killed by disease upon contact with their European superiors, if they had not already been murdered or enslaved.  Millions of innocent Africans were transported to become slaves with many millions dying a horrible death on route.  It was not a pretty picture.  There were many developments on the positive side of Pisces at this critical juncture but at this point, I am looking for worse case scenarios.

When the tsunami of the Pisces age wave passes over the centuries, if it comes across a significant Pisces sub-period it resonates with the smaller Pisces period creating, for a short time, a far greater impact than can normally be expected from a smaller wave.  When the Pisces age wave hit the early 20^th century, it resonated with the smaller Pisces sub-age decan wave and reminded the world of what it was like to live under medieval Pisces in earlier centuries.  This is why in the first half of the 20^th century the world saw two World Wars, the Great Depression and the millions of deaths associated with the Spanish flu in 1918 which killed more people than the First World War.  How many hundreds of millions of people were cut down before their time in the first half of the 20^th century? Again, I am focusing on the dark side of Pisces only. The first half of the 20^th century was the great disaster of modern times, and there is nothing remotely like it indicated in the current 21^st century.

On the other side of the 21st century, the 22nd century has something that only appears once every age.  Each age has three age-decans.  The cusp of one age decan coincides with the cusp of the ages so can be discounted, leaving the two remaining cusps.  The first of these two age-decan cusps takes on additional role.  The first age-decan cusp of any age is of the opposite sign of the second last age overflow and stops it in its tracks!  The whole of the Pisces age (732 BC – 1433 AD) was dominated by the Aries age overflow in the same way that the current Aquarius age (1433 – 3574) is dominated by the Pisces age overflow. However when the 15^th century arrived unleashing the Pisces age-overflow, the remnants of the Aries age overflow continued to be carried along in the slipstream.  Aries brought the Age of Warfare and the continuation of the military madness associated with Aries has carried forward into the modern world – but it has a time fuse attached to it.

War is not the only archetype attached to Aries, it is the sign of male-dominated society and sits high on the European totem pole along with Pisces in contrast with the Far East which has a focus upon Libra.  Aries has driven the constructive urge in the world where nearly everywhere in the world has numerous examples of spectacular engineering feats.  Somehow, all this comes to a screeching halt from the middle of the 22^nd century onwards because of the peak of the Libra age decan in 2148 – with Libra countering Aries’ archetypes.  Furthermore, age-decan cusps produce serious schisms, and the strength of an age decan cusp is such that even the constitutional integrity of the US government will most likely be compromised (for a short time) before political continuity returns.  Major empires and regions have a history of collapsing upon the arrival of an age-decan cusp.  Age-decan cusps are serious business.  Nothing like this is seen in the current 21^st century.

Before examining the 21^st century in detail, it is important to reiterate what has been investigated so far.  The current 21^st century, for all its problems, will in no way be comparable to the extreme destruction witnessed in the first half of the 20^th century nor what is projected to occur in the 22^nd century.  The mood however for the 21^st century will be desultory and people will feel vulnerable – some will feel very vengeful. A new ethos will grow and develop over the century which can be sourced back to the 1960s and 70s.  This has precedence and previous incarnations of this same phenomena occurred with the rise of the workers commencing the early 19^th century, and the earlier rise of the bourgeoisie (self-employed businessmen). Prior to that there was the sudden appearance of the Puritans and Protestant Christians.  In each case, these movements were associated with sub-ages – the Puritans with the Capricorn sub-age, the bourgeoisie with the Sagittarius sub-age and the workers with the Scorpio sub-age.  In all cases there were long germinations times.

Each of these sub-ages of the Aquarian age have produced a major new socio-political movement

What is the new movement or ethos emanating out of the current Libra sub-age (1970 – 2148)?  It is the New Age movement, and the growth of this new environmentally-friendly social ethos is sure to follow the same pattern.  We will not experience its culmination in this century.

The two key aspects that need to be examined for a top-down view of the 21^st century are the influences from the Scorpio sub-age overflow and the newly arrived Libra sub-age (both 1970-2148 and this period can be labelled the Scorpio-Libra sub-age) plus the role of the two sub-age decans cusps that occur in the 21^st century.  Because of the wave-like nature of all periods in macro-astrology, no period is solely influenced by only one sign.  The Scorpio sub-age overflow and Libra sub-age are occurring simultaneously as the Scorpio wave has attained its peak ascendancy in 1970 and ‘breaks’ over the following period while in 1970 the Libra sub-age comes online ready for its 179 years climb to its peak.  Abbreviating the period to the Scorpio-Libra sub-age indicates the role of the two signs in this period and the dominance of Scorpio of Libra in the timeframe.

The Scorpio-Libra sub-age (1970-2148) has a demarcation line around the year 2059.  Before 2059 Scorpio is the absolute dominant sign in the partnership, but from around 2059 Libra becomes noticeably more powerful.  The input from Scorpio has already been covered in brief, but there is more to Scorpio than regeneration.  The other key archetype associated with Scorpio is reduction including minimalism.  Scorpio likes to prune the tree.  All the predictions for the world population indicate a continuation of the exponential growth in the number of people in the world.  The population explosion was a direct result of the Sagittarius sub-age overflow (1791-1970) and few people will disagree with the association of a booming population with the sign Sagittarius.  However it is now Scorpio’s turn, and Scorpio is not expansionary like Sagittarius – in many ways it has an opposite quality.  Scorpio wants the population of the world to reduce!

How will the world’s population reduce when all the pundits predict the opposite?  Most people latch onto apocalyptic scenarios, but this melodramatic view of the future is associated with Pisces, and though Pisces is the primary sign in the world for many more centuries to come, there is no Pisces period of strength in the 21^st century to resonate with.  The most it can do is prop up the Pisces micro-age and overflow (2059-2074-2089) where it is likely to create another economic bubble which will again crash spectacularly around 2092 to 2097.

The fall in population is already occurring but most people cannot see it.  Most western nations have had negative population growth for decades which means the number of children being born is less than the number of people dying.  The only reason western countries are not shrinking is due to immigration.  This population contraction is now not limited to only western nations, many second tier nations are witnessing the same.  Furthermore, as the spread of the middle class extends from developed nations to developing nations, population growth falls because middle class families do not need to depend upon their children for their social security and labor as they grow old.  Recently, for the first time in history, more people live in urban centers than in rural areas.  This is merely confirmation of the worldwide trend towards an urbanized middle class with greater wealth than their average rural counterpart, resulting in families with significantly less children.  In addition, China, with 1.3 billion people is the most populace nation on earth and had for many decades an enforced One-Child policy which has drastically affected population growth for a significant proportion of the world’s population.

It may be too unrealistic to suggest that all the population contraction will be based solely on economic issues – other mildly catastrophic events may reduce population growth, but if disease, epidemics, pollution, violence and so on become factors that prune the world’s population, it cannot be at the same echelon of disasters that befell the world in the first half of the 20^th century.  One possible reason for population decline is due appropriately to growing rates of infertility – infertility is in the stable of Scorpio archetypes.  Infertility or difficulties for women to become pregnant has substantially increased in western nations since the 1960s.[i]  Infertility clinics are becoming as common as McDonalds.

The effects of the astrological ages and sub-periods are not uniform around the world but always radiate out from the age-empire or civilization focal point of the time.  Since the 15^th century this has been the prerogative, for better and worse, of western culture – firstly in Europe, but during the powerful Pisces resonant point in the early 20^th century, this was passed on to the USA.  The emergent developments will tend to occur first in western nations then radiate out to the rest of the world over the following decades or centuries.  The negative population growth of western nations has commenced radiating out past western nations, and though it may not hit Africa for over another century or more, it will ultimately get there.

The other big picture association to Scorpio is pollution.  Pollution will be a significant factor in world affairs at least until the early 23rd century.  When the world arrives at the peak of the Taurus sub-age decan[ii] around 2207, a counterbalancing period lasting many decades will reign in pollution or its effects one way or another.  There is no need to review the plethora of dire consequences that environmental scientists predict for the world except for one major aspect that I did briefly refer to in my book published in 2011.  Global Warming is real, and currently the heat is not going into atmospheric temperature but into rising oceanic temperature.  Apart from melting the ice at the poles, hot water expands.

“Can any insight be gained from the astrological ages about the prediction by many scientists of a serious rise in ocean levels due to climate change? Pisces takes control of the oceans, and scientists are stating that the conclusions of the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are too optimistic and conservative. The average ocean levels rose about 17 cm in the twentieth century. Most people are aware that the melting of glaciers and ice sheets is contributing significantly to sea level rise. However, global warming is also causing the existing seawater to expand, thus further increasing sea level rise. Based on the combination of meltwater from melting ice and expanding oceans, some experts believe ocean levels could rise by 1 meter by 2100 CE.” [iii]

The scientific evidence suggests that the sea level will rise around one meter (over 3 feet) per century for the next five centuries.  Since the 15^th century the strongest sign in the world is Pisces and will remain Pisces at least until 2500 – therefore the astrology supports the scientists.  This will be an ongoing major catastrophe in slow motion and satisfies the requirement of our current century that detrimental change is here, but not to the destructive level of the early 20^th century.  Recently I was discussing the issue with a university lecturer in marine biology and he stated that the effects of an average sea level rise of just one inch can push back the shoreline by 20 yards or more.  Most of the world’s coastal cities are doomed, but not immediately – how long can Venice survive?

In conclusion, both the 20^th and 22^nd centuries have major astrological precipitators creating extreme situations due to the Pisces sub-age decan resonating with the Pisces age overflow in the early 20^th century, and the Libra age-decan cusp in the 22^nd century opposing the violent influence carrying over from the Aries age. The funny thing is that nothing on this level occurs in the current 21^st century.

Each sub-age produces a sub-culture with a new ethos, and I have proposed that the new and emergent sub-culture that will be in a position to deal with the world’s problems will evolve from the New Age movement and Green sympathizers.   The population explosion is not only likely to continue to considerably slow down, it may even start reducing the world population as the 21^st century unwinds, unless this is totally reserved for the 22^nd century.  Ages and all sub-periods ‘radiate’ and at this stage of the Age of Aquarius, it is western culture that is the source of the radiation, and its radiating influence will slowly but steadily affect the rest of the world for better or worse (torturing prisoners or highly questionable interrogation tactics such as waterboarding will also radiate out to the rest of the world).  On the other extreme is the Peace or New Age movement which was developed within western culture.

Finally pollution will increasingly become the issue that must be resolved and the second half of the 21st century looks promising in this regard.  The astrology suggests that the current ethos of western culture is incapable of adequately addressing the major issue of pollution due to the overriding focus upon financial profit, and that it will only be due to the growing influence of the New Age/Green movement, or whatever emerges from this movement, that will sufficiently address the problem – possibly as early as 2059 or shortly thereafter.  The drive towards addressing pollution and Climate Change will build and develop in the period leading to 2059.

References

[i] http://www.fertility.com/en/stage1/articles/article8/article8.html

[ii] This Taurus sub-age decan belongs to the Virgo sub-age (c.2148-2327)

[iii] Terry MacKinnell “The Dawning”,Xlibris, 2011, p 237-8

Associated Posts

A Funny Thing Happened in the 21st Century – Part 1

Will New Agers Rule the World

Scorpio – the Sign of the Times

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Further resources from Terry MacKinnell

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

The Age of Aquarius for Dummies – explains the structure and sub-periods associated with the astrological ages

Aquarian Age Economics – Examines the relationship between macro-astrology and financial cycles

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

“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

 

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.

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[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

The Wisdom of the Ages

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Long is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

© Terry MacKinnell 2008, All Rights Reserved

Numerous publications and blogs tell us that this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.  Some people think that the Age of Aquarius has already arrived while others think that it is due in the next decade or two.  If you refer to the topic Astrological Ages at Wikipedia  you will discover that there no agreement about the arrival of the Aquarian age, researchers are divided as to whether the Aquarian age arrived five centuries ago, or as late as 3621 AD, or anywhere in between.

Some researchers claim that the cusp of an age is equivalent to 10 degrees.  Because there are 12 signs to share the 360 degrees of the circle, each sign or age is allocated 30 degrees.  If each age is approximately 2150 years, then 10 degrees represents about 717 years.  This is rather strange as if we equate an age with a day, a day has 24 hours but the dawn of an average day is about one hour maximum.  One hour as a fraction of 24 hours is .0416666 of a day.  The same fraction of an age of 2150 years is 90 years.  Therefore if there is any correspondence between days and ages, the dawning of an age should be about 90 years.

Alas and alack, logic rarely comes into the argument when it involves the astrological ages.  This is all due to the influence from the previous age, the Age of Pisces.  Each sign has an opposite sign, and the sign opposite Pisces is Virgo.  Virgo is the sign of purity, details, exactness and perfection.  If Virgo is full of clarity, then Pisces is the exact opposite.  There is no clarity with the sign Pisces.  I am always entertained by my Pisces friends as they all behave like actors on a stage where not only can they set the rules to their hearts content, they can change the rules whenever they like.  Furthermore Pisces rarely provide details about what they have done, are doing or will do, and if they do provide anything, it will be wide of the mark.

You can’t help but like Pisces as it is the chameleon sign, changing its hue and colour to suit circumstances.  Pisces highly developed ability of deception makes them ideal actors, and they are highly represented amongst movie stars, fashion models and spruikers, especially those born-again Bible thumpers on weird hours in television land.  Yes television, Disneyland, cartoons, movies, Hollywood, fantasies, myths and so on all have a common denominator – Pisces.

In a previous post, Is the Aquarian Age Like a Block of Granite?, I provided the example how each astrological age behaves like a new government.  The new government is faced with the previous governments’ policies, laws, judicial appointments and for a long time, the old government will hold sway.  The same with ages – though the world is well and truly in the Aquarian age, the influence from the previous Age of Pisces is incredibly strong.  This can be demonstrated by the New Age Movement.  The New Age Movement is a living parody of Pisces as described in Aquarius in Pisces Sheep Clothing.

What all this means is that for anyone looking for clarity about the Aquarian age, it is almost impossible because the environment for any such enquiry is Pisces.  Pisces has set the parameters, and Pisces’ parameters never bring clarity.  Looking for clarity in a Pisces environment is like trying to get your work done while drunk or stoned – it ain’t a happening thing.  This is why, from an astrological perspective, everything to do with the arrival of the Aquarian age, including its dawning, is lost in the mists of  dreams and fantasies.  This is why the delusions of the Aquarian age are exactly that – delusions.  The delusions of the Aquarian age are collectively everything that the world is not, never has been, and never will take place.  But let’s not behave like a Virgo- enjoy the delusions like a good movie with a happy ending.

The dawning of the Age of Aquarius is so long and drawn out that one blogger actually called it the `yawning of the Age of Aquarius’.  Everyone seems sick and tired of waiting for the Aquarian age to dawn.  Is the dawning of the Aquarian age going to take over 700 years?  The answer, as with so many things, is yes and no.

First the good news – the Age of Aquarius arrived like the tolling of the midnight chimes of a church or town hall bell.  There is no confusion about midnight, and there is no confusion about the arrival of the Aquarian age.  The Aquarian age arrived at the same time as the modern world.  Historians constantly tell us that the modern world arrived over 500 years ago, and this is exactly when the Age of Aquarius arrived.

Now for the bad news – it will take all of the Age of Aquarius for Aquarius to extract itself from the Pisces quagmire and stand on it own two feet.  For all but the very end of the Aquarian age, Pisces will be incredibly strong, stronger than Aquarius, especially in the first half of the Aquarian age.  So from this perspective we can say it will take about 2150 years for the dawning of the Aquarian age.

Now back to the good news.  Though Pisces is stronger than Aquarius for most of the Aquarian age, Aquarius is not impotent.  Aquarius has been, is and will continue to introduce new and innovative developments into the world since it has been doing since 1433.  First there was Leonardo da Vinci, then Copernicus, Galileo and all the revolutionaries that defied the (Pisces) church and introduced reality as an antidote to delusions.  In the cat and mouse game between Aquarius and Pisces, Pisces has the might (Christianity, bureaucracies, corporations etc) but the underdog Aquarius has the ability to introduce new and startling discoveries like a lightening bolt.

Another lightening bolt came from Charles Darwin, when the lateral thinking that sits in Aquarius’ arsenal of weapons, produced the theory of evolution.  The whole diversity of scientific discoveries over the last five and a half centuries are at least 50% attributable to Aquarius (the other 50% is Capricorn but that is another whole subject altogether).  Aquarius did not limit itself to scientific discoveries, the advent of democracy in modern times also coincides with Aquarius.

The first appearance of the new Aquarian-inspired quest for democracy and freedom came from the Martin Luther in 1517, only 84 years inside the Aquarian age.  The Protestant Reformation was against the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the pope.  The new Protestants did not want an authority on high (the pope) telling them how they should think.  The Protestant churches as a rule, adopted a fairly democratic structure along the Aquarian egalitarian model.  Martin Luther was a standard bearer of the new Aquarian age.

The rise of secular western nations is another example of Aquarius.  The American colonists called this `freedom of religion’.  Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.  The fact that normal citizens in most developed nations are not forced to attend religious services, or abide by the antiquated religious behaviour of established religions is another example of Aquarius.  This is a progressive development.  I remember in the 1980’s being locked out of our local movie theatre on Good Friday while we were watching the Life of Brian.  Evidently the law banned movies on Good Friday.  This is no longer the case, as this antiquated law that upheld religious values has been removed.  This is progressive evidence of the Age of Aquarius in action.

The Age of Aquarius arrived with certainty, conviction and unexpectedly in the 15^th century but it will take until around 3574 AD for Aquarius to unfold its wings and fly to its preordained heights.  We only get to experience the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but has the world witnessed any comparable dawning to date?

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