How will the status and quality of life develop for females in the Aquarian age? The answer is a continuation of the dramatic improvement already experienced to date. To understand why the lot of women in the Aquarian age will continue to improve, and the stages that will define these improvements, it is necessary to do some elementary dissection of the Aquarian age.
Each sign in astrology can be divided into three decans. The three decans of Aquarius are Aquarius, Gemini and Libra. However for the same reason the astrological ages move backwards through the normal order of the signs, decans are also reversed. Therefore the first decan encountered in the Aquarian age is the Libra decan that is in its formative period from 1433 to 2148. The world is currently in this formative or developing Libra period.
Libra and Cancer are the two signs most strongly associated with women. Cancer veers more to the mother figure while Libra to the lover, wife or partner but this delineation is not carved in stone. The planet Venus, the Goddess of Love, rules the sign Libra. Think of the Venus images since antiquity such as the Venus de Milo.
The developing Libra influence has been constantly promoting women since 1433, but there are distinct gear changes in the Libra decan that rapidly improve the status of females in a short period. The key steps or milestones in the path of Libra are: 1433, 1791, 1970, 2059, 2089 and 2148. These are not random dates, but dates of strong significance in the evolution of the Libra decan of the Aquarian age
[For the technical minded: 1433 marks the start of the Aquarian age and the Libra decan. 1791 marked the halfway point of he Libra decan. Halfway points are very significant. 1970 is the start of a smaller period in the Aquarian age than a decan (wheels within wheels). Each age can be divided into 12 sub-ages, and 1970 was the start of the Libra sub-age. Combined with the ongoing Libra decan this again lifts the status of Libra. 2059 marks the halfway point of the Libra sub-age. 2089 marks the start of the smaller Libra sub-age decan (within the Libra sub-age).]
It is difficult to say if any of the key dates associated with the Libra decan is more significant than the others. Probably the three most significant dates are 1791, 1970 and 2148.
1433 can be associated with Libra’s first gear. The Libra decan commenced from a standing start and so it was slow going at first. This is reflected with only a few gains by women – for example the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and the reign of Queen Elizabeth in England from 1558 to 1603. Her reign was so popular it was not only known as the Elizabethan era, but also a golden age for England. Even Pocahontas gets into the act during the Libra first gear period.
Despite some isolated instances, before approximately 1791 only limited progress was made in balancing the rights and status between males and females. As 1791 drew closer, the situation definitely moved into second gear. In 1788 women gained the right to stand for election in the USA. In the following year during the French Revolution the issue of female suffrage was raised, and in 1793 the concept was agreed to in principal but this was not carried through into law. In 1792 women temporarily served in the French army. Also in France in 1792 marriage and reform laws were amended to give women equal rights (but abolished by Napoleon in 1804).
The change in gear was also dramatically displayed by the grandmother of British feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft, who published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792 and dared to refer to women’s sexuality – a taboo subject at the time!
Despite the vacillation of the French, the status of women’s rights consistently expanded throughout the 19th century. This included educational opportunities, the rights of single mothers and unmarried adult women, financial independence, inheritance rights, the ability to teach and the right to divorce. Women were granted the early right to vote at various locations around the world commencing with Pitcairn Islands in 1838, South Australia in 1861 and temporarily in the Paris Commune in 1871.
At the end of the 19th century New Zealand was the first country to grant women voting rights. This momentum continued into the 20th century with women gaining the right to vote a standard practise in most democracies in the 20th century. The whole period covering the 19th century and 20th century up to the 1960’s is termed by some as the first wave of feminism indicating that this period was a significant step forward for women in general.
The next astrological milestone was 1970 and coincided basically with the second wave of feminism or Libra in third gear. This period witnessed the Sexual Revolution as a result of relatively freely available birth control in the 1960’s. While the first wave of feminism focussed upon legal obstacles to equality, the second wave focused upon unofficial discrimination and inequalities based on sexual stereotypes and encouraged women to leave the home and develop careers. Since the 1970 women are marrying later (if at all) and having fewer or no children. The modern woman in the First World has commenced taking control of her life.
Though the status of women in most western or First World nations have dramatically improved, this advance is not uniform throughout the world. But the milestones of the evolving Libra decan of the Aquarian age indicates that at least three more significant gears are to be encountered in the next 150 years – with the next shift (into forth gear) due around 2059. What developments can be expected in the three gear shifts commencing around 2059? Though it is impossible to say what exactly will happen with the three upcoming gear shifts, some general observations can be made.
It can be expected that the improvements in the rights and status of women will strongly affect two areas. Firstly while women have generally gained the right to vote and run for office in the 20th century, most political power in the world and in each country generally remain with a male-orientated power structure. In the First World nations it can be expected that a balancing act reaches a critical point where women actually have on average approximately 50% of the power at all tiers of government, and that there are no social or other impediments discriminating against women.
Secondly the rights of women in developing and Third World nations should make a slow and steady step forward, similar to what western culture experienced in the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of this wider improvement may have to wait until post 2148. Culture is resistant to change, and some cultures are more resistant to change than others.
2148 indicates the end of the Libra decan, Libra sub-age and Libra sub-age decan. Similar to a three stage rocket, these three Libra energies propel the Libra momentum out onto the world with powerful repercussions for the following seven and eight centuries at a minimum. These seven or eight centuries under the full impact of Libra may be a mini golden age for the earth commencing midway around the next century. As the current state of the world indicates there is quite a distance to cover between now and then.
There is another very pertinent reason why women may have to take more control of the reigns of political power in the world in the coming centuries. Since the glaciers commenced melting around 14,000 years ago humans, like all living beings, have been opportunistically exploiting the environment. This was of little consequence until the last millennium. Now that humans have become like a cockroach plague upon the world, this opportunistic exploitation of the environment has become a deadly issue, in league with the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
There is no doubt that astrology indicates the rise of women, females and feminism in the coming centuries. However astrology rarely indicates why something happens – only the astrological correspondences. There is at least one very good reason why the status of women will continue to significantly evolve over the coming centuries.
The world can no longer continue down the path of opportunistic exploitation if it does not want to do irreparable damage to the environment and the welfare of future generations. The world needs nurturing in place of exploitation. Nurturing is not limited to women, but in the same way that males have traditionally taken the physically dominant role, women have taken a more nurturing role. A world requiring nurturing that will by necessity promote the role of women in society.
Astrology always indicates that for every situation there are two sides, and that any new development behaves like a pendulum. The pendulum of increasing feminist input into the world will at different times and places go to the opposite extreme. Fascist feminism will appear at some times and places. Compromise or indecision will sometimes replace decisive action when decisive action will be required. At the end of the day females are human like males and thus suffer the foibles of humans. Males can be productive and industrious, or aggressive and destructive. In extreme situations some negative consequences of feminism of one sort or another will manifest. This is the natural appearance of yin and yang in the world.
Despite some negative consequences associated with greater power and influence being handed to women in the world in the coming centuries, this is no reason to object to this new reality. The world today is basically a product of male politicians and the dual problems of nuclear proliferation and environment destruction has basically occurred under the watch of male power structure. The male power structure obviously does not work.
The world will probably need women like it has never experienced before if it is to solve the environmental tragedy of the contemporary world. There is no place for bloated armies in an environmentally sustainable world. Development at all costs cannot be left unchecked. Patriotism cannot make countries compete with each other for the scarce natural resources.
Though the next significant step in this process is not due until 2059 there are Libra hotspots when Libra will exert its charm and persuasion. The next Libra hotspot is from 2020 to 2029 (plus or minus a year or two). Seen in context, Libra is arguably the second strongest developing astrological influence after Aquarius, in the mega narrative of world history. Libra is a relatively gentle sign, and though it does not hit you over the hammer with a club to get its point across, it will get its points across, and the third decade of this century will be another small experience of Libra in action.
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