© 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 15th 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
Demystifying the Aquarian Age 
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