Falling Terrorist Fatalities Linked to the End of Scorpio?

Some astrologers have a problem linking Scorpio to terrorists, but a simple examination of a scorpion with its stinging tail attacking whatever comes into its path seems a fitting archetypal description of a terrorist.  Furthermore, terrorist do not behave like exposed (Aries) armies, they hide like (Scorpio) spies.  However, theory is never the ruling paradigm in astrology – it is always evidence, either from statistical sources or traditional astrological methodology.  Whenever a Scorpio period appears, terrorist activity escalates.  This is why terrorism is ruled by Scorpio!

The following graph indicates the total fatalities from terrorism from 1970 to 2016.

The above graph displays a peak in 2014 (43,566 fatalities), with fatalities mildly dropping away in 2015 (38,464) and continuing this trend in 2016 (34,676).  The biggest peak in fatalities earlier than 2014 was in 2007 (12,858), and if we take the period 2007 to 2014, this coincidentally or otherwise, correlates with most of the Scorpio sub-age decan and overflow (Jan 2005 – Jan 2010 – Dec 2014). [See: Age of Aquarius for Dummies for details on the mechanics of the astrological ages]

The Scorpio sub-age decan and overflow, as with all ages and sub-periods of the ages, is not homogenous, and can be likened to the monthly lunation cycle.  As with the four phases of the Moon, each age and sub-period have four stages, but there are differences between these stages.  The first stage is always the weakest.  For example, the Age of Aquarius and its overflow (1433 – 3574 – 5697) has four stages, the first stage (1433 – 2506) is the weakest stage for Aquarius in the Age of Aquarius. This is the stage the world currently finds itself located within.

In striking contrast, this same timeframe is stage 3 of the Pisces age and overflow (732 BC – 1433 AD – 3574) and stage 3 is the strongest of all the stages.  Stage 3 (1433 to 2506) marks the 1073 years which is the most powerful period for Pisces in the 26,000 year cycle of the astrological ages. This is why, despite being in the rational Age of Aquarius, the world is more influenced by the Pisces age overflow (until 2506 AD) – and so Pisces ruled archetypes such as the USA, Europe, corporations, religious beliefs, drugs, oceans, chemical weapons and plastics appear to have a greater influence upon the world compared to Aquarian archetypes.

The four stages of the Scorpio sub-age decan and overflow:

1. Jan 2005 – Jul 2007
2. Jul 2007 – Jan 2010
3. Jan 2010 – Jul 2012
4. Jul 2012 – Dec 2014

Excluding the first and weakest of the above stages, this leaves the remaining three stronger stages affecting the period July 2007 to December 2014, which is closely aligned to the peak in terrorism fatalities as indicated in the above graph.

There are other astrological influences possibly influencing the above graph promoting 2014 such as the end of the Cancer micro-age (Feb 2000 – Dec 2014) or the beginning of the Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029).  Alternatively, the Cancer micro-age is exactly the same period as the Leo micro-age overflow, so it is also possible that the downturn in fatalities is linked to the substantially reduced influence of Leo after 2014?

Based on the evidence, it appears that all these three possible influences may contribute to the drop in terrorist fatalities, but probably only in minor ways.  The biggest growth in terrorist fatalities since the arrival of the Cancer micro-age in 2000 is in the Middle East, and the Middle East is ruled by Cancer, and so the above graph does seem to show the increasing fatalities in the Middle East since the arrival of the Cancer micro-age.  However, this increase is modest before 2007 to 2014.

The disappearance in December 2014 of Leo as an active player is hard to reconcile with terrorist fatalities as Leo is not normally associated with either terrorists or fatalities.  Leo however, does sit at the 10^th house position to Scorpio, so perhaps the departure of Leo is linked to the demotion of terrorists as perceived “leaders”?  If this is the case, it is probably a marginal reason for the decrease in terrorist fatalities.

Finally, what about the arrival of Gemini at the end of 2014?  Gemini does sit in the 12^th house position to Cancer, suggesting that the influence of the Middle East (associated with Cancer) has entered a 12^th house ending phase.  The arrival of ISIS in full regalia could even be considered a self-made problem for the Middle East as the arrival of the Gemini micro-age in December 2014 is remarkably synchronous with the beginning of the peak of ISIS – which by December 2015 held a large area in western Iraq and eastern Syria including the city of Mosul.  Its main target was Muslims who just had the misfortune of living in Iraq or Syria. This could be construed as a 12^th house self-made problem within Islam, though, without acknowledging the gross destabilization of the Middle East with the invasion of Iraq by the USA and its allies in 2003, and the absolute waste of trillions of dollars to undertake this useless folly, it’s hard to see how the self-made problem was limited to the Middle East.

I have not done any thorough research on Korea, but I have tentatively associated Gemini with Korea, as the split in Korea forming North and South Korea occurred in the opposite Sagittarius micro-age (1940 – 1955), and civil wars often occur when an active sign is opposite a key sign in a country’s astrological signature.  Just having Korea split into two is indicative of Gemini. The increasing focus on the Korean peninsula in recent times aligned with the arrival of the Gemini micro-age (Dec 2014 – Nov 2029) supports this Gemini association.

The USA can never be comfortable in any Cancer period as sitting just below Pisces and Aquarius on its totem pole, sits the sign Capricorn. Capricorn explains many of the arch-conservative social and political polices of the descendants of the self-made Puritans who arrived in America towards the end of the Capricorn sub-age (1433 – 1612) but mainly in the more powerful Capricorn sub-age overflow (1612 – 1791).  The Puritans are ruled by Capricorn.

Currently, the main adversaries of the USA include China and the Middle East with both ruled by Cancer. Cancer is also strong in the astrological signature of Russia.  The USA has taken umbrage at another Cancer country, New Zealand, for refusing entry of its warships as New Zealand declared itself a nuclear free zone and the USA will not declare which of its naval vessels have nuclear weapons. American right-wing politicians regularly denounce the strong and successful socialism of Scandinavian countries – with Scandinavia ruled by Cancer – the sign of the common people.

The American Civil War occurred in the most potent stage 3 (1851 – 1881) of the Cancer sub-age decan and overflow (1791 – 1851 – 1910) of the Scorpio sub-age (1791 – 1970).  This antipathy between Capricorn and Cancer explains why the USA was attacked and humiliated by the 9/11 attack very close to the beginning of the Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2014) as the Cancer 7^th house focusses upon the opponent, Islam and the Middle East.

Americans should beware of the astrological birthday of the American Civil War as it is just around the corner. The American Civil War (1861 -65) occurred towards the end of the last Gemini micro-age (1851 – 66) associated with either the Gemini micro-age decan or Libra micro-age decan overflow with both covering the period May 1861 to April 1866.

The same period next decade is November 2024 – November 2029, but while the micro-age and micro-age decans will be identical to the American Civil War, the Cancer influence is only from the 15 year Cancer micro-age overflow (2014 – 2029), and not the massive 59 year Cancer sub-age decan overflow (1851 – 1910) associated with the Civil War.  Therefore, while the astrology does not suggest a civil war for the USA next decade, it does indicate a major political stress zone similar to the lead up to the American Civil War.  It appears that the political atmosphere in the USA will remain and get even more tumultuous before it gets better!  Fortunately, the first coup or destabilization of the integrity of the United States government is not expected until around the middle of the next century at the cusp of the Libra and Gemini age-decans.  Age-decan cusps have a highly consistent history of destabilisation – especially for age-empires like the USA.

Once the almost 30 years Cancer micro-age and overflow concludes in 2029, the emphasis should severely shift away from the Middle East, and it may also drop with regards to China.  The second sign on China’s totem pole is Libra (including much of Asia), and with the Libra sub-age (1970 – 2148) we should expect that China maintains its new and highly influential role in world affairs, but with the absence of the Cancer period, the intensity should drop off (for a while).

Cancer is being replaced with the overlapping Gemini micro-age and overflow (2014 – 2029 – 2044) but underpinned by the massive Gemini sub-age decan and overflow (1970 – 2029 – 2088). This does suggest that the Korean peninsula may be a longer and more entrenched problem compared to the Middle East, or that there is a stronger and longer focus upon the Korean peninsula in the coming decades for better or worse.  Gemini also rules Iraq and Syria (probably due to the hangover from Mesopotamia – the age-empire of the Gemini-Taurus age).  Gemini should also produce an increase in stridency from students and youth, something that we have recently seen with the anti-gun movement in the USA, and as early as 1989 with the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in China.  Gemini, sitting at the lowly 4^th house to Pisces, is a difficult sign for Pisces-Aries Europe and Pisces-Aquarius USA and sits at the difficult 12^th house position to China’s primary sign of Cancer.

We have already seen some fragmentation of Europe with the UK’s Brexit and the growth of neo-fascism in some of the eastern European nations, with some of these nations expressing a desire for further distance from the European Union, and the USA appears to be on the path back towards isolationism.  Trump’s pitch to the USA ‘homeland’ is therefore unlikely to be a transient phenomenon, as the USA has periodically preferred isolationism.  Regardless of any sustain isolationist tendencies in the coming decades, the emphasis on the USA’s 4^th house does not suggest raising the flag of the USA high up the mast in world affairs. It is probably a significant astrological factor why the USA gets egg on its face when it has attacked other nations since Gemini arrived in 1970 – commencing with the Viet Nam  War. Furthermore, the USA tangibly rode the Sagittarius sub-age and overflow (1612 – 1791 – 1970) to economic and political glory indicating a strong affinity between the American psyche and Sagittarius.  This suggests that the American psyche is in for hard times under Gemini, apart from Gemini activating the 4^th house of Pisces.

After taking into account the influence of Cancer, Leo and Gemini associated with the drop in terrorist fatalities, the greatest likelihood is that the drop in terrorist fatalities since 2014 is due to the end of the almost 10 year Scorpio influence (Jan 2005 – Jan 2010 – Dec 2014).  Some readers may complain that there seems to be a spurt of terrorist activities lately, and this can adequately be accounted for by the appearance of a 10 month Scorpio nano-age decan and overflow (Jun 17 – Nov 17 – Apr 18) of the Pisces nano-age (Jun 17 – Sep 18), the third nano-age in the current Gemini micro-age (2014 – 29). Fortunately, this Scorpio influence should now be at an end, or almost so.

The Scorpio nano-age decan (purple)

References

Max Roser, Mohamed Nagdy and Hannah Ritchie (2018) – “Terrorism“. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism’ [Online Resource]

Note: The above ephemeris has the Gemini micro-age commencing in 2015, but since this ephemeris was produced in 2013, I have fine-tuned the timing, and it turns out that the Gemini micro-age commenced in December 2014.  This ephemeris will be updated ASAP.

Further Reading

When Will the USA Retreat from the World?

Pisces America

Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World

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

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

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Is the World a Calamity in Progress?

Trump is Representative of the Age of Aquarius

Is the USA in Retreat?

The Real Revolution in the USA

Is Western Society Due Another Revolution?

Take Your Pick: War or Terrorism

Residents of the UK and elsewhere are decidedly upset at the new style of terrorism in their midst from ISIS aligned malcontents.  With Manchester, London, Notre Dame, Melbourne (Australia), Kabul, Baghdad, Tehran and so on, it seems that every week more atrocities appear.  There is a reason for this heightened round of terrorism and it has to do with Aries.

While most astrologers and people are confused about what age the world is currently passing through, we are actually passing through the Age of Aquarius.  Ever since the Age of Aquarius arrived in the 15^th century, rebellion, democratic reforms and progressive socio-political movements have flourished – mainly in Western culture – beginning in earnest with Oliver Cromwell in England.

The Age of Aquarius is the Age of Progress but people and societies are by nature conservative, and as a result, conservative orientated governments do all they can to prevent progress from occurring in their patch.  This is why most reforms are hard fought and can drag out of decades, if not centuries.   The newly elected president of the USA has been elected from the core base of conservative American voters, and he is doing his level best to reverse as many progressive changes as possible.  This will be as futile as trying to stop the tide coming in with only a plastic bucket and spade. (see “A Celebration 7,000 Years in the Making” )

Imagine how people will view our time 1,000 years from now.  If you want this perspective, take a look at the world in 1017 and see what our glorified barbarian “civilized” ancestors were doing one thousand years ago (in the Age of Pisces).  We will probably be seen as the cusp of the clash between primitive civilization with lots of technology leading to progressive civilization.  As long as war, conflict, open violence between countries and unnecessary deaths from drought or diseases  remains, we are still in the world of primitive civilization even if we can watch Netflix.  It could be argued that people’s focus upon their mobile devices is equivalent to ostriches having their head in the sand.

In every astrological age, a specific place was ‘favored’.  Under the Age of Gemini it was Mesopotamia (Iraq), under Taurus it was Ancient Egypt, under Aries it was Ancient Rome, and under Aquarius it is Western culture specifically focused upon the USA but with Europe in the mix.  Whichever region or culture the astrological gods temporarily favor, there resides good fortune (to a certain extent).  The astro gods have favored western culture since the 15^th century which is why history books call the 15^th century the beginning of modernity in Western culture.  Historians know more about ages than astrologers.

As the temporary leading culture, it is up to Western society to set the tone, because the actions of the leading culture filters out to the rest of the world like the wake from the bow of a boat.  Is Western culture setting a good example?  Did Western culture, spearheaded by the Anglo-Saxon nations headed by the USA, do good when they invaded Iraq in 2003?  Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and possibly up to one million people were killed subsequent to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.[1]  If, as an American, British, Australian or citizen of some other Western nation, what would you do if your country was invaded and occupied by a foreign power and up to one million of your fellow citizens killed? Now many people would just acquiesce but some patriotic souls would develop some retaliatory measure like the Free French partisans when their country was attacked and occupied by the Nazi Germans in the Second World War.

Did ISIS appear out of nowhere for no reason?  Or was the creation of this organization and similar ones the result of numerous injustices heaped upon them including the callous murder of so many innocent people in the Middle East by ‘enlightened’ Western invaders led by that champion of freedom – the USA?  Would ISIS even exist today if the Americans had not led their churlish and irrelevant war against Iraq in 2003?  This is just one example of what can create anger which organizations such as ISIS can both exploit and take to extremes.  The ongoing European Jewish invasion of Palestine over the last one and a half centuries is supported by Western nations and demonstrates very clearly to the residents of the Middle East that they are treated as dogs.  Some progressive Western nations and politicians have become aware of this iniquity.

Listening to the news today about the growing number of atrocities committed by deranged individuals, criminals and small groups influenced by ISIS feels like the world has collectively fallen prone to Alzheimer’s disease and cannot remember last year, let alone 2003. The inability of the USA led West to perceive their own complicity in the unrest of today, specifically in the Middle East, is what causes war and further conflicts.  Does selling billions of dollars of arms to the medieval Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, that stills beheads its citizens and subjugates its women, lead to peace in the Middle East?  The Trump instigated ‘blockade’ of Qatar by many surrounding countries has one neighboring country threatening 15 years imprisonment to any of its citizens expressing support for Qatar.  This is just political moral corruption to the nth degree by the USA and this is not limited to Trump, it has been going on for decades, if not over a century.

Fortunately, from the astrological perspective, the world is heading away from this momentum of stupidism that the world is addicted to, but at a snail’s pace.  With Trump in the White House, it can even be argued that the snail as currently accelerating backwards, but this aberrant behavior can only last a small time.  Fortunately, the astro tide in the medium and long term is heading in the forward direction. Trump and his followers cannot stop the Age of Aquarius.

Currently the world is in the same astrological configuration as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.  In the previous Cancer micro-age (2000 – 2014) were 12 nano-ages, and the Aries nano-age and overflow (Aug 2002 – Nov 2003 – Jan 2005) included the invasion of Iraq from 20 March to 1 May 2003.  The current Aries nano-age and overflow (Mar 2016 – June 2017 – Sep 2018) is in the Gemini micro-age (2014 – 2029).  The bad news is that when Aries is prominent, war, discord and conflict is always at a higher level. With June 2017 the apex of the current Aries period, it is unfortunately associated with what seems like a growing spate of terrorist attacks around the world.  The intensity of Aries is at its strongest level from June 2017 until February 2018 and so we must expect more terrorism at a much higher level than normal for the next 8 months.

Aries nano-age and overflow

There is a silver lining (so far) for the current increase in terrorist attacks.  Usually these Aries nano-ages bring a regional war where instead of the dead in each attack in the single or double digits, in the last two Aries periods, it was in the tens and hundreds of thousands associated with the two Gulf Wars.  However, as one of my astute friend stated, those killed or injured ‘did not count because they were not one of us!’  (See “What is in Store for Trump & the USA in 2017?” for more background details)

If the West wants to set an example, it must stop killing other people to further their economic, military or religious biases as a starting point.  Currently the USA is bombing civilians in Mosul, Iraq – this is merely collateral damage from the western perspective. Unfortunately, this will remain the degraded international socio-political reality for some decades to come, but even now, the light at the end of the tunnel can be glimpsed.

On the political front, we had Bernie Sanders in the USA and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.  Last weekend I read in a Murdoch newspaper a report by a shocked journalist that Jeremy Corbin had 35% support from the UK voting public.  Shock and horror, how can this many people turn their back on the modern capitalist dream as promoted by Fox News?  Corbin, like Sanders in the USA in 2016, expressed basically the same progressive political and economic policies intended to reign in extreme capitalism and promote socialist ideals for the benefit of the less wealthy half of society.

Bernie Sanders

Socio-political change is slow, but interestingly, as of June 2017, the current Aquarius micro-age decan and overflow (Dec 2014 – Dec 2019 – Nov 2024) has just changed from first to second gear stepping up the intensity of Aquarius in the world.  We can expect further movement towards the progressive future for the rest of this Aquarius micro-age decan and overflow, especially in the period Dec 2019 to Jun 2022 when it shifts into third gear.  We can also expect growing strident opposition from reactionary political forces such as Trump, le Pen and conservative populace politicians everywhere.  In any Aquarius period, the mainstream or middle-of-the-road perspective suffers and extremists on the left (progressive) and right (conservative) can gain far more traction and support compared to ‘normal’ times. (see “This is the Dawning of the Aquarius Micro-Age Decan” ).  Which direction each country veers depends upon their evolutionary stage.  Immature democracies tend towards the fascist (disctatorial) conservative end such as the Philippines under President Duterte.

Unfortunately, this Aquarius orientation towards extremes or fringes also promotes “revolutionaries” who are at war with mainstream (Leo) society.  The fact that the current Aquarius period sits under the shadow of the larger Cancer micro-age overflow (2014 – 2029) places the focus firmly (but not exclusively) upon the Cancer aligned Middle East.  (see “Cancer – the New Paradigm for the World” )  Therefore, it is hard to see that while the USA and the West continue to pour volatile fuel upon the Middle East, via abhorrent arrangements with their despotic leaders, that there will be any change in the current terrorism scenario.  It’s a case of “you reap what you sow”.

To the average western person, the above kind of perspective is outside their scope of understanding even though it is expressed overly simplified in this article.  The average western person knows they are ‘good’ and their society is ‘good’, so why are these bad people trying to attack and kill them?  This is why a significant proportion of western society can be attracted to knee-jerk populace policies which can breed further antagonism that further feed the discontented urban terrorists in their midst.  While the blind lead the blind, the world we live in will remain as it is and has been for the last thousands of years.

In conclusion, for the rest of 2017 at least, we will experience more violence and conflict under Aries than what was previously considered normal, but it is very possible that this round of Aries may avoid a significant size regional war and focus upon urban terrorism instead?  It is still early days for Aries, and based on the immaturity of too many world leaders, a mid-level conflict may still erupt. While the short term future looks bleak, the medium to long term future shines in comparison. (see “The Silent Revolution” )

Reference

[1] Casualties of the Iraq War. (2017, June 4), Wikipedia, Retrieved 02:29, June 7, 2017 from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War&oldid=783729069

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

The astrological ages behave like mighty ocean waves. Each age-wave mimics each other age-wave, in shape, size and velocity, but the variation is in the archetypes associated with each wave.  Each wave brings a different set of archetypes with it.  The problem with astrological ages is that they are spaced around 2,150 years apart and very few people can contextualize a series of historical currents separated from each other by 2,150 years.

Dividing an age into three equal parts creates age-decans with each age-decan in the order of around 700 years may be slightly more palatable, but the time spans involved are still taxing for most people.  Sub-ages of around 179 years each may be a little more familiar to many people as most people have some kind of familiarity with the Renaissance followed by the Age of Maritime Exploration with the Scientific Age closely on its heel.  Next came the Industrial Revolution leading to the worldwide population explosion, followed by the Atomic Age and now we have the desultory period of post-modernism.  Sub-ages enter the realm of relative familiarity.

In the same way that ages can be divided into three decans, so can sub-ages.  It is my observation that the smaller sub-age decans of approximately 60 years is the most palatable way for most people to relate to history because 60 years approaches the average span of life.  The normal person will have personal experience of at least two sub-age decans over the course of their life, and the cultural remembrance of the sub-age decan experienced by their parents or grandparents is so strong, that a third sub-age becomes almost as real as the two that are directly experienced.  For Baby Boomers at least, they have direct experience of the Scorpio sub-age decan, the current Gemini sub-age decan, with handed down tales of the Pisces sub-age decan of their grandparents, supplemented with the movies of the 1930s we saw as kids on TV.  Younger generations may be too removed from the Pisces sub-age decan, but they should assimilate the arrival of the coming Aquarian sub-age decan in 2029!

These 60 years sub-ages are not only understandable by most people due to their direct experience, they also seem to dictate the geopolitical reality of the world that sits upon the collective expectations and reality of the world’s population.  The sub-ages provide a structure to analyze what can be expected to occur in the current 21st century.  The 21^st century is mainly focused upon the Gemini sub-age decan (1970-2029) followed by the Aquarius sub-age decan (2029 – 2089).  These two sub-ages are the first two of three sub-ages of the Libra sub-age (1970-2148).  The funny thing is that the current 21st century will be ‘milder’ than last century and next century.

Before delving into the sub-age decans of the current 21st century (2001 to 2100) it is important to place the 21^st century into context.  The 21^st century sits between the 20^th and 22^nd centuries.  The 21^st century is not only bookended by each of these two centuries but also dwarfed by each of them.  The 20^th and 22^nd centuries are far more powerful than the current 21^st century.  This can be readily explained.

The 20^th and 22^nd centuries each have a sub-age cusp located within them whereas the 21^st century lacks such an event.  The Scorpio sub-age came to an end in 1970, and the current Libra sub-age will truncate in 2148.  Each of these cusps can be viewed as the crest of their respective waves.  The wave associated with a sub-age is the third strongest of all the waves, and is only exceeded by the age-decans’ and age cusps’ waves. In a superficial analysis, the fact that the current 21^st century has no wave of the size of a sub-age cusp may indicate that it is a ‘lessor’ century.  This may or may not be the case because approximately every second century lacks a sub-age cusp.  Since 1000 AD, the 12^th, 14^th, 16^th and 19^th centuries all lacked a sub-age cusp.  It is very possible that each of these centuries were subordinate to the centuries that did contain a sub-age cusp.  A superficial examination of all the centuries since 1000 AD in Wikipedia does qualitatively support this notion but even if true, it is probably a moot point.

So while our 21^st century is bereft of a sub-age cusp, it sits directly under the path of the Scorpio sub-age overflow (1970-2148) which in essence is like a tsunami passing over a hapless world. Scorpio does not bring peace or security but disaster and regeneration.  Scorpio is not the sign of war, but it is the sign of terrorism and terrorists. It is the sign of underground criminal networks and disenchanted individuals willing to die for whatever cause.  It is the sign of vulnerability where despite statistical indications to the contrary, people feel that crime, death from war and violence and premature death is occurring more frequently. Scorpio is also the sign of debt, so instead of countries being rated on their gold reserves, they are rated on their debt level.  People use credit cards instead of cash.  The recent GFC was extremely painful for many who had borrowed heavily to fund their stock portfolios.

However, the great scourge associated with the Scorpio wave that peaked in 1970 and is now washing over the world is pollution. Some astrologers have a problem with pollution being associated with Scorpio, but in reality, pollution is the excrement of our modern enlightened society and associated economy.  Many people fear the advent of the Third World War, but the scourge of this century is not a world war but something that has the potential to be just as deadly.  Of course atomic bombs and nuclear power stations are ruled by Scorpio, and their proliferation since the arrival of the Scorpio sub-age decan overflow in 1970 plus some of the nuclear accidents that have occurred to date, strongly suggest that nuclear radiation contamination is also in the hand of cards now being played.  Fukishima again demonstrated our increasing vulnerability to nuclear accidents.

Not everything is dark and gloomy with Scorpio, after all, sex is a strong Scorpio archetype. The Sexual Revolution unleashed in the 1960s and 70s aligned to the peak of the Scorpio wave has fundamentally changed western society and continues to ripple out to the rest of the world. The arrival of legalized gay marriage in some regions of the western world demonstrates that the Scorpio wave of sexual liberation is showing no signs of faltering.  Even Muslim countries like Malaysia have recently allowed their gays to come out of the closet while more backward nations have strengthened their anti-homosexuality laws – but the focus remains on Scorpio.

Is Scorpio a doom-laden gloomy sign compared to most other signs? This is a matter of perspective.  Certainly a key attribute of Scorpio is its death-rebirth nature.  On the one hand this breeds born-again Christians (and seemingly born-again Muslims) but on a more significant perspective, it indicates a time of renewal following a breakdown.  Is the world breaking down?  Is it renewing?

I recently had the fortunate experience of attending the 2014 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali.  This was not the first time I had attended one of these festivals in Bali, but it was the first for a few years.  It is a great place to feel which direction the wind is blowing.  The almost unanimous consensus by the writers, intellectual s and attendees was that the direction the world is heading is wrong.  Specifically the economic paradigm introduced or forced upon the rest of the world by powerful western nations (since the arrival of the Pisces age overflow in the 15^th century) benefits the minority rich at the expense of the vast majority of the world population.  The accumulation of wealth by a few is disproportionate to the number of extremely poor people in the world.  Furthermore, the environmental degradation of the world is a direct consequence of this unquenchable quest for wealth by those who basically are already wealthy in relative terms.

In contrast to chasing wealth, many people at the festival expressed the need to find value from non-materialistic aspects in life.  This was probably best expressed by Keibo Oiwa from Japan who is a cultural anthropologist, film-maker, environmental activist, public speaker and the author of over 50 books.  His slogan for the future was the need to be ‘slower, smaller and simpler’. He received much applause.  Thus we are seeing the dawn of a new perspective on the modern world, one not focused upon wealth and power but upon quality and happiness.  No one was calling for the destruction of capitalism but the sentiment was that capitalism will have to be house-trained.

Keibo Oiwa is not alone, and ever since the 1960s and 70s there has been a small but growing number of people attempting to live an alternative lifestyle or opting out of the money-centric world of extreme capitalism that we now find ourselves in.  Is the shopping mall a sign of progress?  One Balinese teacher complained how her youthful students were totally focused upon what we would call junk-food, because in their eyes, cool people overseas ate rubbish at McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and the like – anyone with a white skin was considered cool.  It seems that humans are like chimpanzees that want to mimic each other.

This alternative urge towards house-trained capitalism and quality of life over wealth will be a growing phenomenon of the current 21^st century but for a while, this new movement will be dwarfed by terrorism, epidemics, failed states, criminal gangs, tyrannical leaders and megalomaniac states but this does not mean a rebirth is not in progress.  According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point”, it only takes about 20% of the population to move towards a new idea, trend, or social behavior which then crosses a threshold and spreads like wildfire.  Already in Australia, about 10% on average of the voting population vote Green in every election.  How many decades until this figure is 20%?

The work is certainly cut out for the world in the 21^st century, but any examination of the two centuries that sandwich the 21^st century suggests that while change is imminent, due to the Scorpio wave passing over the whole of this century, the level of destruction or chaos that will be experienced in the 21^st century is limited. The destructive influence on both the 20^th and 21^st centuries are much greater compared to the 21^st century.  We have already passed through the 20^th century, and survived, and the inherent problems in the 21st century should not be as great, despite contemporary society’s pessimism.  A funny thing about the present 21st century is that it should be ‘milder’ on humanity compared to the previous 20th century.

Relevant time periods:

Scorpio sub-age and overflow (1791-1970-2148)

Libra sub-age and overflow (1970-2148-2327)

• Gemini sub-age decan (1970-2029)
• Aquarius sub-age decan (2028-2089)

The sub-age decans of the Libra sub-age

Notes

All ages and sub-periods behave like a wave in the shape of a bell curve.  When any period commences, it is at its weakest point, and steadily build in strength to its apogee at the end of its period.  It then breaks like a wave and washes over the following period like a wave in what is called its ‘overflow’.  Research indicates that the sign associated with any period appears stronger in the overflow period.  For example the Scorpio sub-age was 1791 to  1970 but Scorpio will appear to diversify much further in its overflow period compared to its period proper. A funny thing about the present 21st century is that it should be ‘milder’ on humanity compared to the previous 20th century.

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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.

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