It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness

It was the best of times.  it was the worst of times.  It was the age of wisdom.   It was the age of foolishness.[1]  

 Most consider that we live in an age of greater wisdom than generations gone before.    Of course, we do.   We must do.   Mustn’t we?   We’ve had 300 years or so since the Scientific Revolution after all.  We certainly have more comforts.  We have more science, more technology, more ‘stuff’, more money – more of everything really.   We consider we are clever, intelligent beings.   But one man’s finest gift may be another’s poison.   Some might regard our scientific, technocratic age as the best of times but with this New Moon in a tight square to Jupiter everything is likely to be overdone and overblown. So are we actually in the most foolish of times?  

 Everything is a matter of perception.  How we view the world and life.   Our perceptions determine where we place our intentions and our ensuing actions.  But how do we arrive at our perceptions?  Astrologically perception derives in the main from the Ascendant - the point rising at dawn in the horoscope.  The Ascendant is our front door to the world.   No matter the sign of your Sun or your Moon, all planets have to tunnel their thinking and perceive the world through the Ascendant and the quality and characteristics of its sign.  

 Esoterically, the Ascendant marks the point where the Soul, having cloaked itself in the qualities of the planets at the time of birth, enters the physical body and takes its first breath.   The Ascendant, therefore, marks an important quality in the path of the Soul and how the Soul will make that journey. 

 At the New Moon of June 29th here in the UK, we have Gemini rising alongside Venus.  Venus here is a morning star and when Venus is a morning star, whilst she still speaks of love and relationships, she becomes the warrior queen; so, don’t be deceived by her sociable, friendly veneer, particularly as she speaks to both the New Moon and to Jupiter and will, therefore, add to the tendency to overdo the current war drums.  The ramping up of NATO’s influence might seem justified but the implications for humanity become so serious that we should ensure our perceptions are not being propagandised.  

Mercury, Gemini’s ruler, sits close to the Ascendant in his own sign.  This highly sensitive Cancerian New Moon, who is very concerned about its assets and its money (second house), perceives the world through a need for curiosity and the seeking of knowledge.   The Moon has strength because she is ‘at home’ in her own sign.   She welcomes the Sun as her King, but she is firmly in charge, and she wants to ‘know’ what’s going on.   There’s fight stirring in her belly, but her perceptions will be shaped by how well she can deal with the knowledge she gleans.

 The Moon represents women, the home, the family, our inner needs and, in an overall sense, the people.   And the people are becoming warriors because they are beginning to perceive the threats to the security of the family unit, particularly those that are looming financially and in terms of food resources.   We are gradually building up to a last hurrah fight between Saturn and Uranus, so this time will revolution rule? But are we walking into an economic Armageddon? Or are we, as we are being told in the UK, preparing for a war with Russia?

Perception is a funny thing though.   Think how differently several people will describe an event or an accident.   Perception is arrived at via many different avenues. Perception will colour our beliefs and vice versa.   Our beliefs will have been coloured by the culture and nature of our upbringing, how resilient we are to outside influences, how susceptible we are to these outside influences and how we absorb media and peer pressure.  How many of our beliefs are learned beliefs?  Who can we trust to help us to shape our beliefs? Perceptions are based on knowledge, but knowledge is only useful when it is used in context and when that knowledge is true.  

 If we take our knowledge, for example, solely from mainstream media, it is highly likely we are arriving at conclusions based on a propagandised knowledge that is put out by the corporate technocracy that wants to lead us in a certain direction for their own benefit.  For example, nearly every aspect of our lives is heavily influenced by just one corporation - Blackrock - whose ideology is to become richer and richer.   How many realise this?   I guess what I am trying to say here is how much of our perceptions are derived from the power of the press and the power of one organisation?   That is one dangerous situation we are in without any real realisation, particularly when the chatter is leading us into WW3.

 Often learned beliefs derive from statements that are repeated so often that we just don’t question them.  For example, in the UK we are blessed with the best health service in the world, free at the point of delivery.   We are, aren’t we?  Is that the reality?  Trust the science and trust the government to look after you.   The reality – science is constantly changing, and science depends on who is doing the researching and who is paying for that research.   Does anyone ever expect a politician to tell the truth?   So why then do we trust the policies?

 What can we do?   I always say every lunation carries its own message.  The message indicates that we should question everything.   Not that this comes easily to this New Moon – but nevertheless this is the message.  Mercury is brilliant in using both logical and lateral thinking to join the dots.  Be a warrior queen as Venus demonstrates but overdoing the war drums based on false knowledge may well lead us into the age of foolishness.   Knowledge allows us to develop our own ideologies rather than following someone else’s, which right now are likely to be lining that individual or corporation’s pocket.  War always makes money for some!

 Awareness and knowledge are the antidotes to ignorance and foolishness.  Can you be sure that you aren’t being led by the ideologies of others?  In an age where we have so much wisdom at our fingertips, can we really be sure that we aren’t actually walking into the age of foolishness? 

[1] A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.