Peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars - New Moon 24th January, 2020

So said the well-known song of the late 60’s – ‘This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius”.  Remember it?  If you do you probably won’t get it out of your head now.  This song was released during the magical time of the hippies and Flower Power.   It spoke of harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding; no more falsehoods or derisions, golden living dreams of visions.   Wow – oh to live in a world like this.   But the line that hit me is ‘and the mind’s true liberation’.   Just think on this a bit and we will talk more later. 

I can actually remember the 60’s and they were truly a magical, unconventional time.   The rules of fashion and behavior were up-ended, new technological discoveries began to abound – it was truly exciting.   Astrologically we had the outer planets Pluto and Uranus meeting and we have recently had ten years of a square or conflict dynamic from them.   Similar energy of disruption and change but perhaps the recent energy is more ‘grating’ in a way.

And right now we are at the first New Moon of the 2020’s and it is another at 4 degrees of its sign – this time Aquarius.   We have the beginning of the 2020’s, the beginning of a new lunar cycle, and the beginning of other new important cycles this year.   Most astrologers would agree that we haven’t quite left the Age of Pisces yet – we are still at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.   But we do have a really important 250 year cycle beginning at the end of this year which starts at zero degrees of Aquarius.  So I am suggesting that this New Moon and the upcoming new cycle will begin to draw us into the new Age of Aquarius.  And this links very much with what I have been saying – that the converging of all the different crises we have right now (climate, economic and our own consciousness) are because we are undergoing a paradigm shift as we prepare to enter a new age. 

If you’ve followed all four of the ‘Reconnecting with Ancient Wisdom’ series, my thanks for ploughing through them and my hope that in some small way you actually found them useful.  At the last Full Moon I spoke about the UK royal’s chart being hit by the lunar eclipse.  The obvious thought at the time of writing was Prince Phillip, but on top of the Andrew debacle it turned out to be Meghan and Harry.  Many astrologers have not looked upon their union as a marriage made in heaven, and outside the ‘Firm’ Meghan can be free to say the kind of stuff she wants without constraint.  Freedom is a very Aquarian need.    Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of the monarchy as we know it – cycles such as the one that has begun in January herald the breakdown of long held institutions that appear to be too big and too ‘long in the tooth’ to ever fail. 

I also spoke of Jupiter’s entry into Capricorn as being a bit of a reality check. Firstly the war drums started beating with the crisis in Iran and secondly our treatment of the planet and our changing climate was so obvious in Australia.   We are shocked and heartbroken at the loss of wildlife as we should be, but we must also face up to the fact that there has been a massive global decline in wildlife and fish stocks brought about by human activity and chemical pollution.  The situation in Australia has been exacerbated by severe drought as part of climate change.   Bushfires will always happen but it is the land management and the resources given to the firefighters that can help to control the spread.

I find it strange that Aquarius is an Air sign and yet is symbolized by a water bearer pouring water from an urn.  Water, however, is cleansing and I like to see the symbolism as water washing and cleansing wounds from the past which live in our minds (Air), allowing for new growth.   Once again a symbol for ‘the mind’s true liberation’.   Aquarius is also symbolized by two wavy lines, one under the other – are these waves or air, or both perhaps?   Aquarius creates waves as it disrupts how things have always been in order to make way for new, more enlightening behavior.   And Aquarius brings in air in terms of new knowledge and visions of individuality, equality and freedom.

Aquarius is one of three astrological signs that has two planetary rulers – Uranus (modern ruler) and Saturn (traditional ruler). Uranus, God of the Sky, is the ‘kick arse’ energy, the planet of shocks and surprises.  Uranus represents where we walk to our own drumbeat – where we are different.   He is very often involved in groundbreaking discoveries and technological advancements.   And, whilst Aquarius is known as a humanitarian and collective sign, Uranus is willful, undemocratic, stubborn and uncooperative.   Uranus challenges the predictable. He wants liberation from all shackles (Saturn) and the alternative path, whilst Saturn seeks control and order and a rule based society.   Saturn is more like the ‘Fat Controller’ and represents hard work, slow steady progress through effort and time, responsible action and testings – so two very different energies. 

Aquarius doesn’t do hierarchy, privilege, and anything that tries to pigeonhole people – such as race, class or gender.   Aquarius is concerned with authenticity; he can be the most tolerant and humanitarian person, but at the same time totally intolerant and self-willed, because his ability to detach means that he couldn’t actually care less what others might think.   He has principles, which the fixed nature of this sign will stick with come hell or high water.   And bring together the energies of Saturn and Uranus together and we have a powerful force to actualize the new and to work together to achieve it. 

This New Moon sits alongside Mercury (planet of the mind and communication) and makes a dynamic angle to one of Aquarius’ own rulers, Uranus, so expect this to be a very bolshy, outspoken, candid period but also one of new discoveries particularly in the scientific and technological worlds.  Mercury’s message is to wake up and embrace the new. 

The New Moon at 4 degrees is not too far away from where Jupiter and Saturn will meet at the end of the year to begin a whole big new dance in the Air sign of Aquarius – a dance with new moves and new choreography.  So at the time of this New Moon we may get a sense if we look hard enough of what is augured by this new Jupiter/Saturn cycle.   I believe that a new age is upon us – we are being challenged to think differently, act differently and to adopt ideas that are ‘outside the box’.  We are being challenged to use technology (Aquarius) more so going forward we are likely to see Artificial Intelligence having a much greater impact on our lives.    We are moving away from the last cycle, which began, in the mid 1800’s of mass production, capitalism, money, banking and moving towards a more ‘smartly’ connected era.

Aquarius is an air sign – but what is Air?  Air is invisible, it is the Earth’s atmosphere and without it we would die in minutes.   We can’t see it, we can only feel it when the wind blows and we take it totally for granted.    Air is always moving.   It’s the atmosphere of the Earth.   It seems light but it exerts a pressure pushing down on the Earth.  Air is energy – we are energy –and we give off energy.   If we walk into a room after an argument the energy is cold and affects us emotionally.  We say ‘you could cut the atmosphere with a knife”.   Yet if you walk into a happy room you feel the warmth and love radiating towards you.   You feel comfortable and nourished.   That’s the power of energy and of the energy we hold.   Air can be clean and invigorating or it can become polluted and toxic.

Air fills space and space is the last unconquered frontier.   And whoever controls Space controls the World.   So no surprise that Trump has created the new SpaceForce to “organize, train, and equip space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force.”    Are we really the only ones out there?

Sometimes, when energy is stuck and the world needs a wake up call, I think we draw in events and people to enforce change.   In the 1940’s we saw World War II, Hitler and the Holocaust, the 80’s heralded the Internet in itself ushering a new technological era.   And currently we are still reeling from the effects of the Arab Spring, 9/11, and the more recent entry on to our radar – the effects of climate change as we watch the breakdown of the familiarities of our traditional lives.   (These are all Saturn/Pluto cycles).

Air is mental – it is the mind that brings us consciousness and the unconscious/sub conscious.  But consciousness is not just individual – there is a collective consciousness as well as a collective unconscious and this collective unconscious is influenced by the planetary cycles that are coming – our current actions are informed and formed by the future.  We are facing unprecedented levels of mental difficulties, particularly with our young.  Despite greater technological connections people have perhaps never felt more alone.  Maybe the humanitarian side of Aquarius could actually see a rise in communal living.  The ‘young at heart’ old could benefit by pooling their talents with others to live more as we used to live rather than in the silence of loneliness.

Air blows and moves easily and, whilst this Aquarian energy is what we call ‘fixed’ and stubborn in nature, it is important that we tap into its Air quality because the one asset we will need going forward is that of adaptability to enable ‘mind’s true liberation’, just as that song from the 60’s said.

The mid 1800’s was also the era of Darwin who, as the era of ‘growth is everything’ began, also promoted his idea of survival of the fittest.  However, his lesser-known contemporary Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, believed that when environments changed, organisms had to change their behavior to survive.   As an example, if an animal began to use an organ more than they had done previously, then that organ would increase in its lifetime.    So as a giraffe stretched its neck for leaves, for example, a “nervous fluid” would flow into its neck and make it longer. Its offspring would inherit the longer neck, and continued stretching would make it longer still over several generations. Meanwhile organs that organisms stopped using would shrink.    Lamarckian theories contribute to our modern understanding of genetics.

The period of Larmack’s theories coincides exactly with the discovery of the asteroid Ceres.   Ceres, Goddess of the Earth and the Harvest is linked with the Earth, and as Demeter she is linked with fertility – the fertility of the earth and the power of a mother’s love as she tried to rescue her daughter from the clutches of the God of the Underworld.   Therefore, Ceres could well be linked with our genetic inheritance and the ability of the human race to adapt to its changing surroundings.  Ceres is heavily impacted right now with Saturn and Pluto as they begin their new cycle.  And, whilst Darwin’s theories do apply to many animal species, I don’t believe that they apply to Man.    We have a ‘dog eat dog’ world now but it is not conducive to the thriving of man or to the ‘liberation of our minds’.  Man thrives when he co-operates within a community and wit the planet that supports him.

So as we ride into a perfect storm of an era of crises all funnelling together – economic, political, social, climatic – remember that the human race is built to adapt and change.   At the Full Moon of December 12th 2019  I talked about previously lost civilisations that ended because they failed to see the warning signs, the amber lights and refused to change or adapt.   Do we not have amber lights right now?   Australia currently is tasting and breathing the ash in unprecedented times.  It is literally apocalyptic.  Will we leave it too late before we adapt to the new?    Yes we have climate change, but we have had warmer periods than now in medieval times.   What should actually worry us more is what happens after the warming cycle has peaked!!

In a new technological age will we become trans-human, digitally encoded to open doors with no keys for instance?  Aquarius is what is different and unconventional.  And some of the most unconventional people have been the magicians.  Magic is associated with sorcerers and witches but the witches were the healers before the Renaissance and the stirrings of the Scientific Revolution together with the masculinity of the Church persecuted them.   Magic was seen as an offence against God, giving the cures of the devil.   But many of their potions live on today in the form of modern medicine.  Magic is such an important topic but also very misunderstood.   It’s a big topic so I am going to talk more on this at a later date, because the importance of Aquarian eneergy this year suggests that we need to understand how to find the magic in our lives. 

At the last Full Moon we were searching for Willy Wonka and the alchemical Gold.  This time we are searching for the magic to help us find what we have lost along the way so that we can unite and cooperate (Aquarius) to heal the auto-immune disease that afflicts our planet and our minds. The Earth has been around a long time without us.   She will survive what we do to it – she will self heal.   We may not.