A few centuries ago, the only way people travelled through the air, was when they foolishly fell off mountains or high buildings. Imagine the astonishment and awe then, when the Montgolfier brothers staged the first manned balloon flight in front of Louis XV1 of France in Versailles on September 19th 1783. “Manned” may not be the correct word; there was a duck (could handle flight) and rooster (maybe could not) and a sheep (probably would die), who all returned safely to Earth after an 8 minute flight reaching 1500 feet. This happened two years after the discovery of the first outer planet, Uranus, which is associated with innovation, explosion and revolution. In this way a new, third dimension was added to human experience. Here in 2016 there are about three quarters of a million people in the air at any given time, flying fast and at high altitudes, and this change has happened in the space of just over 200 years. Has anything as dramatic as that happened in any other 200-year period in history?
Mirroring Reality
Less the two hundred years ago, if you wanted to reproduce a likeness of someone, they had to be sketched, painted or sculpted. Only the rich could afford it. Apart from this, there were no permanent visual representations of reality. That was until Louis Daguerre invented the daguerreotype, an early photographic technique, which was developed during the 1830’s and presented to the world free, as a gift, by the French government on August 19th, 1839. By 1847 effective cameras were developed, and soon everyone was queuing up to have a “selfie”. This was around the time the second outer planet, Neptune, was discovered (September 1846). Neptune is associated with new perceptions of reality. By the end of the 19th century photographs were artificially sequenced to create film, and entranced audiences flocked to cinemas. Today the average American spends over five hours a day watching television. Two hundred years ago, we sat around the piano, then blew out the candles and just went to bed.
Mass Destruction and Globalism
Mankind has always found ingenious ways of making war, but historically this has involved seeing the enemy and striking them with a projectile of some sort. Lots of people could be killed if you had enough soldiers to do it. Around the time of the discovery of Pluto in 1930, scientists learned to split the atom, releasing the energy that had been locked in matter at the birth of a star. With the arrival of the nuclear age, utter destruction can be wreaked almost instantaneously, anywhere in the world, by a handful of people. Growing up in the nuclear shadow, civilization has been forced to review the whole idea of war, and indeed no war between the great powers has taken place since the Bomb was dropped. We live under the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD). We have been made aware of the fragile, global nature of our existence on this planet.
The Engines of Change
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are in fact engines of change in the transformation process from one astrological Age to another. Each planet has, with its discovery, evoked an inventive response, which has changed existence from a narrow, local experience, to a sense of total connectivity with the world. Connected with Uranus is the harnessing of the explosive power of air (its latest iteration being the jet engine), electricity, the development of communication technology, and the transformation of social structures from the local to the collective or mass. Connected with Neptune is the bewitchment of our consciousness through the manipulation of our sensory systems… the creation in fact of virtual reality. Connected with Pluto is the transformative power of small but potent objects… the bomb, the birth pill, the computer chip, which have changed previously unchangeable things, like war, biology and memory. The consequence today is that we live in an electric, 24-hour wonderland, in touch with everyone, everywhere, all of the time. Try explaining this world to an 18th century priest or scientist.
The Precession of the Equinoxes
In this electric playground technological advances do not just happen in an isolated way, they become extensions of our bodies, our feelings, our nervous systems and our minds. We are changing as human beings in a way that has never happened before in recorded history. We are different now, and our consciousness is not the same as it was during the last Age.
The last Age, astrologically speaking, has been defined as the Age of Pisces. Perhaps it began around 0 AD, when our current calendar began. Great Ages come about through an irregularity in the revolution of the Earth on its axis, where it describes a full circle through each of the 12 signs of the zodiac, like a wobbling spinning top, during a period of approximately 26000 years, which means that each Age lasts about 2160 years. In reality it is impossible to measure the transition from one sign to another using the zodiac signs seen in star pictures. This fuzzy boundary between zodiac constellations means that it is extremely difficult to designate the transition of the Ages from Pisces to Aquarius. Nick Campion in his reference work “Book of World Horoscopes” documents almost one hundred suggestions for the transition date stretching over many centuries.
However it is really not difficult to read the signs and follow the transition by simple observation of historical trends.
The Christian Era
What we are witnessing at the beginning of the 21st century is the disappearance of a way of being, characterized by the Christian era. The etymology of Christ is derived from the Greek word Ichthys, which means Fish. The fish symbol has traditionally been adopted by Christians worldwide. Christ and the Virgin Mary are reflected in the Pisces/Virgo polarity, which was often alluded to symbolically in the Bible – notably in the parable of the loaves and fishes – and even in our day in the holy communion of bread (Virgo) and wine (Pisces). The emphasis on these two signs over the last two millennia can be seen through the whole concept of sacrifice and service, monasteries and nunneries, and the world of polarity which dominated the Christian era – God and the Devil, good and evil, light and dark, heaven and hell – a world dominated by the mortal danger of indulging one of the seven deadly sins.
The Seven Deadly Sins
But the indulgence of the seven deadly sins has become a human right today. The right to enjoy good sex without getting pregnant, which earlier resulted in social ostracism. (Lust) The right to own the latest TV, car, device. (Greed) The right to leisure. (Laziness). The competitive society. (Wrath). The advertising industry (Envy). The right for self-realization. (Pride) The right to buy luxury foods in well-stocked supermarkets. (Gluttony).
Sin does not lurk in the shadows, the devil is not doing the tempting, and hell is no longer an ever-present threat. All these things constantly shadowed western civilization a century or two ago. But as psychology cast light on the dark side of consciousness, demons were seen to be inner psychic processes, and they could be exorcised through consciousness. The electricity was switched on, and the dancing flames of the candle no longer cast dark shadows everywhere. Night was driven away by a vast array of street lamps.
The Age of Mankind
Aquarius is the Age of Man, and the coming two millennia will be characterized by the principles of the French Revolution of 1789, which took place just after the discovery of Uranus. That is: Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. People will be free, equal and show solidarity. Gender and racial inequality will completely disappear. There will be a leveling in the world, when resources will be shared reasonably equitably. There will be an abundance of energy, and zero pollution, apart from the electromagnetic waves artificially generated by Man.
Aquarius is about being connected, which is why, when Uranus entered this sign in 1995 the age of the Internet dawned with the introduction of Netscape and Internet Explorer. During the next 7 years the Internet was universally adopted and now is the dominant feature of our lives. Aquarius is about friendship, and when Neptune entered Aquarius in 1998 for a 14-year stay, we used the Internet to form bonds with people who shared our interests. With the launch of Facebook on February 4th, 2004, a worldwide network of friendships was formed. More than one billion people – that’s a 6th of the world’s population – are using Facebook today. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.
The Saturn/Jupiter Conjunction Cycle
In astrology, everything is connected to a specific cycle of time – a year for the sun, and month for the moon, for example. The most potent measurement of historical periods is the 20-year Saturn/Jupiter conjunction cycle. Connected with this is a longer approximately 200-year cycle during which every conjunction falls in the same element: Water > Fire > Earth > Air. The last cycle was in Earth, and started in 1842, and during the period from 1842 to 2020 we have been witness to the growth of heavy industry and the exploitation of Earth’s resources, which has resulted in a huge amount of pollution.
The Era of Air SIgns
From 2020 to 2199 the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction cycle takes place in Air signs, and in this period heavy industry will disappear, as will pollution. What is more, burning materials as a source of energy will also disappear. The air will be clean in cities worldwide. Energy supply will be achieved by a variety of methods, of which sun and wind will be dominant. Energy will be stored in our cars in one coherent system of supply locally based on the individual or group but available universally. Manufacture will be digital, and objects printed in 3D. No chimneys, no waste. Oil will be valuable as a source or plastic, and plastic will be everywhere.
The political, military and social consequences of all this are far-reaching. Control of the airwaves and satellite communications will be the major area of contention, and wars and terrorism are likely to be cyber in character. Whether we like it or not, we will be on camera and traceable at all times, which means that privacy will be a precious commodity – but perhaps people will be groomed to not want it. Transactions are likely to be electronic in a cashless society, and the majority will see this as contributing to solidarity, equality and sharing. With instant feedback on social media, many political issues will be decided by the lowest common denominator, which means that democracy will transmuted into some kind of public dictatorship – the people will really decide. This will make universal and quality education absolutely essential.
The reign of the political, religious and financial elite will soon be over, replaced by the worship of ordinary heroes, who are turned into celebrities, and celebrities who are turned into gods. Ronaldo and Messi, Beyoncé and Eminem, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence – this is the Aquarius/Leo polarity that is replacing Virgo/Pisces. They show us that we can all be heroes for a day. This polarity is also evident in the mass sports events, and the huge entertainment industry. Instead of suffering, we have entertainment, and instead of humility, we have the famous, who we want to emulate.
The turning point in this process is the coming Saturn/Jupiter conjunction at 0 Aquarius for the first time in 800 years.
The Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius (set for London): 21.12.2020 18.22
The horoscope for this event can be cast for any capital, but here I have chosen London, which puts the conjunction exactly on the Descendant for Britain. London is going to be a popular place. There is a powerful Mars/Pluto square, which might conceivable increase public paranoia over the following 20 years, indicating anxiety about alienated individuals performing terrorist acts. As Jupiter and Saturn represent the fusion of vision and effort, and the institutions of law and government, the new era inaugurated at this time will be global, universal and idealistically involved in bettering humanity through education, social institutions and humanitarian organizations.
Revolution in Russia
The Saturn/Jupiter conjunction takes place a full Saturn return after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and will have consequences for Russia, which will still be ruled by Putin at this time. When Pluto arrives in Aquarius in 2023 to conjoin the new Russia’s Saturn, then there will be a break-up of the political system he created. As Russia is sensitive to the Saturn/Neptune conjunction cycle, which dramatically restarts in Aries in 2025, and as this coincides with the end of a presidential period in Russia (2024), the ruling elite will be swept away by a people’s revolution.
Pluto in Aquarius
Pluto’s entry into Aquarius will evoke the shadow side of this sign, marking the end of the reign of money barons, oligarchs and political power brokers (Pluto in Capricorn) as well as the extreme imbalance in the distribution of wealth and resources. Pluto in Aquarius from 2023 – 2043 shows the forcible redistribution of resources through people power, and this will probably not be a harmonious process. This is however going to be a fantastic period technologically, as Pluto is connected with miniaturization. Development at this time will be at the atomic and subatomic level, concerned with the manipulation of light and waves, and powerful computers may even become invisible. In this way matter and consciousness will become one. As Aquarius is very much connected with neurons and the brain, the dominance of neuroscience will be asserted, but the outcome initially will be cold and not characterized by compassion. This will only come when Pluto enters Pisces.
Living in Aquarius is going to be an intense experience, always-on, always connected, bombarded by sensory impressions, characterized by an amazing psychic robustness developed to handle this. It will be a cool Age, warmth being provided without combustion, travel without noise, with feelings more humanitarian than clannish. We will witness the disappearance of the wheel – a process that is already happening. Instead of the sweep of hands around the clock face, dividing day and night into two equal divisions, digits boldly announce a 24-hour clock. Inside, all the cogs and wheels have disappeared. Similarly, spinning turntables have given way to digital music, and in the computer the hard drive is being replaced by the flash drive. Moving parts are disappearing. The reason for this is that the wheel is an extension of the foot, and the feet are related to Pisces. Aquarius is connected with the ankle, and Nike has understood this, putting wings on our shoes and Air on the soles of our feet.
Get ready to fly.
Adrian Ross Duncan. January 14th 2016