“When the Moon is in the Seventh House
and Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius…”
As predictions go, this one is not impressive. Offered in 1967 via the smash hit rock musical ‘Hair’, it suffers from it own internal contradictions. For a start, the Seventh House can sometimes be the ‘house of open enemies’. Moreover, if you think an alignment of Mars and Jupiter augurs peace in our time, check our former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s horoscope, with Mars rising, conjunct Jupiter…
There is furthermore the annoying problem that contemporary evidence doesn’t quite support the theory that the Aquarian Age is ushering in an era of peace and love. As we settle in to a new millennium, it is rather noticeable that a maniacal death cult, whose avowed aim is to bring down western civilisation and hasten the Apocalypse, has arisen and spread with frightening speed in the last few years.
Also, opinion regarding the fate of Planet Earth is divided. For example, in 2013, the thinkprogress.org website produced impressive statistics appearing to demonstrate that life is getting better globally, despite the foreground picture of wars and global warming. On the other hand, many scientists think that we are already in the period of the Sixth Mass Extinction, human agency being largely culpable this time.
Moreover, the former Chief Rabbi, Dr Jonathan Sacks, stated a few years ago in relation to the self-oriented culture which is rising worldwide as traditional religious belief is declining, that we humans are engaging in the largest experiment in mass selfishness that the world has ever seen…
Respected astrologer and historian Dr Nicholas Campion, in his fascinating book ‘Astrology, History and Apocalypse’ (CPA Press, 2000) describes belief in the Age of Aquarius as “…one of the great cliches of modern astrology…” (p131).
His having collected a list of almost one hundred dates from around 1260 AD to around 3000 AD “…at which the Age of Aquarius can begin…” (p127) lends weight to Campion’s view that the Age of Aquarius is a myth, reflecting our ancient human need to believe that the corrupted old order is collapsing, a wonderful Golden Age being just around the corner. The technical term for this is millenarianism; do read Nicholas Campion’s erudite ‘take’ on that vast and complex subject.
Campion (p83) refers to an essay of Carl Jung’s called ‘The Sign of the Fish’(from vol 9, Part 2 of Jung’s Collected Works) – a must-read for anyone with more than a passing interest in what the Aquarian Age may be, and what it might signify. In essence, Jung concludes that “…the course of our religious history as well as an essential part of our psychic development could have been predicted…from the precession of the equinoxes through the constellation of Pisces…”.
The first point of Aries precesses backwards through a whole constellation during a period of roughly 2,000 years. It is currently somewhere between the first star in the constellation of Pisces and the last star of the constellation of Aquarius.
When the Aries point shifts from one constellation to the next, according to Jung, our image of the Divine changes. I was bowled over by this idea, first encountered in a Liz Greene seminar during the 1990s, and have been reflecting on it ever since, watching the wider world to see if there is evidence of this shift taking place.
I think there is. We are going through a vast technological revolution. Science has made fast strides in recent decades: mapping the human genome, beginning to alter the very genetics of life on earth.The magnificently durable Hubble telescope has hugely expanded our view of the Cosmos. And – much of the population of the Earth is now linked to the Internet, via mobile phone technology.
We even have a new religion: Scientism, which has risen to prominence in recent times complete with our local UK High Priests: Aquarius’ old ruler Saturn as Richard Dawkins, and its new ruler Uranus as Brian Cox. The new paradigm emerging carries with it, as has been the case throughout history, the arrogance of new beliefs: superior – of course! – to what went before. Fifty years ago, to be called ‘unChristian’ was a pretty hefty challenge. Today, being called ‘unScientific’ has largely taken its place.
Caught on the cusp of crumbling old world beliefs and the new world order arising, we are a liminal population, projecting the Divine onto enticing promises of a better future offered by scientific progress. This new future needs a name. Why not just call it the Age of Aquarius?
Exciting, revolutionary, disruptive – certainly. Ushering in a new era of love and peace? I don’t think so…what do YOU think?
Endnotes:
This post was first published as my fifth Not the Astrology Column in the March/April 2015 Issue of the UK’s Astrological Journal, edited by Victor Olliver.
Zodiac
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850 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2017
Astrology: Questions and Answers 
Wow. Very thought provoking, Anne.
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Happy to provoke at any time, Carrie!!
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Do we really need to keep the “official” name, if the current epoch doesnt seem to fit? I think the energy of our times is more Uranian in nature more than anything else. But Aquarius can also be the Town crank who dances to the beat of their own drummer, which seems to be equally as fitting a theme these days.
Fascinating insights as ever, Anne.
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Thanks, Aquarian Moon. Yes, the era has a strong Uranian ‘feel’ – Uranus, after all, is the ruling planet of the so-called Aquarian Age. The fact that this new era is clearly NOT ushering in a time of peace and love, Is I think a comment on the self-delusional capacity of human beings and their tendency to believe in the Golden Age lying just over the next horizon. Which it never has…
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Very nice post, Anne, and thanks for steering the misconceptions, thanks to that lovely song, back on track. You’ve presented some very interesting information.
I’m about to go to a late dinner but will keep this on the screen and appreciate it once more when I return.
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You have more stamina than I have, then, Lisa. After a late dinner I’d be falling into bed exhausted these days, not reading about the possible Aquarian Age! Glad you liked the post, though…thanks as ever for dropping by.
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Ha.. You made me laugh! I did indeed read the post again but was then way too tired write and make sense!
A precious pygmy owl escorted me back from the cafe last night… For the past three nocturnal outings between the cafe and the hostal, that owl has been nearby… the first time i saw it and another was when i visited the nearby cemetery where two friends are buried. i call the owls, ‘chana and rosa’ …. Last night when I left the cafe, the owl was gone, and I thought, ‘Well darn, Chana.. I thought you’d be watching over me…” and there she came, lit on a sign and stayed there for a photo session!
Hope your day/weekend is going well!
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See – I told you so!
I love owls – thanks so much for this delightful story of Chana and Rosa. I’m sure they couldn’t care less what World Age we happen to be in…
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I searched from Chana and Rosa one day, and after day one had found Rosa.. When I left her lovely grave, planted with roses that were in bloom, that’s when I first saw the two owls that truly seemed to be watching and then escorting me out of the cemetery. I’ve walked between the hostal and cafe for years at night, but this is the first ‘season’ to ever see the owls, to the point that I now look for that one lone one each night.. and it’s there usually on a wire near the light.. just perched and quietly watching…
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I concur with this completely Anne… Animal Farm springs to mind at the very least… however humans are eternally surprising and I hope (that most Jupitarian of traits) that we will overcome the negatives of the Aquarian age. Where would any of us be, indeed WHAT would we be without that 😀!
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Oh well, Life has always offered us a rich mix of plusses and minuses. Whatever era is now arising, call it the Aquarian Age or something else, offers us the same core challenge of reconciling contradictions many and various…
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29.4.17:
Ray Grasse:
Oh, plenty of thoughts, Anne. 🙂 Technically, the vernal point doesn’t reach the constellation of Aquarius for quite some time, maybe even a couple of centuries. But just as you’d expect with any major celestial event (like the once-in-every-five-centuries Pluto/Neptune conjunction of the 1890s), there’s undoubtedly a big orb, so it’s safe to say we’re already seeing it’s effects. (An analogy: when does the dawn begin? Is it when the Sun appears over the horizon? Or when the glow starts lighting up the sky? Imo we’ve been in that “glow” phase of the coming age for quite some time.)
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Yes, I’d certainly agree with this, Ray. I think that Uranus’ shift into Aquarius in the mid-1990s was when the glow began to grow noticeably brighter…
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29.4.17:
Nesta Wyn Ellis:
The transit is supposed to have begun in the late 1970’s. Agonisingly slow of course but we are getting the flavour of the new age in all our ultra electronic inventions.
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Yes – I think that the evidence of a very slow but distinct shift into a new, technology-dominated era is all around us, and has been accumulating for quite some time, as Ray points out in his comment.
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30.4.17:
Alison Gunn:
I think the transit of Pluto in Aquarius is going to be a massive dividing line between what was and what will be.
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Yes, Alison, you have a very good point here.This period will probably see huge developments in the field of A.I.which has already begun to revolutionise our world.
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Hello Anne,
I am just wondering how is the Aquarian age defined? Is there also such thing as the age of Gemini (i.e. when reading becomes a movement?)? The age of Virgo (i.e. when service to others becomes the center of our lives?)and etc.? Thank you.
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Hi Tommy
thanks for your interest in my work, and I note from your other comment that you have downloaded a copy of my Jupiter/Uranus research. When you get to pages 70-71 you will find this comment on the Aquarian Age which rather sums up how I feel about it:
‘It is conjectured in some quarters that we are somewhere between the end of the Piscean World Age and the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. However, as already
stated, the astrologer and historian Nick Campion has compiled a list of “about eighty published dates” between
1761 and 3500 for the supposed start of the Aquarian Age. A degree of restraint might therefore be in order in ascribing literal truth to this concept…’
Regarding world ages generally, it is logical that if there is such a thing as an Aquarian Age ( even as a metaphor for a particular period of world change with archetypally identifiable characteristics ) , then there is no reason why other time periods of around two thousand years should not be named astrologically. And we are said to be emerging from the Piscean Age, in which era its opposite sign of Virgo is perceived also as having a major bearing.
It’s a huge topic, too big and time consuming to be discussed in a comment box! I suggest you buy a copy of an excellent set of accessible astrological essays by Ray Grasse, called “Under a Sacred Sky” which has a very informative long essay on the turning of the Great Ages, including Aquarius.
You seem most interested in astrology – great! But there’s a lot of astro-dross out there which you shouldn’t waste your time on. I’d suggest you take out a sub for The Mountain Astrologer – you can get an on-line as well as a print version- which is rated as the world’s best astrology magazine. And you could read your way through the extensive article archives on http://www.astro.com which publishes writing from the best astrological writers worldwide.
Bon Voyage!
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Thanks for the reply and the suggestion! I’m indeed very interested in how planets’ energy influences events on Earth in a bigger picture 🙂 Perhaps it is the best way for me to have a sneak peek into the future, so far off that regrettably I cannot live to see…
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Once you begin to study astrology seriously, you will never get to the end of it…future peeking, to my mind, is the least valuable part of it…
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I take your point about Scientism and agree completely. Had a brief discussion with a young man last night who was completely enamoured with science. He had fixed views so I left him to it 🙂 other than remind him that most of science is based on theories not facts. Yes we are far from the peace and love – compassion appears to be disappearing at a sonic pace.
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Hi eremophila, I’ve only just seen your comment as a result of re-posting this on my Facebook page. Better a late reply than never! Thanks so much for dropping by, and for putting that young man in his place. The more we find out about our place in the cosmos, the less we really seem to know about it and the more our theories are placed under question. Personally, I like that!
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