Yes, Please!
The first time I heard about the Age of Aquarius, I was ten years old, with that wonderful song by the Motown group The 5th Dimension that starts out, “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!”. The lyrics talk about a time of trust, harmony, understanding, liberation of the mind, and opening of the heart. Too good to be true? Wishful thinking? Well, I’ve been researching the topic recently, as I have felt some shifts happening that could be illusions born of my desperate need to see some change in the world or a true transition into a different planetary energy. It is hard to talk about love, trust, heart, and liberation during what feels like a peak of chaos in the world, from political dysfunction in our own country to the terrible war in Ukraine and the horrors of the war between Israel and Gaza to the school mass shootings and the ever-worsening climate events. It feels exhausting to wake up each day to yet another news cycle of the same old.
But even in the midst of this global mess, there is still a palpable energetic shift that I have been connecting to since I wrote last month’s article on the evolution of consciousness. I went from a strong cerebral faith in the intelligent design of evolution to a deeply felt sense in my body that love is in the air, in a way it hasn’t been for the last couple of decades. The extreme polarization from politics to pandemics to climate change has felt overwhelming and destabilizing, at least for me, as if humanity were at a critical crossroads and every major political and social decision carries an exponential weight. But along with the forces that want to take the world back to a darker time, there is also an increasingly strong force of light, hope, love, rebellion, and social justice to confront what many or even most of us know is no longer sustainable. We are seeing the individual lights of self-serving interest and self-absorption dimming and the light of community and connection shining a little stronger. Is this an ordinary transition, such as the seasonal shift from late summer into early fall, or is it larger than that? For me, it feels much larger than the fresh air of the fall mornings coming through; it feels consequential as if we were being reborn into something that the heart has been yearning for. Could it be that love is in the air?
Coupled with the evolutionary impulse that I talked about last month, could there be an astrological phenomenon that is pushing us forward with a new momentum, a new vibe? Could it be that we are really transitioning into the Age of Aquarius, a new era for humanity? An era of greater compassion, consciousness, and enlightenment? Let’s unpack this a bit by talking about what an astrological age means. According to 3HO International, an astrological age is a period of time-based on the orientation of the Earth’s rotational axis in relation to various constellations. They say, “The durations are long, with each age lasting approximately 2,160 years. Beyond the relationship between the Earth and the stars, these ages are important because they point to cultural influences and values, giving us clues about what to expect for future generations. The twelve astrological ages flow backward through the signs of the zodiac, meaning that we are leaving the Piscean Age and entering the Age of Aquarius. While there is debate about when exactly the Age of Pisces ends, and the Age of Aquarius begins, it is widely accepted by the astrological community that we are living through the transition” (https://www.3ho.org/blog-new/the-age-of-aquarius-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care/).
According to astrological interpretation, the Piscean Age is characterized by war, machinery, and the idea that information is power. If we have been at this for the last 2,000+ years, then we can certainly see correlations to the many, many wars that have been fought from the Middle Ages to current times; we can see the rise of the machine with the Industrial Revolution; and we can surely see the rise of social media as the extraordinary phenomenon of the last 20 years. The idea of information as power is embodied in the fast-moving technology by many entrepreneurs. The impact on our lives is stunning, especially when you figure out the misuse of information and the use of AI (artificial intelligence). Social media has served two purposes; one is to make us more into a global village, connecting people and communities across the world and bringing awareness of what is happening without suppressing the truth. On the other hand, social media has fueled misinformation and outright lies to influence our politics, getting the “war of cultures and politics” into our cyberspace. As with most things in life, there are usually two sides to every coin, and they both serve a common purpose -to raise awareness that light and dark are always present and that it is up to each one of us to calibrate the imbalances.
So, as the song goes, have Jupiter and Mars aligned yet? Yes, they did on June 3, 2024, known as the Great Alignment. According to astrologers, the transition into a new age is not a smooth, incremental thing; rather, it feels abrupt and jarring as the [Piscean] energies peak in order to give way to a new [Aquarian] energy field. It is not a comfortable time, but one that may feel like the painful process of birthing a child. And what does this newborn look like? Most astrologers argue that it is an age when we transition from “me” to “we” and an understanding that we’re all in this together and that the fate of one is intertwined with the fate of all. I see an image in my mind as I’m writing this: we’re all being pulled into Indra’s Web by Mother Spider and woven back into the fabric of our collective humanity. The second characteristic of the Age of Aquarius is transparency; when the unknown becomes known, it will not be as easy for the powerful who manipulated information to hide from public scrutiny, and the truth will come forth unhindered. The third aspect is massive changes in technology, science/medicine, and social shifts. We can already see this with the acceleration of AI (artificial intelligence), innovations in pharmaceuticals and medical procedures (such as robotics for surgery), and the deep social transformation on issues of identity (LGTBQ movement). And if we reflect deeply on the current state of our politics, it is almost inevitable to see the Piscean and Aquarian transition playing out. Regardless of the outcome, a process has been set in motion.
I don’t want to ignore the song lyrics that talk about the Moon being in the seventh astrological house. This is not a one-time event, as the Moon is in our seventh house for 2.5 days each month. But what it represents is harmony, stability, peace, and a sense of more intimacy and interconnectedness with others. The alignment of Jupiter and Mars will now support and enhance this monthly movement, hopefully bringing forth that sense of harmony with more vigor and vibrancy….it will be bumping up against something that exalts it rather than working against it.
All in all, this year feels like a time of profound changes and a sense of renewed hope as we step into Fall and Winter when we can harvest and nurture what the Age of Aquarius demands. Regardless of the turmoil around us, we can always “hunt the good and the light”, and if we are persistent, we will always find it. I long for the good and the light to be so present that the search will slow down. Dear reader, I think that love is in the air!
By Dulce Garcia-Morman, Ph.D
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