Will religion survive the Aquarian Age?

January 6, 2012 By

KopimismIn Sweden a new religion called “kopimism” is dedicated to the right to share files freely across the internet.  This religion has been officially recognized by the Swedish government as a lawful religion. Its sacred symbols are ctrl-c and ctrl-v (the PC keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste).  This is not a joke.

For the past 2150 years or so we have been in the Age of Pisces (see my earlier article for the delineations between the Great Ages and a discussion of when the Aquarian Age begins.)  The sign of Pisces is ruled by both Jupiter, its traditional ruler, and Neptune, its modern ruler.  Both Jupiter and Neptune are connected to the spiritual life, but where Neptune deals with matters of the Spirit in which worldly issues are transcended for the sake of an inner experience, Jupiter seeks meaning in life through building a theological construct and tenets that give us comfort and a sense of peace.  Any system of beliefs is a Jupiterian experience, and any divine or creative experience is an experience of Neptune. So the Piscean Age, which began sometime around the beginning of the common era (0 c.e.) has been the age of religious and spiritual experience.

age of piscesIt would be a mistake to say that Pisces itself is connected with religion specifically, because there is this image with Pisces of two fish swimming in opposite directions. At its best, Pisces works to integrate the spiritual life (Neptune) with the intellectual beliefs of Jupiter and in doing so one often obscures the other. The Piscean Age oversaw the greatest expansion of one religion that the world had ever known; it has also been the age of ignorance and deception (negative Pisces traits), during which religious fervor obscured a 2,000 year history of war and abuse by various religious establishments around the world. It’s no accident on an esoteric level that Christianity is symbolized by the Ichthys (fish) which was used as a secret symbol by early Christians to mark their meeting places.  The concept of fish factors prominently in the stories of Christianity, with Jesus as a fisher of men, converting loaves into fish, teaching men to fish.

But the Piscean Age also brought about a surge of mysticism and spiritual exploration of various kinds. Every major religion had its mystical branches, even the Roman Church in which such practices were banned in public but practiced in secret.  The idea that one can have a direct individual connection to the Divine violates the basic laws of the Church which required the intercession of the priestly class.

The Aquarian age is likely to be a very different story.  Aquarius also has a double rulership: Saturn is the traditional ruler and Uranus is the modern ruler, and never two did two different planets share a bed.  Saturn presides over structure and form and the status quo, and Uranus is dedicated to shattering the status quo and creating a New World Order where everyone is free and rational.  Because Saturn tends to be rather rigid it is often associated with the rigidity of religious doctrine, but Uranus is the planet of science and reason, neither of which are typically very supportive of religion.

There is no doubt that the presence of religion in our lives is changing, especially in the United States which, with Jupiter-ruled Sagittarius rising and Jupiter conjunct the Sun in the national chart is exceptionally tied to religious dogma.  A recent Pew study found that 28% of all adults surveyed had left the religion of their childhood, a rather astonishing number.

As we continue to move into the Aquarian Age, the force of “reason” is likely to dominate over spiritual experience, bringing another set of dangers.  The idea that in the Age of Aquarius “peace and love will rule the sky”  promulgated by the musical Hair is a fantasy.  If you ever read Animal Farm by George Orwell, a book about the dangers of communism where all are equal and none are free, you’ve seen the dark side of Aquarius in action.

Over the past 50 years or so since we’ve been in the transitional phase between the Piscean and Aquarian ages there has been a surge of new religions.  Neopagan and WIccan cults have gone almost mainstream.  The study of yoga has brought eastern religions into western thought.  Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, followed closely by Bahai and Sikhism.

Will this proliferation of new religion and faiths mean an increase of peace and understanding, or continued religious warfare?  The choice is up to humanity and only time will tell.

Share
Filed Under: Religion Tagged With: , , , , ,

Part I: Neptune in Pisces, 2011-2025

April 5, 2011 By

by Lynn Hayes

To do justice to this topic I will serialize this article in two parts.  Thanks to The Mystical Experience on Facebook for this amazing image. Neptune entered Pisces on April 4th, beginning a new 14-year cycle of Neptune traveling through its own sign.

By its very nature, Neptune is difficult to talk about.  It tends to be evasive and dreamy, and full of imagination and artistic creativity.  It also can become lost in the illusion of fantasy and encourage sacrifice of the individual self, sometimes for a higher purpose and sometimes in a codependent loss of Self.  In its highest form Neptune inspires us to transcend the material world and connect deeply and directly with an experience of the Divine.

Before Neptune was discovered, Pisces was ruled by Jupiter.  Jupiter, being one of the personal planets, operates on the worldly plane where Neptune, a transpersonal planet of transformation, inspires us to go beyond this world.  Where Neptune governs the direct experience of transcendence, Jupiter presides over the more intellectual construction of what gives life meaning.  Jupiter therefore is more concerned with religion and theology where Neptune deals with matters of spiritual experience.  Both planets also have a hand in popular culture.  Neptune is found in areas of artistry and entertainment, where Jupiter is more involved with the actual media through which entertainment is  delivered to the masses.

With Neptune moving into Pisces, there is the potential for tremendous spiritual transformation, but also mass delusion such as has never been seen before.  The last time Neptune entered Pisces was in February 1848, shortly after its discovery in 1845.   1848 is the year that the gold rush began in California, leading one reporter to complain that everyone in the state was under the spell of gold fever.  This kind of fever, or mass hysteria, is emblematic of Neptune in Pisces.

Note:  Some astrologers are linking the publication of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto to Neptune entering Pisces, but we must not forget that Uranus and Pluto were conjunct in Aries during this same period.  The kind of socialism that evolved into Communism is representative of the Uranian longing for equality and justice, although some of us would argue that in Communism that longing was carried to an untenable extreme.  For this we can probably blame Neptune in Pisces in which the forces idealism can become clouded by illusion.

Over the past year and especially over the past few months we have been discussing the power of Uranus in Aries to foster revolutionary (Uranus) fervor (Aries), and with both Uranus and Pluto in Aries the radicalism that we are seeing today would have been exponentially more powerful, even though neither Uranus nor Pluto had yet been discovered at that time.

The spiritualism of the 19th century has its roots in Neptune’s travel through Pisces during that time.  Wikipedia tells us that

Spiritualists often set March 31, 1848, as the beginning of their movement. On that date, Kate and Margaret Fox, of Hydesville, New York, reported that they had made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made this an extraordinary event was that the spirit communicated through rapping noises, audible to onlookers. The evidence of the senses appealed to practically minded Americans, and the Fox sisters became a sensation.

Please see the Wikipedia page for the citation. After this event there was a huge increase in seances, automatic writing, and other modalities of communicating across the veil of death.  Remember, under the influence of Neptune boundaries of all kinds become more permeable and psychic activity is heightened.  Over the next few years, Neptune in Pisces-inspired activities of contacting those on the other side spread around the world and inspired those who would later found the Theosophical Society.  The famed Theosophist Helena Blavatsky spent these Neptune in Pisces years traveling the world in search of spiritualistic knowledge.

Neptune in Pisces seeks a direct experience of the divine, and conventional religious theology (falling under the domain of Jupiter) does not satisfy the inner longing that Neptune inspires.

Tomorrow we’ll take a closer look at what we can expect under the influence of Neptune in Pisces over the next few years.

Share
Filed Under: Planetary cycles Tagged With: , , , , ,

The astrology of Corey Haim

March 12, 2010 By

Corey Haim, the 1980s child star who made a career out of attempting a comeback, died the other night from what coroners say was an enlarged heart and fluid in the lungs.  Haim had a long history of drug addiction and was apparently admitted to rehab on fifteen different occasions, but it wasn’t drugs that killed him, at least not directly, but the devastation of 20 years of drug abuse had already taken their toll.

Haim had the Sun in achievement-oriented Capricorn, in a nearly exact square (challenging aspect) to Pluto, planet of death and renewal.  With the Sun in Capricorn his desire for success and to make a mark on the world was a driving force in his life, but he also had Jupiter, the planet of good luck and optimism, in its own sign of Sagittarius where it is particularly powerful.  Jupiter in Sagittarius is the party boy – the Fool in the Tarot deck that operates through blind faith, ready to step off a cliff because he is looking at the sky, but nearly always landing on his feet.  His Mercury was in Sagittarius as well, suggesting that there was a big part of him that didn’t want to be serious or focus on the future, in spite of the Capricorn Sun.

That Sun/Pluto square nearly always signifies great potential, such as in the charts of Jon Stewart, Maya Angelou, Sally Field and Barbra Streisand; but it can also signify great tragedy and self-destruction, such as Tiger Woods, Mark David Chapman (John Lennon’s murderer), and occasionally have a transformative effect on the world for good or for evil, such as L Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology).  The intense pressure that Pluto puts on the Sun to surrender and let go of the past and allow oneself to emerge from the fires unscathed can be overpowering, or it can build tremendous resilience and personal empowerment.

It complicated matters for Corey that Mars in his chart was opposed by Pluto and in a challenging square formation to his Sun.  This is a dynamic system called a “T-square” in which Mars, in Pisces and therefore already weakened, was opposed by Pluto which sapped his energy and his vitality but also provided a challenge that could have provided opportunities to build inner strength through adversity.  Over the past couple of years transiting Pluto had been squared his Mars, restricting his abilities to achieve his goals, and then square Pluto in the natal chart and the Sun, creating an intensity of experience that would have required some sort of outlet.  Last fall when Saturn entered Libra it conjoined his Pluto and squared his Sun, setting off this whole dynamic once again.  Haim didn’t suffer from chronic depression but he was depressed in the period before his death as a result of the Saturn transit.

Though Corey Haim’s chart was “lucky,” with Jupiter exalted in Sagittarius and an exact Grand Trine in air between Venus, Saturn and Pluto, the ease offered by these astrological influences may instead have made it too easy to rely on his luck instead of apply the diligence of his Capricorn Sun.  Haim’s career began early at the age of 11, but like so many other child stars he was unable to parlay that early success into a lasting career.

Like all of the recent deaths of young Hollywood stars and personalities, this is a terribly sad story.  But it is also a lesson in the limits of luck, and why it is important to face our demons and transform them into our allies.

Share
Filed Under: Celebrities, Death Tagged With: , , , , ,

The collision of Jupiter and the Triple Conjunction

July 23, 2009 By

Jupiter and Chiron reached their exact conjunction on Wednesday for their second time in this cycle, just as it was discovered that a huge body in space slammed into Jupiter, giving it a bruise “as big as the Pacific ocean.” Chiron of course is known as the “Wounded Healer,” and the synchronicity of the wound to Jupiter becoming known to us here on Earth as Jupiter conjoined Chiron is an interesting one.  Those two are within a degree of an exact conjunction to Neptune as well, and the Triple Conjunction is still very much in force.

In another striking coincidence, it was fifteen years ago to the day that the comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter.  At the time, Uranus and Neptune were conjunct in the sky, combining the radical new ideas of Uranus with the spiritual inspiration of Neptune.  This was the best and the worst of times for the New Age movement – there were brilliant new insights flooding the airwaves, as well as the most stupid of deceptions and illusions.

Jupiter in astrological symbolism represents the field of unlimited possibilities, but it also has to do with our formulation of a sense of meaning in life.  If we look back to the 1994 collision of the comet with Jupiter, we can see that this time period created drastic changes in the way we constructed our belief of the meaning of reality.  Perhaps we are on the verge now of another big breakthrough of consciousness.  Or perhaps it was just another space collision.

Share
Filed Under: Astronomy, Planetary cycles Tagged With: , , ,

More thoughts on the Chiron/Neptune conjunction

May 9, 2009 By

Chiron Neptune conjunctionI did a reading for a brand new baby the other day.  I love doing consultations for parents of beings that have just entered the earth plane, because it’s all about possibilities and choices and talents and skills.  Challenges too, of course, but when we understand the charts of children, parents, spouses, siblings – really anyone! – a new level of conscious awareness improves the way that we relate to each other.

Anyway, this baby of course has the approaching conjunction of Jupiter to Chiron and Neptune. This triple conjunction has been building for quite some time and will culminate within a half a degree on May 26.  All children born at this time have this conjunction in their charts, and in fact all children born between around March 2008, when Chiron and Neptune first entered the orb of their conjunction, and around April of 2011 when they meet for the last time, will be the “Chiron Neptune” generation.

Neptune is the planet that drives us to fulfill our spiritual longing.  Every individual has in their nature a longing for an experience that will provide us with a connection to our inner Self.  For some of us this manifests in a desire for the perfect bowling score.  For some it is an experience of God in a Church.  For some it is a few beers when we get home from work, or losing ourself in a beautiful piece of music.  The experience is different – the motivation is the same.

When we add the experience of Chiron, the Wounded Healer, it becomes necessary to process any psychological and emotional blocks in order to gain that Neptunian experience.  Chiron doesn’t just invite us to enter the inner world of our abandoned psychic debris – it throws that stuff up in our face where we have to face it.  Our emotions can run wild, feeling out of control, as any old undigested memories or emotional angst surfaces so that it can be dealt with.  This process can be exhilarating if we surrender to it and treat it just like cleaning out the basement.  It’s a painful process to go down there and see all of the crap that has accumulated, but a thrilling feeling to be rid of it once and for all.  The Chironic process helps to open the heart more and more fully, and in this process we gain greater wisdom and a phenomenal sense of peace.

The addition of Jupiter here is a two-edged sword.  On the one hand the conjunction of Jupiter to Neptune expands (Jupiter) the longing for spiritual redemption and renewal (Neptune) which can lead us to incredible experiences of spiritual advancement now.  On the other hand, Jupiter can lead to excesses of escapist behavior and flights of fantasy, both of which fall under the dark side of Neptune’s domain..

If this triple conjunction is triggering a planet in your own chart, you are likely experiencing a highly emotional state right now and some resistance to the surrender that is required now.  Letting go to the river of spiritual evolution isn’t easy, but if you can stay in the canoe during this exciting whitewater ride of the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune, you will emerge having freed yourself and able to enter a higher level of awareness and conscious action.

The generation that embodies this planetary combination will, I feel, be extremely sensitive and easily wounded.  But they will also possess the tools to process their wounds quickly and emerge as deeply human but also amazing spiritual beings.

I found this gorgeous art on the web but it was unattributed.  If you know who created this piece please let me know!

Share
Filed Under: Life, Planetary cycles Tagged With: , ,

The Chiron/Neptune conjunction: Part II

April 9, 2009 By

When Chiron and Neptune are working together, they combine to assist with the work of the soul.  The body,, the mind, and the ego are all most interested in living a life well-grounded in the material world that offers the maximum of pleasure and the minimum of pain.  The soul does not pursue pleasure and avoid pain; instead, there is an embrace of experiences that will assist us at the deepest level to completely learn the lessons that are presented to us so that we can release the past and move forward with greater wisdom.

Chiron facilitates this aspect of soul work by uncovering any wounded places that have been left unresolved so that we can be freed of the blocked energy that our unreleased wounds hold within the body/mind/spirit system.  Neptune assists by reminding us that there is a world of experience that lies beyond the boundaries of the material world.  Under the influence of Neptune we either open up to experiences of a powerful mystical nature, or else we become confused and deluded as the nature of our personal reality is blurred and we have nothing to replace it with.  Neptune bestows creative genius and a spiritual connection to our Divine self as the physical world is transcended, or it can cause us to indulge in escapist and addictive behavior in an effort to escape the prison of our own mind.

As in everything else in the astrological language, there is a both a higher and lower manifestation of both Chiron and Neptune, so when they combine in a conjunction there is the potential to for a transcendent experience of healing spirituality, or a confusing descent into the hell of the unknown of the psyche.

I suspect that the epidemic of mass shootings we have seen over the past few months as Chiron and Neptune approach their exact conjunction is the result of the conjunction taking a darker turn in the personal lives of many people  Chiron can intensify any wounds that are already challenging, and Neptune can make it difficult to evaluate those experiences with any kind of rational thought.  We like to think of Jupiter as being a “benefic” planet, but it is also the great liberator and expands whatever it comes into contact with, so when Jupiter hooks up with Chiron the process of exposing the wounds for greater healing potential can create an abundance of sensitivity that under Neptune’s influence has no real outlet without a conscious application.

There is also an opportunity here for tremendous spiritual growth and insight if we look within for the wisdom that awaits there.  The process of spiritual evolution does often require that we step confidently through a dark night of the soul or two, and this may be a necessity over the next couple of months.  Jupiter and Neptune expand the potential for creativity as the inspiration of the divine showers easily through the veil of the mind, and the voice of our guidance and the divinity of our choice can be clearly heard now.  Jupiter in Aquarius is humanistic and altruistic, and there is a strong focus on the call for change, both within ourselves and in the world in which we live as well!

Share
Filed Under: Planetary cycles Tagged With: , , ,

Worship of Zeus may be much older than supposed

March 22, 2009 By

ZeusExcavations at Mount Lykaion in Greece have unearthed pottery shards that date back over 5,000 years.  Mount Lykaion is one of the mythical birthplaces of Zeus (later known as Jupiter in Roman mythology), and this has led to speculation that Zeus may have been worshipped in this location 1,000 years earlier than previously supposed.

David Gilman, senior research scientist, says:

The fact that the ash altar to Zeus includes early material dating back to 3000 BCE suggests that the tradition of devotion to some divinity on that spot is very ancient. The altar is long standing and may in fact pre-date the introduction of Zeus in the Greek world. We don’t yet know how the altar was first used, and whether it was used in connection with natural phenomena such as wind, rain, light or earthquakes, possibly to worship some kind of divinity male or female or a personification representing forces of nature.” .

Evidently there are layers of archaeological findings that span thousands of years, and early 20th century excavations suggested the earlier activity there to be 700 bce.  One of the arguments against ancient civilizations such as Atlantis is that no evidence has yet been found for such a civilization, but as archaeologists continue digging deeper and deeper into the millenia they keep pushing back the limits of the earliest civilizations.

Was Zeus a human person that was literally born on Mount Lykaion?  In mythology he was one of the Titans, the children of Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky) that later battled with the gods for control.  This is very similar to the Genesis myth of the Daughters of Man (Earth) mating with the Sons of God and bearing children:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Men of renown: Zeus and Kronos and the other characters of Greek myths?  It’s all very fascinating to me and the archaeological evidence keeps getting closer to the truth.

Share
Filed Under: Mysteries Tagged With: , , ,

Jupiter Direct! And Exactly Trine Saturn…

September 9, 2008 By

When a planet changes direction (as we see the planet from our vantage point on Planet Earth), it is particularly powerful. Today we have Jupiter turning direct after spending several days in conflict with Mars, Mercury and Venus.

Jupiter brings expansion and makes everything that it touches larger than life, and when it conflicts with other planets it can be a bit of a bully.  Jupiter in square aspect to Mars (drive and assertion) creates a lot of aggressive energy; in square to Mercury (communication) promotes arguments and a sense of righteousness.  We are certainly seeing all of these dynamics being played out in the political arena, where the rhetoric has been extremely heated over the past week since the Republican convention.

The trine (harmonious aspect) of Saturn to Jupiter over the past week has the potential to harness Jupiter’s positive power in a way that can effect real change, and Obama and McCain have agreed to appear together at Ground Zero to honor the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and to refrain from campaigning on that day.  On September 11, Mars, Mercury and Venus will line up in Libra where tact and diplomacy rule.  Even Bill Clinton will get into the picture, with a reported meeting scheduled with Barack Obama to hopefully put away the hatchet once and for all. The Sun opposes Uranus (sudden change and reversals) the following day, so there may be some surprising news come out of either of these meetings.

Share
Filed Under: Planetary cycles Tagged With: ,

Jupiter Gets a Third Spot

May 24, 2008 By

From NASA’s Astrology Picture of the Day:

NASA explains, “Jupiter’s recent outbreak of red spots is likely related to large scale climate change as the gas giant planet is getting warmer near the equator. ”

Some climate change skeptics are using reports like this and changes on Mars and Pluto to mean that global warming is caused by the Sun and not by human activity on earth, but New Scientist refuted that objection last year:

According to solar physicists, the sun emitted a third less energy about 4 billion years ago and has been steadily brightening ever since. Yet for most of this time, Earth has been even warmer than today, a phenomenon sometimes called the faint sun paradox. The reason: higher levels of greenhouse gases trapping more of the sun’s heat.

Still, it’s an interesting coincidence that the third eye on Jupiter erupts as Jupiter stations (stalls its motion) in exact sextile to Uranus, the planet of change. Jupiter signifies our search for meaning and the theology that we build to explain our world, and in its dance with Uranus there are daily surprises that urge us to rethink this world that we live in.

Share
Filed Under: Astronomy Tagged With: ,

Today’s Planetary News

April 23, 2008 By

We have a couple of interesting planetary configurations now that will last for a few more days.

One is a Grand Trine that includes the Sun in Taurus, Pluto in Capricorn, and Saturn in Virgo that began a couple of days ago when all planets were at 1 degree. We are as close now to a trine as Saturn and Pluto will be until the year 2030, and this is a powerful trine that enables us to build structures (Saturn) that facilitate change and transformation (Pluto).

We are still seeing the effects of that as we move into today’s T-square involving an opposition between Mars in Cancer to Jupiter in Capricorn, both of which are square to Venus in Aries. Venus in Aries wants to approach relationships from a self-oriented perspective, and Mars in Cancer has a drive to express individuality through nurturing others. For the next few days there is a conflict here between those two modalities – how to maintain our independence in relationships while being sensitive to the needs of others. Jupiter’s effusiveness and occasional arrogance can get in the way here – it whispers in our ear and tells us that we can have anything we want. Perhaps it even encourages us to bait the enemy, as Condoleeza Rice did when she called al Sadr a coward.

Venus will have moved on in a day or so and will form a sextile (harmonious aspect) to Neptune which will help to smooth the interpersonal waters, but the Mars/Jupiter effect will last a bit longer, through the end of the week. There is more energy flying around than usual, but physical activity will help to keep that energy in check and make it easier to maintain balance. This is a great time for sports and anything that involves competition.

Share
Filed Under: Astrology, Planetary cycles Tagged With: , , , , , ,
« Older Posts