If you've been feeling a great deal of intensity in your life lately, you're not alone. The Mayan End Date is fast approaching and its primary symbolism, the "end of time" or the "turning of ages", is effecting all of us. Many souls have been awakening to an inner calling, feeling pulled towards something that somehow, some way they were always meant to do. Others are being pulled into the dark abyss of total personal transformation. Whatever its nature, that pull is becoming stronger and more intense, requiring us to evolve as we rid ourselves of old patterns that hold us back and embrace new missions based on new ways of thinking and being. We must ride our leading edge into the future or risk becoming overtaken by our past.

From an astrological perspective, we can gain clues that can help us make the most of this pivotal transition in human consciousness. The planets powerfully symbolize a clearing of karmic cruft as we are encouraged to step up to our soul work, to fulfill our futures as agents of world healing during the years of change to come. The planets show us that the Solstice of 2012 is more than just the end of a calendar — it's a wake up call to our souls.

The most dramatic aspect that is occurring on the Solstice is a near perfect Yod, otherwise known as a "Finger of God", a configuration of three planets that has long been said to indicate special destiny. Jupiter stands nearly alone in Gemini, the tip of an elongated triangle that has Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn at the other points. This creates a shape almost like a pointy wizard's hat (indeed, this powerful aspect is a call to awaken our inner magician). Saturn and Pluto, in each other's signs of rulership, are creating the experiences we need individually and collectively to purge our karmic crap, to go deep within the cellars of our souls and reclaim those aspects of ourselves that we've denied or pushed away for far too long. We cannot fall back on old habits for security any longer, we must grow, or we will suffer greatly. Ultimately, the configuration of these three planets is an invitation to trust, have faith, in the powers that are guiding us to greater evolutionary vistas.

Putting it all together, you have a message from the stars telling us that the shift of 2012 is about personal and societal transformation at the deepest and highest levels. Neptune and Chiron in Pisces affirm that the gods are with us, ready to assist in the manifestation of our dreams, if we only invite them.

"What we've got here is a failure to communicate," says the prison warden in Cool Hand Luke. The same can be said when Jupiter and Mercury oppose each other. But not only are they in opposition on the Solstice but they are in the signs of each other's rulership. With Jupiter in Gemini we have a feeling like there's so much to say that our words can't keep up with our thoughts. Or, our intuition is giving us insights we can't quite process linearly. Mercury in Sagittarius makes our words lofty and grand, missing what's directly in front of us. Put those planets in opposition and you have intuition struggling to get a word in through all those fast moving thoughts in our brain. Moreover, Uranus in Aries adds some fire to the brain's activity — the tobasco of mental processing. The ongoing lesson here is to learn to balance our quickening minds with our deepening intuition, to be able to clearly state our truth succinctly without overthinking or too much analysis.

On a societal level the Jupiter/Mercury archetypes are indicating that one of the central issues in front of us right now is the split between spirituality and science. As we move through the 2012 Solstice, we are being asked to balance, or merge, these disciplines equally. Either one without the other will lead us to disaster. At a more essential level, we are learning how to balance fact gathering with belief. Are we so consumed with data that we lose our connection to feeling? Or are we so consumed with fiery religious fervor that we throw all the facts away in pursuit of a fundamental belief that ignores the data exposing our problems right in front of our face? Either way we lose out. We need both fact and faith, science and spirituality, if we are going to survive and thrive into our future.

All of that activity is being jostled by the fiery trickster Uranus in Aries. Squaring Pluto, Uranus is saying "wait a minute, I see you're doing all that deep transformational inner work, but you better make sure you're taking care of your community too." Explosive changes to our lives can occur during this kind of transit, but the best way to avoid too much calamity is to stay mindful of our service to community and society. Where can we be best of help? Where is our expanding personal growth most needed in the world? This isn't about holing ourselves up in a cave to meditate and pray our way to enlightenment. This is about remaking the world out of our higher collective vision. Not easy, but, again, with faith we can manage it, and find ourselves delightedly surprised by where we end up.

Putting it all together, you have a message from the stars telling us that the shift of 2012 is about personal and societal transformation at the deepest and highest levels. Great technological and spiritual discoveries await us if we put ourselves to the work of facing our fears, dropping our victimizations and blame, and taking responsibility for every aspect of our life experience. Neptune and Chiron in Pisces affirm that the gods are with us, ready to assist in the manifestation of our dreams, if we only invite them.

The symbolism found within the astrology of the 2012 Solstice is quite remarkable. Humanity is most certainly being asked to step up to a new visionary paradigm — will we continue to repeat old patterns out of fear and separating desire, or will we stand with the courage of our souls and usher in the unifying glory and beauty of the Aquarian Age? If you ask me, we're doing amazingly well. The future is brighter than we think, and the planets are winking at us in agreement.

Continue to Part 2: The first Full Moon after the 2012 Solstice.

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