Om Mani Padme Hum
For three days starting the day after the presidential election I burned a candle at my desk, a symbol of sacred light to help refocus the psychic energy that had been disrupted in me, and to bring consciousness to the shared hope we all hold for a better world.
Like many astrologers, I had stoked optimism about a Harris win for the presidency. While I had not completely ruled out a Trump win, my outlook was definitely a little skewed, and I apologize if I gave anyone false hope. Now that we are here, the cards are on the table, and that will allow for a more penetrating astrological analysis going forward.
For now, we have been disabused of complacency and must take seriously the daily grind of building a humane society. My wish is that we are encouraged and emboldened by the messages encoded in the stars to keep us working in the right direction. I still hold to the view of a progressive future for America and I intend to explore this assertion in more depth later.
Along with a number of rare outer planet alignments, we are in a significantly rare crux period between two very different zodiacal ages. The cosmic alignment of the Spring Equinox has reached the liminal overlap between the Pisces and Aquarius constellations, meaning that we are at the end of the Pisces Age and the beginning of the Aquarian Age at the same time. We are collectively holding the extraordinary tension between two conflicting paradigms: The regressive, Pisces-centric paradigm of religious rule, and the future oriented, Aquarian-centric paradigm of humanitarian purpose. Evolution works in cycles and we sometimes need to take steps, or even leaps, backwards before we can move forwards.
The shock of a backward step brings clarity. We now have the opportunity to let wishful blinders drop from our eyes and see clearly that our spiritual work is as important as it's ever been. We can't expect the world, the government, the markets, or the election cycle to take care of us. But we can make the deliberate choice everyday to be a better, more conscious person; to face our fears, deal with our responsibilities, and improve the state of love between ourselves and the people in our lives. We can do what it takes to tap deeply into our faith in a greater plan for humanity, one that none of us can clearly see, but that each of us integrally compose, each a tiny but indispensable node on the great web of humanity's higher purpose.
Some call this the work of the spiritual warrior. How do we fiercely uphold compassion, love, and personal integrity within a world filled with conflict and deceit? One of my favorite fictional characters who embodies the spiritual warrior archetype is Faramir from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, a valorous solider who grounds his being on faith and serving a higher good:
War must be while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.
Today I feel resonance with this statement. We face a devouring destroyer, therefore we must fight. But we must not be tempted to righteousness, we must remain true to the goodness that we defend. As political commentator Robert Reich recently wrote, we must remember what we love:
Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love...and remember that taking care of something else is an important part of taking care of yourself, because you are interwoven with the ten trillion things in this single garment of destiny that has been stained and torn, but is still being woven and mended and washed.
I'll be saying more soon about the big astrological alignments coming next year and how we might envision their meaning for the creation of a world that takes, and gives, better care. Meanwhile, keep the faith, and the love, and the utter refusal to back down from enlivening this world with your soul.
Lovely Blog!!! So glad I stumbled upon it. Praying for the best for Ukraine ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks Brian, I always find your commentary so insightful. I am not an experienced astrologer but not long ago I saw an online comparison of Trump’s and Kamala’s charts compared to the US chart with the current transits and it appeared that Trump had the “edge” astrologically speaking. My heart sunk but I hoped for the best (and voted, of course). Alas, as you said, the cards are now on the table and we must carry on.
I am intrigued by transiting Pluto moving into Aquarius and the impact the transit will have on the US chart during the Pluto return. Will Pluto dissolve and transform the US (and the world) through revolution as it did 246 years ago? Is it Pluto that is bringing out into the open the undercurrents of hate and negativity in people? And what impact will the other outer planets transits have?
I am still processing how we progressives move forward and how we defend ourselves against what I perceive to be a destroyer. Please keep sharing your analysis.
Hi Mary. You might be interested to read my article from last year about Pluto’s transit through Aquarius. I think the hate and negativity you refer to is more linked with Uranus’s transit through late Taurus (squaring the U.S. Moon) and into early Gemini (the U.S. Uranus Return). We also have Pluto at the last degree of Capricorn, which “caps” (pardon the cheap pun) the Plutonic energy of power/wealth concentration since 2008. With Pluto in Aquarius, we have the chance to break that concentration up and redistribute it amongst the populace. How that looks and how successfully durable it is remains to be seen. I hope you’ll stay tuned because I do plan to cover all of the outer planet transits, including Saturn, here on my blog, as well as in talks. Thanks for posting!
Thank you. I saw the full moon in our skies last night as it conjoined Uranus (also presently conjunct the Medusan fixed star Algol) and wondered what message it might bring: look to the light in the darkness. I understand this present crux between Pisces and Aquarius as a shift between world paradigms. Pisces as a dual water sign ruled by Jupiter has been an age of passionate conflicts
overseen by individuals who wield singular power such as monarchs or our present day star celebrities. But the symbol of Pisces has no peripheral vision. Fish can see to the left or to the right or forward. The Piscean political ideologies that perceive Progress as a destination or noun rather than a process or verb being examples of this. Aquarius as a fixed air sign ruled by Saturn is inevitably going to be difficult and shocking change for many. Primarily in its shift away from defining self in conflict with others toward interdependent fixed communities and a redefining of how we perceive Time in all its lived aspects. I see the present political polycrisis unfolding across our fragile shared world as part of a larger astrological alchemical Process. All of us are going to feel wrong about everything at the same time as all of us are going to feel right about everything until such time that all of us begin to see the light coming up as we leave the dark Piscean Twelfth house. All we can do is choose how to negotiate this emotional discomfort whether through raging resistance or calm endurance.
Thanks for your comments Sara. They make me think of the adage that the best way to heal the world is to heal ourselves. The alchemy is so much bigger than any of us, the polycrisis beyond our grasp to control, that we are drawn back to focus on our own lives, our own selves and close relations. Perhaps from there we can find the strength and resilience to stand against, or through, what is to come.
I’m so glad you’re here. With so many in the spiritual circles getting lost in conspiracies, it’s wonderful to share space with someone so steeped in love.
Hi Kari, I’m glad you find some solace here. To me, conspiracy theorists seem caught in a projection of fear and anger held towards their parents. As children they never experienced authority figures they could trust. But they find comfort in each other as they rage against systems they don’t understand. Then it all takes a life of its own and we end up where we are. I hope we all can find the clarity to heal from our projections. Thanks for commenting.
Brian, while I am normally pretty much in accord with your perspective, I do not share your characterization of the Age of Pisces as “regressive” versus a more positive outlook for Aquarius. I think, and this is only my perspective, that you may be comparing a dark side of one with the best possibilities of the other. As well as religion, as the dark side of Pisces, Pisces has also ruled over evolution of the planet from local fiefdoms to a state, flawed though it might be, of potential unity, which could go positively toward ‘one world’; or could take a false direction under Aquarius, for instance as an example that we should colonize Mars in order to survive. The cusp of the two ages leaves us at choice, the best of both or the worst. The choice not in our stars, but in ourselves. .
Thanks John. Nuance is hard to express in a less-than-1000 word post. I do agree with your overall statement, but to clarify myself, I don’t mean to say Pisces is inherently regressive relative to Aquarius, but that, at this point in history, it would be a regressive step backwards to try and recreate absolute religious rule (some states are cults) like the autocrats of today (be they presidents or priests or both) are trying to do. The age of Aquarius is by no means guaranteed to be a time of harmony but it is the future in a literal time-bound sense, and we are much better served incorporating its qualities as we work out how to integrate and release the Piscean past. I do agree the “one world” political unity could be the result, but it will take a very long time yet. I’ll tap your shoulder and say “look, we made it!” when we get there.