Epochal Change

Photo by Carl

Planets don’t have any effect on human behavior, right? Unless you take a history class titled “The Passion of the Western Mind” taught by Richard Tarnas, and another class that dips into the shadows of Jungian archetypes with an astrological bent. Then you roll up your sleeves and think, “WOAH! That February 20th at 11:04 AM conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in Aries event started something…”

For your information: Neptune has kind of dreamy, visionary, oceanic effects. Saturn is slap-you-in-the-face Reality. And Aries is the first house in the astrological suburb and is about action, get to it, baby.

Imagine them all meeting at a cocktail party. Or in the sky. For the first time in over 6000 years. That’s what “Saturn and Neptune conjuncted in Aries” means.

The last time Saturn and Neptune conjuncted was in 1989. Think: the invention of the World Wide Web. The fall of the Berlin Wall. Tiananmen Square massacre. The first GPS satellite in orbit. The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Game Boy and—the cream on the topping—the birth of Taylor Swift.

But the last time Saturn and Neptune conjuncted in Aries was 6,387 years ago. And that was the beginning of the Neolithic revolution. The birth of agriculture and the settling of humans.

And so, given all the changes going on, one might be open to considering this conjunction as the birth of a new epoch. And when I think in terms of epochs, I think evolution. Evolution takes time.

Whether or not you believe there’s a connection between the stars’ and the planets’ movements and human action, the unraveling of this past year has given me pause. I am asking myself, What is my role going to be in the birthing of this next epoch?

Birthing. What a powerful word. What potential.

Aries in the first house makes it the seeding point of the zodiac. It’s where everything begins. Its positive traits are courage, optimism, honesty, and action. It’s a do-it-yourself, independent kind of planet, one that prefers networks to hierarchies. But Aries is impatient. And it demands clarity. We need to be clear how we go forward, and we need to act.

What do I imagine the new world might be?

Imagine! Imagining is so important because only if we imagine it can it happen. Right? 

And I don't think there’s any avoiding this cosmic change. The good news is, we each have a role to play. We are alive, experiencing this world. For us humans, with our great big brains and the ability to create with our prehensile thumbs, we get to choose what it will become.

AI? Techbros and oligarchs over the power of the People?

Not in my imaginings.

There is a lot out of our control these days, if not because of the planets’ movements, than because the old myths and culture—birthed nearly 7,000 years ago—don’t work anymore. Not for humans, not for Nature. In the narrow context of the United States (and we are united), our country’s current “leadership” is destroying 250 years of a beautiful experiment: an imperfect union. The destruction is horrifying, stupid, and heartbreaking. Hate? War? Greed? Power? That’s all so old-fashioned. Those old ways of being have failed, the structures are falling, and I, for one, am sitting down to imagine a future beyond me. How I might make a difference in my own way that will ripple out, reaching to the sky, to the stars and planets, and beyond.

All to say, if the seeds for a new epoch were sown on February 20th at 11:04 EST, then it’s up to us, as individuals, to determine which ones we will water. What fruits will this epoch bear?

Thanks to Astrobutterfly.com. I’m enjoying the ride!