As many of you know, for years I have suggested that we are living in a time when the Age of Pisces moves to the Age of Aquarius. Pisces aspires to the highest and spiritual life (monasteries, gurus, etc) but it is also the old, institutional, power-hungry patriarchal society.
The Piscean Age has been marked by the growth of the three major monotheistic religions, each of which claims to be the only correct one, and the attempted dissolution of the individual ego. As we move from the Piscean age into Aquarius, the awakener, we are being shown that the Emperor doesn’t have any clothes, that any unreality upon which we have based our religious foundations will be shattered in the upcoming years.
Pisces will not go calmly into the night as the precession of the equinoxes revolves into Aquarius—the most humanitarian astrological sign. Aquarius represents revolutionary thinkers who fervently support “power to the people,” and aspire to change the world through radical social progress. Every Aquarian is a rebel at heart, despising authority and anything that represents conventionality. Aquarius is also not only humanitarian but technological. We see the start of the Aquarian age, ruled by Uranus, in our innovation, technology, and surprising events. But it is also a time in which technology must not come to the point of ruling, but only serving humanity.
Along the same theme, the ancients saw time as a circle, with four Yugas—each cycle having distinct themes and and spiritual lessons for humanity. Just as Pisces is rolling into Aquarius, we are living in Kali Yuga, the final age of the Yugas. During this time (it has been predicted) people slide further down the path of dishonesty, with virtue being of little value. Passions become uncontrollable as unrestrained sexual indulgences and manipulations run through society. Liars and hypocrites rise. Important knowledge is lost and scriptures become less and less common. The human diet is now ‘dirty’, and people are not even close to being as powerful as their ancestors in the Satya Yuga. Likewise, the once pristine environment is now polluted. Water and food become scarce, as do family bonds.
There are many other teachings suggesting the same thing, The Hopi tribe believes that we are in the Fourth Cycle of Separation— a cycle when humans head and heart are disconnected, to be followed by an era when they are in harmony (Fifth World of Peace).
I intellectually know all this, and in an odd way it gives me comfort to realize there is a hidden order to our time, but being at the start of the end of the world as we know it is not a comforting thing. It is scary. When my father died I would wake up every morning feeling good…until I reminded myself that my Daddy was dead. In some ways, this is happening to me now. I wake up in my “normalcy” mode, only to quickly remind myself that the world has changed and it will never be the same again.
Earlier this week I let my clients know that I would be holding sessions via telephone for the next two weeks. By the next day I had changed “two weeks” to a month and now, indefinitely.
Many, myself included, see this time as a retreat—the cosmic order has forced us to retreat from our hectic lives. (Buddhists retreat frequently and purposefully.) We are forced to retreat, to slow down, take inventory, just be (even if fear lurks in the background). But how will we feel a month, six months from now when our world is still changing?
Peter Russell says it well in his recent email:
Along with the various preparations and precautions we may be taking, we also need to look at how best to prepare ourselves inwardly as the winds of change ramp up into a storm of change.
Trees provide a good lesson. If a tree is to withstand a storm it must be flexible, able to bend with the winds. And it must have strong roots and be stably anchored in the ground.
The same is true for us. We've never been in this situation before, and have no past experience to go on. We'll need to be flexible. to let go of outdated thinking, habitual reactions, and assumptions as to how to respond, and find the inner freedom to see things with fresh eyes and draw more fully on our creativity.
Second, like the trees, we will need greater inner stability. We need to be anchored in the ground of our own being, so that when the unexpected suddenly arrives, we can remain relatively cool, calm, and collected; not thrown into fear and panic.
Now, more than ever, our spiritual practice becomes important. We need to take time to step back from our worries and concerns and draw on the clarity and wisdom that lie in the stillness of our being. For me, having to stay home has had a hidden blessing in that I can be more in retreat mode, with less distractions, and from that has come a greater clarity of what is important.
A third factor that helps trees withstand a storm is being in a forest of trees. They soften the wind for each other. Strong community will be more important than ever; yet at a time when many of us can no longer meet in person. But we can still connect in other ways. I have been making video calls with friends and groups much more than I would have done otherwise, and actually found relationships deepening.
Eat well, exercise, be kind, tell those you love that you love them, take naps,
And pet your dog!
{{{Hugs}}}
Winter