ASTROLOGY, THE COMMON BELIEF OF TOMORROW by
D
Michael Kiyoshi Salvatore
uring the Winter Solstice of 2020, a rare astrological transit took place in the first degree of Aquarius – not only did Jupiter and Saturn’s 20-year Great Conjunction cycle change elements from Earth to Air, a once-every-800-years event, but it was also close by declination, almost appearing as one great star in the sky. This merging of light gained popular interest as a once-in-centuries event, drawing comparisons to the 7 BCE Great Conjunction in the middle of Pisces, associated with the then-imminent celebration of Christmas. Many believe this ancient event was the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi to Jesus, whose life is widely associated with the beginning of the Age of Pisces.1 The recent Great Conjunction capped off a year that began with the conjoining of Saturn and Pluto over their nodal axes, an archetypal synthesis that ushered in a global pandemic, a striking demonstration of astrological efficacy. With the world still largely shut down, the closing major conjunction of the year received attention as an omen for an even larger transformation of humanity, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Unfortunately, as it’s been for other predictions for the new Age’s genesis, little has happened during Jupiter’s sweep through Aquarius to suggest a catalyzing shift in consciousness. In anticipation for Jupiter’s departure from Saturn and Aquarius for its home in imaginal Pisces, I’m inspired to share some speculation on why a new Age is close and what it could mean. One need not buy into the concept of the Platonic Great Ages or sympathize with millenarian visions to get the sense we’re approaching major upheavals worthy of a pronouncement of a “changing of the Gods.”2 From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment to the Industrial Revolution, Promethean achievement has normalized faith in the individual and reason, leading
to unprecedented improvements in the standard of living of millions across the planet, but often through forceful and extractive means that were genocidal and initiated cascading ecological collapse. At the same time, the ongoing technoscientific revolution promises the arrival
Navigating the future requires a serious confrontation with the malaise famously observed by Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Weber over a century ago: God is dead, the world is disenchanted, and we must grapple with the spiritual void left behind. of general artificial intelligence, nanobots, and genetic engineering could propel us into a post-human existence. All drudgery may end and total liberation unleashed — or else a small minority may be empowered to enslave the world, or perhaps produce machines and microbes of total destruction. Our material advancements far outstrip our metaphysical principles. Navigating the future requires a serious confrontation with the malaise famously observed by Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Weber over a century ago: God is dead, the world is disenchanted, and we must grapple with the spiritual void left behind. Otherwise, the center will give way to the extremes of
nihilism and totalitarianism, as both came to devastating fruition in the first half of the 20th Century. The petroleum-fueled conveniences and consumer culture that came out of the Second World War served as a bulwark against these existential quandaries, but times are changing. The nation that concretized the Enlightenment project and sits at the head of our Liberal World Order, the United States, is ramping up to its third Uranus return (2027-2028), coincident with reviving concerns for illiberalism thought banished during the last one (1944), and talks of civil war like the one before that (1860-1861). This is in addition to a second Neptune opposition since the Civil War, and the first Pluto Return of a modern democracy. In short, things look dire in the medium- and long-terms, without sufficient tools for navigating the many coming storms. But Saturnian necessity is the mother of Uranian invention, and there are many actively experimenting with how to resolve the “meaning crisis.” There are those like Carl Sagan who see the beauty of the natural world as sufficient in inspiring spiritual awe; then there are those like integralist Ken Wilber who work to synthesize the best of pre- to post-modern worldviews into a cohesive theory of spiritual evolution. For all their good intentions, these methods tend to be overly cerebral and individualistic, failing to provide stabilizing collective myths, norms, and rituals, or account for the axiomatic paradoxes of the human condition. For others, the only way forward is back; for example, psychologist Jordan Peterson advocates for a return to Christianity, the withered root at the foundation of our philosophical heritage. The reasoning is sound: established religions provide a holistic scaffolding for life and society, and perhaps they can again, but it’s more likely that religions of old are dying for a reason. Unprecedented advances in technoscience requires unprecedented spiritual technology. There are lessons to carry forward – Christianity’s emphasis on universal compassion over “might is right’’ parochial loyalty, for instance – but a new belief system must also contend with a hyperconnected, decentralized world, inspire humility and harmony with the natural world and its processes, and balance the autonomy of the individual with the needs of the collective. No one should pretend they have the sure solution to meet these needs, but I
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