THE FUTURE OF OUR AGE
The Horoscope of Modern Humanity, cast for the solar eclipse and Neptune-Pluto conjunction of April 26, 1892, reflects an image of ourselves in the celestial mirror. It's not a very comforting sight, but just as an individual person does not remain the same throughout life, neither does humanity as a whole. The Horoscope of Modern Humanity can be progressed, just like a personal horoscope, to represent our continued development as we grow and mature in the years following birth. The technique of progressions is based on the maxim: "a year is a day in the life of the Lord." This refers to the fundamental influence in our lives of the two great cycles of time, the day and the year; and to the two basic elements in any horoscope which are based on them, the houses and the signs. In progressing a chart, each day following birth is used to represent one year of life. Thus, if the birth chart is like a mirror of ourselves frozen in time, the progressed chart is like a home movie, chronicling our development.
Progressions are not the same as transits. The transits are the current positions of the planets, especially the outer ones, and their relationship to the original positions in any horoscope. The progressions (mainly by the inner planets) show how we rise to the occasion to meet events indicated by the transits. Nevertheless, the progressions in the Horoscope of Modern Humanity are so revealing that they should be considered just as important as the current transits are. This progressed chart is so powerful that it is as though we were all still living in 1892 today. The 492 days after April 26 are a microcosm of the 492 years after 1892. What is truly amazing is this: the progressed positions correspond not only to events that happen, but often to the actual transits of the time too! In other words, the progressed positions in the chart are similar to the transits. For example, transiting Neptune in Aries in the 1860s corresponded in time to the progressed Sun's square to Mars, the ruler of Aries, in 1864. The collective soul of humanity (the progressions) is, as it were, resonating to the world and the universe (the transits).
We can run the movie backwards as well as forwards. We can "precess" the chart back from April 26, 1892, to watch the "prenatal" development which led up to our birth, and this is just as revealing. Saturn, for example, turned stationary at 0¡ Libra, the sign of law and balance, just as our founding fathers wrote the constitution in 1787. (Planets are most powerful when stationary; that is, when they appear to stand still and change directions.) Saturn in Libra is a perfect symbol of the ideals of justice enshrined in the U.S. government's system of checks and balances. Saturn is also in Libra, of course, in the U.S. horoscope, but in the progressed Horoscope of Modern Humanity, Saturn soon went back into pragmatic Virgo. This represents our continuing struggle to make these ideals of justice a reality. As Saturn continued to move retrograde during the days corresponding to the Nineteenth Century (February-April, 1892), the ideals of the Revolution were often corrupted by the growth of corporate and state power. The retreat culminated when conservative Saturn turned stationary again in 1923. This is an incredibly symbolic moment, the time when fascist and totalitarian dictators such as Stalin and Mussolini rose to power and politics everywhere turned sharply to the right. Yet nowhere is there an astrological explanation for this incredible coincidence of events worldwide except the stationary Saturn in the progressed Horoscope of Modern Humanity. The nightmare peaked in 1940 with the following solar square to Saturn as World War II began. This aspect left its mark deeply on the lives and outlook of the war generation. Soon Saturn was moving forward again, and so fascism was defeated. By 2017, Saturn will reach Libra again. By then we can expect the dream of justice to be fulfilled to a much greater degree than today.
In 1815, the rebel planet Uranus also turned stationary and began to move retrograde. The revolutionary upheavals of the previous thirty-five years came to their climax as Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and the Concert of Vienna restored the old authority. Here again, there is no other astrological symbol that so clearly explains this landmark event. The revolutionary movement was arrested and distorted in the years after 1815 as Uranus moved backwards, and the original ideals of liberation were increasingly submerged in the growing militarism and worship of the machine. In 1966, progressed Uranus finally turned stationary and began moving direct again. There was a new urge to liberation in the '60s, and suddenly new magic appeared in the midst of our dusty industrial world. Since Uranus was in Scorpio, its powerful station in 1966 coincided exactly with Uranus' conjunction to Pluto (Scorpio's ruler) in the transits that same year. Uranus became the signature of the "new generation," as Saturn had been of the old; and liberation continues to move ahead today around the world.
Mars is probably the most important progressed planet. The movements of Mars clearly define the times. Going back to the late Eighteenth Century, we find Mars was in intense Scorpio during the Revolution, coinciding with Neptune's transit in Scorpio. Both emerged into Sagittarius in the early Nineteenth Century. The works of the romantic artists aptly illustrated the Sagittarian spirit of those times. Beethoven, for example, was a Sagittarian, as was the poet William Blake, and great romantic painters like Gericault and Delacroix often portrayed the exuberant wild horse. It was a time of religious "great awakenings" and idealistic philosophers. Then at mid-century came a great divide and a major turning point. Mars entered Capricorn in 1848, the year of revolutions and The Communist Manifesto. Disillusion followed the failure of the revolutions, and romanticism was replaced by realism (Capricorn). Instead of expanding consciousness and adventure, people now pursued wealth and power as ruthlessly as they could, thus launching our famous obsession with worldly success. The romantic ideals of liberation for the whole person got lost. 1848 saw the rise of "realistic" politicians like Bismarck, leading directly to Hitler and Stalin.
People became even more aggressive in the 1860s, as the progressed Sun entered Aries. It formed an exact square to warlike Mars (ruler of Aries) in 1864 during the worst battles of the U.S. Civil War, and during the first War of Unification in Germany. The precessed chart mirrored the transits, since Neptune was in Aries (a sign ruled by Mars) during the 1860s. Aggression culminated in the First World War in 1914. This great catastrophe came suddenly and explosively, and there is no better symbol for it anywhere than the violent T-square between Mars, Mercury and Uranus during the war years in the progressed chart. Its position in the early fixed signs shows the four-year stalemate on the Western front.
In 1902, just before the Great War, Mars entered inventive Aquarius, and Mercury turned stationary. Transiting Pluto was in Gemini (Mercury's sign), opposing Uranus. Immediately the Twentieth Century threw off the restraints of the Nineteenth. People everywhere became boldly experimental, led by inventive artists and scientists (Picasso, Einstein, etc.). "Progress" and innovation went into high gear, and "progressives" attacked all the evils of the day. A half century of revolution began.
In 1963, just as all this "progress" reached its crest, Mars turned stationary in 17 Aquarius-and began moving backwards. This is perhaps the most powerful symbol of our times, and it is unique to this chart. President Kennedy was assassinated. Our drive for progress and control of the environment was arrested. From then on, it seemed that we were powerless to change our external circumstances. Progress lost its appeal, and politics hit a dead end. Although this symbol is found nowhere else, it was loudly echoed by the transits. 17 Aquarius is exactly where the famous Aquarian eclipse and conjunction involving the seven visible planets occurred in February 1962, and exactly where Saturn was in November 1963 when Kennedy was shot. Notice, however, that soon after Mars in Aquarius turned retrograde, Uranus in Scorpio turned direct. Each planet was in the other's ruling sign. In effect, the initiative was transferred from the masculine and macho Mars to the enlightened and transcendental Uranus, a perfect symbol of the kind of liberation that is primarily needed today. Mars stationary and Uranus stationary in Scorpio corresponded to Neptune's transit of the martial sign Scorpio in the 1960s. This station of Mars has accelerated the "dawning of the Age of Aquarius" in the late 20th Century. By the way, if you have a planet in your chart within a degree of 17 Aquarius, it may indicate a special talent which you can share to help humanity enter the Aquarian Age.
Next to Mars in importance is the progressed position of the chart-ruler Venus. Not only has Mars been retrograde, Venus has too, and this tells us that we have been revamping our emotional lives, as Venus has been in Cancer (sign of feelings) since the turn of the century. Venus rules diplomacy, peace, and war, so when Venus turned stationary-retrograde in defensive Cancer in 1945, the world wars ended, the U.N. was founded, the Cold War began, and the defense establishment was erected. (Notice the correlation with Neptune again, which at that time was transiting Venus' ruling sign Libra.) Progressed Sun and Mercury also entered Cancer in 1947. In 1966 the progressed Sun conjoined Venus, and the new defense machine went haywire in Vietnam. This was also the year that "peace and love" was preached by the "flower children" (Venus/Sun); it was also the start of women's liberation. By the way, this progressed conjunction of Sun-Venus occurred in President Johnson's own Venus degree at the very time he escalated the war in Vietnam!
In 1989, Venus turned stationary-direct in 10 Cancer (the very same degree where the powerful transiting Jupiter turned stationary in the Fall of 1989 during the revolutions in Europe, and Jupiter's degree in Gorbachev's chart). Just as in 1945, the diplomatic picture was reshuffled. Peace "broke out" around the world. The Cold War, begun when Venus turned retrograde in 1945, ended; and the defense establishment began to wane. Meanwhile, nationalism (Cancer) revived, as I predicted it would back in 1976 (A.F.A. Journal). Venus stationary also indicated that in 1989-1990 we were recognizing the value (Venus) of our Earth home (Cancer), as I also predicted would happen.
Indeed, I said that this would be a "glorious" time, as the liberation around the world in 1989 proved-but the cultural renaissance begun at the conjunction of Sun-Venus has not yet come fully into bloom. The last great Renaissance of the Fifteenth Century began in central Europe, and didn't fully reach the English-speaking world until the Elizabethan Age a century later. Perhaps Europe, where poets are heads of state, will lead the way again.
The progressed Sun opposed warlike Mars in 1991-92, right during the great Uranus-Neptune conjunction. Ethnic conflicts again threatened to tear Europe apart, and the Middle East was still exploding (Persian Gulf War). A "holy war" could be in our future too, because Jupiter will be turning stationary retrograde in 25 ¡Aries in 2001, squaring Mars' position in the original 1892 chart. We could also see a religious revival, breakthroughs in travel (a space odyssey?), UFOs, and other Jovian phenomena. Mercury will be stationary in Virgo in 1999. Science and literature will leap ahead; and today's health crisis will climax, leading to new breakthroughs. The Sun's trine to Jupiter in 2005 may be the sign of new optimism that our golden age is unfolding.
The Sun's opposition to Mars in Aquarius in 1991-92 highlighted a new progressive era in the 1990s, as we confronted the results of our thirty-year political deadlock. It also highlighted the "battle of the sexes," as revealed in the Clarence Thomas hearings. Mars retrograde could dash our hopes again, though, just as they have been dashed over and over again since 1963. The futility of American politics continues, as Americans seem to be paralyzed by that seemingly all-powerful retrograde Mars. Still, a turn-around must come sooner or later, unless America wishes to keep declining. Some writers believe the Age of Aquarius will begin in 2025. This is close to the year (2023) when the progressed Mars in Aquarius turns stationary and begins moving forward again-just as transiting Neptune enters Aries and Pluto enters Aquarius. We can assume that "progress" will resume then. Will America have to wait until then to get moving again, or can enough of us shake America out of its fog of disillusionment and apathy so it can join the rest of the world's revival before then? We'll know soon enough.
What we must never forget amidst all of today's chaos is this-we have recently celebrated the 100th birthday of humanity. Neptune's conjunction to Pluto over 100 years ago launched us into a new age. Since history began, a renaissance or golden age has never failed to come in about 100 years after this conjunction. The golden ages of Greece, Rome, Byzantium, China, India, Christian Europe, the European Renaissance, the Mayans, and many other cultures all testify to this. Today, we are suddenly no longer troubled by many of the walls and conflicts of the past. Our resources have never been greater. If we fail to grasp this glorious opportunity, we will have wasted our potential and missed our destiny.
Jupiter stationary in 2001 and its trine to the Sun in 2005 could signify a new faith in this rebirth. Let's not wait; let's make the new age happen now. Taking care of business is important, but more important is the role we all have to play in the birth of a new humanity. Find your role now, and play it; in this lies your greatest personal fulfillment.
THE PROGRESSED LUNATION CYCLE
Another important tool in the progressed Chart of 1892 is the Lunation Cycle, and its New and Full Moons. At the New Moon the Moon is dark. Since the Moon represents the common people, they are, in a sense, also in the dark during a progressed New Moon. They are in retreat, inactive and uninvolved, and in the resulting chaos powerful people take the initiative in a spirit of "everyone for themselves." Nevertheless, a new era in human affairs is beginning, and new forces are astir. By the time of the Full Moon, when the Moon is at its brightest, the common people have come alive and are full of revolutionary and reforming zeal. They are aware of problems and solutions and take conscious action to solve them. As the Full Moon wanes the people increasingly spread their energy in different directions, and the progressive movements begun during the Full Moon become institutionalized.
The lunation cycle lasts twenty-nine and a half days, which corresponds to twenty-nine and a half years in a progressed chart. This is exactly how long it takes Saturn to travel around the zodiac. Each cycle confirms and strengthens the other; the Moon showing the mood of the people, and Saturn the attitude of institutions. As the New Moon happens in the progressed 1892 chart, Saturn enters Virgo and begins a phase of "power dispersion." This is the period when the ideal of deregulation and laissez-faire competition ("everyone for themselves") is paramount. When the Full Moon happens in the progressed chart, Saturn is in Pisces in the middle of a "progressive" phase, when new political ideas emerge and revolutionary reform movements are strongest. In modern times, the Full Moon has also corresponded closely to strong revolutionary aspects between Uranus and Pluto.
In 1951, for example, a New Moon happened as Republicans took over in America and the Conservatives returned to power in Britain, opening a period famous for its drift, stagnation, and conformity. What was "good for General Motors" was "good for America," and the people of the "silent generation" wore "gray flannel suits" and "kept up with the Joneses." By the mid-'60s, though, the Moon had become full, and people were in the streets demanding peace and civil rights, and "dropping out" of "the rat race" to create a new culture. In 1966 not only was a Full Moon happening, but Saturn in Pisces opposed an exact conjunction of Uranus and Pluto. Uranus also turned stationary in the progressed chart! No wonder there was "something in the air!" As the progressed Moon's light waned in the 1970s, energy dissipated and the new institutions increasingly lost touch with the people. By the time of the next New Moon of 1981 the people were in full retreat, so they elected Ronald Reagan to bring back the '50s and allow the "unregulated free market" to operate, creating cut-throat competition, speculation, massive debt and greed just like in the 1920s.
In the future, the difficult Uranus-Pluto aspects (conjunctions, oppositions, and squares) will not happen during the progressed Full Moon, so these "progressive" periods will be less cataclysmic. Instead, they will correspond to the easier Uranus-Pluto trines and sextiles. Such was already the case in the early and mid-1990s. Instead of radical, catastrophic change followed by savage reaction, social "progress" will be more constant and continuous. Revolutionary changes may be made by a powerful few, while constructive and lasting reforms may be accomplished by the people themselves acting together. During the next New Moon (in 2010), revolutionary changes may be carried out by a few powerful leaders while the common people are "asleep" or deceived, and there is danger that the changes made will not really be to their benefit. During the next Full Moon in 2025, however, the awakened masses of people will work together to bring about very beneficial changes-even though America will be facing the possibility of partition.
One further interesting fact about the progressed lunation cycle: the Full Moon in the Horoscope of Modern Humanity happens within two years of the New Moon in the progressed chart of the U.S.-and in the same degree. This confirms again how closely the destiny of America is linked to the destiny of humanity in these times.
MORE PREDICTIONS: 2020-2120
When Mercury went from Leo into Virgo in 1982, the spirit of the '60s was dampened by fears of AIDS (Virgo, health sign), and was replaced by the desire to get ahead in a world dominated by high technology. The new generation was more cynical, supporting America's wars instead of marching against them. In 2017 Mercury re-enters Leo and turns stationary there in 2024, and the exciting changes of the 2020s (Mars stationary direct) may restimulate the youth culture and make the young people of this period more optimistic and assertive. Israel may face dangerous conflicts in this period. Venus also enters Leo in 2026, showing a new romantic expressiveness in our culture. People will not hold their feelings inside as much as they do today under Venus in Cancer.
The year 2028 (Venus sextile Saturn) may see an economic recession caused by ecological damage and concerns over the environment. The period 2033-35 will see important confrontations. It will be a time of readjustment to the changes of the 2020s, and the conflicts they caused. Although progress resumes in 2023, its direction will be reevaluated again in 2033. Ethnic quarrels may cause distrust or xenophobia among peoples, and China is certain to erupt. A quieter period will start in the late 2030s. Under the New Moon in 2040 and the Sun's conjunction to Saturn in 2044, the early 2040s could be quite conservative. There could also be austerity programs to help the environment. Because Sun and Saturn will be in Libra, big constitutional reforms may happen in many nations, and Europe could be reorganized. Active idealism will reawaken as Mars trines Neptune and the "Green Revolution" unfolds around 2047. Venus trine Jupiter in 2048 may signal returning prosperity and generosity by the government. Expect more constitutional reforms or a recession in 2049-50 as progressed Mercury conjuncts Saturn.
According to many aspects in the progressed Horoscope of Modern Humanity, the 2050s will be active, idealistic, innovative and optimistic. There will be heroic exploits (reminiscent of Lindbergh's flight) and explosive advances in travel and communication. But in the 2060s, some kind of financial scandal could trigger a conflict over basic values in society. It will be another decade of "malaise" in which we must come to terms with the results of our past mistakes. Like the 1960s, it may also be a time of escalating drug use and new sensitivity and/or debauchery that causes health problems. This phase of uncertainty will not lead to apathy, as in the 1970s and '80s, but toward increasing revolt and activism in the 2070s, culminating in the revolutionary years of 2077-78 (Sun conjunct Uranus).
The Lunar eclipse of 2084 in Taurus may indicate some kind of economic, ecological or international catastrophe this year, or perhaps a trend toward overindulgence in pleasure and money. Mercury square Mars the same year may show a confrontation between peoples, plus more uprisings and revolutions. The eclipse may also signal a basic speeding up of our "vibration" as physical bodies on Earth. The mind of a reawakened humanity may become grounded in our lives on Earth. In 2089, Mars enters Pisces. This could be a critical turning point away from preoccupation with science and progress, marking the start of a great religious, spiritual, or cultural revival. Depression or disillusionment may trouble people in these years (Venus conjunct Saturn, 2090), but people will regain their confidence in the middle and late 2090s, as they gain a sense of stability, fulfillment, and accomplishment through discovering new ways of rebuilding society and serving other people.
The Twenty-Second Century will begin on a note of hopeful change (Mars trine Uranus, 2103). We will move forward confidently, but realistically. There could be explosive growth in spiritual building and construction, and a desire to make lasting visionary changes (Saturn trine Neptune, 2105). Our relationship to the Earth could be drastically reorganized, restructuring our whole society. If we play our cards right, we will have solved our ecological problem by 2110 and can move ahead fully focused on rebuilding Earth as a holy place revered as Goddess. By 2120 or 2130, we may also be able to begin moving out into space.
As the Sun opposes Neptune and Pluto in 2111, individuals and nations will develop new ways of relating to each other, and the ideals and foundations of America and other nations will be tested. In the 2110s through the 2130s, people will be enthralled with the possibilities of exploration and travel to other dimensions, and with inventions to help us get there. As the year 2120 approaches, the new religious enthusiasm and desire to venture and explore may lead to crusades and conflicts (including with aliens), as the Sun in expansive Sagittarius squares Mars in spiritual Pisces. Religious Jupiter turns stationary in warlike Aries at the same time. It could indicate another holy war, or perhaps exploding confidence sweeping us into the new Aquarian Age civilization of global interaction and creativity.
See Appendix E for a full listing of the precessed and progressed positions in the 1892 Horoscope of Modern Humanity. More details on the Twenty-First and Twenty-Second Centuries can be found in the final chapters of this book.
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