In astrological terms we are in unprecedented times, and there is reason to believe we are now living through the “End Times”, a meme that features in many prophecies over the last few thousand years, which I cover in more detail in an earlier post called Following the Signs & Prophecies. In biblical terms this is the time of the Apocalypse and ‘Judgement Day’, but what do these terms really mean? Instead of offering you a doomsday scenario as many interpretations of the biblical end times prophecies already do, I am going to look at the astrology and try and tease out an alternative perspective with a few guidelines and suggestions on how to navigate this period of time I view as ‘a corridor of transition’.
As we already know it is hard to make sense of the world; information is everywhere but we have a difficult time discerning truth and fact, from error, fiction, misinformation and fear projection. Perhaps now more than ever the cosmological language of astrology has a great deal to offer in regard to sense-making and navigating these unclear waters.
To better understand this period of time from 2020-2030, it helps to briefly touch upon the cosmological events that have led up to this juncture. Although my intention is to be brief, there are several time periods to cover so please bear with me.
Many have heard about the 2012 Mayan Calendar end date, which predictably got swept away and conflated with doomsday end-time scenarios within the mainstream collective perception. Some of this was deliberate, and some of it predictable given the distortion within our current reality framework, which has its roots several millennia back in time. Suffice to say the distortion represents an incomplete or incorrect understanding of the nature of reality that causes modern cultures to develop in ways that are significantly out of balance with cosmic laws, which have negative consequences that we are only just beginning to come to terms with, in relation for example to global pollution, deforestation and an epidemic of chronic illness. This has become ever more apparent as lockdowns with their associated restrictions on travel have made many realise just how polluted our air is, and also how quickly nature has bounced back once pollution levels dropped.
Perhaps the first real turning point toward a new world era occurred during the Harmonic Convergence event that took place on August 15th-16th 1987. Organised by José Arguelles and wife Lloydine, the desire was to bring 144,000 souls together to meditate at sacred sites all over the globe for world peace, something that had never be done at this level of magnitude before; many famous people participated, including John Denver, Shirley MacLaine and Timothy Leary; a remarkable feat given that the internet did not exist at the time.
The timing for the event was inspired by Tony Shearer's work on Aztec cosmology , which had identified an end to a cycle of time called the cycle of the nine underworlds, and in conjunction with western astrology, the event was timed to coincide with a significant grand trine in the fire signs. Grand trine energy in the fire element would be supportive in any spiritual aspirational endeavour.
When one considers the likelihood that benevolent spiritual forces will not intervene uninvited, and that we need to call in the help for any possibility of intervention under spiritual law, then it is possible that the gathering of souls in such numbers paved the way for a change in the way that help from other dimensions could act on behalf of humanity. My recollection at the time was to feel a significant activation of my own spiritual journey, as if the gates had suddenly opened and contact with spiritual beings became much more frequent in my life.
This idea was put into practise a second time in July 2020 for another Harmonic Convergence event that took place over a ten day period with more than 229,000 souls participating in a global meditation to invite peaceful extraterrestrials to show themselves, and apparently there were hundreds of sightings. The aspiration was to collectively raise consciousness to uplift humanity into a higher resonance beyond world peace to universal peace.
In 1998 another key cosmological event took place of significance; our solar system came into an alignment with the Galactic Centre. Many people mistakenly think this occurred in 2012, but it actually happened fourteen years earlier (according to astrologer Barbara Hand Clow). In that same year, Neptune moved into the 1st degree of Aquarius for the first time since its discovery in 1781, which marked a significant turning point in human evolution, as the spiritual aspect of human experience was released from the confines of Capricorn and by extension organised religion and scientism, to become more and more liberated into a universal framework, where it became easier for individuals to pursue ultimate meaning on their own terms and in many different ways. It was also another step toward the emerging Aquarian Age.
Just a few years before, Barbara Hand Clow published a book called The Pleiadian Agenda heralding our entry into a region of space with high levels of photon particles, called the Photon Belt. There is some debate as to whether we have entered the belt or whether we are just in an area of influence and still yet to enter it. It was apparently discovered in 1961 by means of satellite born instrumentation, announced on the radio in the 1980s, and then subsequently suppressed. Apparently astronomers who discussed the photon belt tended to lose their jobs or be denied access to equipment if they wanted to study it. We can assume however that studies are being done and are not disclosed.
The belt itself called the Manasic Ring, is an immense region of space about 760 million miles wide; a toroidal ring saturated with particles of light known as photons. When astronomers first discovered it, they thought it was an unusual nebula, a vast cloud of gas and dust and they called it the “Golden Nebula”. The Photon Belt encircles the Pleiades Star Cluster at a right angle to its orbital planes. Our solar system is thought to belong to the Pleiades star group, and is orbiting Alcyone, the central sun of the Pleiades, where one revolution of our sun Helios around Alcyone is thought to take somewhere between 24,000-26,000 years. For more information on the relevance of these larger cycles see my earlier post: The Cycle of the Yugas. If our sun Helios belongs to the Pleiades star system, it means our solar system would periodically travel through this band of photons for about 2000 years (roughly 1 astrological age); a period of time when the Earth would be subject to a much higher saturation of catalysing light radiation. The reason why this is a big deal, is because light affects DNA, and the ancients were of the view that light is innately connected to consciousness. Our entry into the photon belt as posited by Barbara Hand Clow may well synchronise with the coming Age of Aquarius and its association with a new era of high culture. Barbara has very recently suggested that contrary to her original suggestion, we may actually be about to leave the photon belt after 2000 years in it during the Age of Pisces - this is testament to just how little we know and that many ideas of this kind are hypotheses. In any case our discovery of the Photon Belt, and our current close proximity to it, our recent immersion within it or indeed our imminent exodus out of it, are significant cosmological events that have immense influence on what is happening on Earth right now. It is possible that light is a key co-factor in DNA activation or mutation, capable of stimulating changes in human consciousness.
In 2012 or 2011 depending on which research one looks at, the Mayan Calendar completed a major evolutionary process and marked the beginning of something altogether new for humanity on Earth. This simple statement is easy to underestimate; this isn’t business as usual for the human species, it is strongly suggestive of something massive.
In fact there is only one inscription pertaining to the idea of a global shift associated with 2012, found on the Tortuguero Monument about Bolon Yookte Kuh, the nine step divinity. According to Biologist Carl Calleman who writes extensively on the Mayan Calendar, the Mayan culture was both scientific and shamanistic, and its language is very different from modern science language. In this inscription it simply says that at a certain point in time 'the nine step god will appear in his full regalia'. Calleman proposes that the Mayans were very interested in what we might call 'Macro-quantum Science'. In his recent book "Quantum Science of Psychedelics", he offers a translation into modern quantum science language as follows: "in 2011, the buildup of quantum states created by the nine waves will be completed, resulting in an interference pattern among them, which will form a new quantum field". In this sense the end of the Mayan Calendar marked the culmination of 16 billion years of evolution and our entry into Universal consciousness, but it is important to realise that just because new potential is available to all of us through these new cycles, it doesn’t mean for a minute that we will automatically shift; only a very few people appear to have genuinely flowed with the energies on offer into higher states of awareness and conscious living. Why might this be?
The key understanding here is that humanity is entering an up-cycle in consciousness, and there are good grounds to suggest that this new cycle isn’t just any typical new cycle but one that synchronises with several cosmological cycles at once, and thus amplifying the evolutionary potential. For example not only are we on the threshold of a new astrological age, we may also be moving out of the Kali Yuga associated with ignorance and disconnection, and now underway on an ascending arc toward a future golden age. In addition to this we have also recently transitioned out of a celestial night into a celestial day around 1998-1999 (an ancient Aryan concept relating to the movement of the whole galaxy relative to the universe referred to as the Days and Nights of Svarog). In short this means that numerous cycles are concluding more or less in the same window of time and marking movements out of cycles of darkness into cycles of light.
A movement into a cycle of light, of course means the end of a cycle of ignorance, but quite naturally those in power throughout a dark cycle will be disinclined to relinquish their coveted positions of power and privilege, and for this reason every attempt is being made to prevent humanity liberating from the perceptual prison that we are unwittingly trapped in. In a dark cycle knowledge is power, and in keeping with this, most of the real knowledge coming from ancient sources about the nature of reality, has been kept secret from almost everyone; only advanced souls have been able to independently ‘download’ knowledge from the Akasha or Cosmic Server and more often than not these individuals have become saints and martyrs, and in more recent years debunked, maligned, marginalised, censored, cancelled and sometimes even murdered.
For those clinging to power this is a desperate time, and while the masses have remained ignorant of cosmic truth, the Plutocrats have all the while been developing their skills and knowledge of the cosmic sciences such as astrology, numerology and astro-theology, and been one step ahead of the game, well aware of the cycle changes occurring, and taking steps to distract humanity from an inherent tendency toward ascension during this time. The concept of ascension is a complex one, and I suspect we don’t exactly know what it entails, with much speculation abounding, but in essence ascension can be seen as a radical change in awareness and thus what it means to be human. Ascension is associated with spiritual freedom, and an orientation toward spiritual evolution, love, compassion and wisdom.
How have we been distracted? Think about how human culture has slowly shifted to a global scale dependence on medication, entertainment, computers, phones, gaming, online gambling and pornography, while the backdrop of our world is characterised by terrorism, racism, cancel culture, culture wars, financial uncertainty and more recently a ‘pandemic’ narrative.
In my experience the only people who have been able to make use of the cosmic energies in play have been those who have resisted technology, refused t.v. programming, opted out of social media and gravitated toward connection through community, nature and spirituality. Distraction has been the main tactic to pull people out of themselves, away from any possibility of spiritual practises like meditation, contemplation, healing work, or shadow work,
all of which form part of the awakening process.
Many with awakening symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and disillusionment have been obstructed by pharmaceutical medications, which do nothing but postpone the inevitable inner-work each of us has to do at this time.
Not surprisingly since 2012 things have been intensifying rather than getting better. There has been an ongoing ‘tennis match’ between the dark and the light, and I don’t mean to be excessively polarised when I say this; I currently see a bifurcation occurring in the world; a division between those committed to self-interest and those committed to humanity as a whole. This is indeed the Day of Judgement, an evolutionary fork in the road; a period in time when we must all choose for ourselves which road to take: self-interest and power vs freedom, responsibility, love and humanity.
From 2012-2015 we felt the pressure of seven Pluto/Uranus squares - a tense battle between those in power and those pro human freedom, and there were many revelations pertaining to global scale corruption and system rigging during that time. The Pluto/Uranus conjunction first occurred in 1965 at 17˚ Virgo, opposite Chiron and Saturn in Pisces, and Venus and Mars were in a close conjunction in Sagittarius. The Sabian symbol for the 18˚ of Virgo is “A Ouija Board” and to my mind, what was birthing here was the ability to contact deeper recesses of the unconscious psyche and sensitiveness to psychic intimations and omens, and thus the wholesale possibility for an emergent new way, underpinned by spiritual guidance and awareness of reality beyond the confines of the material plane.
In the 60s we were breaking out of the limitations of collective conditioning, and reacting to deep collective wounding centring around a fundamental disconnect from the spiritual realms. This was the new psychedelic sub-culture compelled to “bungie jump” into altered states of consciousness for better or for worse; anything but the suffocating hum drum and stifling social climate of the times. And of course with Venus in a balsamic conjunction with Mars in Sagittarius, the 60s gave rise to a rebirth of sexuality and sexual self-expression, one that was far more interested in exploration and the enjoyment of sex rather than sex as a mere procreative action. But at a deeper level, for those able to access the potential, the 60s was also an opportune time for sexual alchemy and yin/yang integration toward higher states of consciousness.
Nearly fifty years later, the Pluto/Uranus squares induced a crisis in action: how were we going to take the seed impulses of the Virgo conjunction in the 60s and everything we had learned since and begin to initiate real lasting change in the world? By 2012 Uranus had just entered into Aires, and Pluto was steadfast in Capricorn. When Uranus entered Aires in 2011, it marked a rebirth of the liberation process, offering a lot of energy toward positive revolutionary action both internal and external. My recollection of that time for me was the building inner pressure to see some positive change in the world, and an ongoing frustration with the dense and formidable reverberations caused by the 2008 financial crash (Pluto in Capricorn) that appeared to be holding all of us back.
And yet on another level I suspect that these Pluto/Uranus squares were the birth or activation of what might be called “The Rebel Alliance” to use a Star Wars metaphor - an uprising of virtuous individuals at top levels of the military, governmental, legal and corporate sectors across the world opposing the nefarious machinations of a globalist super-rich, intent on becoming global oligarchs. John F Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 with Pluto and Uranus in a balsamic conjunction, and as we know he was very vocal before his death, of a shadow rising in the ranks of the government and the military industrial complex. In hindsight his assassination represented a significant set back for the humanitarian aims set out in the American constitution. Up until the Pluto/Uranus squares it appears that those in the corridors of power who understood the encroaching corruption within governmental systems had been planning and building solid connections and alliances, but my guess is that after 2012 the alliance began to make more direct moves against a formidable and largely hidden foe.
In 2016 shortly after the last Pluto/Uranus square, D. Trump was elected president of the US, and like him or hate him for his obvious character flaws, it is plausible, albeit at this point in time unclear, that he was the first president since Kennedy to directly oppose globalist interests in favour of the American constitution - on this we can only wait and see what transpires.
2020 was always going to be a big year: Pluto and Saturn conjoined in Capricorn in early January, Pluto and Jupiter conjoined in Capricorn in early April, and Saturn and Jupiter conjoined in Aquarius on the December solstice. In short they marked the culmination and rebirth of evolutionary cycles that span decades rather than years (Pluto/Saturn 38years, Pluto/Jupiter 13 years, Saturn/Jupiter 20 years). Two of these conjunctions in Capricorn were bound to have a dynamic affect on society, which I cover in several earlier posts, here , here & here for Pluto/Saturn , and here for Saturn/Jupiter.
In keeping with the times, the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction that occurred on the December solstice was also not a typical conjunction. The Saturn-Jupiter cycle functions through what are called trigons, which means that more or less every 20 years the rebirth of Saturn with Jupiter occurs for long periods of time in the same element, which for the last 178 years was the earth element; all of the Saturn/Jupiter conjunctions since 1842 (bar 1) have been either in the signs of Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn. Since this cycle shapes the cultural structures of belief or how our beliefs influence culture, during this period there has been a strong emphasis on materialistic traditions and ideologies permeating society, which as we know has peaked at an all time high, characterised by an ever expanding throw-away consumerist economic paradigm, and science-materialist dominated health-care. From 2020 onwards however, the trigon shifts to the air element, indicating a change in orientation within social frameworks toward the creative mind, communication, ideas, and in the case of Aquarius for the next 20 years, an emphasis on humanitarian values, technology in service to the people, freedom, and invention. If anyone has been feeling the heavy weight of society this last decade, then get ready for things to begin to lighten up and feel the creative optimism of possibility begin to emerge.
I have tried to find a similar alignment with Saturn conjoining Jupiter at the December solstice, and going back as far as 15,000 years there isn’t one; this is a rare and auspicious event indeed! Its position at 0˚ Aquarius hints at an influx of new energies for the Aquarian Age - I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say we have left the influence of the Piscean Age behind, but something of the energy shaping the development of society and belief systems over the next 20 years will give us a taste of what is to come.
The Sabian symbol for the 1st degree of Aquarius is: "An old adobe mission in California", and this sheds a little more light on what will be underlying the reshaping of society post ‘pandemic’ lockdown culture. We can expect a shift away from socio-political power grabs toward a more spiritualised impulse driving the social forces at work. Individuals may arise imbued with a creative vision for the future of civilisation replete with solutions to some of our pressing problems, but a note of caution here, we must be able to tell the difference between the spiritualised vision toward an egalitarian society and the seductive transhumanist corporate technology driven visions coming out of the dark temple of Silicon Valley, and espoused by the World Economic Forum - we should not take anything at face value no matter how optimistic or utopian they initially appear.
The astrological context for this recent and potentially world changing Saturn/Jupiter conjunction, coincides with a solar eclipse at 23˚ Sagittarius conjoining trans-Neptunian new-comer Varda also at 23˚ Sagittarius, just 7 days before the solstice on 14th December 2020, adding a spectacular and potent dimension to the new energies coming in for at least a period of 6 months until the June solstice 2021.
Varda is a new archetype discovered in 2006, and intriguingly named after a figure in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional cosmology, which having a basis in existing Nordic, Celtic and Christian mythology, offers a rich archetypal meaning to this far away celestial object. These newly discovered characters of course indicate the re-emergence of key archetypes within the human collective psyche, and her alignment with the December solar eclipse in 2020 speaks to an infusion or activation of energies pertaining specifically with high frequency light and its association with elevated consciousness. In myth, Varda belongs to a group of high angelic beings, and she herself is known as the ‘Lady of the Stars’. She represents the antithesis of darkness and evil, arch-adversary to the fallen Melkor, who appears as Sauron in the Lord of the Rings saga. Varda’s presence riding on the energy of the solar eclipse, fusing with the solstice energy just 7 days later, and synchronising with the symbolic birth of the Christ energy just 11 days later is both poignant and exciting. For those knowledgeable in numerology the 7 and 11 numbers add another layer of meaning connected with spiritual attunement and a bridging between dimensions.
The solstice chart for the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction, has Pluto in Capricorn making two exact squares with a Mars/Eris conjunction at 23˚ Aires, the Moon at 23˚ Pisces in a crescent sextile with Pluto is making a square with the centaur Asbolus at 23˚ Gemini, which is also in a gibbous inconjunct with Pluto. In addition the Solstice Sun combust Mercury is in exact semi-sextile with the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction, accompanied by Juno in sextile.
Pluto’s transit through Capricorn has had a powerful effect on society since 2008, initiating transformation on many levels, but resistance to the Pluto impulse will manifest as a clinging to the old systems that no longer work, a fierce defence of the old paradigm of power, and a denial of what is really happening in evolutionary terms, and the 1st quarter square with Mars in Aires speaks to a fundamental crisis in action and the potential for conflict between the Plutocrats and the pioneers of a new humanitarian era.
Pluto also making a last quarter square with Eris, representing a crisis in consciousness, suggests strongly that anyone trying to hold on to the old ways of doing things will find themselves in powerful catalysing situations. The Mars/Eris conjunction in Aires speaks to me of a rebirth of the masculine with the ‘lost’ feminine principle, a fierce united impulse to break free and initiate in very new directions regardless of the established authority’s rigid and dogmatic approach to reality; we are duly warned: the new way must give equal value to the masculine and feminine principles, or it will fail.
Asbolus in sextile with both Eris and Mars and square to the Moon in Pisces suggests that those in alignment with Aquarian values will be supported by guiding signs and symbols toward the Aquarian Age, enhancing the need for those wishing to create a better world to pay attention to the signs offered from the spiritual realms in order to optimise outcomes; there is a lot of help to be had from the unseen dimensions toward a more enlightened future. The challenge with the Pisces Moon, will be about staying clear of confusion and distraction - tuning in rather than tuning out, especially when the signs we see put us into a crisis of consciousness impelling us to expand into a more universalised way of seeing reality. For those defending the status quo, they may find themselves humbled when they realise they’ve been ignoring for too long the changing energy of the times. The Solstice Sun conjunct Ixion, in a semi-sextile with the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction and also with Juno, indicates how a new social era must be built on a new level of self-realisation through the integration of shadow aspects, finding greater wholeness through honouring the feminine principle, and engagement with natural law. Mercury combust the Sun speaks to a profound alchemical infusion of insight into the collective Mind, all we have to do is open ourselves to receiving it.
Ixion represents the darker side of human nature, which if uncontrolled leads to acts of violence and violation. Jupiter punished Ixion for his wrongdoings by tying him to a spinning wheel for eternity; there is no escaping the karma of our actions which must eventually be balanced.
In summary, the incredible alignments for the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius, set the stage for a global shift toward the Aquarian Age, and the establishment of new ways of seeing the world, catalysed by powerful disruptions to an old and now obsolete way of doing things at almost all levels of society. These disruptions although initially inconvenient, will stimulate a new creative vision for humanity. Varda, the Lady of the Stars, ushers in the new frequencies that pave the way for new societal structures, weakening the dark forces, and perhaps even heralding the coming of a new age of galactic culture. Her association with the stars of course connects her with the notion of extra-terrestrial visitors from beyond our solar system, and notably since the 2020 solar eclipse there have been clear indications that we are moving toward full disclosure. Already nearly 6 months later there have been several media stories with governments now admitting ETs exist. Even as I write, newspapers and news stations the world over are filled with stories about UFOs, and even Barack Obama is on the late night comedy news shows saying UFOs are real. Everyone should be paying attention. While many of us already know this, how will this ‘new’ information going mainstream affect society? Will new technology be released that will radically change the world? How will a new understanding of ourselves in a galactic context alter our evolutionary course?
Does Varda's alignment with the solar eclipse in the aspirational sign of Sagittarius speak to a complex ET story involving a clash between benevolent groups and self-serving predator groups? And will the truth come out?
My sense is that her appearance indicates a turn in the tide, no doubt enabled by the growing momentum within the human family now reaching out to higher benevolent forces to intercede on our behalf toward a better future.
I expect we will hear a lot more about the ET issue as the months progress, as step by step mainstream humanity is gently brought up to speed. But the battle isn't yet over, and we must stay vigilant for the avenue of disclosure to be co-opted for a last ditch attempt to induce global panic with an alien invasion scenario, even though it would be unlikely to succeed; too many of us are aware. Love is the hailing frequency for the higher beings both in inner-space and outer-space, who can assist us through this time of revelation, disclosure, apocalypse and ascension. Our ability to navigate what is to come with our galactic neighbours hangs on the love we each bring to the world.
The Great Turning is well underway, there are plenty of signs and symbols to support this. All of us have an individual part to play, and for most of us it is to focus on developing self-awareness, responsibility, and self-determination, while working with what is directly in front of us in our personal lives. Everything we need flows into manifestation as we need it; every situation is an opportunity for personal growth. Some of us are being called to step up as we activate more. Activations initiate new development journeys, and the key is to trust and follow the spiritual impulses coming from higher-help. We have been travelling through an oppressive and limiting maturation challenge while Pluto has been transiting Capricorn; things have not been easy for many over the last decade, and while Pluto is still in Capricorn I expect this sense of limitation to continue until 2024. However the Saturn/Jupiter rebirth in Aquarius will do much to lessen the load, and we are now bridging into the Aquarian energy, which will be very different from Capricorn. Pluto ingresses into Aquarius in 2024, which will most definitely usher in a new evolutionary orientation in the world; it will be fast, intense, exciting and liberating: get ready for light-speed evolution!
Aquila Idha offers Self-Realisation Mentoring, Evolutionary Astrology Readings, and Tarot Sessions for anyone seeking to make sense of their life journey.