As I said in my forecast for this month of December, there was going to be one of those especially significant Astrological events, with far-reaching consequences occurring on the 21st of this month.
Here is the brief explanation I gave to it then, with the promise that it would be followed by a fuller explanation:
21 – This is the ‘Big Day’ of highly significant Astrological Symbolism this month.
First of all, it is the day of the Winter Solstice, with the Sun moving into the month of Capricorn. This is the day when the Sun ends its annual movement to the South and turns again northward, with the days now becoming longer in the Northern Hemisphere and shorter in the Southern Hemisphere.
On this same day, however, there will be a Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in the first degree of Aquarius.
For Medieval and Ancient Astrologers, Jupiter and Saturn were the outermost planets of which they were aware. Their time periods being before the time of the later discoveries of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. When these two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, made their conjunction, (approximately every 20 years), it was, therefore, viewed as being highly significant.
Jupiter, the Roman God derived from the Greek God Zeus, was always associated with the then currently ruling Kings and dynasties. Saturn was seen as ‘father time’ and the bringer of death and concrete ‘reality checks.’ Their conjunction was often said to herald the death/rebirth of existing ruling regimes.
By the time we have arrived at this date of December 21, 2020, I expect I will have written and shared with you my fuller explanation for the significance of this day’s event. And so, I will withhold further commentary upon this at this time.
One added note I would like to share at this time is that this conjunction is significant not only in relation to a once every 20-year timescale, but also as the beginning of a new 200-year cycle. (End Quote)
Whenever two planets conjunct it is the beginning of a new cycle. With the slower-moving outer planets, it is always indicative of a much longer cycle and, therefore, of much more long-term significance.
As stated above, Jupiter and Saturn conjunct every 20 years, but this time there are so many additional attenuating factors. For example, it occurs on the day of the Winter Solstice, in the very first degree of Aquarius. The conjunction itself will only be .1 of a degree apart, to our view, this will equate to the thickness of a dime held at arm’s length. This conjunction will be the closest these two planets have been to each other since 1623.
This conjunction is also the start of a ‘Grand Mutation,’ from the Earth element to the Air element. This ‘Grand Mutation’ is in relation to a 200-year cycle. For approximately 200 years the Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions take place in signs of the same element, (Earth, Air, Fire, or Water).
In 1802 there was a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction in the Earth sign Virgo, and that was the beginning of this past Earth cycle. This has been a period of intense exploration of physical reality, from all of the furthest reaches of the Earth, to physical bodies in outer space, to the tiniest measurable units within the very structure of the atomic ‘building blocks’ of matter itself.
This intense exploration coincided with profound discoveries and exploitation of the physical riches of the Earth, such as coal, oil and natural gas, fueling the Industrial Revolution and the most profound 200-year transformation of how we live materially on this planet in the recorded history of humanity.
Obviously, at the end of this played-out cycle, we are now witnessing the dark/shadow sides of Earthly fixations, such as pollution, global warming, resource scarcities, and a financial global economy where .7% of the Earth’s population controls nearly 50% of its accumulated wealth.
All of that, I believe, is about to end. We are now moving into the element of Air. The new realm of intense exploration will be in the realms of information, ideas, communications, and new technologies liberated from, and liberating us from, Earth-based fuels.
It will be cleaner and a lot less smokey. We will have electric trains that run on a layer of air, not even touching the rails, and many other similar, but yet to be seen, technologies.
This new beginning of the new Air cycle will be in the sign of Aquarius. As a product of the 1960’s myself, I have been programmed with the forward-looking vision of the ‘Age of Aquarius’ for quite some time.
I have noticed on the Web that some Astrologers are actually predicting that December 21st will be the start of the Aquarian Age.
Without going into the details, an ‘Age’ has a duration of approximately 2150 years. And so, a period that large is going to have a considerably large transitioning period, or ‘cusp,’ with many key symbolic events stimulating and inspiring that transition. This Jupiter/Saturn conjunction is one of these events.
These events, however, have already been happening, manifesting inklings of what the coming Aquarian Age will be about.
I would say one of the earliest stimuli to this New Age was when Uranus, the current ruling planet of Aquarius, was discovered in 1781. The previous ruler of Aquarius was Saturn.
Saturn is all about security, responsibility, tradition, structure, the conventional, authority and hierarchy. Aquarius is collective group consciousness, and prior to 1781, the political and economic structures that were organizing group consciousness in the world were very Saturnian.
Uranus is the planet of the unusual, the unconventional, the revolutionary and freedom from old patterns that have outlived their purpose. So, this transition from a Saturnian rulership of Aquarius to a Uranian rulership is quite a shift.
When Uranus was discovered the United States was in the midst of its War of Independence from the very Saturnian, Great Britain. In fact, the outcome of the war was looking quite uncertain, until 1781, with the decisive American victory at Yorktown.
Not long after the American Revolution there was the French Revolution, and then other political transformations of old monarchical structures to political republics continued from there.
Uranus also rules electricity and technology. The phenomenon of electricity was known for centuries but the ability to really study its existence and find ways of practical applications of it really blossomed after the discovery of Uranus.
The next Aquarian Age stimulus came during the years from 1912 – 1920, years in which Uranus was in Aquarius. This was when old monarchies were again biting the dust, during World War 1, and there were revolutions in Russia, China and Mexico.
I didn’t previously know that Uranus was in Aquarius during the Russian Revolution, but I have long been stating a belief that the Russian Revolution was an early, albeit very primitive, response to the Aquarian Age. Aquarius is a sign of equality, brotherhood and group consciousness. The problem with the Russian manifestation of Aquarian Age energy is that they interpreted group consciousness of equality and brotherhood at strictly the economic/material level. Whereas Hilarion* has stated that: ‘The reason that Communism will never work is because men will never acknowledge that they are truly brothers until they acknowledge that they have a common Father.’
The nation of Russia, born in 862, has Neptune in Aquarius in a tense T-square, perhaps making them prone to Neptunian self-sacrifice and surrender to the Aquarian ideals of equality and brotherhood, although also prone to the shadow side of Neptune, i.e., illusion, delusion, victimhood and martyrdom as part of the challenging lessons they have had to face.
Another little, but quite significant event, occurring in the time frame of this Uranus in Aquarius period was an electrical, technological discovery I found in Wikipedia:
In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper that explained experimental data from the photoelectric effect as being the result of light energy being carried in discrete quantized packets, energizing electrons. This discovery led to the quantum revolution. Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for “his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect”. The photoelectric effect is also employed in photocells such as can be found in solar panels and this is frequently used to make electricity commercially. (End Quote)
More recent Aquarian developments were during the years that Neptune was in Aquarius (1998 – 2012), and when Uranus was, once again, in Aquarius (1995 – 2003).
One quite obvious Aquarian, technological, global, group conscious manifestation during those years was the deployment of the internet as a means of global communication.
Here is another quote from Wikipedia:
The Internet’s takeover of the global communication landscape was rapid in historical terms: it only communicated 1% of the information flowing through two way telecommunications networks in the year 1993, 51% by 2000, and more than 97% of the telecommunicated information by 2007.[ End Quote)
Now, mentioning the internet brings up the obvious downside of Aquarius.
Here is what Hilarion says about someone who is Aquarius:
Aquarius
The Aquarian is one who, in a prior life, dedicated his energies to bringing others together into a united group and encouraging love and brotherhood between them. Because the peacemaker is to be honored above all others in spiritual terms, the Aquarian is allowed a special tap into a source of the highest idealism regarding the brotherhood of man, both at the soul level and at the personality level, filters permitting. But this source of ideal brotherhood represents a level of advancement far beyond the achievements of the race to the present day. Love is not universally felt for all; indeed, the only circumstance in which most individuals get even a glimpse of love in its true majesty is that first overwhelming excitement of the love affair, before the cold realities show themselves. But the Aquarian knows instinctively that the universal nonexclusive love is possible, and this often introduces a problem in relating to others at the level which mankind has reached. The Aquarian tends often to seek to approach the ideal he holds within him, and this can lead to a shoving away of the exclusive closeness that marriage implies or a tendency to try to include too many within the circle of · acquaintances or friends. The partner then thinks the Aquarian is cold, while the friends can conclude that the Aquarian is too strung-out in his associations. The lesson for the Aquarian is to try to live in the world as it is, and to compromise the ideal brotherhood concept for the sake of becoming close to at least one or two other individuals. Brotherhood starts with two shaking hands. The Aquarian ideal must be nurtured first in groups of small numbers (even two) before the expansion to include the race can take place. (End Quote)
A joke in relation to that Aquarian coolness I heard from Astrologer, Liz Greene: “With Aquarius it is: I love you, …but don’t take it personally.”
I also made the interesting discovery that, of all the planets in the Solar System, Uranus has the coldest atmosphere.
I remember when the internet first reached mass acceptance in those early years, knowing that Neptune and Uranus were in Aquarius at the time, and I felt that this was truly the Uranian technology which will bring the human family (Aquarius) together in brother/sisterhood. And I still feel that is happening in many ways and on many levels.
But the internet, with its detached anonymity, is also allowing the old paradigm believers in hate and fear to find each other and congregate in their own groups, and attack with much greater technological tools at their disposal, with cold-hearted dispassion towards their victims.
Another Aquarian technological challenge we are likely to face in the years ahead is the rapidly approaching world of Artificial Intelligence, and all the different kinds of detached, cool, unemotional behaviors that may entail.
Next year there will be some Aquarian tensions which will likely highlight some of these themes. I will be writing a separate article about 2021 in the days ahead, where I will discuss this further.
For this Aquarian conjunction on the 21st, I am feeling it as a really positive new beginning for the planet. It is why I knew quite some time ago that Donald Trump would not win the election. Donald Trump is clearly a proponent of the old paradigm of hate and fear, and he is quite good at using Uranian technology to continue to pump that up. His Sun in Gemini conjuncts Uranus, and this gives him a greater propensity to adapt to new technologies whether that be the phenomenon of ‘Reality TV,’ or Twitter.
The next great Astrological stimulus to the transition into the Aquarian age will be when Pluto, the planet of complete death/rebirth transformation, moves into Aquarius in 2024, remaining there until 2044. I predict that during those years the old paradigm belief that the human race is justifiably segmented into different nations, different races, different gender/sexual-orientation values of status within society, and different rigid economic class structures, will be totally annihilated.
It is also relevant to note that the last time that Pluto was in Aquarius was from 1778 to 1798, and yes, both Pluto and Uranus were in Aquarius from 1781 until 1798. Again, that profound revolutionary period around the world.
I would also make reference here to the Moon in Aquarius in the 3rd House of thinking and communication in the Astrological birth chart of the U.S.A. The Moon, in a birth chart, represents influences brought to bear upon you in childhood, and in my book, I cited this Moon in Aquarius as an indication of the Aquarian idealism that the nation was based upon, particularly in its early years.
The 3rd House position of the Moon in the US chart is something I have related to all of the great communications and documents that were produced in the service of that Aquarian idealism in those early years. Perhaps, the most Aquarian document was the US Constitution which was created in 1787, ratified in 1788, and made effective in 1789.
In my travels in South America, I learned that virtually all of the national constitutions of the liberated Republics of South America are based on the American Constitution. I would say that is a worthy testament to a document created when both Pluto and Uranus were in Aquarius.
As I have noted before, these years of Pluto in Capricorn, since 2008, are about the death/rebirth of the old economic, governmental, societal structures. That being a necessary precursor to the New Era of transformation approaching in the years ahead.
Astrologers have also long believed that it was a Jupiter/Saturn conjunction which served as the ‘Christmas Star,’ guiding the Wise Men to Bethlehem for the birth of the Christ Child.
I would say that having this conjunction appearing, once again, at the time of the ‘Rebirth of the Light,’ in whatever Faith you follow, is highly propitious.
I am going to end this article with the Sabian Symbol interpretation given in the book ‘The Astrological Mandala’ by Astrologer Dane Rhudyar for the first degree of Aquarius, which, again, is where the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction will be taking place on the 21st:
PHASE 301 (AQUARIUS 1°): AN OLD ADOBE MISSION IN CALIFORNIA.
KEYNOTE: The power inherent in all great human works to endure far beyond the workers’ life spans.The works and spirit of the Spanish priests who directed the building of the California missions have had a lasting influence on the development of this land; these remain as a monument to the men who were able to make their mark upon this alien environment. While the zodiacal sign Capricorn begins with a symbol of socio-political power, Aquarius at its start presents a more spiritualized and idealistic or creative picture of the social forces at work. Moreover, it stresses the enduring character of human achievements ensouled by a great vision. At least within the frame of reference of our Western civilization, the symbol speaks of the projection of a noble ideal into concrete forms of beauty and significance, thus of the radiation of a “civilizing” power into an institution offering to primitive men the opportunity to reach a higher, more organized and productive, level of activity. This is the first stage in the sixty-first five-fold sequence. It speaks to us of THE CONCRETIZATION OF AN IDEAL. This also implies the “immortalization” of an individual within a great collective and cultural enterprise.
Now, I know many of you may feel the politically incorrect glorification of colonial actions towards so-called ‘primitive men’ not to your liking, but I think if you put that aside, you can feel the spirit of what Rhudyar is trying to express here.
So, let us use this uniting of the optimistic expansiveness of Jupiter and the serious, responsible, dedication of Saturn, in this Aquarian first degree of New Beginning, to bring about the Concretization of this Ideal, to quote Hilarion once again:
The Aquarian is one who, in a prior life, dedicated his energies to bringing others together into a united group and encouraging love and brotherhood between them. Because the peacemaker is to be honored above all others in spiritual terms, the Aquarian is allowed a special tap into a source of the highest idealism regarding the brotherhood of man, both at the soul level and at the personality level, filters permitting. But this source of ideal brotherhood represents a level of advancement far beyond the achievements of the race to the present day. Love is not universally felt for all; indeed, the only circumstance in which most individuals get even a glimpse of love in its true majesty is that first overwhelming excitement of the love affair, before the cold realities show themselves. But the Aquarian knows instinctively that the universal nonexclusive love is possible. (End Quote)
Blessings, Steffan Vanel
PS: For those of you who may be interested in my personal circumstances in the aftermath of the loss of my home to wildfire in September, first of all, my heartfelt thanks once again to those of you who donated to help me get my feet on the ground, and make some kind of new beginning in my material plane life following my losses.
I have decided, for the time being, to stay up here in the mountains of Northeastern Washington for now. I have been given a house to caretake until April, and I will be taking these months to retreat, focus and look for guidance and clarity as to what my next move should be in the Spring.
In the meantime, I will continue to focus on my writing and doing Readings for you out there in the world somewhere.
Clearly, despite all of the abuses, the internet has been an amazing gift to bring us all together, and I have felt blessed by all of the love and support that has come to me through that medium. Again, thank you, and I send wishes for blessings in your lives during all of the holidays around this Rebirth of the Light.
* ’Astrology Plus by Hilarion’, the book which I am always quoting from and has been out of print for some time, is now available as an EBook on Amazon.
* Hilarion’s ‘Nations’ EBook is also available on Amazon