The Great Conjunction

After a year of much activity in the sign of Capricorn, 2021 has a more Aquarian flavour. Saturn ingressed into Aquarius on December 16th 2020, where it will stay until 2023. Jupiter followed suit on December 19th 2020, and will be in Aquarius until December 30th 2021 (with a dip into Pisces this spring).

The Saturn-Jupiter conjunction will be exact at 0 degrees of Aquarius on the Solstice, December 21st, 2020, at 10:20am PST. They are the two brightest objects in the sky, visible in the southwest shortly after sunset (visible in the days and weeks around this date).

The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter occurs approximately every 20 years. It was called The Great Conjunction by medieval astrologers who connected it to transitions of power. This conjunction is also the first occurring in an air sign after being in Earth signs for 200 years. So this marks not only a new 20-year cycle, but a new 200-year cycle as well.

And some are claiming this marks the beginning of a much longer cycle: the Age of Aquarius. Is that true? The question of Astrological Ages is actually quite complex. To explore it requires delving into some astronomy. If you aren’t interested in the technical side of astrology, feel free to skip this next section and dive into the interpretation below.

The Astronomy of Astrological Ages

The Earth not only spins on its axis and orbits the Earth, it also slowly wobbles, just like a spinning top wobbles around its axis. This motion is called Precession of the Equinoxes because it causes the apparent shift westward (backwards through the zodiac) of the equinoxes relative to the background stars (by 1 degree every 72 years). (It causes a shift of the Sun relative to the background stars as measured on any day of the year, but the Equinoxes are convenient times to measure this shift).

This movement is measured by the Aries point, which is the degree of the zodiac where the Sun rises on the vernal equinox. The term “Aries point” may be confusing because it is no longer in the constellation of Aries. It received its name when the vernal equinox was at zero degrees of Aries, but now, because of precession, it’s in Pisces. This is the same confusion that exists in the naming of the signs.

The tropical zodiac (the one used in Western Astrology) is not actually defined by the constellations, but by the time of year. Aries season begins at the vernal equinox every year, even though the Sun is no longer in the constellation called Aries at that time of year.

So there is a disconnect between astrological signs and the constellations for which they were originally named. You can think of the tropical zodiac as being tied to seasons rather than stars (even though it’s named after the stars); and the sidereal zodiac (that is used in Jyotish, for example) as tied to the stars but not the seasons (since the time of year associated with a particular sign will slowly change). I believe both are relevant in their own ways (why wouldn’t both the seasons and the stars be relevant for astrology?).

Because a full wobble takes about 26 000 years (25 920 to be exact), a period of time called a Great Year, the Aries point will spend about 2000 years in each sign of the zodiac (exactly 2160). For about 2000 years, the Aries point has been in Pisces, making this the end of the age of Pisces (Pisces is the sign most resonant with Christianity). When the Aries point shifts into Aquarius, we will be in the age of Aquarius. So when will that be?

Constellations Have No Edges

The reason there is disagreement as to the exact date is because there is no solid line between constellations. We can use the boundary between constellations designated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), but we should keep in mind that the boundary is somewhat arbitrary. In reality, there is no hard and fast line where one constellation ends and the next begins.

A second problem with relying on the IAU boundaries is that they map out the sky into differently sized sections based on the stars. But in astrology, the signs designate 12 equal divisions of the ecliptic (to create the zodiac). The signs are named after the constellations, but the constellations aren’t the point (which is why Ophiucus is not the 13th sign!).

Nevertheless, the IAU boundary at least gives us something to work with, since there is no other agreed-upon boundary to use. The date at which the Aries point will cross the IAU designated boundary from Pisces into Aquarius is 2597 (Jean Meeus). Even if this date is somewhat arbitrary, it is a few hundred years away yet, suggesting that even if the transition is gradual, it’s unlikely that we have two full feet in the Aquarian age (more on this later).

The Tropical and Sidereal Zodiacs

Another complication is that this whole line of thinking conflates signs and constellations. We’ve already noted that the tropical zodiac is a measure of seasons, not of stars. And yet, the age of Aquarius is defined by the Aries point shifting into the constellation (not the zodiac sign) of Aquarius.

So it’s not so straightforward to rely on our understanding of Aquarius from Western astrology, which relies on the tropical zodiac, when talking about astrological ages, which is based on the sidereal zodiac. Nor would it make sense to understand astrological ages from the perspective of the sidereal zodiac without taking into account the location of the Equinoxes, or the tropical zodiac.

One way to understand astrology is as reading (or interpreting) the symbolism of the sky. So, why wouldn’t we expect there to be meaning associated with the time of year, as well as the stars. Or another way to put it: why wouldn’t there be something to both the tropical as well as the sidereal zodiac, and to the different astrological traditions that rely on them? This question of astrological ages is precisely where the two zodiacs meet, and where we can see the relevance of both.

Maybe the message to take from all of this is that it’s complicated. We are interested in the sky, in the relative movement of stars and planets and the Sun and Moon from our perspective on Earth and what it all means. Well, that is complicated. And life is complicated. If astrology were simpler, it wouldn’t work. it wouldn’t be capable of reflecting life.

(This is why I feel like one of the tasks of the astrologer is to sift through all the data to determine what is most relevant and then synthesize, analyze, and interpret that. Determining what information is relevant is one of the most important parts of astrology. And what IS most relevant? That is an interesting and important question, and there is no simple answer.)

All of this implies that when we are talking about astrological ages, we are talking about the overlay of the significations of one zodiac on top of the other; or another way to put it is we are taking into account the position of the stars as well as the time of year. Both Earth and Sky are important. Here we are, human, with Earth beneath us and Sky overhead. How can we understand ourselves without taking into account both above and below.

The Age of Aquarius

There is no boundary between constellations. Like most things in nature, the shift from one to the other is not so distinct. Just like there is no exact moment at which night turns into day, the age of Aquarius doesn’t begin all at once. When talking about the transition of one age to another, where ages are more than 2000 years, the transition from one to another may take decades or even centuries. Just as it will take time to transition from one way of being human to another.

The very fact that the Age of Aquarius is a theme in our collective consciousness suggests to me that it’s relevant; that we are at least experiencing premonitions, intuitions, foreshadowings, transitionary moments, the first inklings of the Age of Aquarius even as it overlaps with the last days of the Age of Pisces.

Not that everything said about the Age of Aquarius is accurate. I think there’s been a lot of fantasy projected onto the idea. Perhaps this is the influence of the not-yet-over Age of Pisces, as one of Pisces’ shadows is delusion. The Age of Aquarius has the potential to be better in many ways, but there is no such thing as Utopia. What we make of this time is up to us. Nothing is predetermined.

I see moments, like this Saturn Jupiter conjunction at 0 Aquarius, and like the 1964 lineup of every visible planet plus the Sun and Moon in the sign of Aquarius, as significant markers of our movement into the Aquarian Age. The transition happens in nonlinear fits and starts and steps forward and backward and in the minds and hearts of some people at some times in some places.

If astrology is about interpreting celestial phenomena, then how are we not to see it as significant that on the heels of the triple alignment of Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto in Capricorn--at the end of this most momentous year-- there is a once-in-20-year conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, the first in a 200-year series of conjunction in Air signs, at zero Aquarius, of all degrees, and on the Solstice no less? Regardless of whether we want to understand Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius as connected to the Aquarian Age, we are certainly entering an Aquarian year.

Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius

Aquarius is concerned with humanity as a collective (although I think even our concept of humanity is changing). It’s interested in what is best “for the people”. In the Age of Pisces, we bow down--to God, perhaps, or its representatives, the priests and prophets. Or else to Idols, to money and power, to the world of illusion and form. To fantasy and fame. We seek a saviour, or act like one ourselves.

In Aquarius (after the influence of Capricorn), we take responsibility for ourselves. We know that no one outside of us can save us. Aquarius won’t have us bow down to anyone or anything. It empowers the individual. It says, we don’t need middle men, in commerce or in spirituality. Aquarius destabilizes the hierarchical organization that comes from Capricorn and seeks to replace it with radical democratization.

Even now that Saturn and Jupiter have moved on, Pluto persists in Capricorn until 2023, wreaking even more havoc to reveal even more shadows of power and corruption, continuing to tear down the structures of old. The hunger for power is hard to shake and so many seek to establish themselves in new hierarchies, or even to solidify their place in the failing ones. But Aquarius isn’t just about lifting people up the social ladder, or redistributing power and resources. Aquarius says that’s not radical enough. In the name of equality, structure itself must be differently organized.

This new and ancient form of organization is the network, or the web. Some of us may take the internet for granted, but in human history, it happened just a breath ago and is completely changing the way we organize, communicate, and understand ourselves. It is facilitating the transformation from top-down hierarchical structures of power to vast and distributed interconnectedness.

But the significance of the network goes deeper than social media as we continue to decenter ourselves, not just within the human community, but in the world at large. As we recognize more and more our embeddedness within a vast network of beings beyond the human. We are intimately connected to Earth, animals, plants, ancestors, and uncountable seen and unseen beings.

We might even understand this web of interconnectedness as metaphysical (Jupiter in Aquarius), as forming the basis for reality itself. Are we really anything other than our place within this vast web of life, in constant interaction and communication with all those we are connected to? Perhaps in this sense, our very notion of Humanity is changing as we do away with hierarchical structure, not only in our political structures but in our very understanding of the world and our place within it.

Saturn Square Uranus

As Saturn moves through Aquarius, it will come to square Uranus in Taurus three times (Feb 17th, June 14th, Dec 23rd, 2021), highlighting tension between the new and the old, the radical and the conventional. We might feel conflicted between our desire for freedom and autonomy and the rules, restrictions, and limitations we face. We may feel torn between our individuality and our responsibilities to the collective. There may be resistance to change, to the future, to the new, as we mourn the past and release attachment to it.

On the heels of 2020, with social and economic reform as central concerns, these square aspects are likely to represent challenges that arise as we build a new world. Social progress is a process, and will require work (Saturn) as well as wisdom (Jupiter). Even social justice itself is transforming as we embrace the future in the present. New ways are needed all around. These squares represent the process of working through.

We can see the tension between the old and the new as tension between hierarchical and network organization in the way big tech continues to exert enormous and destructive control over social media (attempting to impose hierarchy onto networks). Maybe the antitrust cases will play out in coincidence with the Saturn-Uranus squares.

Also in the news of course, is the roll-out of vaccines, which couldn’t be more perfectly aligned to Saturn and Jupiter’s ingress into Aquarius. Aquarius governs science, technology, and innovation, as well as what’s best for the people. So vaccines are very much signified by Aquarius.

But again, with the squares to Uranus in Taurus, we might expect problems, tensions, or resistance. Perhaps conversations around or intimations of forced vaccination will coincide with the Saturn-Uranus squares. Perhaps issues will arise in the distribution of vaccines, or with their storage, or with the timing. We will likely keep grappling with the many tensions between individual freedom and social responsibility that are associated with public health around vaccination, surveillance, tracking, physical distancing and other rules, etc. And similar themes may crop up in other realms of life as well.

Integrating Saturn and Uranus will require social as well as technological innovation, scientific breakthroughs, experimentation, integrating the old with the new, and, always, a concern for social justice, equality, and what is in the interest of the people. But I don’t think we will succeed unless our innovation goes all the way down, and all the way up. With Jupiter in Aquarius, there is a need to radically redress our worldview--to think and understand and be in the world in a fundamentally different way.

I have a feeling that we will see more and more intersection between science and spirituality. I think we will stop distinguishing between what is physical and what is non-physical, or what is natural and what is super-natural. The supernatural is just nature that we don’t yet understand. The nonphysical is just matter that we don’t yet have the means to observe. “Spirituality” is just a word for what some people don’t believe in because they haven’t experienced it for themselves.

As the systems thinking inherent in chaos theory and complexity theory and exemplified by the internet become more ordinary, as we come to honour and respect indigenous knowledge more and more, perhaps our interconnectedness and interbeingness will become obvious. Perhaps we will finally shake off the vestiges of modernity that has so many of us still thinking of ourselves as separate. Maybe our thinking will finally be informed by the quantum revolution. Maybe we will truly decolonize. Maybe we will come to know in our bones the magic of life and the importance of interdependence.

We Are Cyborgs, But…

As we step more fully into a technological age, we are faced with some choices. Do we merge with technology, taking the cyborg route? Do we integrate fully with the machine world? Or do we honour technology as a tool while staying rooted to Earth and our organic nature? Our future is not predetermined. We always have choice.

Yes, we are already cyborgs in important ways. We are already deeply integrated with our technology. But how far do we want to take it? Just because it’s so far so good doesn’t mean we ought to go all the way. Do we want to dissolve the boundary between ourselves and our technology?

Technological innovation is not predetermined. Some people speak about the future of technology as inevitable. The singularity is coming and whether we like it or not we are becoming more and more fully cyborgs and that’s just the way of it. Why? Why is that just the way of it? That is nonsense. It’s up to us.

I am a huge science fiction fan and yet I’m wary of some of the ways our visions of the future have been molded. What do we imagine for ourselves? Let’s be intentional in our imaginings, knowing that imagination fuels creation. Let’s not let others—especially not Hollywood—imagine for us.

The Future

Aquarius is future-oriented, but that doesn’t mean not being in the present. The past and the future are always here with us in this very moment. The question is, how do we hold them? How do we hold our own future and the future of humanity? How do we understand our past, and the histories that brought us here?

What do we envision? What do we pray for? What do we dream? Where do we put our energy, our time, our attention? What futures are we creating by our very thoughts and actions in this moment?

Saturn and Jupiter at zero Aquarius surely marks a beginning. A beginning of what? That’s up to us.

My prayers to every node of the network in this vast web of life of which we are part. May every being be blessed, be free, and know love.