Aquarius is the water-bearer of the zodiac. “Carrying water” is a somewhat antiquated term we use for voluntary collective activities. What does it mean to carry water for the community? There was a time before pipes and plumbing when buckets and jugs were the only way to transport water. Though it might make sense for everyone to carry their own water, it simply couldn’t work that way. Instead, carrying water was a communal chore done out of respect and gratitude for community members. Even without monetary payment, a sense of belonging comes from serving a community that supports its members.
Aquarius represents a lateral power structure in which every member of the community has an equal say and an equal stake. Service becomes a guiding principle for humanity in the Aquarian Age, and monetary incentives become less important. The planet Uranus associated with Aquarius is notorious for sudden shocks, so we can expect some surprising events to trigger these new values. Though we could voluntarily make a drastic shift to a more sustainable and equitable future, it’s not likely to occur without a catalyst of some kind. Aquarian values will require a new power dynamic, a new contract for the whole of humanity. What will it take to get us from here to there?
The Great Cusp
What does it mean to be entering the Aquarian Age? We’re moving from over two thousand years of the Piscean Age into two thousand years of the Age of Aquarius. We’ve lived our entire lives on this long cusp that began hundreds of years ago. Most of the records prior to the Piscean Age were lost in the destruction of the Library of Alexandria at the end of the Age of Aries. For the last two thousand
years, humanity has been trying to put the pieces back together, solve the big mysteries, and discover the truth that has eluded us for so long. In the absence of information, we cling to our beliefs and our trusted sources, and sometimes we get a bit carried away.
The Age of Pisces began with a wave of passionate spiritualism that crystalized into structured religious institutions. After two thousand years of wars and conquest in the Age of Aries, even emperors were beginning to see themselves as gods. On the Great Cusp of Aries and Pisces, we could literally be crucified for our beliefs. While many were forced at the point of a sword to pay tribute to an emperor god, others believed in a messiah at great risk to themselves. As the fire of Aries slowly faded, poets, prophets, and philosophers began to discuss the design of our collective universe without fear of retribution. The Piscean Age has been ripe for inquiry but hopelessly prone to confusion and delusions.
The X-Factor
Pisces is associated with the planet Neptune, and when this planet is involved, a critical piece of the puzzle is missing. No matter how intelligent we may be, we cannot account for the X-factor. We all dance around this inconvenient question mark, making our best guesses as to what it could be. But no one knows for sure, and that alone can drive us a bit crazy. Those who pretend to know everything tend to be the most deluded. But is
it possible that someone will correctly guess the objective of life on Earth or that we’ll eventually stumble upon the missing link? Of course, some can sense this hidden truth, even if they can’t prove it to a strict scientific standard.
In the current Great Cusp of Pisces and Aquarius, the answer to all our questions will likely come in one big reveal. Aquarius is associated with the planet Uranus, and Uranus loves to shock us with the unexpected. If the Piscean Age was one long sustained question mark, the Aquarian Age will begin with at least one big exclamation mark. Being a cusp, we should expect the confusion of Pisces to remain, fading ever so slowly. Therefore, it will take decades, if not centuries, to establish the values of the Aquarian Age free from our irrational compulsions. We’re currently entering a period of progressive values that tend to overcorrect with the best of intentions.
Progressive Values
We could describe Aquarian values as “progressive,” but they will become regressive when the Age of Capricorn begins around 4200AD. When the current great cusp started in the 1700s, an epic battle was just beginning. Monarchs and emperors had been treating the newly discovered lands like their own private playgrounds, treating people like animals, and treating animals far worse. This provocative behavior tempted a tide of revolutionary forces, compelled by the righteous cause of liberty. In defiance of the rulers of the day and weary of the long and disorienting Age of Pisces, the people were ready for a new, more rational age.
“I would not lead you into the promised land if I could,
because if I led you in, someone else would lead you out.”
~Eugene Victor Debs
In the Declaration of Independence, the US constitution, and the Bill of Rights, we saw the introduction of Aquarian values. However, at the beginning of any cusp, we are still steeped in the previous age. In the writings of Thomas Jefferson, we hear some of the truest calls to Aquarian values, unfiltered and uncompromised by the reality on the ground. Looking back, it’s challenging to process the irony and hypocrisy of a slave owner so passionate about liberty. But in the Age of Pisces, this kind of double standard was the only way of thinking. We should appreciate that Jefferson didn’t water down the values that he aspired to in his writings, even if he could never live up to them in his lifetime.
Law and Privilege
Though we’ve had systems of law dating back before the Age of Pisces, our current legal systems are rooted in regressive values from the feudal era. Throughout the Piscean Age, law and class coincided, producing different laws for different people. The word “privilege” is Latin for “private law,” or a private system of laws for an exclusive class of citizens. Fairness was never an option, but every system of
law had to be portrayed as fair. Regardless of the type of government, humanity has been subjected to a two-thousand-year period of gaslighting. Those who’ve held the vast majority of wealth and power have molded the laws around themselves, leaving the rest of us out in the cold.
Though the privileged classes have historically been white, with men enjoying a station above women, privilege doesn’t have a color, race, or gender. We must be careful not to carry privilege into the Aquarian Age in attempts to right the wrongs of history. All forms of privilege are inherently unfair, and fairness will be of utmost importance. Only in the somewhat gullible Age of Pisces could we allow ourselves to be lied to, tricked, and cajoled into such a lopsided power dynamic. In the Age of Aries, we might have been slaves, but at least it was a more honest affair. Humanity went from forcing its way on one another to saying one thing and doing another.
The Seeker
The problem with Pisces is not Pisces but the opportunists who take advantage of our desire to believe. When the truth is hidden from us, we have only two options: believing in something or believing in nothing. We all desire to know the truth, but we disagree on what it is and where to find it. Those who follow hard science exclusively may see themselves as a class above religious types, mystics, and the dreaded astrologer. But in truth, we’re all attempting to solve the same
mysteries using different methods. The answer to life’s big questions may only come through some combination of these disciplines.
Though scientists see themselves as hyper-rational, they tend to have a surprisingly irrational and uninformed opinion of astrology. When I say “opinion,” I’m referring to their tendency to simply dismiss astrology outright, without any serious consideration at all. A scientist or any professional who openly endorses the practice of astrology does so at significant risk to their career and reputation. Why is that? If we ask those who agree with this practice, they’ll simply say it’s because astrology is bullshit. But the truth is that they cannot be rational regarding astrology because they fear retribution.
Power to the People
This classic conundrum is a sign that we’re approximately halfway through the great cusp of Pisces and Aquarius. The missing pieces of the puzzle have always been there; we’ve simply refused to put them together. At some point in this cusp, humanity will awaken from this spell with a collective “Duh!” It’s as though we’ve been trying to force two magnets together the wrong way, and suddenly, we turn one over, and magnetism does the rest. Not only will the answers soon become apparent, but so will the reasons we’ve been kept in the dark. Humanity has powers we have yet tapped into, and we’ve been taken advantage of for far too long.
It’s important not to attribute Aquarian values to any individual or group, nation, or institution. Many have fought and died for true Aquarian values regardless of their gender, religion, race, class, color, or nationality. Unfortunately, in the confusion of this great cusp, many believed they were fighting for the right reasons, only to learn the hard way what war is really about. It’s tragic to consider that the path to the Aquarian Age is paved mainly with the blood of those who couldn’t understand who or what they were fighting for. In our hearts, we know exactly what we’re fighting for. But these values are too easily and too often co-opted and conflated with corruptible powers.
Super Power Corrupts
Pluto is about power and corruption, and in 2024, we’ll begin a 20-year period of Pluto in Aquarius. We are again reaching a breaking point of privilege and power in which humanity will be compelled to respond. In the last few hundred years, we have only succeeded in replacing kings and emperors with presidents and billionaires. We tell ourselves that this is OK because, in theory, anyone can attain these
heights. But we’ll soon be asking the question: should anyone have so much wealth and power? And the answer will come back a resounding “No!”
We still believe in superheroes and superpowers, and we still believe in Santa Claus. We live in a world of illusions passed down through hundreds of generations. We continue to lie to our children, just as our leaders continue lying to us. We feel compelled to believe the same things our parents believed, marching through time like zombies who cannot let our ancestors die in vain. But something is about to wake us up to the actual damage we’ve been doing. We’ll soon be moving forward without Santa Claus, without our comforting religions, and without our national identities.
Start Today
We can change the world by changing our beliefs; this has always been the lesson of the Piscean Age. Imagine for a moment the most devastating future possible, the total annihilation of our planet and all of its inhabitants. If we knew that this was our destiny, we might beg for another chance to live a simple life, treading lightly on the Earth. Must we march up to the edge of the cliff before we change our ways? How many lemmings will
plummet before we can slow our mindless momentum? There is still time to change our direction with a little grace, avoid the big fall, and discover that the true home of humanity is right here on Earth.
The only way to get there from here without some devastating catalyst that forces us to live within our means is to wake up from this spell as soon as possible. Realize that our traditions, routines, and habits bring us comfort simply because we do them routinely. Everything we have known will be gone in a few hundred years; why must we cling to it all now? We may not live to see the major events of the Aquarian Age, but we can adopt Aquarian Values today. When we stand up for our highest beliefs, to protect the environment, the animals, and our human family, we are the Age of Aquarius.
The Aquarian Age Series continues…
The Age of Aquarius will continue from now until about 4200AD, when the Age of Capricorn begins. In the Aquarian Age Blog and Podcast series, we’ll continue to explore this exciting new era of humanity.