In an interview done with the BBC in 1959, Carl Jung was asked how best to approach one’s own death. In a lengthy reply he stressed the importance of our attitude and the need for right thinking, saying: “When you think in a certain way, you may feel considerably better. And if you think along the lines of nature, then you think properly.” So how then does nature ‘think’; and how does she teach us to think?
For starters, nature is far more verb-like in her cogitations than noun-like. In other words: the natural world is an ever-evolving symphony of intertwined processes rather than a set of static, autonomous entities. Secondly, nature does not think in linear progressions, but rather in circles, where every ending is always the prelude to some new beginning. When asked in the same interview if he personally believed that death was the irrevocable end, Jung responded that in the dreams of terminal patients, the unconscious seemed to completely disregard the threat, behaving instead as if psyche and life somehow continue on.
A circle in time is a cycle; and astrology is primarily a language of natural cycles. The twelve signs of the Zodiac, for example, can be taken to symbolize the twelve phases of the yearly seasonal cycle. The planets - which when viewed from Earth orbit against the backdrop of the zodiacal signs - ceaselessly move in cycles, within cycles, within cycles. The best analogy for the cyclical relationship of any two planets is another natural cycle: the growth of a plant, which consists of four progressive phases.
First: the seed from which the plant grows germinates and the seedling begins to develop. This phase corresponds to the period of time between the conjunction - or periodic alignment relative to the Earth - and when the faster moving planet (the one closer to the Sun) reaches 90 degrees from the slower planet. So in the first phase of a planetary relationship cycle, whatever has begun at the conjunction, whatever process the relationship is symbolizing, builds its initial structures, reaching a crisis of sorts as the planets come to the opening 90 degree angle of the relationship. Astrologers call this a ‘square’.
Second: the plant matures, and then flowers and/or fruits. Astrologically this corresponds to the phase between the 90 degree and the 180 degree relationship of the two planets. If the developmental process the relationship is symbolizing survives the initial crisis of growth at 90 degrees, as the planets come to a 180 degree relationship ( or ‘opposition’), the process comes to full maturity.
Third: the plant produces its seeds; and between 180 degrees and 270 degrees (the closing ‘square’), the planetary relationship symbolizes the seed-bearing phase of the process. In the human situation, ‘seeds’ translate into understandings and awareness of the cycle’s meaning which effectively miniaturize the whole experience in exactly the same way the new seed does its parent plant.
And fourth: the seeds are released, and the exhausted plant begins to die and compost itself. In the final phase, from the closing square to the next conjunction and the beginning of the new cycle, the seeds of understanding and awareness of the process reaching completion establish the context and lay the foundation for the new process about to begin.
WE’RE RIDERS ON THE STORM
Let’s use the planetary cycle that’s currently most dominant in the world situation - the cycle of Uranus and Pluto - to illustrate what all this translates into. Due to the elliptical nature of Pluto’s orbit, the Uranus/Pluto cycle can vary in length from 115 to approximately 140 years. The cycle begins anew each time Uranus, which is closer to the Sun than Pluto and therefore moves faster in its orbit, passes between Pluto and the Earth. This, once again, is called a ‘conjunction’. The last Uranus/Pluto conjunction was in effect from 1961 through 1960. The next one will begin in 2100 and last through 2110.
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| Image: courtesy Bill Nolan |
The big societal shock of the previous Uranus/Pluto cycle (1848-1853) had been the Industrial Revolution. In 1965, as the current cycle was just beginning, IBM released its first commercial computer, which officially launched the world-wide Digital Revolution. But there was another event, another seed planted, at the beginning of the current cycle that is perhaps even more timely and significant because it has the potential to trump all our technological achievements.
Believe it or not, the first presidential briefing on the dangers of climate change was given to Lyndon Johnson in 1963. With the usual lack of foresight we’ve come to expect from most of our politicians, he completely ignored the warning. In early 2011, when Uranus reached the opening 90 degree square to Pluto, we entered the ‘crisis of action’ phase, meaning: that the seeds of understanding of the man-made effects of global climate change first planted in the 1960’s now must be acted upon if we’re to avoid the consequences. It is now very clear that this will require all of us in the next few years to ‘shockingly transform’ our fossil fuel-based lifestyles.
Were we to actually do this - which, I’ll admit, seems almost impossible - by 2042, when Uranus and Pluto reach ‘opposition’ (180 degrees), our children and their children will be thanking us. And by 2069, when these planets reach their closing 90 degree square, the transformation of consciousness this will require will be built into the very fabric of the global techno-culture.
If, on the other hand, we don’t act on this in the next three to four years, the people alive in 2046 will be living with the full-blown consequences of our inaction - and it won’t be pretty. If the astrological model proves correct, it won’t take until the end of the current century for the disastrous effects to be fully upon us. It will all happen by mid-century!
Think our rush to extinction cannot possibly happen this quickly? Then consider the following time line from a Dec 17, 2013 post by Dahr Jamail on TomDispatch.com. If, as the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead says, the process is the reality, is this enough reality for you?
A briefing provided to the failed U.N. Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen in 2009 provided this summary: “The long-term sea level that corresponds to current CO2 concentration is about 23 meters above today’s levels, and the temperatures will be 6 degrees C or more higher. These estimates are based on real long-term climate records, not on models.”
Think our rush to extinction cannot possibly happen this quickly? Then consider the following time line from a Dec 17, 2013 post by Dahr Jamail on TomDispatch.com. If, as the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead says, the process is the reality, is this enough reality for you?
* Late 2007: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)announces that the planet will see a one degree Celsius temperature increase due to climate change by 2100.
* Late 2008: The Hadley Centre for Meteorological Research predicts a 2C increase by 2100.
* Mid-2009: The U.N. Environment Programme predicts a 3.5C increase by 2100. Such an increase would remove habitat for human beings on this planet, as nearly all the plankton in the oceans would be destroyed, and associated temperature swings would kill off many land plants. Humans have never lived on a planet at 3.5C above baseline.
* October 2009: The Hadley Centre for Meteorological Research releases an updated prediction, suggesting a 4C temperature increase by 2060.
* November 2009: The Global Carbon Project, which monitors the global carbon cycle, and the Copenhagen Diagnosis, a climate science report, predict 6C and 7C temperature increases, respectively, by 2100.
* December 2010: The U.N. Environment Programme predicts up to a 5C increase by 2050.
* 2012: The conservative International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook report for that year states that we are on track to reach a 2C increase by 2017.
* November 2013: The International Energy Agency predicts a 3.5C increase by 2035.A briefing provided to the failed U.N. Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen in 2009 provided this summary: “The long-term sea level that corresponds to current CO2 concentration is about 23 meters above today’s levels, and the temperatures will be 6 degrees C or more higher. These estimates are based on real long-term climate records, not on models.”
On December 3rd, a study by 18 eminent scientists, including the former head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, showed that the long-held, internationally agreed upon target to limit rises in global average temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius was in error and far above the 1C threshold that would need to be maintained in order to avoid the effects of catastrophic climate change. (http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175785/tomgram%3A_dahr_jamail%2C_the_climate_change_scorecard/#more)
In Hopi prophecy, unless humanity changes, our current ‘fourth world’ will be destroyed by fire. In the 1960’s, we thought that meant nuclear holocaust. Now we know, with drought and wildfire devastating the western US, parts of Siberia, and Australia what it really means. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek has dubbed all these converging catastrophes: the ‘zero-point apocalypse’.
EVERY ENDING IS A NEW BEGINNING
Today’s Uranus/Pluto square is someplace in every person on the planet’s astrological chart - yours included. If it’s positioned peripherally, then it will seem like the shocking transformation is taking place all around you. If it’s positioned centrally, it will be right on top of you in ways that will require you to shocking transform your own life. A good astrologer can help you understand what’s in it for you. Either way, it’s like living in hurricane Sandy 24/7, as life as we’ve known it breaks apart in order to re-construct itself in new ways.
Astrologically, we have no choice about living through this storm - unless we choose to exit - and that would just be another kind of shocking transformation! But we do have choice with regard to how we live through it. Either we choose to become the shocking transformation - change in the ways necessary if human life is to become truly sustainable - or we will suffer the shocking transformation. The former means we deal with the energies being symbolized consciously; the latter means we act them out unconsciously. The whole point of cultivating astrological awareness is to be able to live life more consciously. Things just work better that way.
Start right where you are. Join forces with like-minded individuals in your own community, and begin creating a world in which your children can thrive. The technology you need is already here. Choose life. The corporate vision for you, if you continue to buy into their consumer fantasy, is killing you. We need a different kind of American Dream, and we need it right now. Grow a garden, even if it's only in pots on your balcony, by the phases of the moon (Wendell Berry does). Don't worry if you seem to be the only ones doing this. People know something is wrong; but they don't know what to do. Health is contagious. Show them another way. If you need some inspiration, read Berry's poetry and essays, or chapters 8 & 9 of Thomas E. Mails' The Hopi Survival Kit.
Above all, learn to think like nature. There are many ways to do so; but developing your own astrological awareness, or consulting with someone who has done that, is one good way to help transform the obviously not-so-pleasant possibility of ‘zero-point apocalypse’ into a successful and sustainable shocking transformation.
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