Embracing the Age of Aquarius

The past few years, we have heard a lot of bits and pieces of information about shifting from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. Although most of us are familiar with the zodiac signs and their basic characteristics, the majority of us are not erudite enough in astrological matters to really understand what it means.

Not too long ago I decided to consult with a very reputable local astrologer about this, and we went over different aspects of celestial patterns. He explained that the age we are living into right now is the Age of Pisces, a window of about 2000 years which started about a century before the birth of Christ.

The Age of Pisces was the age of religions and patriarchal structures, which took over to balance the feminine energy which had been dominating the scene during pre-Christian times. Within those 2000 years, the world’s three leading prophets, Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha, were born, and in that same time period the energy shifted from fluid Goddess energy to linear masculine energy. Rational thinking took over instinct, and judgment shifted from the heart to the conscious mind. Gradually, patriarchal structures were created and infused with power, both socially and spiritually. Corporations were created, global thinking shifted toward material solidity, and control became the name of the game.

The two-thousand-year time span of the Age of Pisces is now drawing to an end, and even though many have associated the start of the new age with the year 2012, it is in reality hard to predict accurately when it will occur. With the end of the Age of Pisces and all that it represents, we can expect a breakdown of patriarchal structures on all levels, and if we pay attention, we’ll see that this is already happening: the fall of our economy is one of the symptoms of the crumbling, while the growing interest in soul-searching and philanthropic efforts indicate a shift back toward the heart center.

It is quite interesting that the sign of Aquarius is represented by Ganymede, a Trojan prince who in Greek myth was kidnapped and granted immortal life to be the bearer of the cups for the gods. However, Ganymede poured the nectar of the gods upon earth, and the divine drink was evenly sprinkled on the mortals below. This image embodies the concept of divine knowledge no longer being kept secret, but flowing gradually to empower everyone. Another very interesting symbol for Aquarius is the set of two parallel wavy lines which appear to be water but are in fact two snakes. Snake energy was revered in pre-Christian times as healing energy, and the image of two snakes coiled around a cross is still used today to represent medicine.

So, what does this all mean? We are moving through the motions of a shift which will bring profound changes, and although most periods of transition are unsettling, balance is always reached in the end. It’s a time to say good-bye to fear tactics and rigid thinking, especially now that the remnants of the old energy are desperately trying to cling tight as the foundations are falling in. We can either ride the wave toward the heart center or remain stuck to a mindset that’s destined to fail. The choice is up to us.

A Ready Response

“Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.” ~ Michael Burke


One of my favorite places to go to is my friend Pam’s house. Her home is always peaceful and cheerful, and we had the best time yesterday, catching up with old friends, baking and learning new things. One of the ladies there gave us all henna tattoos, and another taught us different Buddhist chants and instructed us on the different type of vibrations each raised.

One of the chants, Om Ah Hum, is a traditional chant used by Buddhists to bless food and change its energy to purify body, mind and spirit. To test this chant, we baked one loaf of “blessed” pumpkin bread, and one “unblessed” loaf. Only the person who cut them knew which plate contained the blessed bread. The goal was to try both to see if we could somehow detect which of the loaves was the one chanted over. We all ate a piece of each and wrote down our impression on a piece of paper; once everyone was finished, and each had explained the reason for choosing one bread or the other as the blessed one, the truth was revealed.

When the two plates were first laid on the table, I grabbed a piece from the green plate without thinking. I tasted it, mentally recorded every sensation, and had a drink before I tasted a piece from the blue plate. I bit into it and repeated the pattern – I analyzed the flavor, the texture, and the way I felt while eating it. My “verdict’ was in: after careful analysis and intense pondering, I felt pretty positive the blessed bread was the one in the blue plate.

And I was wrong; the blessed bread was the loaf in the green plate. I had spent so much valuable time analyzing every crumb and looking for facts that would satisfy my rational mind, that I missed the most important clue: my instinctual grabbing from the green plate first. I had set down with the goal of finding the blessed bread, and my instinct led me straight to the right plate. Had I paid attention to that, rather than trying to figure out the problem through the filter of human senses, the answer would have been clear to me from the start.

Too often we ignore our instincts. We assume that everything has to check against a verifiable scale, and by doing so we cloud our judgment. I cannot count the times in my life – especially when I was much younger – when I would get an instant sensation about something or someone and didn’t listen to it. Each of those times, I fooled myself into believing that the first response was wrong, and I deeply regretted doing so later on. Ten times out of ten, the first sensation was right, and if I had listened to it, I would have saved myself a lot of grief.

Our inner guide is ever alert and ready to guide us, if we can override our arrogance and trust its wisdom. As Amos B. Alcott, an early 1800s American philosopher, once said, “he who speaks to the instinct speaks to the deepest in mankind and finds the readiest response.”