Some thoughts about the times we find ourselves in ~ March 2022

As I gather information from my ephemeris about current planetary positions in preparation for an article I’m writing for the up-and-coming Full Moon in Virgo on March 18, I find myself stripping away any preconceptions I have had about what I need to communicate and express the cosmic ‘hands-of-time’ ie the placements of the planets and asteroids, and their relationship to each other.

Now I sense I am called to weave together my opinions about politics, the environment, and the state of the world, with my astrological meanderings.

 We are having revealed to us in no uncertain terms just how broken and dysfunctional the old world patriarchal structures and systems are. We can no longer trust and have faith in those structures and systems to pull us out of this devastating set of circumstances we are living with.

There are several long term factors which contribute to the unravelling of these old constructs which have brought us to where we are now. 

We’ve have entered the Aquarian Age, as part of a 26,000 year cycle. Change was bound to happen, revolution in fact. Pluto in Capricorn, since 2008, is breaking up the old systems, the institutions which have served us for hundreds of years, bringing transformation and massive change. Pluto has been square to Eris in the last few years, which is an evocation of power that is embedded in the troubled feminine side of the human psyche. 

Uranus entered Taurus, opening the settled and fixed ways we have of stabilising ourselves in our relationship to Earth. Saturn went into Aquarius, which tests all the premises of innovation and awakening that Aquarius brings with it. The world could not have stayed the same!

These challenges are symptoms of the breaking down of an old world: the structures and systems of a world built to exploit mother nature and compete with one another in the process, stopping at nothing to be a winner in these stakes. We blow our Mother Earth apart, poison her land and waters with chemicals derived from extractive industries, remixed into toxic cocktails to propel us forward on our materialistic rollercoaster rides of self-aggrandizement. We continue to murder and kill each other, sometimes just for the colour of our skins, or our gender, religion, or nationality, and in the process wipe out other species in our race to be ‘at the top of the game’. 

In truth I don’t believe it serves us to denigrate our species like I just have, calling ourselves parasites and vandals of this magnificent planet. Although all the evidence suggests that we must be one of the most destructive and divisive species to inhabit her. 

Which other species has been able to compromise and destroy the biosphere, the atmosphere which nourishes all life and protects us from invading and potentially harmful elements in our solar system and galaxy; as well as change the climate and bring our own as well as most other species to its knees with the consequent climate emergencies?

When one thinks like this, one cannot help but note how powerful humankind is. Misguidedly, we have abused our powers and are endangering all current lifeforms on this planet with our careless, self-serving, arrogance and entitled sense that we can do whatever we like, whenever we like, and in total disregard for life on Earth.

It is time now to enter into another paradigm, and we are assisted with this process of dreaming something new in, based on compassion, inclusiveness, spirituality and expansion by the planets Jupiter and Neptune, which form a single perfect conjunction in Pisces on April 12.

Last time this conjunction happened was in December 2009, and the next one will not happen until March 2035. This important and unusual planetary conjunction along with the above-mentioned planetary patterns, reveal that there is still a lot of healing and reconciliation happening as we individually and as a collective come to terms with these most transformational of times. 

I’m dreaming that most of us live peacefully and in harmony with our immediate environment and each other. (I do not have the stats on this, I’m imagining this..) 

We have the capacity to feel compassion, empathy, curiosity, and an expanded sense of belonging to each other as well as the planet with all its remarkable life-forms. We have the consciousness to know ourselves, and to bring wisdom, awareness and understanding to all that we are part of.

 We can create amazing beauty; dazzling and innovative ways of living healthily and with great awareness, at one with each other and all that is so extraordinary about this planet.

So now is the time to bring our attention to the old belief systems we’ve been programmed with, amongst them, the concept that we are ‘above nature’. Once we find that narrative in our own belief systems and behaviours, we can practice compassion towards the obsolete systems and trajectories which keep us so separate from each other and Earth.

To morph into the New Earth and perhaps survive this massive transition time we are in, we must let go of these old ways of operating. Easier-said-than-done!  But starting with ourselves and our immediate families and communities wherever we are right now, is a good beginning. And all you have to do is start with yourself, it is contagious and will soon spread to those around you and into the wider community. 

Even though it is important to know what is going on in the world, one can so easily get dragged down by the minutiae and feel flattened by a hopeless sense of powerlessness. It is helpful to focus instead on a practice which can bring change, beginning with you. 

Practice: reflection, kindness, compassion, grace, forgiveness, faith, inclusiveness, generosity, courage, self-responsibility, and self-love. 

 With these qualities embedded in your intention and with an open heart, ie with Love on your side, you are harnessing the greatest and most pervasive powers available to humankind for changing ourselves and the world at large.

(artwork by Candy van Rood)