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Now we can look through the sequence of events from 1965-2048 in greater detail, following on from what was seeded in the anguishedly-inspired 1960s.
In 1976-9 came a minor but pokey configuration: Uranus in Scorpio moved over the midpoint of the Neptune-Pluto sextile (60&#deg;), forming semisextiles (30&#deg;) to each. Here we saw the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, Solidarity in Poland, the space shuttle and the neutron bomb (fostering 'nuclear winter' fears), the discovery of the ozone-layer holes, test-tube babies, a new era of change in China, emphasis on human rights issues (Jimmy Carter) and growing public preoccupation with travelling, health-foods and therapies. Despite this, things seemed quite stuck, straining to move forward, obscured by clouds.
In 1984 Pluto moved into Scorpio (its home sign), reaching its perihelion in 1989. At its perihelion it orbits closest to the Sun and thus is Best in effect – the last perihelions being in 1741 (the beginning of the Industrial Revolution) and 1493 (Columbus and the New World). When Pluto hits perihelion, a new reality breaks through, unfolding over centuries. Pluto, when in Scorpio (1984-96) turned the screws, bringing home hard underlying truths, squeezing forth seemingly inevitable developments, and showing a cruel edge to life – for example, rape, abuse, abduction and serial killing became big issues.
The Uranus-Pluto semisquare (45&#deg;) in 1986-87 contributed to the general late-80s acceleration. Things were beginning to turn around, with growing cause for optimism: perestroika in USSR, the surfacing of Green issues (helped by Bhopal and Chernobyl), the end of the Cold War and the Stock Market crash all heralded deep undercurrents of change – with some warnings. High technology was maturing, producing VCRs, cellphones and a computer boom, laser surgery, superconductors, even a claim to cheap homespun fusion energy. Parts of the Third World were now prosperous (Korea, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran) and the global dimension was at the forefront of public attention.
The penny was beginning to drop: what had been foreseen during the 1960s was becoming appreciated in the late-80s – a far-sighted, big-thinking and altruistic streak was surfacing. This aspect was the first of a tight sequence from 1986-93.
The 'Harmonic Convergence' of August 1987 was a multiple conjunction of five inner planets in Leo, configured to Saturn-Uranus in Sagittarius, Jupiter in Aries, and Chiron in Gemini – a powerful short-term burst. It marked a potentised watershed between the old and the new – reflected accurately by a watershed in world Stock Market price trends (the cult of the time). Then followed the Saturn-Uranus conjunction in 1988 (formerly in 1942, the turning-point of WW2, occurring every 46 years) in late Sagittarius. Symbolic setbacks: the space shuttle crashed, the computerised money-markets crashed and terrorists were threatened our own homes. Such conjunctions have a 'scissors' effect, cutting away the past and drawing a line. 1987-8 was a big divide – yet it still related back to the mid-1960s.
This preceded the line-up of 1989-90. It involved Saturn and Neptune conjuncting (last in 1952 and 1917) in Capricorn, opposed by Jupiter conjuncting Chiron in Cancer, with Pluto forming sextiles and trines from Scorpio. In my book Living in Time, I predicted (in 1985) the following: "...Capricornian issues the world must look at here concern the way we structurally organise our social and international relations – money and law, institutions, order versus chaos, stability versus disintegration, agreements, constitutions and social purpose – the father principle. The Cancerian issues involve the security of individuals and nations, welfare and food, resources, fuel and sustenance, the people and the mother principle. God and Caesar suffer wobbles and weaknesses (Uranus, Neptune and Saturn in Capricorn) while Goddess and the people offer ways forward, openings and solutions (Jupiter and Chiron in Cancer). The choices for us, as individuals, groups, nations or one world, are to allow fundamental structural change to come about, preferably to bring it about or, alternatively, to resist change, hang on to knowns, and thereby manifest the likely break-out of unknowns, disruptions, shocks and collapses: do the people serve the system or does the system serve the people? This is a big one."
What we saw was:
What came into view was a massive longterm world programme of cleaning-up, preparation, reorientation and reform. Not an easy task. Had humanity been wiser, it would have started this programme (research and debate) in the mid-1960s. The questions are big, complicatedly interrelated and resolvable only on a global scale – for which we have few precedents, small experience and a deficient conceptual framework. We are being dragged out of our nation-states, our habit of resorting to war, our shaky economic systems, our old values. The configuration set off a mega-twang, and people made magic on the streets of Beijing (failed) and Leipzig (successful), directly addressing the most authoritarian governments of the world – and demanding a say in their governance and a stake in the pie. Their plea struck a chord worldwide. The solitary man halting a line of tanks in Beijing in 1989 summed up the message of the time – just as the image of a flower being put down a National Guardsman's gunshaft had spoken loudly in Chicago in 1968.
In future we will see 1986-93 as a key turning point in history. A new vision or 'dispensation' dawned in the 1960s, but a new reality hits us in the 1990s – though the second leads out of the first. A dam broke in 1989, and a new Big Picture was revealed, surreptitiously shifting everybody's standpoint, personally and globally. The past was swept away, leaving a blank space for the future.
Suddenly, new verities were accepted by majorities, a 'new world order'. This was, however, an in principle revelation, and the biting reality is only beginning to come. New fears arose too: dread over chaos and economic downfall (Uranus and Neptune in Capricorn) and fear of terrorists, AIDS and mystery diseases (Pluto in Scorpio). Interestingly, the prime motivating force behind all this was techno-economic, not idealistic: the energy of the time expressed the earthy nature of the sign Capricorn, and Scorpio tightened the screws. The stuff of the dreamers of the 1960s became the stuff of realists of the late 1980s, faxed by satellite, credit-card paid.
A classic example of a negative historical response to an intense power-period was that of the Chinese government to the rising movement for democracy and liberalisation. To slow down the pace of change was probably sensible, but to repress it with authoritarianism was historically dangerous: the eventual downfall of the Chinese power-structure was thereby guaranteed (doubtless by unforeseen, backdoor means). Once a timely idea has been broadcast, it itches to be realised – the collective unconscious eventually gets its way. Power periods such as this do not operate solely in the short-term.
Another example of a 1989 negative historical response was the proud posturing of the 'free' countries on the fall of the Soviet bloc: in doing so, opinion-formers in the West were not only being 'economical with truth', but they were also tempting fate, sooner or later, to expose the very flaws of 'free' countries and even bring their own downfall. The strength of the vision-thing which percolated through in 1989 had looked beyond practicalities to ultimate goals, but reality was soon to strike. A series of Saturn opposition Chiron aspects throughout 1989 continued into the 1990s: on one of these in 1990, Saddam Hussein decided to play a few master cards on the world board. Saturn-Chiron aspects tend to throw a spanner in the works, obliging extraordinary turns of events and solutions. This aspect throws into the arena specific problems to be faced – big questions which aren't easy to crack. Saddam Hussein inadvertently uncovered the oil-money-weapons trade which had been going on for decades, bringing the Palestinian-Israeli question to the top of the agenda. Meanwhile, an optimistic start to perestroika in USSR led to great difficulties, where reforms didn't go as planned. Turgidity (Capricorn) was setting in, and the self-punishing (Scorpio) aspect of the collective psyche was exercising itself.
This was written in early 1991, so from this point we move into what for me is the future: some of it will have passed by the time you read this.
It seems that a large wave has been set off, accelerating an underlying change, evoking much concern amongst ordinary people and bringing much into question. Economics, welfare, environment, war, refugees, disasters – amplified by an instantaneous worldwide communications net. We seem to have gone through a threshold, where major changes are no longer future-tense (as they were up to the late-80s), but increasingly present-tense. We shall encounter a steady stream of crises in different places and in different departments of life, bringing various crucial issues into focus. This is forcing us toward an overload situation. However, it seems that there is more substructural work to do – change starts from the bottom and works up if it is being brought about unconsciously.
Now we come to 1993, the cruxpoint of a power period. Previous comparable power periods have been 1965-6, 1892-1907, 1848-51, 1818-21 and 1792-4 – to give you a sense of how often they happen. The collective unconscious – the Unknown, Overmind, or even God – impinges Bly on the conscious world, radically altering plans and intents, perceptions, explanations and realities themselves. Usually, such 'divine interventions' are unforeseeable and change things in ways which previously were seen as impossible. The symptoms of a buildup to such a period are:
This droll atmosphere changes as an aspect or configuration forms, sometimes before it – an example being Mikhael Gorbachev's perestroika initiatives, which surfaced in 1986 even though the breakthrough of the period came in 1989. In the case of a Uranus-Neptune conjunction as in 1993, there is less of a tendency to see big effects happening (especially when in Capricorn), though they can do so. What happens is undercurrents and shifts which change the collective perspective: people see things differently, even though things might not have changed greatly. The psychic imagery of such an energy-wave as this emerges through several agencies:
At such a point, one sector of society takes on the role of the unconscious (usually radical, but not always), and one takes on the conscious (usually conservative) role. If radicals win, conservatives later gain power when the heady insecurity of change hits people at home and, if the conservatives win, radicalism goes underground but is thereby strengthened and eventually bounces back. Commonly, such changes manifest unexpectedly, from unusual angles and down unsuspected alleyways. There is a B visionary energy behind a Uranus-Neptune conjunction – though this can equally mean immense delusion or confusion.
However, a vision, while empowering and pointing the way, is only the beginning: these Capricornian times are factual, not dreamy. They concern effectiveness. Significant events during these times come like an 'issue-bomb' loaded with symbolism – at times more than can be dealt with. This conjunction might not be a show-stopper, but it might represent a global psycho-spiritual initiation, a step into the unknown, even the unknowable.
Most of the chips are down, but some are still hidden, and others are not being looked at. People have been informed (1965-89) about the many questions which need sorting out. The world unconscious is poised, lining up overdue questions, accelerating change in a background way – the most important aspect of a flood is not the torrent but the buildup of water which must precede it. Such a theme can be expected to prevail in 1993 and subsequent years. Perhaps a kind of suspended animation, yet many pieces being put into place which lay the foundations for a new situation.
The human race now appreciates that it has become a global family. It now has to face up to the realities of this. There might be the temptation to run back to safe ground – nationalism, traditionalism, conservatism. The underlying theme of this 500-year cycle, One Earth, One Humanity, will reveal itself clearly in the 1990s. A big issue. Nations are dissolving, no race is better than another, no nation has the deciding vote, and no one world-view holds the final truth applicable to all. Interesting.
It is possible to forecast 'energy-weather', but it is less easy to forecast in what areas or ways it will arise – or exactly when. Humans are adept at blocking outright change – except when we lose control altogether. Issues abound, and here's a list of major ones, each of which represents a bundle of major issues in itself:
The 1993 conjunction is undoubtedly a trigger-point for the beginning of a process of forced resolution of many of these issues – we might soon expect a situation where too many changes happen too fast. But this is part of a gear change. The 1990s and early 2000s will bring wave after wave of shock and crisis, with few gaps, and these crises will present impossible paradoxes, coming from unexpected quarters in unforeseeable ways, not to be resolved by tried-and-tested methods, institutions or rhetoric. Expect the unexpectable.
The key crux-point in the years around 1993 concerns money, governance, resources and law – Capricornian issues! A major challenge will be to keep the flow of necessary goods and services going (to avoid social disaster) while embarking on a transformation in the basis of the world economy – currencies, lending, trading, financing, economic aims and strategy. Perestroika (restructuring) is yet fully to hit the West. Our freedoms are constrained by business, not dictators, and our agents of mass oppression are debt, consumerism and marketing, media-domination and comfort. 1980s Reaganomics and Thatcherism repre sented a zenith of an inherently self-destroying economic system: 'If it turns a profit, it's approved'. This is completely amoral, and contains little which can sustain decent human life in the long term. 1993, I believe, will mark the beginning of a fundamental overhaul of the world economic system. Perestroika will begin to hit the West, within perhaps ten years of 1993.
One Big Question for the 1990s is: will the world tend toward cooperation or xenophobia? Will far-sightedness, understanding and communication prevail, or will everyone hide within their boundaries and court international danger? Will sensible goodwill overcome historical blaming? Will ordinary people maintain the vigilance and awareness to maintain sustained control of their affairs and their leaders?
Global society has a long way to go, and will extend deep into our lives because the task of humanity is survival. This is not a task we can carry out nonchalantly. 1993 is likely to start off a process of institutional change worldwide – local government and community relations are involved too. This story is likely to unfold for decades thereafter: how decisions are made. 1993 starts a cycle lasting 170 years, until 2165, with its climax in 2078-80. Starting in Capricorn (as did the conjunction of 1820), it concerns the above-mentioned institutional issues. Plus land-use, resources, laws, our perception of history and tradition, all organisations and the nature of knowns – things we take to be given and perpetual.
Uranus forms a sextile (60&#deg;) to Pluto in 1995-7, following immediately in the aftermath of a major Uranus-Neptune conjunction in 1993. This marks a surreptitious acceleration, not only because a sextile is an aspect of busy movement and developments, but also because these two planets change sign at the same time (1995-96). Uranus moves into Aquarius and Pluto into Sagittarius – and Neptune follows into Aquarius in 1998. A sign-change or ingress brings a change of atmosphere, a different breeze, a shift in the kind of issues preoccupying everyone. This will probably bring an outbreak and progression of issues erupting into the public domain, forcing the pace and obliging cards to be laid on the table. The period 1988-95, dominated by the signs Capricorn and Scorpio, while having powerful undercurrents, represented a time of held-back, past-oriented developments, but this ingress into Aquarius and Sagittarius promises a break-out of restrained issues and a surfacing of undercurrents.
From 1995, the orientation of events changes markedly. The emphasis moves into the future, with a focus on people, crowds and masses rather than institutions and traditions. There is a likelihood of an increasingly progressive, adventurous atmosphere, rich in ideas, initiatives and will-to-change, lasting at least until 2003. There are dangers, however: a risk of over-proliferation of issues, overload, things running amok and boiling over, and masses of people taking life in their own hands.
Whether or not this happens depends on the capacity of decision-making bodies and social structures to deal with change. In a sense, the 1984-95 period demanded positive structural reform, and the general avoidance of this (in the hope that the situation might go away, or can be bought out through PR campaigns) means that overdue changes are likely to erupt after 1995-96. There is a risk at this time of an escalation in potent false beliefs and an ascendancy of either power-hungry or idealistic, fanatical or doctrinaire elements. If there is to be an 'Armageddon', the conditions will be mounting during this phase.
Here we go back again to the 1960s: the 1995-2003 (or up to 2008) period suggests the mainstream emergence and adoption of many ideas and developments originating in the 1960s (at the Uranus-Pluto conjunction) – not least because the youths of the 1960s will now largely be in power. Busy times, with a cacophony of valid issues pending, a restlessness for resolution and action with imminent results – however, public patience will be needed, since many issues will take time to sort out.
Worth watching is the Chiron conjunction with Pluto in Sagittarius at the end of 1999. This promises to stage a power-battle and confrontation, probably in the matter of beliefs – the preceding conjunction occurred in 1941, when WW2 was raging in full pitch. The resolution of this conflict might be a cleansing of old domination-patterns, and the non-resolution of it might either bring a new kind of dictatorship or a tremendous power-impasse. In 2000 comes a Jupiter conjunction with Saturn in Taurus (last seen 1980 and 1960), which will concern agriculture, land-use and business: a time for legislation and organising. However, the year 2000 does not have immense energy to it, except inasmuch as people's thinking will be deeply affected by the date.
The first decade of the 2000s is likely involve getting on with the situation at hand, integrating changes made so far and moving things forward. Probable rapid progress of events and trends. From late 2006-2010 comes a series of Saturn aspects: oppositions to Neptune (2006-7, Leo-Aquarius) and Uranus (2008-10, Virgo-Pisces), and a square to Pluto (2009-10, Libra-Capricorn). These will present viability-challenges, forcing manifest solutions and possibly causing considerable hardship or confrontation with factual realities. The sequence might bring dislocations of power in 2006-7 and transition and healing in 2008-10, with much reorganisation and crunchy grating added. This is a likely shock period, partially disappointing and partially catalysing concrete actions and policy-changes for later benefit.
2009 sees Uranus semisextile (30&#deg;) Neptune, promising the emergence of definite developments arising out of 1993, plus a melting of barriers to change. Then comes action. In 2012-15, Uranus forms a square (90&#deg;) to Pluto (Aries to Capricorn). This is the opening square after the conjunction of 1965-66 – a major test of what was seeded over 45 years before. This suggests a Big Problem – but if there is the will to confront it positively, it promises great breakthrough. This could be an exceptionally trying time, a material test of our ability to overcome massive hurdles. Technical and organisational implications are involved, and many new factors will jump in – it's a time of potential shock.
The innovations and ideas of the 1960s (microchips to therapies) will either come to work now, or will fail to carry the day. It's a time of emergency and crisis – the edge. It will demand much effort and definite results or big adjustments to new, shocking realities. This could also bring a major setback which, in the longterm (by the 2040s) could bring great benefit. Be it setback or breakthrough, the issues will hang around questions of force, science and technology, resources, land, finance, warfare – and more about institutions. There could be rebellion too. This is a decisive turning-point. Not easy.
In 2017-19 we see a Uranus semisquare (45&#deg;) Neptune (Aries to Pisces), a heady time, in which ideational and perceptual changes will affect how we experience things. Major attitudinal shifts. Religious, moral and creative matters could be prominent. In 2020, both Saturn and Jupiter conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, affecting governments, land, economy and law – in fact, the whole period of 1984-2020 concerns organisational structures in various ways. This could be an important time for the start of a new world institution, or for major legislation. Something of a social-political crisis, dealing with 'delivering the goods'.
The 2020s are likely to see a welcome lifting of the human spirit. Things open up from 2022, tending toward greater social solidarity and easier progress. From 2022-31, channels increasingly open up, bringing times of great change, arising out of the 2012-15 period. Uranus in Gemini will be in trine (120&#deg;) to Pluto in Aquarius, and Neptune will form sextiles (60&#deg;) to both from Aries, with Jupiter regularly joining in. Big ideas, lots of new discoveries, cooperative action, much motion. Planning, diplomacy and deliberation, forward-facing industriousness. This is where I would suggest the possibility of a peak in a new industrial-technical-economic-ecological revolution, which had its seeds in the 1990s. It could involve the opening up of new dimensions in publicly-accepted knowledge – complementary medicines, alternative research and the fruits of the consciousness movement might play a key influence here, perhaps by power of circumstance. Things we consider impossible or improbable will have uncanny ways of proving imperative or likely.
The sesquiquadrate (135&#deg;) between Uranus and Pluto in 2031-5 will tend to focus issues on resolving longterm matters. A time for a course-adjustment and re-commitment to making things work. By now, the mature generations (aged 40-60) will be those born in the 1970s-90s – history does, after all, progress through the growing-up of generations and the dying-off of older ones. The need to correct imbalances will be paramount, healing ills and solving large problems amidst a daunting world situation. 2035-6 will bring hiccups, while Saturn (Leo) opposes Pluto (Aquarius), involving power versus people. During the quincunx (150&#deg;) of Uranus and Pluto in 2038-9, it will probably feel as if we're getting thoroughly lost and awry: it will be difficult to see clearly where things are going, but the challenge will be to persevere with what has long been ordained. A clash is likely between grand plans and ideas (Pluto in Aquarius) and the security and sustenance of people (Uranus in Cancer), with much popular action on the local level.
The 2040s will bring a very critical time. In 2039-41 Uranus in Leo forms a square to Neptune in Taurus. This is a major crunch-test of issues arising since 1993 – it will test structures and people in their capacity to deal with large-scale, possibly overwhelming change. In 2043, Chiron conjuncts Uranus in Leo, opposing Pluto in Aquarius (with a Saturn opposition Neptune thrown in), and some major world stress-points are likely to burst open around the recurrent theme of power (Leo) versus people (Aquarius). 'Might over right' will accompany it.
In 2046-8, Uranus (Virgo) opposes Pluto (Pisces), bringing to a climax the issues seeded in the 1960s: this is a time for facing up to the full implications of the 1960s burst of awareness, and a time of crisis. Shifting realities could bring either a new 'dispensation' or a tremendous historic downfall. If the innovations and understandings of the 1960s and subsequent decades do not work by now, much, if not all, will be lost. This could be a disastrous or a triumphant time. Maximum ingenuity will be called for, and much shifting of positions and perspectives will take place. A time of innovation and awakening – or a time of resignation and disaster. It could be something of both.
The 2040s will see a test of faith, and a squaring with reality. Whether we like it or not, crucial changes will take place. Much that we now know will be gone, and new realities will have taken their place. Some things will have got worse, and some things better – and our perception of 'better' and 'worse' will also have changed. Whether this involves breakdown or whether we can build structures and a consensus to carry us through such intense change is the big question here. Much depends on what has been sorted out from the 1990s onward. If we have not, by the 2040s, acted committedly on what we know we must do, it will be too late. We will possibly be unable to keep the majority of humanity alive and sustained – unless we have learned from previous decades and acted on it. Some sort of revolution is likely, be it social, technological or psycho-spiritual, or all of them.
Thus, the Uranus-Pluto hemicycle, from 1965-2048, is the most valid longer-term timeframe in which to see our current times. It is a major chapter of history. If our international, corporate and social institutions develop informed perspectives to plan realistically for such a period, we might be in a position to positively create future history – and redeem past history – rather than survive by crisis-management. In the 1960s we received news of how things were likely to pan out, and by the late 2040s, we will see the results. If we have not by then dealt with fundamental human psycho-social needs, we will experience fundamental world schism. If we have not allowed new grass-roots world forces to act, the older authoritarian world forces will not solve things.
As an observer of history and its archetypes, I wish to point out some issues which exist or will inevitably emerge into the world arena, at some time within this time period:
The times we are entering will involve hard work, but solutions and innovations will emerge to help us on our way, if we sort out our politics and governance and deal effectively with crises. Very difficult! Very necessary.
In making forecasts, I paint scenarios which can reflect what I might hope for. This is the danger of prediction – and such practices as historical astrology are underdeveloped. Nevertheless, consideration of what is written here can yield some worthwhile overviews which can perhaps help in orienting ideas in order to assist in formulating a programme of approach to coming decades. Individuals do matter in this crowded world, and a sense of historical process helps immensely.
The task of astrology, however, is primarily to help us understand the present. Getting a view of possible futures helps us see the present more clearly, pointing to its opportunities.
Recent events have confirmed (to me, at least!) that there is an underlying design and thread behind the events of history. If we take major world events to constitute collective learning-experiences which bring important questions into focus, a new question then arises: how much shock, horror or difficulty do we need in order to learn? Events, as learning-experiences, need to be momentous enough to force key issues higher in the world agenda, gaining thoughtful attention, but they also need not to be so momentous that they devastate too vastly. Thus, the key issue becomes human awareness and our willingness to take heed of the underlying thread of events.
Between the 1960s and the 2040s we are in a watershed period – 'crossing the great water'. We shall emerge from it much changed. In the 2060s, with the Neptune-Pluto square, we will either have succeeded or failed – and we'll see the symptoms. The global civilisation seeded in the 1890s will then be a reality or a missed opportunity. The 2040s-60s in particular will possibly be looked back on as the deciding-period of human history. However, the truth is likely to be that this period needed to take place in the 20th century, by an act of voluntary wisdom on the part of humanity and its leaderships.
We are all part of this change, and what we ourselves do makes a difference. Transpersonal forces of deeper consciousness are channelled into the world by individual people receptive to fundamental messages and callings. We are undoubtedly going through a planetary initiation in which a collective change of awareness is the key ingredient.
I do not believe we will achieve a state of total global breakdown, but we might well come very close to it. However, crisis awakens genius and focuses the thoughts of masses of people. It all hangs around our capacity and willingness to look at things in new ways, and to respond to new challenges without recourse to old knee-jerk patterns. What once were idealistic dreams – pacifism, justice or ecological rectitude – are rapidly becoming absolute necessities, without which we commit collective suicide.
Yet the future is not already written: we create it, and the choices are in our hands. We need to build channels through which these choices can be made, and we have all that we need to do it. The human race is in the process of passing beyond once-inconceivable frontiers – and, as in the case of all migrants, it is the cruel demise of the past which drives us on into the Unknown.
1. If you wish to research such astro-historical cycles further, see my publication The Historical Ephemeris.
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© Palden Jenkins, 1991. All of these articles are copyright. They may individually be copied and shared with others in a spirit of knowledge-sharing and fair play, but they may not be sold, printed or reproduced in quantity or changed in form without the permission of the copyright holder. Magazine and other editors may e-mail me for permission to reprint. E-mail: