Astrological ages as an accurate and effective model of history

Robert FitzGerald

hose who follow mundane can confirm My in-depth study of historical events since the Age of that history does, indeed, repeat itself. Over the revealed a repeating pattern. Each age is preceded past thirty years, my in-depth research has revealed by a build-up period or birthing process for the actual age. amazingly detailed correlations between the history Approximately 900 to 720 years prior to the end of the age, Tof human evolution on our planet and the astrological ages. during the Era, a transition occurs that brings to the By examining the smaller ‘cycles within cycles’ contained in fore historical developments that lead us into the following age. each 2160-year age, I have discovered a fascinating model of history from an astrological perspective. This article is In the Scorpio Era of any age, there is a cycle of death condensed from my findings collected during this in-depth and rebirth. According to astrology, Scorpio rules power, study, which are published in my book, Signs of the Times: the control, death, and rebirth. Most of the power inherent in End of the World and the Coming Golden Age. It demonstrates the institutions and beliefs found in that age die, and seeds that history itself confirms the accuracy of astrology. This are planted that bring forth new discoveries and perceptions model also offers insight into our current times, as well as that are grounded in the succeeding age. Following the possibilities for our short- and long-term future. Scorpio Era, the sign blossoms into a dynamically emerging new vision. Sagittarius is a fire sign, which gives to The astrological ages are based on the precession of the these times the brilliant quality of cultural golden ages. These equinoxes and the backwards wobble of the earth’s axis are periods of Renaissance, as Sagittarius rules vision and through the , which lie in a circle around the exploration. It ‘sees’ the impulse of the next age and makes it earth along the , the belt of the equator. Ages are come alive in a rebirth of culture. measured by the wobble of the earth’s axis as the North Pole points down towards and marks each age or Let’s take a brief stroll through the last 11,000 years of in succession. This wobble takes 25,920 years to complete, history. The first age in this study is the Age of Cancer, and it and in one complete cycle there are twelve ages of 2,160 begins with an historical bang. years each. Currently, that marker points to the constellation , and we are said to be in the ‘Age of Pisces’. These ages flow backward through the astrological signs as the earth’s Age of Cancer: 8640 to 6480 BC axis wobbles in a precessional or backward direction through Cancer rules food, agriculture, animal domestication, the . In addition to this movement through the signs, building, settled communities, and the mother. history indicates that the signs opposite the primary signs also have a powerful influence on the history of each age. This is the age of the Neolithic Revolution, 9000 to 6000 BC. It heralded the invention of agriculture in several places There are also shorter cycles within each age. Within each around the globe, including Southeast Asia and Central 2160-year age there is a cycle of twelve smaller periods that America down to Peru. Agricultural tools such as adzes I call ‘eras’, each containing 180 years. And within each era replaced the older Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunting tools. there is a cycle of twelve periods I call ‘phases’, of 15 years’ This age saw the building of the first year-round settled duration each. Eras and phases indicate smaller cycles communities with permanent housing, especially noticeable of evolution within the larger cycle, but for some reason in the dry climate of the Near East. Older Palaeolithic they flow in a forward direction through the zodiac. Time hunters travelled constantly, following herds of game animals. appears to flow both forward and backward within the same Settling down in permanent communities signalled the astrological structure. These smaller periods make it possible domestication of man himself, and occurred at the height of to date the astrological ages with a much greater degree of goddess worship and matriarchal culture. accuracy and indicate that the Western Gregorian calendar is actually aligned with these ages. The point known as 0 BC Age of : 6480 to 4320 BC is actually an accurate beginning to the Age of Pisces, as the Gemini rules polarisation, the hands and manual dexterity, symbolism of the eras and phases accurately matches the travel, trade, thinking and language. This was our first timing of historical events. industrial age.

The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 55 Soon after 6500 BC, there was a sudden and dramatic were built over older temples, eventually creating (around explosion of more than fifty different craft industries 2900 BC) huge mountain-like stepped pyramids known as throughout the Near East. Ceramics was the most important ziggurats. Egypt built huge stone pyramids beginning with for archaeologists because of its symbolic decoration. At the the Old Kingdom period. Recent discoveries in Peru, dating beginning of the age, ceramics were very plain, but within a to 3000 to 2600 BC, reveal a civilisation with huge monolithic couple of centuries decorations included beautiful polychrome pyramids that rival those of the Old World. glazes and abstract symbols. By 5000 BC, there is a similar growth of craft industries in Eastern Europe and in China. Cities were built on a permanent hieratic plan with their walls facing the four cardinal directions and the main Gemini age man began to move and trade both crafts and religious temple in the centre. Building in this way and ideas. They created a vast trading network that linked the adding a strict social hierarchy that defined a person’s place Mediterranean Basin with southern Russia. The Archaic in society was seen to mimic the permanent structure of Culture in the New England area of North America also heaven, thus creating permanence here on earth. In this maintained a huge trade network, which by 4800 BC process, cities became huge monumental villages. stretched west to Yellowstone and south to the Caribbean. The main commodities traded at this time were ideas and The Scorpio opposite energy was also evident in this age. craft techniques more than the crafts themselves. The religions of this age are all strongly focused on death and rebirth in an afterlife. The burial rituals of both Mesopotamia The Proto-Indo-European language was created around and Egypt reveal an overwhelming consideration for this 5000 BC in the Near East. This is considered the parent afterlife. Rulers were buried in huge tombs together with all language of almost all modern languages around the of their collected wealth, including servants and retainers, world. There is strong evidence that the root of the Chinese in order to fully enjoy their life after death. A similar focus language was also created around 4800 BC. The technological on this type of burial is seen in the Archaic Culture in the inventiveness of this age also affected the evolution of art. Americas at this same time. Art began this age as mostly representational. By 5000 BC, art was basically abstract and symbolic, including crosses, Age of : 2160 to 0 BC chevrons, quatrefoils, etc. These symbols would later become Aries rules warfare, overcoming challenges, competition, important as religious and mythological symbols, as well as anger, aggression, and independence. alphabets and written languages. The general peacefulness seen in the Age of Age of Taurus: 4320 to 2160 BC gave way to warfare on a grand scale with this new age. Taurus rules wealth and banking, peace, comfort, refinement, Sargon of Akkad created the first military empire around permanence, and monumental building. 2300 BC. The Gutians in their turn conquered them. The Hurrians overthrew the Sumerians around 2000 BC, the After 4500 BC the U’Baid culture moved out on to the Old Babylonians conquered Mesopotamia around 1900 BC, resource-depleted river valley of the Tigris and Euphrates and the Hittites invaded Mesopotamia around 1600 BC. The rivers. They invented money and banking, and built Hittites invented iron weaponry, bringing with it the Iron towns to act as market centres, and in the process became Age. Although they were far superior to bronze weapons, very wealthy. The technological inventiveness of Gemini this discovery came too late to protect them from their own essentially stopped, both here and in Egypt. The major defeat. The Hyksos invaded Egypt around 1800 BC, and indicator of social advancement was now incremental the list continues through the Assyrians and the Greeks up increases in wealth and refinement. Wealth and money until the world empire of Alexander the Great, and later the became the archaeological marker for growth during this age. beginnings of the Roman Empire.

Increases in wealth allowed for a process of urbanisation In China, the militaristic Shang dynasty came to power and increasing social complexity. The traditional date for the around 1850 BC after conquering the Lung Shan, a peaceful creation of civilisation is 3200 BC in the city-states of Sumer. farming people, thus creating China’s first military dynasty. Old Kingdom Egypt became the first nation-state in history At their height, they were able to field up to 30,000 soldiers around 2900 BC. Some archaeologists, noting the increased at any given time. Later, in 1122 BC, the Chou dynasty, social complexity of early sites, have dated the creation of another militaristic people, defeated the Shang and created civilisation as early as 4000 BC. an even larger military culture, which then dissolved between 480 and 221 BC into the Warring States Period before the Written language, surprisingly, was created as Taurus Chin dynasty united China. In the New World, the Olmecs solidified the older Gemini spoken language into a solid, in Mexico, c. 1200 BC, appear to have been a militaristic permanent record. Writing was first used in religion and culture. The monolithic Olmec heads found everywhere are business to note the exchange of goods and wealth. Religion always pictured wearing helmets, either for battle or sports. became more organised and focused around the Taurus The walls of the temples of a city recently discovered in the symbol of the bull god as their chief deity. Religion was tied Casmas valley in Peru dating to about 1500 BC are covered closely to the collection of wealth. The earliest examples of with images of war and fighting. pictographic writing were of lists of goods and of real estate transactions. The pharaoh in Egypt functioned as the head Religion and creation mythology changed towards of the temple warehouses, where all the wealth of Egypt was hero mythology. The Babylonian warrior god Marduk collected and distributed. The same process was happening defeated the older mother goddess Tiamat in a heavenly with the En, the spiritual leaders in Mesopotamia. war for independence. Masculine gods all over the world challenged the established feminine goddesses and won Megalithic tomb structures were built throughout Europe, their independence. Hero myths are based on the idea of the beginning as early as 4000 BC. U’Baid and Sumerian temples single warrior winning his way to glory. Beginning around

56 The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 2000 BC, a patriarchal movement (called by mythologists a The most dynamic illustration of the power of these eras mythic solarisation) took place around the globe, universally is the recurring cycle of periods of renaissance (Sagittarius), marking the change from matriarchy to patriarchy. In Aries classical periods (), and scientific periods () fashion, the masculine sign Aries fought the older feminine that occur at the height of each age, and plant new seeds that nature of Taurus. The Greek Olympus religion was the height will blossom in the upcoming new age. For purposes of this of warrior/hero religions, with all the gods and goddesses article, I will explore examples of this recurring cycle during choosing sides in human battles while fighting and bickering the current Age of Pisces (1260 to 1980 AD). among themselves. The Hebrew Old Testament was also written in warrior imagery. God is portrayed as the general Scorpio Eras: death and rebirth, control, suffering, of his chosen people/army, leading them in conquest of the taxation, and the seeds of renaissance to follow. Promised Land. Although a god of love (perhaps from the Scorpio Era, Pisces Age: 1260 to 1440 older Age of Taurus), he is quick to anger and punish when This period marked the death of Medieval European his authority is questioned. In a manner similar to the Greeks, culture, brought about in large part by several deadly the Hebrew god seems to be in constant battle with the gods epidemics, the deadliest being the Black Death that lasted of other people, who are collectively labelled as pagan. 50 to 100 years and killed one fourth of the population of Europe. The Church became greedy and focused on money, Age of Pisces: 0 to 2160 selling funerary and mortuary services and relics. The Papacy Pisces rules religion and spirituality, transcendence, prophecies split, with three separate Popes reigning at the same time and prophets, drugs, illusion, imprisonment, and fear. over power and control issues. The Spanish Inquisition began to use torture to seek confessions. The longest war in history, This has been the age of great world religions: Judaism, the Hundred Years War, brought immense suffering with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among it. Called the Age of Dislocations and Disasters, the lives of others. Judaism transformed itself into a world religion after most people were harsh and extremely depressing during the Prophetic Revolution in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. this Era. Heavy taxation led to several peasant revolts. Even Hinduism changed from worship of the minor gods such as weather followed this trend, bringing in a period known as Agni and Indra to worship of the transcendent gods Shiva, the mini ice age in Europe. Vishnu and Brahma. The warrior-hero ideal of the previous age evolved into the transcendent ideal of the saint, the guru, Planting the seeds of the renaissance to follow this era, and the sage. The focus became attaining enlightenment, Giotto began a trend that would lead to a more humanistic reaching heaven, leaving the prison of the wheel of life, focus in art during the Renaissance. Roger Bacon established and defeating Satan. Christianity and Judaism focused on the scientific method of direct observation rather than the prophecy, and the coming of the Messiah (in Christianity old reliance on papal authority when seeking to know nature. it is the second coming). Christianity claims for itself the Others planted seeds for a new and more rational approach ultimate prophet as their God: Christ, the Son of God. to understanding the nature of our world. Moslems claim that Muhammad is the ultimate prophet. In the Orient, the focus became enlightenment and the defeat Sagittarius Eras: expansion and exuberance, foreign of Maya, or Pisces illusion, and release from imprisonment travel, higher thought, and vision. Sagittarius Era, on the Wheel of Life. Pisces Age: 1440 to 1620 This was a period of exuberant blossoming of the various These religions became the worlds’ first multi-national European renaissances beginning with the Italian organisations, spreading their message far beyond any local, Renaissance. There was also a brilliant renaissance of culture national, or cultural boundaries. Early European governments in Persia. The Ming dynasty supported a tremendous became theocracies, or religious governments, and the politics flowering of golden age culture in China, and explorers in of this age revolved mainly around Christian concerns. Islam the New World encountered golden ages in the Aztec culture was created specifically as a religious government whose in Mexico, and the Incan culture in Peru. A mild renaissance unspoken goal was to expand through conquest. The heart of Mayan art took place after fall of the Mayapan culture in of these religions, and especially of Christianity, has been the the Yucatan. This was the great Age of Discovery. Portuguese message of prophecy. This message of end-times is fitting in navigators sailed around Africa and out into the Atlantic. the Age of Pisces, the last sign in the zodiac. There is a spiritual The New World was ‘discovered’ by Columbus in 1492, and battle between God and Satan, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, or Magellan sailed around the world soon after. between enlightenment and release from reincarnation and the darkness of imprisonment on the Wheel of Life. At the end It is here that we can begin to see the recurring nature of of this cosmic battle there will come a new cycle that heralds eras. The various European renaissances mirror renaissances the golden age promise of the sign of Aquarius. that were taking place 2,160 years prior, during the Sagittarius Era in the Age of Aries (720 to 540 BC). During Our own Renaissance shift towards humanism and science that time the Chaldeans and Assyrians both had brilliant hints at the nature of the coming , which renaissances of culture. Even the Greek Archaic Period was a highlights the qualities of genius, science, knowledge, time of renaissance that led up to their classical period. humanitarianism, brotherhood, and infinite possibilities. We are on the threshold of an unimaginably beautiful new world. Capricorn Eras: philosophy and government, precise, Understanding renaissances brings us to a brief examination logical, classical thinking and classical artistic of the eras within each age. expression. Capricorn Era, Pisces Age: 1620 to 1800 Europe settled into a period of classical achievement during Eras which natural philosophy and rational thought laid the There are 12 eras of 180 years each within each age. They foundations for government and art. In various places around flow in a forward progression through the signs of the zodiac, Europe this time was called the Age of Reason, the Age of while the ages proceed backwards. Enlightenment, and the Age of Philosophers and Kings. This

The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 57 was a period of modern European natural philosophers such began to grow rapidly, both in number and in size. Factories as Sir Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, John Locke, and Descartes. and the factory smokestack replaced the church and steeple Outside Europe, the Ching dynasty in China marked the as the prominent village or city landmark. As cities grew, so height of their classical period. did poverty-stricken slums.

This era saw the establishment of absolute monarchies in Prior to the 20th century, land had been the primary Europe. A classical enlightened monarchy was formed under indicator of wealth. From the land came the food that kept Louis XIV, the Sun King, in France. This era also supported one free from hunger and the raw materials for the small the creation of the British Commonwealth, a republican home-based crafts industries. At the top of the social ladder, form of government in Britain, which would later lead to the aristocracy was traditionally hereditary, mainly because democracy in America. Republican forms of government of large tracts of inherited land, and the economy was land- were created in the Dutch United Provinces, in Switzerland, based. Industrial capitalism began to revolutionise that and in Italy. Finally, the French Revolution was an attempt economy, as the machines’ ability to produce goods from raw to create a democracy in France based totally on reason as materials became more important than the raw materials a god. This era was the matrix for classical and classicist art from the land themselves. Around 1890, finance capitalism and classical music throughout Europe. It also was a period began to replace industrial capitalism. Money became the of classical Baroque architecture, with the Palace of Versailles most important raw material in any industrial venture. The as the supreme example. investment of money began to gain in importance, even over the needs of industry. This period is an even more profound example of the recurring nature of the eras. Not only was this a mirror of Industry was no longer there to fill an existing need. Need the Classical Greeks 2,160 years prior (540 to 360 BC); the had to be created in the minds of the purchasing public in Old Kingdom in Egypt, 2,160 years before that, between order to support industry. Industry thus began to advertise 2700 and 2520 BC, was the classical height of Egyptian its products, and department stores were created as centres accomplishment during the Age of Taurus. where industry could show off its wares. Advertising and fashion industries grew up around the sales of new products. Aquarius Eras: genius and science, revolution, brotherhood, utopian ideals, immortality, and world The revolutionary idea of credit expanded the purchasing culture. Aquarius Era, Pisces Age: 1800 to 1980 power necessary to support a hungry industrial appetite. One of the most powerful indicators supporting the validity In 1910, ‘Morris Plan’ banks, as they were called after their of this model of history and of the power of the smaller eras founder, first began to make loans to private citizens. is the history that was made during the Aquarius Era. This era Following World War II, personal credit began to spread out was revolutionary on all fronts, the most obvious being the to the entire population. Today credit cards such as Visa and Industrial Revolution. The steam engine invented by Watts MasterCard allow private citizens the revolutionary freedom was used in Robert Fulton’s steam ship and sailed up the of buying all sorts of manufactured goods and services far Hudson River in 1807. This venture was the first commercial beyond our means to immediately pay for them. success for any engine, and it proved that the Industrial Revolution could henceforth be financially successful. This A third area of revolution was transportation. The Watts was a turning point that ensured the success of the revolution. steam engine provided a means of power other than traditional power sources such as animal, wind or water. In In 1800, Maudslay invented the industrial lathe, and eight 1800, the high-pressure steam engine, designed for over-the- years later the world’s first large-scale mass production road transportation, was invented. In 1812, the first steam unit was in operation in England at the Portsmouth block- locomotive was created, and in 1825 the first modern railway making yard. Skilled engineers came to America to escape was built in England to transport heavy loads of coal from the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, and in 1814 the Boston the Durham coalfield in Stockton to Darlington. In 1830, Manufacturing Company was formed. Traditional industry the first combined freight and passenger service was opened depended on workers performing various tasks from various between Liverpool and Manchester. From there, railway locations, often from home. For the first time in history the service expanded at a tremendous rate. In 1830, there were whole operation of a company was centralised under one only a few dozen miles of railway track in the entire world. roof, and the American system of manufacture was born. Eli By 1840 there were 4,500 miles of track, and ten years later Whitney began making interchangeable parts for muskets in there were 23,000 miles of track. 1798, and in 1815 his idea was accepted by other industries. In 1909 Henry Ford invented the assembly line, whereby a Around 1876, the internal combustion engine was invented. worker dealt with only one small part of the product. In the Following several attempts at building a personal passenger 19th century, industry had become mechanised, and this was car, Henry Ford built the first commercially successful a revolution in the creation of goods. In the 20th century, automobile in 1908, the Model T. At the same time, men were workers became extremely specialised, and this was an even experimenting with the idea of flight. The Wright Brothers more radical revolution. are credited with the first successful flight of an airplane in 1903 at Kitty Hawk. Humanity’s speed and means of The Industrial Revolution brought with it radical change, transportation have radically changed. We have even gone to for better or worse, in many other important and basic areas the moon. Truly revolutionary! of our lives, including economics. The means of livelihood for most non-farmers was the ability to create and sell Technology has revolutionised virtually every aspect of crafts or other goods. Machine-made articles, many with our lives, from communication and knowledge to the home, replaceable parts, replaced traditional craft industries. With personal fulfilment, world interaction and culture, art, and the centralisation of industrial operations, people had to warfare. Volta harnessed electricity, ruled by Uranus, for move to where the factories were in order to survive. Cities the first time with the invention of his storage battery in

58 The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 1800. Electricity allowed the invention of the telegraph, know that we live in an expanding universe of uncounted the telephone, radio, television, and the personal computer. galaxies, speeding quasars, and deadly black holes, where a Access to knowledge has been revolutionised through the particle of matter is simply trapped energy. We may also live various media of radio, television and the computer. Avenues in a universe containing more than ten dimensions. for personal fulfilment have been revolutionised through the vast expansion of a workplace and career driven by Aquarius rules global communications and world culture. technology. Even warfare has been revolutionised. Napoleon structurally united all of Europe and reorganised European countries to conform to the organisational ideals In 1803, Henry Shrapnel invented the exploding artillery of the French Revolution. He consolidated all of the old and shell that replaced the solid cannonball. In 1866, Alfred confusingly disparate political patterns that had come into Nobel invented dynamite, a much more explosive material being throughout Europe into more manageable patterns. than black powder. With the increase in mechanisation, war These nations then went on to create wholly new states with began to change dramatically after the turn of the century. In a feeling of belonging to a fresh European cohesiveness 1904, the Japanese attacked Russian forces at Port Arthur in of identity that would lead to a unification of the world southern Manchuria, launching the largest war ever fought that was previously unknown. Europe opened China and to that date. This was the first war to employ armoured Japan to a burgeoning new level of world trade. With the battleships, self-propelled torpedoes, rapid-firing artillery, invention of the steam engine, international and even global modern machine guns, and land mines. Ten years later, transportation soon became a reality. The telegraph began World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, broke out in Europe. the push toward forming today’s global communications Tanks and aircraft, as well as toxic chemical weapons such as network. An international money economy was developed mustard gas, were added to the arsenal. A mere three decades to support international projects, along with the creation of later, World War II introduced even more revolutionary multinational corporations. weapons to the list, including rockets and the atom bomb. Utopian ideals, brotherhood, equality, and progressiveness Industrialisation has revolutionised family structure. In are all traits of Aquarius. The focus on individual civil rights 1814, the Boston Manufacturing Company began hiring within government in the previous era culminated in the young farm girls as workers. Other companies found that American Revolution in 1776 and the French Revolution they could cut costs if they hired women and children, in 1789. The political ideals of a basic right to the pursuit replacing men as the breadwinners in family life. At the of happiness, liberty, equality, and brotherhood were born. same time, children began to learn trades other than those of America became the utopian ideal for much of the rest of their fathers. In an increasingly industrial and technological the world, with idealistic images such as America’s streets workplace, knowledge was changing rapidly. Traditional being paved with . The new ultimate dictatorship of this knowledge held by parents and elders became increasingly era, Communism, was created by Karl Marx, based on the less important. The value of parental wisdom was replaced by utopian ideal of workers’ communes, all toiling in the spirit the new knowledge of science, as well as the news and stories of equality and brotherhood for the greater good of all. The transmitted through the new media of radio and television. Cold War during the last decades of this era was a clash of ideals between the utopian promise of capitalism of the West In 1800, the gas lamp was invented, revolutionising the and that of utopian Communism in Russia. work cycle of the modern man and woman. This invention allowed industry to work their employees for longer hours, The Aquarian ideals of equality have spread to cover a wide and eventually to keep production going well into the night. range of people and of all life in this era. Beginning with This change has thrown the natural circadian cycle out of ‘Fanny’ Wright in 1824, women have fought for and gained balance. We no longer work according to the rising and a degree of equality to men in almost every area of life in setting of the sun. We now live in a revolutionary new and the West. The Equal Rights Amendment was gaining ground artificial environment. until the end of this era, when the energy changed and it was then finally stalled. Slavery was abolished and Blacks have at Food has undergone a radical revolution. In 1804, Nicholas last legally been granted equal rights in this country, as have Appert opened the world’s first cannery, or vacuum-bottling other minorities. The rights of the mentally and physically factory, near Paris. Food processing would totally revolutionise handicapped are protected by law, as are the rights of the the new food industry. In 1814, England’s Donkin-Hall factory poor and unemployed. Even the rights of prisoners are now created the first foods to be sold in tins. In 1895, pasteurisation protected by law. These rights have also been extended to was introduced in order to kill any harmful bacteria present in domestic pets, through organisations such as the Society food to be bottled or canned. As the industry began to grow, for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and even to chemists in the 20th century created artificial flavours, chemical protected wildlife within national forests and state parks. The preservatives, free-flowing agents, and artificial colours to help Environmental Protection Agency was established to further create more tasty and convenient products. protect entire ecosystems, including plant life.

Aquarius rules genius and science. Advances in science have One of the most personally promising of Aquarian gifts fuelled industry and technology during this era. The natural is that of immortality. Immortality implies not only the philosophers of the previous era, including Sir Isaac Newton, lengthening of the average lifespan but also a reduction in the gave way to the pure scientist in this era. The scientist/ mortality rate of children, allowing more people to survive into inventors of the 19th century such as Volta, Samuel Morse, adulthood and beyond. Already, in this era, great strides have Marconi, Thomas Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell led to been made towards that goal. Since the beginning of the 19th the true genius of modern science in the 20th century with century, there has been a very dramatic drop in the mortality the Theory of Relativity of Einstein, and Quantum Mechanics rate that has spurred a powerful increase in population growth. of Max Planck. These theories have radically revolutionised In 1800 in Europe alone, there were 190 million people. By the way science looks at the universe we live in. We now 1900, there were 420 million. That same year worldwide,

The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 59 there were 1.165 billion people. Today that number is over period of expanded interest in sports. Technological advances 6.5 billion. Over this same period, the average life span of an such as radio and television greatly expanded knowledge and individual has dramatically increased to almost double that of learning, and helped promote the creation of a world cultural previous periods. The average lifespan today for both genders vision. The Great Depression, caused by an exuberant over- is in the upper 70s, with many living well beyond that. investing by the public without understanding the laws of investment, created a top-heavy market that crashed in a very The population growth of these last two centuries has large and expansive way. been one of the most important themes of this modern era, for it is linked to almost every other theme. It fuelled Capricorn Phase of the Aquarius Era (1935 to 1950) the unprecedented rise in huge metropolitan cities and Government, civic responsibility, and tradition. urban living. It created huge consumer markets, making the Industrial Revolution profitable. Socially, it created fertile This period was one of adherence to traditional moral grounds for strife and armed revolution, as people competed and civic values following the exuberance of the Roaring to attain a decent standard of living. Increasing numbers of Twenties in Sagittarius. It was also a time of big government: governmental social institutions were created in order to Roosevelt’s New Deal, and the rise of powerful dictators in handle this increasing unrest. Europe (Hitler, Franco, and Mussolini). Franklin Roosevelt was the most despotic of all US presidents. World War II was Eras are still long periods of time in relation to the ever- fought on the home front as civic responsibility touched all changing flow of history. Looking closer at the Aquarius Era, levels of society. Material drives allowed citizens, including from 1800 to 1980, the phases reveal yet another level of children, to help the war effort. Women in huge numbers historical complexity. In addition, the current phases since went to work in factories to help supply the troops. After the 1980 reveal that we have entered a potentially destructive war, which was fought over Germany’s quest for more land period in our history. (Cancer opposite to Capricorn), governments in Europe and America created cradle-to-grave social welfare systems Phases designed to take care of citizens as they grew older. Phases are each 15 years long and move forward through the zodiac. Let’s examine those that made up the history known Aquarius Phase of the Aquarius Era (1950 to 1965) as the twentieth century, and specifically 1905 to 1980, the Science, genius, utopias. high point of the Aquarius Era. This was an intensified period of science and technology. Scorpio Phase of the Aquarius Era (1905 to 1920) The nuclear age, the space age, and major advances in Death, rebirth, and suffering mark this period, as well as electronics and computers, revolutionised the modern world. delving deep into the hidden nature of our world and the The Cold War between the Soviets and the West was fought human psyche. in an intellectual manner (Mercury is exalted in the air sign Aquarius) over ideology. The ideology of this post-war This was the intellectual beginning of the twentieth century period supported the rapid expansion of a world culture and the high point of the Aquarius Era. 1905 to 1920 marks sensibility as both sides sought to create a unified world the death of the classical world and the creation of the culture based on the worldwide distribution the ideas of the modern. Cubism, Dadaism, and abstract art all indicate West and Communism. the death of classical or traditional artistic ideals and the birth of modern art. Freud’s psychology planted the seeds The fight was between a Communistic utopian ideal and a of a new type of mental belief system, delving deep into the capitalistic and democratic utopian ideal. During this time, subconscious that marked the death of traditional religious school curricula changed towards a heavy science focus, as answers to life. Quantum physics and relativity theory the West wrestled with Communism for scientific superiority. supplanted classical Newtonian physics and revealed deep and powerful secrets about our universe. Pisces Phase of the Aquarius Era, Age of Pisces (1965 to 1980) World War I was the first war fought on a global scale with Dissolution, lack of direction, fear, delusion. the devastating power of modern mechanised weapons such as tanks and airplanes. The Spanish ’Flu pandemic killed This was a period of intense social breakdown. Historically over twice as many people as the war, and did it in only six this period needs to be understood in relation to the . It was the largest pandemic since the Black Death in connecting Pisces Era that runs from 1980 to 2160. This is the Scorpio Era, and killed over 21 million people. This served all part of a continuous period. During the Pisces Phase, to destroy the lingering reliance on religion over questions of race riots, student riots, and prison riots all indicate the good versus evil and allowed humanity to embrace the new disintegration of social values and the need for reform more secular and modern vision of our world. at all levels. Toxic industrial pollution and radioactive pollution became powerful news stories during this period, Sagittarius Phase of the Aquarius Era (1920 to 1935) threatening to speed life and humanity towards extinction. Vision, exuberance, expansion, mass media, competitive Extinction rates reached a level a thousand times above sports, and publishing. normal. Welfare began a rapid rise that pushed many cities to the brink of bankruptcy. Internal violence and crime This phase marks a period of exuberance and cultural increased, dramatically overwhelming the resources of law expansion, much like the larger renaissances of the enforcement and our prison system. Revolutionary terrorism Sagittarius Eras. This was the period of the Roaring Twenties plagued America and Europe, with the SLA and the Weather and is also known as the Negro Renaissance that heralded the Underground terrorising the American landscape, while birth of jazz. It was also a period of great 20th-century writers, Islamic and other terrorist groups attacked Europe. Death such as Steinbeck and Hemingway. Babe Ruth fostered a squads were active in South and Central America. Depression

60 The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 and suicide increased dramatically to epidemic levels. Even In 1979, a coup in El Salvador led to a period of intense the environment responded to this energy. There has been internal violence. The government as well as civilian and a steady and dramatic increase in volcanic and earthquake semi-private groups began creating death squads that were activity since the seventies. Ozone depletion and global directed against their own people in order to quash any warming were first noticed and warnings by environmental and all dissent, or the possibility of any kind of reform. groups were largely ignored. West Africa erupted in a devastating explosion of violence in the nation of Liberia. International terrorism expanded With this last phase of the Aquarius Era of the Age of dramatically during this phase, and airline hijackings became Pisces, the modern world began to dissolve. We then entered a regular news event. Terrorism became a major weapon into the Pisces Era in 1980 and our world has continued to of fanatic groups worldwide in their fight to promote their fall apart. Interestingly enough, Pisces rules dissolution and own agendas. Islamic groups led the way in both numbers the opposite rules disintegration and extinction. We are and frequency of terrorist attacks. Groups like Islamic Jihad, now in times of disintegrating social and ecological systems. Hizballah, and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation were This period corresponds to end-time prophesies that are in the forefront of this violence. The Irish Republican Army surfacing today in many cultures, ranging from Christian was also increasingly active in Ireland against the British. prophesy to Native American prophesy. Taurus Phase, Pisces Era, Age of Pisces (1995 to 2010) By strict definition, this is not the end of the world. Rather Beginning around 1993, there was a noticeable drop in it is the end of one period and the beginning of a new period, violent crimes. By 1995, that trend became more noticeable much like a clock with the minute and hour hands moving as the Taurean energy of peace took hold, and the trend has past the 12:00 position. The Pisces-Virgo axis in the zodiac continued. In addition, the number and intensity of terrorist marks just such a time. That this axis exists within the zodiac attacks around the world softened noticeably during this phase. gives support to the religious prophesies concerning an end- time. There can be a historical basis to these ideas. Since 1995, the major historical focus has turned away from violence and towards the economy. In late 1994, Pisces Era, Age of Pisces (1980 to 2160) Mexico devalued the peso. This move was an economically From this point, we enter the Pisces Era of the Age of Pisces. sound move designed to allow the peso to float and settle The energy of the Pisces Phase of the Aquarius Era has at the point of its real value. The value of the peso went largely continued as we entered the Pisces Era of the Age of down, and continued to go down. Mexico almost went Pisces. Pisces rules dissolution, Virgo rules disintegration bankrupt as a result, and the US was forced to step in and and extinction. Pisces also rules prophecy and the fulfilment offer assistance. At around the same time, the New York of prophecy. Stock Market took off like a rocket, soaring from 2,000 points to over 11,000 in only a year. The stock market had Pisces Era activity during this time, within the Age of Pisces, never grown astronomically like this before. Although the creates a double Pisces bath, an end-period of breakdown market is still up, the stock market has become very volatile, and chaos. It is a continuation of disruptive trends begun in often changing by several hundred points in a single day. the previous Pisces Phase, 1965 to 1980. Some researchers As a result, stocks have remained highly over-valued, which now say that we stand at the threshold of a sixth big, all- threatens to destabilise the world economy. Following the encompassing, mass extinction of life on earth. Global near bankruptcy of Mexico, wealthy Orange County in warming is now recognised as a serious threat to life. This Southern California declared that they themselves were also corresponds with religious prophecy from various cultures on the verge of bankruptcy. Then in 1997, the economic around the world and with contemporary Native American focus of this period hit home. A severe economic breakdown prophecy, which says that we are now in or on the verge of a known as the Asian ’Flu struck Southeast Asia, and quickly major end of the present world scenario. spread to Japan, South America, South Africa and even Russia. It threatened to bankrupt every country it hit. It Now, let’s examine the first two phases of this present Pisces Era. even threatened to send Japan, the world’s second strongest economy, into bankruptcy. Aries Phase, Pisces Era, Age of Pisces (1980 to 1995). Aries rules war and violence. Much of the violence of the Rampant consumerism has created a huge credit bubble previous phase continued into this phase, including the internal that, if it bursts, could bring down every economy in the terrorism and the rising crime rate that had afflicted most world. Bankruptcies have increased dramatically since 1995 communities throughout the seventies. Social violence rose and have reached a serious enough level that credit card to new levels. Inner city gangs like the Bloods and the Crips companies have tried to back legislation that would exempt now armed themselves with automatic weapons and became credit card debt from bankruptcy protection. what might be called criminal armies. Murder became a rite of passage for initiation into these gangs. Drive-by shootings This phase brought with it the creation, in 1999, of a major and other forms of senseless violence entered the American new currency, the Euro, as Europe sought to unify the various social landscape. Girl gangs soon became as violent as male currencies and economic markets of the European Common gangs. Children also began to turn to violence at increasingly Market into a single market with a universal European earlier ages. There were shocking news reports from this time currency. In 2001, the September 11th attack, ‘9/11’, on the of very young kids killing their parents or other, even younger Twin Towers struck at the economic centre of the Western children, often just to see what it felt like. By the middle of the world. According to some conspiracy theorists, this attack 1990s, there were some ten million violent crimes committed was instigated as an excuse to invade the Near East in order in America every year. This was a four-to-five-fold per capita to head off an economic crisis for the US. Many of the oil- increase in reported violent crimes over the level of the early producing countries were thinking about shifting from sixties. America had now become the most violent civilised the US dollar to the Euro as the economic foundation for nation ever recorded in the history of the world. international economic interaction. These theories suggest

The Astrological Journal September/October 2009 61 that this would have severely affected the US economy, division within our culture. It will also potentially change and that the US felt it had to invade Afghanistan, Iraq, and our present focus on consumerism, altering the ways that we hopefully, Iran in order to gain control of these regions. look at our economy.

Finally, the present sub-prime mortgage crisis is threatening The positive side of this phase, if we can access that to take down world economies. Already there are fears of a potential, is the possibility of collecting and integrating crash and possibly another depression. Sub-prime loans were all the various ideologies that divide our world into a new made to those homebuyers who would not ordinarily qualify and more inclusive paradigm that can help lead us into for loans. On one hand, this phase brought an increase in the the Age of Aquarius. There will be an increase of new tendency to want to gratify our desires immediately. At the ideas that may create arguments and divisiveness when set same time, between 1997 and 2004, home prices increased against traditional ideas. Science will be confronted with by 124%, a very large jump that began to destabilise our an ideological need to include some sense of intelligent economy. During the same period, beginning as early as design into its purely secular ideas based on the current 1994, sub-prime loans began to increase dramatically. In concept of chance and accidental evolution. These ideas can 1994, sub-prime loans accounted for about 5% of the loans also advance our knowledge if we choose to keep an open made. By 1996, that rate had almost doubled to 9%. By 2006, mind. New ideas can bring new life to old dogmatic ways of sub-prime loans made up 20% of the loans made. In 2006, thinking. foreclosures accelerated, leading to a world-wide financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. This crisis has brought down major In summary, this model of history adequately shows that established financial institutions, including the bankruptcy of astrological ages actually do work very accurately, and on Lehman Brothers and the buyout of Merrill Lynch by Bank a complex scale. Since 9000 BC, the five ages from Cancer of America. It is now severely affecting economies around the to Pisces reveal a highly accurate and in-depth connection world, from Europe to Asia. between astrological cycles and history. Within each age there exists a powerful cycle of astrological eras, which allow Gemini Phase, Pisces Era, Age of Pisces (2010 to 2025) for the growth and evolution of humanity and history on a As we approach the Gemini Phase, there are several things smaller scale. These eras reveal amazing parallels, with the that we might expect to happen. The fallout from the current recurring renaissance classical high point being the most financial crisis could lead to mass movements of people astounding of them. On an even smaller scale, the phases seeking stability or prosperity in their lives. Gemini periods reveal an astrological evolution for each era. The beauty of in the past have traditionally supported mass movements these cycles, especially the smaller eras and phases, is that of people, and this period should be no different, even they give us a deeper understanding of history and therefore without the crisis worsening. We can compare the potential of human interaction. They embrace and give insight into the for this Gemini period with the two Gemini Eras of the complex times that we currently live in, and they allow us the Ages of Pisces and Aries. During these times, the Germanic potential actually to prophesy, to a certain degree, historical invasions, between 360 and 540, eventually brought down the trends and possible approaches to what lies ahead. mighty Roman Empire, and before that the Indo-European invasions, between 1800 BC and 1620 BC, brought havoc to the Mediterranean nations and the Indus civilisation in India. The Gemini Phase of the Aquarius Era, 1830 to 1845, was also a period of intense westward movement in the US that actually began in Eastern Europe.

Because this Gemini time will take place within the dissolving energy of the Pisces Era within the Age of Pisces, these movements will have the potential for creating social and political disruption that can overwhelm the cohesiveness of local and national communities. Cultural as well as ideological differences will be thrust against each other, creating potential arguments and divisions within groups and communities.

Local and national politics will become more partisan and divisive as people choose ideological sides and passionately Robert FitzGerald is an artist, fight for them, while being unwilling to compromise. photographer, and astrologer. For The present separation of Church and state may become more than thirty years he has been more politically charged, with fundamental ideals aligning working with astrological ages as a themselves against secular liberal ideals. The war on terror new and potentially revolutionary could escalate to become a more ideologically charged battle, model of history. The Signs of the polarising various predominant camps of thought such as Times: the End of the World and fundamentalist Islam against fundamentalist Judeo-Christian the Coming Golden Age reveals religions and modern Western secular liberal thinking. a profoundly accurate vision of history based on the ancient cycles This tendency for division and argument could include of astrology. His discovery promises to change the way our economic situation. There could be a greater tendency humanity looks at history and at the world around us. for an internal social division as the gap between rich and He grew up in California, and now lives and works in poor widens. The present economic crisis could speed up the Fairfield, IA. already growing rift between rich and poor, creating further

62 The Astrological Journal September/October 2009