The current astrological factors offer “good” news and “bad” news, both being fabrications in my mind and, maybe, yours, too. The good news is over-the-top good and encouraging. It primarily points to an awakening of humanity together with its demonstrations in how we live with one another, the Earth, and all beings. Could this be a snap-the-fingers en masse awakening? No reason why not. But, in order for that to happen in the ensuing months, short years, or generations, you and I have to want wakefulness and step into it in our lives.

Humanity’s future depends upon how we live our now. Cause, conditions, and result is an equation that is always in play. This is how conventional reality is ordered and functions. The now we are living was seeded decades ago and has been cultivated since then. The troublesome condition of the world with disparities, prejudices and inequities, wars and aggression was predictable due to the causes chosen and set in motion directly after World War II by a variety of nations. Some of those causative seeds were the creation of the state of Israel through dispossessing the Palestinians of their land, sovereignty, and human rights, the partitioning of Eastern Europe and it being subjected to Soviet Communist rule, and the monetization of war through “the military industrial complex.” Regarding the latter, President Eisenhower advised caution in the early 1950’s for America. We and the world are living the results he predicted and warned against.

A general growth of personal responsibility for the whole of which one is a part was also anticipated as an outgrowth of the War. The youth born during WWII and just after it lived in the wake of “the forces of good overcoming the forces of evil” as the Allied and Axis powers were respectfully considered. As such, personal responsibility to make the world a better place and one in which peace and creative expression were fostered was the ethos of early baby-boomers/the Flower Children.

The spread of mindfulness and meditation practices, thoughtfulness as personal self-recollectedness, plus awareness of the interconnectedness of life were also foreseeable as these stem from Buddhist psychology, philosophy, and meditation practices brought to the attention of the West by Thich Nhat Han during the Viet Nam War and by the destruction of Tibet during the Chinese invasion. The latter ejected Tibetan lamas out of cultural isolation in the Lands of Snows into Western culture. Tens of thousands of Tibetan refugees quickly followed suit bringing with them an accepting thoughtfulness cultivated culturally for over one thousand years.

Ecological and environmental sciences, including the long-term observation of animals in their native habitat revealed complex systems worthy of protection and being valued for their own sake. People like John Muir, Ansel Addams, and Theodore Roosevelt seeded a world-environmental movement in the early 1900’s without knowing it. Mindfulness and meditation, together with investigation of human consciousness, styles of learning, healing, and well-being derive, in part, from the Tibetan diaspora. Cause-condition-and result is an IS whether generating troublesome outcomes or benevolent ones. World climate disruption, world economic destabilization, uncivil rhetoric and actions of violence reveal long-standing divisions within the collective human psyche. The future of humanity and our relations with all creatures of this Earth depend upon honest analysis of the troubles in our world and human involvement in them. With that, new causes can be intuited and deduced, implemented, and fostered so as to generate a sustainable healthy human presence with Earth and fellow inhabitants.

The astrological indicators point to and support waking up from:

• the grogginess of self-importance, its way with the world, one another, and all species;
• the vampiristic model of capitalism as the primary way of exchange. This includes acknowledging capitalism’s attendants of death, destruction, and competition to the point of war, poverty in a world of abundance, as well as financial inequity which demonstrates through sexism, racism, gross disparity between the haves and have-nots and between the developed world and the developing;
• the incomplete-view of symptom-focused identification and itemization as a widely applied frame of reference. Regarding human beings: single behaviors, skills, and societally valued norms are held as standards by which others are measured or evaluated. Yet, these are arbitrary; and human beings display a variety of learning styles, range of emotional maturity or sentient responses, as well as creative inquiry and expression from infancy onward. These evince the spectrum of human consciousness and its evolution toward illumined, intuitive, empathetic presence.
• May it be that we also shake off the last few centuries of reductive thinking joined with greed-generated dismissal of Mother Earth as a living, breathing, coordinated, vastly intelligent and creative Being. Every creature and plant is necessary to Earth’s thriving and is an intimate contributor to the intricate yet minimally understood webwork of life.. One reason why ores, metals, and precious stones are deep within Mother Earth, , for example, is because of their conductive properties. Earth is an electro-magnetic planet, which means that mining metals, gold, silver, and diamonds affect Earth’s world-wide electro-magnetic currents in ways not yet known. Other examples are the importance of the biome and its microbiology or what constitutes a healthy human gut being only recently better understood. Indigenous people around the world have sought to retain their intimate relationship with Mother Earth, fighting for her and for the webwork of life. Science, now, sides with them.

Awakening is an illumination. Waking up from a dream makes plain that the features and characters in the dream are not in one’s room and never were. Waking up from the fore-mentioned list might feel like a dope-slap, however. Maybe coronavirus confinement already does for you; or maybe its the unpaid bills with no way to pay them that is the shock. How did I get here? How did we all get here?

Choices. We made choices. All too often, however, the choice was made hurriedly and without examination or a bigger picture view. Consider spraying neighborhoods to kill mosquitoes in the early 1960’s. Nothing was thought through. Children were poisoned, birds poisoned, streams, rivers and ponds were poisoned and within a few short years the practice was stopped. Parents and bird lovers were instrumental in the quick overturn. The point is that human choices tend to be made without consideration of the variety of factors and living beings involved. Think of the abundance in supermarkets (a significant portion of it unhealthy to the human body), or toilet paper (its source and where it goes after use), or the convenience of electricity or internet. Consider that leaving the wifi modem on all the time is flooding you, your children, pets, and neighbors with radio waves of an intensity never before experienced by the human brain, neurological system, or body. What if the increase of dementia, Alzheimers disease, or Parkinson’s disease is due to how rapidly electro-magnetic signals have increased in our environments? It is these types of questions that must be asked. The considerations of every day modern life must be analyzed and evaluated so that humanity no longer considers ignorance as bliss and no longer accepts collateral damage as a by-product of desired increase of the financial bottom line. The heavenly signs are blatant. If we choose ignorance and self-importance individually and collectively, it will suck to be our children and grandchildren as well as ourselves for a long time to come. (Remember that you will be rebirthing into the conditions that we are seeding now.) The astrology heralds joyful, collaborative, creative re-invention, redesign, and a surge along the spiritual Path if we choose to awaken, be responsible, and take on the personal and collective responsibility for choices made in the past and for our way to create a future.

The current astrological configurations symbolize brilliant potential while also pointing out mistakes plus denial and dismissal of cause-condition-result that have been our dream-state for quite some time. The positive indicated by the planets and their signs is inseparable from an honest acknowledgement of the choices that we have made, participated in, or accepted. Portends, such as Jupiter and Saturn visible each night, would have been considered unmistakable omens not that long ago, and the truth is that they are.

Saturn/Jupiter conjunct designates royalty, rulership, the law and great power. The energies of the planets make no distinction between inner or outer, individual or collective, good ruler/ good rules, bad ruler/bad rules, abiding by the law or taking the law into one’s own hands, power used to uplift, reposition, or bring benefit or power used to control, curtail, and degrade. The planet’s energies are neutral, but human beings rarely are. And, though impartiality is not a human strong-suit, we are capable of looking beyond ourselves and of bringing critical analysis to a situation, its causes, the conditions that ripened the cause, and the ensuing results. We can implement new approaches and methods which will produce lasting benefit for the world, its variety of inhabitants, while thriving as a species. These are easily accomplished when we, individually and collectively, go inside to inner wisdom and magnanimity (royalty), exert benevolent rulership over our lower self and its self-gratifying and self-focused habits or tendencies, abide by the laws of karma/virtue, and use the power of Being as a conscious human being for the well-being of all. These great powers lie within our hearts and the heart of the mind.

Saturn represents the rule of karma: another manifestation of cause, condition, result. Saturn also implies the in-the-moment and long-term practicality of honoring the rule of karma which is simultaneously the way of virtue. In this regard it is written that, “the greatest protection for oneself is to be of benefit to others.” Jupiter manifests as the various ways that one can benefit others together with the ways that one is protected and benefited. For example, someone who is respectful is respected, one who is truthful does not magnetize deceit, one who is patient and forbearing receives patience and courtesy. Furthermore, while these results are experienced in this life, they also undo old karmic baggage and seed future lives with ease and respect. Being harmful, deceitful, impatient, or malevolent in thought and deeds harms others now and potentially for some time to come. Consider knowingly dumping toxic waste into a river or near a water shed. The action done for convenience and greed poisons people and the environment for generations plus pollutes the karmic stream of the doer for cycles of lives not just one or two. In this case, Jupiter is increase: increase of benefit to self and others or increase of harm and negative karma.

These two planets dazzling the night sky should cause us to look up and then look within. The awe of their dance across the sky can easily become a musing or contemplation on light itself: the inner light of the heart (Jupiter) that fulfills all wishes and the inner light of reason (Saturn) that produces accomplishment. Saturn’s type of reason is not that of rationalization – which is no reason at all – but is reasoning, critical thinking, looking at a subject long and hard including all its ancillary or related facets, plus the ramifications of each to the whole. Ultimately, Saturn’s deliberations lead to a Jupiterian opening of wise action that benefits the whole and its parts. Similarly, a true living from the heart (Jupiter) is living from the heart of the mind (Saturn). Therefore, to live from the breadth of Jupiter’s awareness and understanding will manifest as applied awareness, wise and benevolent (Saturn-Jupiter).

Saturn/Jupiter will dance tightly, then loosely, then tightly again through the next several months. They are currently joined by Mars such that Saturn is visibly sandwiched between Jupiter and Mars. Mars is personal power, used however an individual, society, nation, or the world chooses to do so. Mars is squared by Uranus right now, which has manifested as “all of a sudden” (Uranus), Mars energy, activity, and volition can’t go any where (Saturn). Mars is “locked down” by Saturn. But, what a Uranian opportunity for new ways to use one’s energy and vitality! What a perfect opportunity to search (Saturn) one’s motives (Mars) for why we do what we do all day long. These four planets offer a truthful (Jupiter/Saturn) illumination, recognition or understanding (Uranus) of our general cluelessness (Mars) about our habits and autopilot through the day. Interesting that all of this is offered (being asked to stay at home) while Saturn is inconjunct the North Node in Cancer.

Spiritually, the excuse of having no time for a meditation practice is gone. Sit on your butt and watch your mind! Sit (Saturn) on your butt (Mars) and watch (Uranus) your mind (Jupiter/Uranus/Mars).

• Jupiter is heart-mind, the bodhi quality of consciousness. Jupiter is also the laziness of our mind due to what it is usually used for: immediate gratification or self-inflation. Jupiter is contemplation, pondering, and allowing the largess of a consideration to open inside our mind. Jupiter is waiting patiently, receptive, welcoming, and impartial.
• Uranus is ah-ha or ahh. Uranus is insight, re-cognition as in cognizing something freshly as if never before encountered – ahhh. Uranus’ insight is widely applicable. It and Jupiter have a universal quality to them.
• The Mars’ feature of our mind is epitomized by its constant activity which gives momentum to anxiety, restlessness to our body, and Mars’s mental-emotional activity obscures the tranquil spacious clarity of innate awareness. Often this activity is considered a Mercurial quality. Yes/and. Mercury connects, links, associates; and most human thought processes are streams of consciousness where this leads to that, thus are Mercurial. One facet of a sitting practice is to observe this stream. But, upon examination, it is the immediacy of Mars that is observed demonstrating as the connections of thoughts to memories and activities associated with them, activity and desire, action and seeming self-control. In point of fact, however, with the mind untamed, there is no self-control only the facade of it.

Mars also represents one’s motive or motivation. Acting upon a motivation requires Mars’ volition coupled with Saturnian steadfastness and thinking it through. If one’s motive is to benefit others, then Mars’ energy expresses as grounded diligence, as if finding Saturn within one’s self, but this is mature Mars demonstrating. Mars is conviction. When related to matters of unanalyzed faith or belief, the conviction is destructive to self and others. Consider those who deny global climate change as an example. Actions not taken to curb CO2 emissions due to not critically thinking on the subject is harmful to all life on Earth. Whereas, Mars’ conviction has also been demonstrated by people such as Edward Snowden, Steve Jobs, Harriet Tubman, Dorothy Day, and Mahatma Gandhi. In each case, the conviction revolved around an ideal that was bigger than the person and championed a universal truth. Fearless and resolute, Mars accomplishes the goal.

I think that the influence of Mars will be significant over the next six months of so. It rockets forward through Aquarius (it is at 9° Aquarius now) and through Pisces then stays in Aries through the rest of 2020 and into Taurus in January 2021. When Mars and Neptune are conjunct (June 10-15, 2020), my concern is that the need for empathy, kindness, and unanimity (all Neptune) will be met not with compassion but with harsh force, as in dictatorial action (Mars). Pisces, their sign, is one of scapegoat, blame, and misrepresentation. Turn the spiral and Pisces helps to bring order out of chaos, is fearless in the trenches, and will sacrifice self in benefit to the whole. Turn the spiral again, and Mars/Neptune conjunct in Pisces could offer the energetic support for humanity to do what Neo did at the culmination of the Matrix (I). He said “no” to violence, to it as an option, and no to all thoughts that participated in delusion. Reality was revealed.

Two weeks after Mars/Neptune conjunct in Pisces, Mars enters Aries. All the while, Saturn has been stationed or barely moving retrograde at 0, and 1° Aquarius producing a sextile between them. Normally, a sextile is benevolent, beneficent, and light-hearted in its gift. But, also generally, when Mars and Saturn are in relation by transit, something’s gotta give. Mars is forward momentum; Saturn is thoughtful, predictable motion. Those two are opposite behaviors. Mars is eruptive, excitable, jumps or speaks without thinking; Saturn is thoughtful, even when deceitful, methodical, and not spontaneous. There is a push-pull to these energies. What gives is usually structure; that is to say people go fast and break bones. But, it also could manifest as healthcare structures and systems crumbling under the weight and lack of months of coronavirus plus all the other health issues that did not go away, or it could demonstrate as rogue actions by the government (Mars in Aries) that go against the obvious, sobering and positive data that is already mounting regarding the abrupt decrease in human-sourced CO2 emissions into the world.

Through the month of August 2020, Mars will square Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto in Capricorn. There is an unrelenting feeling to Mars’ march this year. Mars is our emotions, convictions, what we fight for. It also is simply to fight. Will humanity take a stand in August? Will we stand together for the highest potential within us and begin in earnest (Capricorn) to work together to defeat (Mars) our lower tendencies. Remember, human beings still need to be told that lying, stealing, and killing are wrong, that to prey upon children or abuse them or work them to death is wrong, that love should not include violence, and that all human beings are made of the same blood and bones. Will this square be mirror enough for humanity? I pray so.

My guess is that the world economic systems will begin to totter and leaders of the world will try to restart the business sector; but it will be done without proper analysis and forward thinking. Then when Mars in Aries squares Pluto in Capricorn, that heedlessness will reveal recklessness, pervasive greed and how unethical capitalism has become. The latter is no surprise to the working class who struggle weekly under debt, long hours and stress. If humanity is fortunate, the current model of economy will be recognized as irreparable. Yet, the old guard (Mars) will not abdicate power (Aries) easily nor go quietly. Mars square Pluto with Saturn present (4° apart), Pluto could express as further types of martial law in supposedly free countries, curfews, and militia on the streets while the “free market” crashes.

If all of this does not already have you depressed and wondering where is the awakening, let’s add Pluto as a member of the current Capricorn stellium. Pluto and Jupiter are conjunct right now (Pluto@24 Capricorn, Jupiter@25 Capricorn). Pluto is another planet that signifies power: raw, attention-demanding power. Pluto’s power will destroy before it resurrects; it will level before propelling elevation. Pluto will apply pressure without abatement like the pressure that makes diamonds out of carbon. This week (April 12-18) and, to some extent, through April 22 could bring events such as tornado, earthquake, and fire. These could manifest through Nature (two tornadoes in the US this week), or through the sense of solid economy and stability being torn asunder. The times we are living are trying to open humanity to the new. Hearkening to the old, trying to re-start the old, or pining for the old will not change that the old ways do not work, and – from a universal benefit point of view – probably never did.

Individually and collectively, the cycle that has begun is here for a while: several years if we embrace change and use the astrological energies to fundamentally transform how we live with one another and with the world. If we cling to the past, including cultural practices of violence to infants and children (such as circumcision and infibulation), sexism and racism in all their forms, and gain for some at significant cost to others, including detriment to the Earth, water, air, and sea, then it will be the astrological factors of the next few generations that will attempt to support full-born transformation of human societies, human norms, and human values. We are called to awaken and are being supported in doing so.

This article has hardly referenced Capricorn, the sign in which Pluto, Jupiter are and Saturn has been and will retrograde back into. That is purposeful. Astrology is a layered science. Each layer of energy or force, factor or ingredient is in play. Understand the planets first. Contemplate them. Watch their activity in your life and in the world. Then notice the astrological signs and add that layer of understanding. We will take up Capricorn in the next post: Money, honey.

I want to leave you with the fact that you and I, our children, family and friends, chose to be alive now, chose to participate in these initiatory world events. What is being initiated/begun? Awakeness on a scale of human living that has not been seen or expressed on Earth before. Though there have been Golden Ages and Silver Ages in previous root races and epochs of history, we are not now what we used to be. We are capable of more heart-mind on every level and scale, more genius and ingenuity, and all pressed into service of the world and all beings that we share Earth with. Whatever your spiritual beliefs or practices, pray and meditate for the good of the whole. The way of the clan or the tribe or the chosen few is over. One hallmark of the Aquarian Age will be unanimity. Division has no place in reality because it is not true. Friends, go inside, contemplate, meditate, smile with your neighbors, ask forgiveness for anything and everything as a way of being fully responsible, and pray, “May humanity awaken!”