A Coffee at the End of the World

So, 21st December 2012 is almost upon us. A whole industry has grown up around this date, which apparently marks the end of the Mayan calendar.

Will the world (as we know it) end? I’m so sure it won’t, I’m meeting a good friend the day after for a coffee to celebrate the continuation of the status quo. We always meet on the last Saturday before Christmas, at the same coffee shop and order the biggest, sweetest coffees on the menu, topped off with a tower of squirty spray-can cream.

It’s an indulgence which, though unspoken, celebrates another year of our enduring friendship. We’ve been doing it so long it’s turned into a tradition.

Tradition of course, is associated with Capricorn, the sign the Sun moves into on 21st December. The Sun's ingress into Capricorn marks the Winter Solstice (the Summer Solstice in the southern hemisphere). The chart for the Solstice is traditionally used as a predictor for the season to come, at least until the Spring Equinox.

So what message is the Solstice chart carrying?

December 21 Solstice, set for London (Click to Enlarge)

The first stand out is Mars in Capricorn. Mars is strong in Capricorn, exalted. We are expected to respect and look up to whatever Mars in Capricorn is symbolising. If we’re looking at this chart from a collective perspective, then Mars here represents those in authority - leaders, organisers, decision makers, action takers. Bravo Mars!

But look a little more closely at Mars and all is not as it first seems. Mars is unaspected, making no major aspects to any major planets. Mars in this position wants to do its own thing, unchallenged. But here’s the rub. It’s void of course, meaning that it won’t make any more aspects before it moves into egalitarian Aquarius. (its exact Sextile to the Nodal Axis occurred three days before the Solstice). All this means that by the time of the Solstice, Mars in Capricorn has already completed its work and has nothing else to do. Because, of its exaltation in Capricorn, however, it will still arrogantly cling to its sense of self importance and fail to see the impotence of its position.

Draw whatever conclusions you want, but it seems assured that those in positions of authority in society will find they are not able to Get Things Done in the way they would like during the coming three months or so.

Mars is a masculine energy, so we need to look elsewhere for the feminine. There is a clear pointer in the Solstice chart towards a positive surge of balancing feminine energy. Juno joins the Sun at 0 degrees Capricorn - the Aries point degree, where a great rush of energy projects outwards into the world, seeking manifestation. Juno symbolises the union of the masculine and feminine, including the legal union of marriage. Juno also stands for primal feminine power and issues of equality, a useful counterpoint for the male power represented by the Sun. Interesting that the legalisation of gay marriage in the UK is currently on the political agenda. We will also hear more about female inequality in the workplace (the Sun-Juno conjunction falls in the 10th House for the UK), with female unemployment reaching an all time high in 2012 and with mounting pressure on corporations to promote more women to the Board.

The first major aspect to become exact after the Solstice is Saturn’s first Sextile to Pluto on 26 December (it will also fall exact in March and September 2013, with its influence stretching from November 2012 to November 2013).

Saturn in Scorpio is in mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn, meaning that Saturn and Pluto fall in the sign of each other’s ruler. Planets in mutual reception support each other. They can be powerful allies as the world and individuals work towards positive change. Just as easily though, Saturn and Pluto can become dangerous partners in crime. It remains to be seen how this will go, but it’s likely we will see both extremes. The opportunity during this Sextile, if we choose to take it, is to push the relationship towards its more positive expression.

Probably the most significant pattern of this chart is the exact Yod, with Jupiter in Gemini making Quincunx aspects to Saturn and Pluto in Sextile. In Dynamics of Aspect Analysis, Bill Tierney describes a Yod as a fork in the road, the finger of fate, the opportunity to follow a new direction. Uncertainties may be felt and adjustments may need to be made, but change is necessary. He goes on to say that with Jupiter at the apex, the opportunity is for an expansion of consciousness and the broadening of a social vision.

This is a Yod charged with aspiration, optimism and idealism, which has the potential to make a big social impact. Jupiter in Gemini wants freedom of speech, freedom of mind and freedom of movement. Jupiter is in detriment (meaning that it’s difficult to operate to its best potential in Gemini), so it might be easy for the more negative side of Jupiter to find expression: over reaching; impractical and excessively moralistic. We will need to tap into the more positive energies of Saturn and Pluto to be reminded that real and lasting change requires time, effort and patience. 

The chart also gives us Saturn Trine Neptune. If we are being optimistic we can predict peaceful resolutions, treaties, new understandings and a more compassionate idea of morality. This is an opportunity to show we care and to do something practical about it. If we want to be cautious, we should be wary of those who merely pay lip service to compassionate actions and humanitarian causes, while surreptitiously pursuing their own agenda.

Looking at this from the perspective of the 2012 predictions, Jupiter in detriment in Gemini in the Yod can all to0 easily make him a false prophet, the witting or unwitting spreader of fear and overblown, baseless theories and rumours. The Saturn Neptune Trine also has the capacity for deception. We need to keep our wits about us if we suspect others are using our fears to control and manipulate us. Putting fearful energy into our endeavours and reactions can create a strong negative force. Refusing to panic and facing our fears (if we are called to do so) can, if done with self compassion and care, become a powerful healing energy.

The key to facing our fears is keeping them in healthy perspective. Our guides for this journey are Saturn in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn, who together push us to the edges of our worst fears and force us to stare down into the abyss, with the purpose of offering us freedom from them. My e-book on Saturn in Scorpio deals with the issue of fear, control and keeping safe in detail. Here’s an exclusive extended excerpt from the book.

There’s no doubt the world is constantly changing, but it’s an evolution that is slow, ongoing, complex and multilayered, as reflected by the long cycles of the outer planets: the 493-year Neptune-Pluto cycle; the 120+ year Uranus-Pluto cycle and so on.

As the planets turn and connect, we are still here, working out the same old Karma. Now if that is not enough to help put things in perspective, I don’t know what is!

Happy 2012 Solstice.

With love,
Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

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Don't Worry, It's Not the End of the World ~ Debunking 2012

“The sands of time are running out for the world and not even Indiana Jones can save us now. The astrological alignments and numerological formulae cannot be wrong: on December 21 this year, the apocalypse foretold 5,125 years ago by the ancient Mayans will come to pass and the world will end.”

This is a quote from The Daily Mail newspaper, in an article that went on to debunk the 2012 end of day theories.

Yes, the Mayan calendar comes to an end, apparently, but this does not mean the end of time. What it does mean is a mystery, but nowhere did the Mayans predict a world ending apocalypse, to the best knowledge of archaeologists and anthropologists.

Even if the Mayans did prophesise doom and gloom, we know that prophesies (ancient and modern) are very open to interpretation and rarely if ever come true. Remember Harold Camping who was convinced that the bible predicted the end on October 21 2011? He had to make an embarrassing retreat when sunrise heralded another earth day on October 22. Many of Camping’s followers, as is often the case, were left out of pocket.

As an astrologer, I can tell you there is nothing in the December 21, 2012 chart that predicts the end of the world. I hang my reputation on that and if any astrologer out there can prove to me otherwise, on the basis of the astrological measurements and the common sense application of factual evidence, then I will give up astrology for good!

You see, while planetary alignments suggest the type of energy that will prevail, we cannot accurately predict how that energy will manifest. This is because, as human beings, we have the free will to decide whether to draw upon the energy available and if we do, we have the free will to decide how to use it -  destructively or creatively, for our own good or for the good of others and so on. For example, the disruptive, rebellious, sudden-change inciting energies that accompany the on-going Uranus-Pluto square are there to be tapped into. While many of us will proactively embrace the opportunity for a shake-up of the status quo, still more of us will carry on with business as usual, dealing with change only when we absolutely have to.

Imbedded in the symbolism of every astrological alignment, however challenging it looks on paper, is the opportunity for positive growth and change. It’s up to us, collectively and individually, to make the best of it and to positively learn from the experience.

When ‘sensible’ astrologers make predictions (or forecasts, as I prefer to call them) they are based on our practical knowledge and experience, including our understanding of the symbolism of the planets, our experience of what occurred during previous similar alignments and our knowledge of history and/or current affairs (or personal history and current circumstances in the case of a forecast for an individual person). To that we apply a big dollop of good old fashioned common sense. Only then do we have a set of realistic assumptions on which to make a forecast.

When forecasting the future, headline grabbing sensationalism which taps into people’s fears, should play no part. Neither should astrologers claim to have some kind of special hotline to the gods.

I learnt astrology by taking classes, sitting exams, reading books, studying myself and my friends, sharing with my colleagues and listening to my clients. I am not a chosen one with exclusive access to arcane knowledge and I don’t hear voices in my head. I am not a guru and I don’t need followers. I simply want to help my clients and readers and encourage them to question me and more importantly to question themselves and the world. I would be worried if anyone took my opinions and suggestions as the final and only word on the matter.

An end of the world prediction based on no real evidence, astrological or otherwise, will never come from an astrologer who knows their stuff.

Yes, we can say with some authority that we are going through challenging times and that things could well get tougher. In the years to come, an economic catastrophe to make the 2008 banking crisis look trifling is a possibility, as are environmental disasters, but these events are by no means inevitable.

We should be prepared for anything, but we should not live in fear, for it is fear that the 2012 doom mongers are playing on. Many of them are cashing in nicely. The Daily Mail article mentions an entrepreneur who is selling places in bunkers for $50,000 to those who are wealthy enough and dumb enough to fall for the con. And there are entire websites devoted to selling 2012 survival kits. Anything from gas masks to bullet proof vests. A year’s supply of dehydrated food is there for the ordering if you can afford the thousand-dollar plus price tag.

So let’s be sensible this 2012. It’s wise to plan for potential hardship, but healthy to hope for a better world and responsible to do our bit to try to make that happen.

Instead of running scared and giving your money and energy to gurus and salesmen and other scaremongers, be smart with your time and even smarter with your money. Ask questions, pull your head out of the sand, look around, trust yourself and stay flexible.

We are living through a time of great challenge, but even greater possibility. Are you ready?

www.mandilockley.com