Do you remember the sixties? They say if you do, you weren’t there. Sex drugs and rock ‘n’ roll… “Turn on, tune in and drop out”, mantra of LSD Guru, Timothy Leary. The psychedelic world of Bohemian counterculture flourished in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury and New York’s Greenwich Village. Each coast had its defining generational event, the 1967 Summer of Love in Golden Gate Park, and Woodstock in ‘69. It was a time of rebellion and idealism. “Hair” opened on Broadway in April of 1968, awakening the collective consciousness to the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius” when “Peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars.”

Free love (read sex) and peace triumphed briefly before utopia collided with reality. In the ensuing years, many alumni joined the great middle class; some entered the corporate world, and a stalwart few continued the good fight as activists and social revolutionaries.

The sixties may be gone, but not forgotten. The New Age had yet to dawn, but these pioneers gave it a ‘practice run’. The taste of individual freedom and the vision of a transformed world is still implanted in their psyches, and by extension in the collective consciousness.

We have been living in the backlash ever since. Ronald Reagan, elected governor of California in 1966, ushered in an era of conservative politics. Sworn enemy of longhaired rabble-rousers and anti-establishment protestors, he vowed to “clean up the mess in Berkeley”. As president, in 1980 he brought his brand to the White House.

Enter the planets. The Reagan presidency began with two conjunctions (joining) of Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Libra, on December 31^st, 1980 and July 24^th, 1981. The outermost visible planets, Jupiter and Saturn are called the great timekeepers. Every twenty years their conjunction marks a turning point in humanity’s evolutionary journey. Under Reagan, the re-structuring of the social order (Libra) began in earnest.

The last four decades have witnessed the fracturing of society along social, economic, political, and racial lines. Systems were engineered to benefit an elite class, and large corporations. The middle was hollowed out. Who can forget ‘trickle-down economics’ and ketchup as the vegetable in school lunches? The gap between the haves and have-nots has presently grown into a yawning chasm.

Aquarian values, by contrast, embrace equality, multi-culturalism, collaboration, and progressive change. Many awaited the dawn of the promised golden age at the turn of the millennium; what arrived in its stead was Y2K hysteria. Jupiter and Saturn joined in Taurus, sign of money, on May 28^th, 2000. We entered another two decades of run-away materialism and the exploitation of natural resources.

Tacking down the beginning of an age that is 2,150 years long is no mean task. The shift is gradual yet punctuated by pivots. As far back as the early ‘90s some astrologers pegged the turning point in 2021, with a later installment when Pluto enters Aquarius in 2024. I recoiled—why do we have to wait so long? One answer, we had to endure the death throes of the old ways; more people had to awaken to a greater common purpose. Now, there is evidence to support the prediction. Saturn and Jupiter will conjoin in the sign of Aquarius on December 21^st, 2020, the day of the winter solstice.

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Does the return of the Sun, on the shortest day of the year, herald the dawn of the New Age?

A Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius is rare; the last occurred 615 years ago, in 1405, coinciding with the ending of the Middle Ages and early beginning of the Renaissance. There has not been a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction on a winter solstice in the last 5,000 years. This month’s unprecedented event catalyzes a more egalitarian and humanitarian era.

Astrologer Stephanie Austin puts it succinctly:

“Aquarius’ spiritual task is the development of group consciousness, where we evolve beyond identification with family, religion, race, and country to being a member of the human race. It is the sign of equality and diversity, innovation and reform, collaboration, and community. The Age of Aquarius is the age of liberty, equality, and freedom for all, the age of unity in diversity… Aquarius instructs us to be inclusive and inventive…What is needed most…is a revolution in consciousness. We are in the midst of an evolutionary shift, moving from materialism, polarization, and domination, into the paradigm of the heart, where we realize our interconnectedness, equality, and divinity.”

As much as we would wish otherwise, the New Age arrives in its infancy not in its maturity. The task remains for us to nurture it along. “We are the ones we have been waiting for” as the Hopi prophecy states. At this juncture, the shift in consciousness on the planet has reached a critical mass where 51% of humanity has matured into an “Aquarian” mindset. The path to the future has been laid out, but nearly half the population lags behind.

Beginning as early as the 1960s, a group of researchers developed a model of the evolutionary development of individuals, organizations, and societies. The authors of Spiral Dynamics were psychologists and social scientists. Their work mirrors the theories of philosopher Ken Wilbur, who later linked arms with them. Their observations are acutely accurate. Spiral Dynamics codifies eight hierarchical stages in human evolution. A simplified overview is available here.

The “green meme” aptly describes Aquarian values:  “Explore the inner beings of self and others; Promote a sense of community and unity; share society’s resources among all; liberate humans from greed and dogma; reach decisions through consensus; refresh spiritually and bring harmony.”

A deeper dive down the evolutionary ladder describes prevalent behaviors in human society—tribalism, prejudice, demagoguery, religious fundamentalism, self-gratification, entitlement, aggression, anti-intellectualism, and competitiveness. Future generations will evolve decades, if not centuries hence, until the promise of the Aquarian Age is firmly anchored.

Our current problems are so complex, widespread, and global, that new, creative solutions are needed. The Aquarian Age bodes well for its embrace of science, technology, environmentalism, and out-of-the-box thinking.

The winter solstice Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in the sign of the Water Bearer is a ready-made harbinger of the turning age. Two thousand years ago, the two planets merged to announce the dawning of the last Great Precessional Age* of Pisces. They joined in that sign in 6 BC., forming the bright “star” astrologers believe the wise men followed to Bethlehem.

For more information on this event see my 2006 article: “Star of Wonder”.

Jesus was the acknowledged avatar of the Piscean Age. Now, we are midwifing a difficult, but promising new birth. Here on Earth, we are God’s hands. Let’s get to work.

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š* The precessional ages are determined by the constellation in which the sun rises on the summer solstice. Each age is approximately 2000 years long.

About the Author:

Judith Goldberg, MFA, is an evolutionary astrologer and past life regressionist, retired after 30 years to become a full-time author. Follow her blog at Channeling Josephine