Apocalypse Now?
So the date is almost upon us. December 21, 2012. The end of the Mayan Calendar. The opening of an intergalactic portal. The beginning of the Aquarian age. The second coming of Christ. The day the space aliens destroy the Earth. Choose your favourite story.
Rarely has a date attracted so much attention. According to the bastion of truth that is the Daily Mail, after careful research they have decided the world won’t in fact end on this date. If anything is a cause for concern, it is the Daily Mail’s assurances that we are safe. After all, this is the paper that tells you almost everything gives you cancer, including: skiing, sausages, space travel, shaving, soup, sun cream and sex.
(See more things the Mail says cause cancer in this hilarious one minute clip.)
The good news about December 21 is that, given the pending world annihilation, you will save loads of money and stress by not having to buy any Christmas presents.
Seriously, though, what’s it all about? The honest answer is that nobody really knows, however it is certainly an interesting time.
Astrology basically describes all of the energies behind life – each moment in life is characterised by a particular energetic configuration which is described by (but not caused by) the positions of the planets. And so astrology can tell us much about what is happening at any period of time. This works on all levels – for an individual through a personal chart, for a country or for the world at large.
One of the most important features currently playing out on the global stage is a clash between the planets of Uranus and Pluto. Uranus is the reformer, the liberator, it is revolutionary, the energy that shakes up the status quo. And this is certainly rockin’ all over the world right now (sorry). It is in the sign of Aries, which symbolises immediate and direct action. Pluto represents power, the global elite – the plutocrats. Pluto is also all about transforming beyond recognition whatever it touches. Capricorn is an Earth sign and represents global structures, traditions, governments even.
Pluto in Capricorn alone could be enough to transform the structure of our society. When Uranus with its chaotic, erratic energy impacts on it we are sure to be in for big changes. Uranus indicates the people rising up against these global power bases – most notably the Arab Spring and the Occupy movements. In truth, this clash has only just begun. Pluto and Uranus will be in direct conflict with each other on 7 occasions between 2012 and 2015, and it is likely that the world will look very differently once it has finished. Expect more protests and direct action over the coming years.
How this will play out in reality and what the result will be I have no idea – but when Pluto is involved it often indicates a difficult and painful transition period as all of the old structures have to be destroyed in order that something better can come in its place.
Anybody who is a Capricorn or Cancer, and even Aries and Libra, are those most likely to feel the effects of Pluto on a personal level as it impacts your Sun and demands deep personal transformation (depending where in the signs your Sun is, this could be going on right now, or may not happen for up to ten years). The key is to not resist – it is only the resistance that makes these times so difficult.
So this Uranus-Pluto clash is a background feature of our current times. But it is not all doom and gloom. There is no doubt that we are in changing times and everything depends on us as individuals. One of the positive interpretations of Uranus in Aries is an opportunity to move towards greater independence from the system (Pluto/Capricorn). For example by choosing to shop at local stores rather than big chains, and thus spreading the wealth throughout the community rather than giving it to the mega-rich.
It is certainly a finely-balanced time in the story of humanity and right now it only takes a little energy tipped in either direction to have far-reaching consequences a few years down the line. It is an either/or time – Pluto does not do shades of grey (unlike most women’s current reading habits) – and so one can look at December 21 (usually known simply as 2012) as being an invitation to change how the world looks and operates.
Change happens on an individual level and if enough people shift how they live their lives, what they value and how they spend their resources, then anything is possible. In terms of the astrology of December 21 itself, a key aspect is the pressure of Pluto and Saturn (governments, multinationals, power and control; and also transformation through challenging experiences) bearing down on Jupiter. Jupiter symbolises optimism, expansion, ethics, spirituality, joy and positivity. So this is the focal point of the 2012 energy, and the task as a global community is to shift our values and place our energies into all things ethical. Maybe also to begin to question what life is all about and begin to shift our understanding of who we are and what life is. You could call this spiritual, but I just call it life – however it looks right now. It’s not necessary to grow dreadlocks, quit your job and go and live in an ashram – unless you really want to.
And with Jupiter and Uranus harmoniously aligned, it is certainly possible that things will change for the better – though it may be a little bumpy for a while. Uranus is also connected to technology and in this context the internet and social media. So maybe Facebook, rather than causing cancer will actually play a part in a positive global shift.
