I have recently been looking through my archive and I have found articles
that in my humble opinion, are worth airing once again. The reason I have
chosen to do this and why I feel this way is quite simple. The works in my view
have a degree of relevance even though they were first written and published almost
ten years ago.
One such article was published in the Hedgewytch Magazine in 2012
prior to the Winter Solstice (Northern Hemisphere) 2012, as some in our society
became obsessed with a perceived apocalyptic revelation of quite ridiculous
proportions. The questions raised then and in some ways they still remain
unanswered, is why our society is so focused on these strange and nonsensical events.
From the Millennium Bug scare, to the Second Coming that has been 'predicted' perhaps
a dozen times since the Great War, some are so focused on the afterlife they
neglect to live in the moment.
I present the original article as it was published in the
Hedgewytch Magazine 2012 below, I sincerely hope that readers find it of interest
and understand the relevance thereof.
As I write this the world is in a jocular mood, reviewing without
doubt one of the greatest non-events of our lifetime; the Mayan end of the
world and the spiritual revolution that never was. The apocalyptic mentality
behind this manifestation of near mass hysteria coupled with a quite genuine
wish to see the world improve is nothing particularly new. There have been
numerous ends of the world points throughout history, usually based on a poor
understanding of calendars, astronomy or in some cases, Biblical teachings.
Although we can make fun of many such claims, including those more recent, some
of these claims have in years past led to mass suicides across the globe. That
is a human tragedy and not a cause for amusement.
Many within this great human society of our world naturally look
forward to a better life. It is their sincere hope that suffering, which is in
reality a necessary part of our existence whether we like it or not, will end.
Many see this idealised paradise in another world, a heaven or an afterlife,
some on another world and some hope that this world will indeed one day change.
For some this much hoped for change and spiritual evolution of humanity, that
is most likely a continuous and slow moving growth, is linked to the coming of
the Age of Aquarius. When the Age of Aquarius begins and the preceding Age of
Pisces ends is a matter of debate and at times a rather contentious debate. Being
neither an Astrologer nor an Astronomer I cannot offer any definite support or
opinion for any of the numerous theories. I can however, offer what I hope is an
educated and detached observation.
All calendars accommodate solar or cosmic phenomena in some form,
such as a sunrise, a solar year or a lunar month but the numbering within a
calendar is an artificial mathematical construct that is adopted for
convenience. All cultures number their calendars from a historically and
culturally significant event; that may or may not also share a religious
significance. The Romans measured their calendar from the legendary foundation
of Rome, the Greeks from the first Olympiad and we in the developed Western
World measure ours from the estimated birth of Jesus Christ (with some
variation between the Julian and the Gregorian Calendars). The Judaic and Islamic worlds have their own
calendars. The former number their calendar from their own mythical creation of
the world and the latter from the date of the Hijra, when the Prophet fled from Mecca to the city of
Yathrib, now renamed Medina.
The Mayan Long Count, which is the name for their calendar began
with their own mythical creation of the world, estimated in our Western calendar
to be the 11th of August 3114 B.C.E (Before the Common Era or BC).
The majority of the Mayan calendar intervals measure as multiples of 20 and a
Mayan year is 360 days. Every so many years the Maya would introduce a
‘correction’ in the form of an extra ten day week, to bring the year back into
solar alignment. One Mayan year (360 days) multiplied by 20 is one Katun or 7,
200days. It takes 20 Katuns to complete one Baktun, which is 7,200 days
multiplied by 20 and therefore giving us a total of 144,000 days. There are 20 Baktuns
in one Pictun. A Baktun being 144,000 days is therefore approximate to just
over 394 years. The Winter Solstice of the 21st of December 2012 marks
the end of Baktun 13 but it does not mark the end of the Mayan calendar. It
makes rather the calendar reset point and therefore the start of Baktun 14.
There appears to be some confusion within New Age circles that the
end of Bukan 13 and the start of Bukan 14 in the Mayan calendar are consistent
with the start of the Age of Aquarius. In reality and as noted above, there is
no actual consensus on when the New Age will start or whether it already has. The
Astrological Ages are twelve in number and each corresponds with one of the
twelve signs of the Zodiac. From Earth aside from the yearly cycle of the Sun
through the constellations; the Sun’s annual cycle recedes backwards by one
degree every 72 years and therefore, backwards by one constellation or
astrological sign every 2,160 years (approximately). This backward motion
through the Zodiac is called a ‘procession’ or more specifically, the
‘Procession of the Equinoxes’ as in Western Astrology, the measurement and
beginning of an Astrological Year is marked by the Vernal Equinox. Over the
course of 25,800 years the Sun will complete a full 360 degree journey through
all twelve Astrological Constellations and this time period is known as the
‘Great Year.’
Currently and officially the Vernal Equinox lies in the imaginary
zone denoting the astrological sign of Pisces and we are therefore still in the
Age of Pisces. However, this backward motion of the Sun means that we are
definitely ‘processing’ into the Age of Aquarius. Within Occult circles there is
much debate, discussion and speculation regarding the meaning of the signs,
their symbols and the effect each age has upon humanity. The birth of Jesus
Christ is often perceived as being the starting point of the Age of Pisces,
whose symbolic representation of a fish was shared with early Christianity.
The Age previous to the Age of Pisces was the Age of Aries. In
some esoteric teachings this age saw the rise of the Hebrews and their exodus
from Egypt. A major influence upon this period is often perceived as being the teachings
of Moses and the Law. Some have speculated that the reason for the anger of
Moses when he descended from the Mountain was not the disobedience of the
Hebrews in building any golden idol or even the manifestation of sexual
depravity. His anger was specifically aimed at the building of a Golden Calf as
a focus for their activities. The Calf or Bull is a symbol of the preceding
Astrological Age of Taurus and from the perspective of Moses, incorrect as they
had by then entered the Age of the Ram. The idol that should have been built
was in truth, a Golden Ram.
However, there are many who dispute the clean cut divisions between
the Ages and many furthermore, point out that there is a period of overlap
between them. This ‘grey area’ or overlapping period is said to be a period of
centuries, when the effects or energies of the older and preceding age mingle
with those of the advancing or new age. This time period, it has been
suggested, manifests some degree of imbalance as the ages adjust to find
equilibrium and may even denote times of great upheaval.
Some writers have suggested that the first effects of the
advancing Age of Aquarius were felt as a precursor with the French and American
Revolutions; others suggest that the Industrial Revolution and the Wars of the
Twentieth Century were the death knell of the Age of Pisces. Yet while some
state that we entered the Age of Aquarius two centuries ago with many of these
world events being the announcement, there are just as many writers who state
that we have between another two and five centuries to wait.
What is apparent to me, attempting to reconcile all of these often
highly controversial and conflicting opinions, is that we as a collective
humanity stand at the threshold. We are if I may borrow the term, in that liminal
state between the ages, neither a Piscean nor truly an Aquarian. Humanity is in
a state of unknowing and collectively we must now face the unknown. So I end
with a question. Quo Vadis?
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