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The Legend
We are nearing the frontier of not only a new millennium, but also a
new era (or age) of man and civilization: the Aquarian (or 4th) Age. The
symbolism (the language of the universal dreamscape) of the Ages of Man
tries to articulate the aspirations of humanity - our hopes for the future.
But these same symbols also indicate the price of failure in these endeavor.
We cannot escape the future or avoid the risks, but we can proceed with
greater resolve and clarity of purpose if we possess an awareness of the
dangers.
The Age of Taurus (4000 - 2000 B.C.) is symbolic of origins: the collective
origin of civilization in the middle east, and the individual origin of
consciousness. This is the winter of infancy, when our experience of the
world is limited to physical sensation. Taurus is an earth symbol.
The Age of Aries (2000 B.C. - 0) is symbolic of the split into opposites.
Collectively this division can be interpreted as the distinctions between
the linear thinking west and the cyclical thinking east, or liberal idealism
and conservative pragmatism, or even this nation and that; individually
this represents the division of mind into the conscious and unconscious
domains. This is the spring of youth, when developing emotions both construct
and distort our view of the living experience. Aries is a fire symbol.
The Age of Pisces (0 - 2000 A.D.) is symbolic of the opposites in conflict:
ideology against ideology, nation against nation, brother against brother,
man against woman, and the conscious mind against the unconscious. This
is the summer of maturity, when the developed rational intellect attempts
to impose its will upon an unyielding nature. Pisces is a water symbol.
The Age of Aquarius (2000 - 4000 A.D.) is symbolic of the union of opposites:
all those things rent asunder shall come together in harmony and co-operation.
It is dreamt of as a utopian era free of the unceasing conflict that characterized
and traumatized the Piscean Age. It is to be a time of miracles beyond
imagination, when ideas, nations, men and women, and the unified mind all
work together toward an objective so wonderful that it defies the Piscean
imagination. This is the autumn of old age, when wisdom - tempered by knowledge
and experience - can at last make the intuitive leap to conceive of a new
way of existing in absolute empathy with ourselves, our neighbors, humanity,
and the planet earth itself. The Aquarian Age is an archetype of paradise
where the 4 cardinal virtues (Temperance, Justice, Fortitude, and Prudence)
mediate every interaction from the individual to the global. Aquarius is
an air symbol.
This is a quite extraordinary ambition, and like most people, I harbor
grave doubts as to whether such a future is even possible, let alone probable.
But the hope we have for such a future is pervasive, persistent, and ancient.
In fact, there are many people who believe the world once knew an Aquarian
civilization: Atlantis. Nobody knows for certain whether Atlantis really
existed or not - the skeptically inclined (myself included) aren't prepared
to accept Plato's musings on the subject without genuine evidence. The
question that always arises is: How can it be possible that no archeological
trace of Atlantis, nor any artifact even possibly Atlantean has ever been
found? There are many unsatisfying answers in reply. But there is at least
one plausible explanation, enigmatic in its eerie accordance with symbolic
prediction: Atlantis, and every record of its existence, was scraped from
the face of the earth in the last ice age.
Symbolically, these Ages of Man are analogous to the seasons, and with
each new year the whole cycle of life (or civilization) must begin again.
A utopian epoch in an autumnal age must necessarily be followed by a great
winter. Modern geology suggests that the earth's history is punctuated
by just such great winters: glacial ice ages. Just as the last autumnal
epoch, Gemini, was followed by the Winter of Taurus, so too must the Age
of Aquarius be followed by the Age of Capricorn - an earth destiny sign,
and an age of winter.
In this image, I have chosen to represent that poorly understood force
of nature that initiates such glaciation, as an angel upon the symbolic
top of the world. She looks to the heavens (where the zodiacal position
of the sun at the vernal equinox determines which Age it is) waiting for
a sign, some indication that her time has come, and that she must now prosecute
a terrible celestial judgement upon planet earth. The warning to mankind
is clear: we do not have forever to realize our Aquarian objectives. The
certainty of annihilation - by a miles high continent of ice - imposes
a time-limit on our aspirations to succeed and live, rather than fail and
die, like Atlantis. Will humanity work together and triumph? The celestial
clock is ticking and the messenger of cosmic will is waiting...
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