A Slippery Slope
On the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction with a little of Uranus
Time is not a line, it’s a circle. Nothing makes this more clear than the seasons or the study of Astrology. And even though we just moved through a yearly Equinox, within a larger circle-we might call a secular cycle-we are nearly at the nadir, or the Winter Solstice point when the slope is most slippery.
This secular cycle is ancient and has been popularized by Strauss and Howe’s book called the 4TH TURNING; AN AMERICAN PROPHECY. It’s rooted in the idea that one long life-or saeculum-is composed of four generations, each of which has its own unique archetypal character. Each generation also ushers in the next turning, roughly every 21 years. Four of these are 84 and 84 is precisely a Uranus cycle. They make no mention of this in their book, yet it’s an unmissable coincidence that rewrites generational theory when seen through an astrological lens. For example, every 4th turning of a saeculum seems to roughly coincide with Uranus’ movement through Pisces to Gemini; in other words, the intimations of Crisis begin in Pisces and peak when Uranus moves into Gemini.
Last time this happened:
1919–1948: End of WW1/Spanish Flu straight through a Great Depression, another World War, and into the building of the reality we know today
Before that:
1835–1865: A Transcendental Awakening with a global rush for gold, industrial promise, and time for abolition.
Without digging deeper here and writing a small book about my aquarian ideas about the 4th Turning, I really want to point out one key feature between now and the mid 19th century, which is the placements of Uranus by sign and the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in Pisces happening two signs away. In the year 1856, Uranus was in Taurus and it was the last time Jupiter and Neptune conjoined in Pisces. It was also a 4th turning then, just as it is now. So, what does it mean?
Well, back then, with most colonial states well established around the globe and the horrors of the realities of what got them there dawning in the minds of many transcendental thinkers and Abolitionists, the slippery slope towards a “wintery crisis” was inevitable. With the foundation firmly set for the end of a saeculum and Uranus being in Taurus, issues around resources, money, and collectively shared values began to rapidly change; include Jupiter/Neptune raising the watermark in their co-ruled sign of Pisces, again, it was the perfect alchemical soup for a sea change. No planets affect the collective mind more than the outer ones. So when they conspire in such a way, it’s no wonder we remember those times in history. Just as we will remember this one hundreds of years down the line (or circle).
You may have encountered a few ideas constellated around this conjunction, telling you it’s a time for your dreams to manifest, for your spiritual life to blossom, for a collective awakening to occur, but I’m afraid those kinds of interpretations are both missing the point and also, hopefully, happening all the time. According to how these sacelum move and in my understanding of Uranus by their sides, we are not in an awakening at all, but a crisis. For 600 years, nearly every time Uranus passes from Pisces to Gemini, the world changes dramatically-especially the Anglo one. So it’s my sense that when Jupiter and Neptune come together on April 12th at 23º58' Pisces, instead of expecting someone to walk on water again, we may want to contemplate the circle, the saeculum, and how fast Fortuna’s wheel actually spins. We may find deep wells of wisdom by looking back and doing our best to imagine what it was like in 1856, and just how similar it was then, too now. Study that time. Read a book from around then, like Moby Dick. Watch film from the era. Dream with it. It will assist in the process of understanding the present.
Every generation is promised to live in interesting times, yet there is something truly historic about this one. Uranus never leaves Taurus without redrawing maps, nor will Jupiter and Neptune in their own sign leave us without a collective epiphany around our interconnectedness. Most see and feel we are in a global village, but not until events like the pandemic and certain conflicts like the ones brewing in Ukraine affect all of us do we actually get inspired to change. If we make it through, the latter part of the decade into the 30’s will be glorious. If we don’t, well, we will try again. And again and again. Circles. Spirals. Slippery slopes throughout eternity which churn at the bottom and build on the way up. It’s exciting to be here for it. It’s a perfect setup. We got this.
Eudaimonia,
Adam
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