The Great Wave: Sixties Update

Uranus's recent arrival in Pisces has some specific meaning in the lives of people born in the mid-Sixties, particularly 1962 and 1963. Specific meaning one: Get ready. Your life is about to become something entirely new, different and unexpected. If you were dreading the notion of your "forties," this should come as some welcome news.

But first, a look at the time in which you were born, ever-important to astrology.

The Sixties were a truly important time in history, and when I'm working with a client born in this era, I recommend that they get themselves literate about the staggering, shocking and [add your own hype] events around the time of their birth. A book list suited to this purpose follows. Events of your birth era relate to individuals because the astrology that set them off is exactly the astrology with which Sixties babies were born.

For most who lived through the turning points of those years, astrological factors were experienced as a passing trend. For those people born there, it's a permanent source of energy, intention and, to a real extent, guidance toward both personal and collective destiny. However, though the past is the past, the events of the Sixties were one important marker toward the future.

While there are many opinions about the significance of these years, they were a time of enormous intellectual advancement, scientific development and social reform. Consider that the Beatles and NASA's Apollo program were rapidly developing during the same stretch of years. While they surely had different intentions, they were equally impressive expressions of talent and feats of progress, both coming to a culmination in 1969. This was no ordinary time in history. Neil Young walked on the Moon. That's pretty impressive.

What happened, from an astrological standpoint, that made this era so special? Several factors were involved, principal among them, Uranus and Pluto formed a long conjunction in Virgo. This meeting between two slow-moving outer planets happens less than once per century, and combines the influence of a planet associated with revolution and another associated with evolution. The result is almost always a kind of vibrant renaissance. There is a rebirth of consciousness, an upheaval of awareness, or a surge in science, the arts and literature. For ordinary people not taking part in the social revolutions, it was a little like what happened in the film Awakenings. There is a fine opportunity for people to come out of their fog and use an additional 5% of their brains.

Speaking of brains, Virgo is a sign associated with intelligence, knowledge, healing and service, so in the Sixties, we got the whole Uranus-Pluto thing in that particular cosmic hue. It was suddenly cool to care.

There were three other astrological factors involved. First, Chiron, a planet associated with awareness and healing, was across the sky in Pisces, a sign most directly associated with personal knowledge of the vast cosmos and the hidden world. Chiron raised that awareness. Though it would not be discovered till 1977, it was still a potent factor in the developments of the Sixties, making a series of oppositions (from Pisces) to the Uranus-Pluto conjunction (in Virgo). I see this as a spiritualising influence, amping up and focusing the themes of healing, transformation and daring to be different that predominated that time.

Then there was Saturn, fastest moving planet of the four mentioned so far, and the lord of structure and organisation, and government, which came through Pisces just as Uranus, Pluto and Chiron aligned. This added the factor of a confrontation with the established order.

It was a rare astrological moment, made uniquely powerful because of the slow, penetrating movements of the planets involved and the sheer number of people brought into the equation, since all to some extent deal with groups or mass populations. Everyone alive in that era was touched by this astrology, and touched profoundly. It is at times impossible to cling to anything -- any idea, a structure, a state of affairs -- under the influence of any one of these planets. In collaboration, one simply did what was necessary at the time.

Last, add the harmonious, long-lasting influence of Neptune in Scorpio. That's the astrological significator for sex, drugs and rock and roll. We could say a lot about Neptune in Scorpio's influence here -- maybe next week -- but death surely was a theme of the Sixties, whether you're talking about the 54,000 Americans who didn't come home from the war, or the millions of Vietnamese killed, or the movement leaders at home who were assassinated, including Martin Luther King, the Kennedy brothers, or Malcolm X.

The result? Change, change and more change. Change like nobody had ever seen, not even close. Change like we can't appreciate today, because we don't remember a time when things hung out kind of the same as ever. Every kind of social revolution you can name. Change that made many people sick and afraid. Change that socked many others into conservatism.

There was a rise in awareness around civic responsibility. Feminism. An environmental movement. The Black Power and Black Nationalism movements. The peak of the more mainstream racial equality movement. Radical political movements. Reorganisations of the social order on college campuses, in industry, technology and business. A burst of progress in all the arts, like nothing any living person had seen previously. Music, music, music (Pisces, Pisces, Pisces), all amplified by the newly created (or rapidly developing) media of the era: stereos, colour televisions, film, and so on.

It was a time in which many lies of the Cold War and the rationales for the massacre in Vietnam fell and hit the ground, and fell hard. There was much painful chaos, a taste of which is portrayed in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's masterpiece audio montage, 'Revolution 9'. Give that a listen and you'll pick up on some of the energy of the era. It's not exactly pleasant, it's not exactly unpleasant. Exciting, urgent, scary, chaotic, erotic, creative, all apply.

Then, there was the surge in sexual awareness, helped by the birth control pill and the media, but mainly helped by nature. Then, there was LSD, discovered in the late 40s and suddenly hitting the streets in 1965. Prometheus had arrived, in force.

If you're born in the Sixties, this is the energy you carry deep in your psyche. Are you familiar with what I'm talking about?

We live in a changing world, and it was a world that was for the most part very difficult for our parents. We watched them struggle and, to say it plain, fuck up quite a bit. We were born into a world where social progress was unfolding, and then when we were old enough to taste life, sex was poisoned and Ronald Ray Guns took over the neoconservative backlash.

By the time we were old enough to enjoy adult freedoms and adult pleasures, the world was on its way to a 180 degree turn from the awareness and freedoms of the Sixties. A great sleep was setting in. Today, the 180 degree turn is complete. The prevailing activism of our time is anti-sex Christianity. We hardly know how to get together, really get together. There is a common disdain for politics. Most people have little sense that life is what we make it; rather, life is about what fears you have to respond to that day.

And right in the heart of darkness, Uranus is reaching the 180 degree mark to its position through the Sixties. At the same time Pluto is reaching the 90 degree mark, making the challenging, evocative and soulful Pluto square aspect in charts of people around the age of 35.

Nothing can stop the changes and awakening now coursing through the lives of everyone born in the Sixties like a great wave.

Continued Next Week.

Uranus and Other Green Stuff

We experienced the Aquarius New Moon this week, which was Tet, the New Year for much of Asia. I happened to be in Chinatown that night; one person threw some firecrackers. Seattle is mellow. The year of the Monkey is not mellow; though I'm not a Chinese astrologer and don't even play one on the Internet, we can expect the most exciting year since 2000, the year of the Dragon. Not, however, as damaging; the real damage was done that year and we are now finally starting to see the results. Did anyone catch this Boston Globe article on Truthout today? http://truthout.org/docs_04/012304A.shtml

For the full effect, click the "go to original" button and see it on the Globe's homepage; but you have to do that Friday, or it's a subscriber service.

Let's take a fast tour of the year of the Monkey, researched by Chesea, our resident left-handed Google wizard.

In 1944, the world's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government occurred, in Sweden. World War II, which really began in 1914, is drawing to a culmination.

In 1956, Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic. The Suez crisis, involving the Suez Canal, represented a major shift in Cold War international politics. Elvis hits the charts with "Heartbreak Hotel."

In 1968, we saw the Tet Offensive, which was the beginning of the end of the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King was assassinated, as was Bobby Kennedy. Andy Warhol was shot. The "Chicago Eight" disrupted the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and were put on a spectacle of a trial. Richard Nixon elected president, breathing new life into Vietnam.

In 1980, Reagan was elected, and Saddam is selected as "president" of Iraq. John Lennon was shot. Mt. St. Helens erupted.

1992, Clinton defeats Bush, ending the 12-year Reagan Era. Yugoslav federation falls apart, and Bush and Yeltsin proclaim a formal end to the Cold War. The first planet beyond Pluto is discovered -- 1992 QB1. It still has not been named.

The Monkey is a WEIRD year.


Your Weekly Horoscope

Aries (March 20-April 19)

The possibilities, as you're seeing, are endless, but what you need to remember is that you're not in this alone. Western culture forces us into "every man for himself:" mentality even as it preaches team spirit. Truly being part of a group means doing so without sacrificing your individuality. We tend to have very little concept of how this is possible, but it is, and to embark on this path is an adventure because once we're surrounded by true peers, it's not possible to hide what we're really feeling or observing. To do so would simply be to waste precious time.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)

If you suddenly experience a loss of faith in a certain situation, in yourself, or in the cosmic plan, just be with it. What you're experiencing is an echo of a past situation rather than an omen for the future. The world is not a perfect place and the mind is not a perfect instrument of the divine. There are moments of struggle and moments of clarity. Often, one leads to the other in that precise order. On one level, what you're obsessing over is quite small; on another it is symbolic of something far deeper and wider.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)

It is said that sex changes everything. We know that, and we also may wonder, with great intensity, not just why, but exactly how that happens. A discussion about sex is pending in your life right now, and it would seem to hold the key to certain doubts that you're having about yourself and why you can never seem to get exactly what you want. To the extent what you desire is the full experience of some aspect of yourself, you can't get it anyplace else -- but over the next few days, others can be of great assistance.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

If you focus on making improvements to business arrangements and contractual affairs for the next few weeks, you'll likely find the ground fertile for the kinds of changes you want to make. Where business matters are concerned, you are very much tuned to the wavelength of win-win and are a master of the non-competitive game. Getting people to believe this is possible is something of a hero's journey, but you seem up for the task. These days, your faith really can move mountains, and you can trust that you're inspiring people far more than is visible to the naked eye.

Leo (July 22-Aug 23)

Relationships are part art, part science and part story. It is the scientific aspect that's emphasised right now, and by science, I mean respect for knowledge and awareness. The Kama Sutra suggests that touching, smelling, speaking and looking are the preludes to deep amorous or erotic contact, and that when we attune to the senses, the whole world can feel and appreciate what we are doing. For you who are seeking your freedom and working to engineer innovations that keep you alert, interested and fired up about your newborn passions, your senses will guide you to your heart and home every time.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)

Changes are coming rapidly one after the other, so fast you can barely keep on track. But your life is not a railroad. At this point it's more of a wetlands safari, and you may be concerned about drowning in emotions. But it's really the sea of love you're sailing toward, and there is a logic to navigating it. The focus required is not the usual intense and microscopic perception that you typically bring to your endeavours. Rather, you must see the biggest picture, and embrace the fact that if everything and everyone are already connected, all we need to do is hold that awareness.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)

A certain person in your life seems determined not to learn a particular lesson, but why exactly is it that you notice, and what is their role in the scheme of your life? The question is very much one of self-confidence. We all need to teach this to one another, but usually we teach by doing. If you see someone faltering, act with confidence in your own life and your own affairs. Learn the lesson you feel so strongly they should learn. If you get it now, the chances are you will never, ever forget.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)

In the latest round of what seems like an endless game of political intrigue on the work front, you must not allow others to undermine your position or convince you that you are less valuable than you know you are. But do you know it? To a real extent, the past weighs heavily upon you, and there is so much you would like to, indeed, need to, let go of. It would help immensely if you made the connection between ancient history and modern events as they are unfolding. The connection is there. Don't get swept up in the drama. Study the psychology; study yourself.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

You've been getting the "be yourself" message for a while, which is of little use if your experience of doing so leads to more trouble than progress. I'm not a big fan of this particular paradox, or of paradoxes in general. It would seem, however, that if your authentic actions unleash energy and response, you must then quickly respond to the new environment you've created. It would be immeasurably helpful if you really listened to what people say, how they say it, and discern what they truly mean beneath their words. Remember: you are not a child, and they are not your parents.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

Don't be fooled by the weight of a particular situation and how it reinforces your feelings of inadequacy. What is now filling your life with so much mental activity and emotion is a passing phase, while the sense of your true value and role in group environments is growing stronger. You have encountered these kinds of doubts before. You have developed means of dealing with them. Try to remember your procedures for handling this kind of circumstance and it will vanish as fast as it appeared. You have better things to do with your precious energy than worry.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

With the Sun and Moon now in your birth sign, it's likely to feel like everything around you is suddenly bathed in light. Those complicated old mysteries can find simple, effective solutions when you can see where you are and what you are doing. You are indeed in a whole different world than you were so recently, and I have a hunch you're wondering whether you really like it here. But you are indeed where you are, and you are at the beginning of a true adventure. Preference gets you so far; necessity gets you further; but love favours the bold heart.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Speaking as a Pisces, I have to admit that recent events have thrown me for a few loops, curves and nosedives. I am, however, sitting here telling you the story. My restlessness and determination are more than I can ignore, and I haven't been seized by a sense of adventure like this in a very long time. No doubt problems arise amidst high-intensity changes, adjustments and sudden developments, but this seems to be the time to summon the frontier spirit of do what needs to be done. A greater life is in the offing. Different, unknown, and beyond the hope of expectations: that's called being alive.

Early Aquarius Birthdays

WHEN YOU DRIVE OVER a lot of country, the scenery doesn't usually change all at once. Most people, not being so perceptive, don't see the gradual changes as they drive from rainforest to the arid planes -- but then, suddenly, they're in a different place. The air is different, the sky is different, and the people are different.

Have you noticed the changes in the landscape, inner and outer? Have you noticed that you feel like a different person? Have you noticed lately who is around you?

And is it clear that changes that needed to catch up with themselves and with you are starting to feel rather like they are gathering in one place?

The experience of your astrology is likely to be a lot more self-respective (I meant self-reflective!) than it's been in a long, long time. The reflective quality involves both of your guiding planets, Saturn and Uranus, being fully immersed in water signs, means that both you and your world are more sensitive and receptive to the fact of your own existence. This is not about thinking you exist, or existing in theory, or having a set of ideas to explain existence.

The changes that have come into your life, gradually, steadily and truly, have put you in a space to feel the reality of your life and your being. The world, as a direct result, is a different world, wherein you are not just allowed to be sensitive, but where that sensitivity is welcomed and accepted; where you are welcomed and accepted and can at long last speak an intuitive language that has long eluded you.

Let's come back to that "self-respective" aspect of things that slipped from my fingers to your mind. The word respect involves seeing: spectator, prospect, and spectacles are a few words in its family. Self-respect is a way of seeing yourself for who you are. Seeing works with great necessity on the inner levels at this point of your life; there is suggested a certain intimacy, as in into-me-see, that is surely new and surprising to you.
 
This inner seeing and ability to hold the space for who you are, and who you are becoming, can truly be called maturity. Maturity includes the ability to accept change. You are changing, and the best thing you can do is be with yourself during this time of enormous progress and development. You must accept the fluctuations that come with growth. Ideological systems don't usually leave a lot of room for change.

Fortunately you're changing and you're going past ideology. The world is a lot more cosmic than even you reckoned.

In your relationships, there is a process unfolding, and that involves learning faith. Relationships are upheld by faith as much as they are by love. The love that we are given, if it's to be received, needs to be met by faith as well as by love, and of the two, I believe that love is less important. Faith is a nearly invisible, but it's there if you look for it. As you develop and grow in your experience of the other this year, if you find yourself in a challenging moment, I suggest you look for faith and you'll find everything you need.

For more information, see the Leo and Aquarius annual horoscopes in aquasphere.

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Planet Waves Weekly International Edition
23 Jan. 2004, Version 1.0

Copyright © 2004, all rights reserved.
Published at Vashon Island, Washington
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Customer Service: Chelsea Bottinelli
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Editing & Research by Tracy Delaney
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