We have been slowly making the transition into the astrological age of Aquarius whose presiding elemental energy is Air. This represents a big change from the previous age of Pisces, whose presiding element was Water. This is a fundamental re-orientation on a vast scale. The difference between the two can be truly... shocking !
Water is about feeling, but Air is about ideas. Pisces is intuitive and inspirational in nature, while Aquarius is scientific and analytical. Water likes what is beautiful: Air likes what is interesting. Water values imagination, while Air values invention. Pisces is romantic and personal, while Aquarius is global and transpersonal.
As life becomes more Aquarian it become less recognizable to those who still remember the days of horse and buggy. In those days people would sit together and talk. Now it's done remotely via instant messaging and video conferencing software. In fairly quick time we've moved from human power to animal power to fuel power to machines with no moving parts. Even cigarettes have been replaced with personal electronic vaporizers, also known as "vapes": can we get more Aquarian than that ?
Compare the popular music of today to that of our grandparents. Modern music is less about melody and more about rhythm: less about the expression of sentiment and more about the expression of energy.
In the era now coming to a close, humanity looked for advice to the prophetic establishment. In the era soon upon us, people will be more inclined to follow the advice of the scientific establishment. Neither approach is perfect or complete on its own, but as we can see by examining current events, the transition from one age to another is never without considerable... friction.
Neither symbolic force is better - Air or Water - but after a few thousand years, fundamental change is natural and inevitable. See Meanderings 1 for an explanation of Precession and an explanation of the cycle known as the Great Year.
In the introduction to his 1894 book The Holy Science (actual title: Kaivalya Darshana, "A Treatise on Liberation") the great Kriya Yoga teacher Sri Yukteshwar proposed a revision of the classical Indian doctrine of the Four Yugas or ages. He outlined a 24,000 year cycle not unlike the well-known Precession of the Equinoxes, which by his reckoning reached its lowest point around the year 500 AD.
Sri Yukteshwar pointed to 500 AD as the darkest stage in human understanding, particularly of the physical laws of Nature:
Note his use of the Sanskrit term Sukshma Bhuta which means "subtle elements". It's a very intriguing term ! On the one hand it may refer to particles and energies of the physical plane which are beyond the reach of our senses such as atomic and sub-atomic particles, radio waves, x-rays etc. which can only be detected by machines. On the the other hand, it may signify the energies and affairs of the etheric or astral planes, which exist in another dimension altogether.
Sri Yukteshwar suggested that we are now in the process of a long upward moving cycle. Mankind is starting to learn about the "subtle elements". There may be much ahead for us, way beyond smart phones and smart watches. The horizon of our awareness may become vastly enlarged.
Sri Yukteshwar pointed to the year 1600 AD as the beginning of the next stage of human development, when English astronomer William Gilbert published a book entitled De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure ("On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies and on That Great Magnet the Earth"). Gilbert is credited as one of the originators of the term "electricity" and is regarded by some as the father of electrical engineering.
Indeed as Sri Yukteshwar suggested over 120 years ago our civilization has come to depend on something which can be traced to advances in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. It's called Electromagnetism: the understanding of the interaction between currents and charges. Controlling and channeling these forces has transformed our world.
Almost everything we take for granted today, almost any product we purchase or use, was made possible by the advances which took place after the understanding of Electricity and Magnetism. According to Wikipedia:
Electromagnetic theory describes everything from color and light to sound. It gives us paint and paper, soap and ceramics. It explains how cells work, blood flows and how we see, smell and feel sensations. Without it, we're thrown back to a life of wagons drawn by oxen, light provided by candles and mouths rotting with tooth decay.
British mathematician and inventor Alan Turing has been the subject of a recent motion picture entitled The Imitation Game, which focuses largely on his involvement in the decryption of the Nazi Enigma cipher machine during World War II.
As we find with the charts of many scientists such as Albert Einstein (see Meanderings 4) his horoscope contains a powerful focus on Saturn and Uranus as well as Mercury and Gemini. Mercurial symbols are very important for child-like inquisitiveness. Saturn and Uranus are the planets of serious scientific inquiry.
His Ascendant is Taurus and its ruler (therefore the lord of the chart) is Venus, which we find in Gemini. The Sun is in Gemini. Mercury is in Gemini, it's own sign, in the 3rd house, its own house. The Moon is in the constellation Virgo which is ruled by... Mercury.
Turing was an avid long-distance runner, which would come to no surprise to the ancient Greeks and Romans. They pictured Mercury as the messenger of the Gods, with wings on his feet. Mercury relates to all things quick and nimble. When it combines with Uranus as we've seen previously, the resulting influence can be nothing short of genius.
Taking the house of the Moon as the first house (Chandra Lagna in Sanskrit) we find Mercury in Gemini in the tenth house. This is a special pattern called Bhadra Yoga, "the excellent configuration". It's one of the maha purusha yogas, the five great soul combinations which appear whenever a planet is in its own sign or sign of exaltation in an angular house from the Moon or Ascendant.
It's precisely this high degree of emphasis on Mercury and Gemini that we expect to see in the chart of such an individual: without it, we'd have to seriously doubt the reliability of the birth data.
Turing got into trouble with the authorities when he reported a theft from his home in January 1952. This led to an investigation which revealed his having a sexual relationship with another man: a punishable crime in England at the time. His trial started March 31 1952. In lieu of serving a prison sentence, Turing elected to receive "treatment" in the form of Estrogen injections over a one year period. His career, reputation and security clearance suffered as a result of the scandal and some have speculated that his mental acuity and positive attitude declined as a result of the hormone "therapy".
The cause of his death in 1954 is controversial: although the official report was of suicide, there is evidence that he may have been accidentally poisoned by fumes inhaled from an electroplating apparatus he kept in a spare room.
By symbolic direction of 1 degree per year, Saturn passed over his natal Mercury from 1951 through 1953. That's if we allow exactly 1 year on either side of the aspect. When Saturn conjoins Mercury - especially in the chart of a highly mercurial individual - mental depression and constriction are highly probable.
His Saturn Dasha started in February 1953 and the first sub-period lasted until February 1956. He died in Saturn/Saturn.
Kriya Yoga teacher Shelley Trimmer often stated that our knowledge of Astrology represents only a fraction of what was known to the ancients. He implied that there is much knowledge to be re-discovered. If we are now in an upward cycle - as Sri Yukteshwar has suggested - perhaps our understanding of sukshma bhuta - the subtle elements - will expand in this area as well.