In the eyes of Astrology, for around roughly the last two thousand years we as a collective civilization have been enmeshed within the Age of Pisces: the Age of Faith, Religion and the Collective Unconscious. To bear witness to this fact the Sign of Pisces, the Sign of the Fishes, is affiliated with and co-ruled by the planets Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter, considered to be one of the “classical” planets known to Western civilization before the Enlightenment, symbolizes the attributes or concepts of faith, truth, knowledge, philosophy, conscience, prophecy, religion and expansion. Neptune is regarded as one of the three “modern” planets which were unknown (at least in Europe and in the West) until the late 1700’s or later. Neptune symbolizes or is said to embody the concepts of idealism, inspiration, enlightenment, mysticism, devotion, sacrifice, ecstasy, deception and illusion. When you combine these keywords of both Jupiter and Neptune you get a pretty fair image of the Piscean Age.
Now whereas the Age of Pisces was (and still is as we are in the midst of a transition between Ages) the Age of the Collective Unconscious, the emerging Age of Aquarius shall most likely prove to be the Age of Collective Consciousness. We are slowly transitioning from the Age of Religion and Faith towards the Age of Science and Reason. Aquarius, the Sign of the Waterbearer, is ruled also by two planets, the “classical” planet Saturn and the “modern” planet Uranus. Yet unlike the harmonious pairing of Jupiter and Neptune ruling over the Sign of Pisces, the pairing of Saturn and Uranus ruling over the Sign of Aquarius can be an incongruous marriage indeed. Although both are aspects of the same cosmic coin they each present a genuinely contrasting side. Being the furthest or outermost of the classical planets it is understandable that the planet Saturn represents limits, boundaries and barriers. Even in some mythologies Saturn was known as Father Time. Saturn also represents concepts and aspects such as control, discipline, balance, wisdom, structure, resilience, strength, pragmatism, logic and materialism. Consolidation and conservation are the ultimate Saturnian traits. Uranian energy, however, proves to be quite the opposite from Saturn’s staid and steady nature. Uranus’ energy can be wild and erratic at times, chaotic and unpredictable. Uranus represents aspects such as originality, non-conformity, genius, intuition, evolution and revolution, anarchy, rebellion, the visionary, innovation and independence. Saturn stands for the Establishment, the “Tried and True” whereas Uranus represents the “Agent of Change”, often abrupt or radical change. As we continue our transition from the Age of Pisces into the emerging Age of Aquarius the natures and the energies of these two planets, Saturn and Uranus, will prove to be of the utmost significance to humanity for they will combine to help shape our collective future now and for many, many years to come.
With the advent of the Enlightenment or Age of Reason in Europe following the Middle Ages humanity and Western Civilization in particular have been undergoing a steady and continuous shift in reasoning and of consciousness resulting in the profound transformation of rational thought and the development of and transition towards what has proved to evolve into our primary modern set of scientific paradigms, our modern scientific method and our overall rationalistic modern scientific mindset and worldview.
In many ways, this divergence or departure from the faith-based mysticism so typified by Jupiter and Neptune in the aforementioned Age of Pisces heralded the true beginnings of the emergence of the incoming influence of both Saturn and Uranus. This is when the energies of the impending Age of Aquarius began to overtly manifest themselves in society and especially within the philosophical and scientific thought and theory of the times. From about the period of the mid-1500’s up until around the end of the 18th century (Uranus was officially discovered in 1781) the influence of Saturn could be easily seen within and upon the blossoming scientific community of the era. It was within this time period that many major and fundamental discoveries and contributions were made in the realms of science laying the foundations for many of our modern scientific disciplines and pursuits.
Today we owe much of our scientific knowledge and scientific methodology to the influence of the planet Saturn. All throughout the 19th century the influence of Saturn helped to pave the way for consistent scientific growth and advancement based upon a rigid systematic scientific approach. So much so that an intellectual schism has developed in modern scientific thinking between a mystical, intuitive approach which embraces the mysterious and a stringent rationalistic approach based mainly upon logic, experimentation and reason. However, this movement toward such a rigorous scientific mindset was offset to a significant degree in the early 20th century by the work and theories of the brilliant and innovative genius Albert Einstein, the “Father of Relativity”. Also the early 20th century saw the birth of Quantum Theory and Quantum Mechanics. Between these two sets of theories and their related scientific disciplines: Relativity: the dynamics of gravity and the Macrocosmic realm; and Quantum Physics: the dynamics of fundamental Matter/Energy and the Microcosmic realm, modern science and Theoretical Physics in particular are poised on the verge of a whole new vista of 21st century insight, perspective and knowledge. The innovative thinkers whom have helped to bring these amazing and groundbreaking theories forth into our world have also helped to create a meaningful shift in many of our leading modern scientific paradigms. Building on the works of such modern day visionaries the scientists and philosophers of tomorrow and all of science in general seem to have quite possibly a promising and exciting future.