The Age of Aquarius: A 2150-Year Battle for Democracy
The arrival of the Age of Aquarius introduced a new battle to the world that will last over 2,000 years. One skirmish in this long-term battle is President Trump’s assault upon democracy in the USA. Every age is a battleground, though it can be argued that battles and battlegrounds were even more pronounced under the influence of the Aries age. Each age is a battleground because every age is primarily influenced by two ages – the previous age and the current age. There is no such thing as an insular Taurus age, Aries age, Pisces age, Aquarius age and so on. Each age must contend with the almost overwhelming influence of the previous age. For the Age of Aquarius, Aquarius must overcome the power and influence generated by the Pisces age. The battle for supremacy between Pisces and Aquarius commenced very soon after the arrival of the Age of Aquarius.
In the early years of the Age of Aquarius, a melodrama was played out that previewed what the world could expect over the following few thousand years, including our time. It happened in Italy in the Renaissance. There is no exact date for the start of the Renaissance, though the beginning of the 15th century is usually stated. The Renaissance predated the arrival of the Age of Aquarius by some decades, or even a few centuries if the early Renaissance commencing in the 13th century is considered.
Much could be written about the early or first stage of the Renaissance, and I personally am indebted to the Renaissance in my research on the astrological ages, as it was the Renaissance that provided me with the key to identifying the end of the Pisces age and start of the Aquarian age. The Renaissance was a big deal! Our modern world was born around the time of the Renaissance.
The battle between ages is due to the Overflow Effect, the details of which can be found in my book The Dawning – Shedding New Light on the Astrological Ages or online at The Age of Aquarius for Dummies. Basically, the most influential sign in any astrological age is the sign of the previous age. For example, the most potent sign in the Pisces age was Aries. The most potent sign in the Age of Aquarius (our current age) is Pisces. Aquarius will be most potent in the following Age of Capricorn which is not due until around 3580. Another way to express this, for example, is to call the current Age of Aquarius, the Pisces-Aquarius age, with the first sign the most powerful.
In the Piscean age (or Aries-Pisces age), Aries certainly energized Ancient Greece with the Axial Age which flowed through to Ancient Rome, and provided the major battle in this age which was between Aries and Pisces. Aries promoted the martial strength of empires such as Rome, and Pisces produced religions such as Christianity to be opposed and persecuted, but incapable of being wiped out – similar to the birth and rise of Buddhism and Islam. The two key signs associated with each age battle it out over the course of the age. With the arrival of the Aquarian age (Pisces-Aquarius age), a new battlefield was defined, no longer between martial Aries and religious Pisces, but now between religious Pisces and rational Aquarius.
What happened immediately after the arrival of the Age in Aquarius, apart from the invention of the printing press (that did more to initially promote the intellectualism of Aquarius than any other event), was the temporary elevation of the city of Florence in northern Italy, as the first standard bearer of the Age of Aquarius, but more accurately, of the Pisces-Aquarius age. It is claimed that the Renaissance began in Florence, but other Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Rome and Naples made contributions. While Florence may be the first standard-bearer of the new Age of Aquarius, its allegiance to Pisces was even stronger.
What happened in Florence? Many things happened, but I am focusing firstly on Botticelli’s painting, The Birth of Venus, completed around the mid-1480s. This painting is considered to be in the top 10 most popular paintings in the world. It appropriately depicts the birth of Venus as a fully grown woman. This is also astrologically relevant as the Age of Aquarius (1433 – 3581) has three age-decans, and the first age-decan is the Libra age-decan (1433 – 2149) and Venus is the ruler of Libra. It is also appropriate that Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, attributed to be the most popular painting in the world, and the first realistic painting of a modern woman, was also painted at the beginning of the Libra age-decan proudly proclaiming its arrival.
Though The Birth of Venus was not of the same grandeur as the Mona Lisa, it broke with tradition. At the time when Pisces was at its strongest power in the 26,000 years cycle of the astrological ages, Pisces religion demanded its pound of flesh. The demand for art was based on the need to paint religious paintings that would uplift the life of a Christian. Suddenly, a nude woman without any Christian connotation whatsoever appeared to upset Christianity’s apple cart. In place of Christian morals, it was a sensual delight. Naturally, it was kept mainly hidden at the time, but from there on, painters commenced diverting from religious themes and indulging in secular subject matter. This is Aquarius in action and was just one of countless instances of Pisces starting to be pushed aside by egalitarian Aquarius.
With The Birth of Venus, we are witnessing one of many examples of the arrival of the Age of Aquarius, but Aquarius was even more fragile in the 15th century than today. Certainly, since 1433, Aquarius has been the strongest emergent zodiacal sign in the world, but the most powerful sign was, and remains Pisces – and will remain so for a long time. With Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, we see the flowering of Renaissance art and advance in mental outlook as people turned away from the virtual monopoly of religion and looked to artists, ancient Greeks and Roman philosophers, academics and their contemporaries promoting this new zeal free from the dogma of (Pisces) religions.
Pisces had no intention of letting this travesty go unnoticed or unpunished. At the very heart of the fledgling Renaissance, along came your standard fire-and-brimstone Christian friar who advocated for the destruction of secular art and culture, and his calls for Christian renewal – a virtual Make Christianity Great Again. Christianity in the Middle Ages was actively anti-intellectual, just like the Taliban today and many Republican states in the USA. This friar, Girolamo Savonarola, wanted to turn back the clock, and retreat from the Age of Aquarius. Though he didn’t understand anything about astrological ages, he certainly did not like anything that promoted non-religious ideals.
In 1494 Italy was invaded, the cosmopolitan Medici family were expelled as Florence’s rulers, and Savonarola was effectively left in charge to institute an extreme moralistic campaign powered by the city’s youth. His abject extremism was too much even for the Roman Catholic Church and he was executed by them in 1498.[1] However during the four years of his reign of terror, there were your standard book burnings and destruction of paintings. Savonarola was so compelling and forceful that even Botticelli fell under his sway, and remained so for the rest of his life. Art historians believe that if Botticelli had been able to burn his own The Birth of Venus, he would have done so. One of the first harbingers of the Age of Aquarius was a turncoat.
This salvo by an emergent Age of Aquarius and reaction by the very powerful Pisces age overflow is a recurrent theme in the world today and will remain so for a long time. Up until the early 20th century, most of the wars and conflicts were Piscean wars of religion,[2] with some wars just family feuds as European royalty were often related. However, most wars and conflicts of the last five centuries can be perceived as battles between Pisces and Aquarius. The first series of Pisces versus Aquarius wars were the European wars of religion waged in Europe during the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries following the Protestant Reformation commencing in 1517.
“The case for the primary association of Christianity to Pisces is quite strong, and its split between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestantism also clearly aligns itself to Pisces—the sign of two fish swimming in opposite direction. However, Protestantism introduced a major Aquarian archetype. Despite the numerous theological disagreements between Catholics and Protestants, the most noticeable difference from the very beginning was the Protestant rejection of the pope and popery. The highest authority for Protestant Churches was the Bible, while the highest authority in Roman Catholicism was the Church.[3] This is reinforced by the fact that most Protestant Churches gave limited democratic power to their congregations—not to some high authority, except for the Church of England that returned to Pharaonic times and made the monarch the head of the Church of England. Aquarius is democratic, antiauthoritarian, and against the concept of a religious ruling class or privileged leadership. In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church mimicked Ancient Rome with the Pope (Caesar) appointing the cardinals to the College of Cardinals (senate). This fundamental difference insinuates that Protestantism has added Aquarian archetypes to its Pisces base.
Prof. Grayling at London University in his book Towards the Light: The story of the Struggles for Liberty and Rights that Made the Modern West compares the state of the modern world to that of 500 years ago, particularly in the great strides toward freedom and liberty. Grayling proposes that the original impetus for democracy and freedom took shape in the Reformation from the outlooks of Martin Luther and John Calvin, who promoted the individual religious conscious of a person over the authority of the church and pope. Grayling recognizes that the natural enemy in the quest for freedom and democracy came from the church, and therefore the Reformation was the opening salvo by “democrats” against the entrenched authoritarian church in collusion with the state. The principles of free speech were launched with the publication of Areopagitica by Milton in 1644 in protest against the censorship of his views on divorce by religious authorities—again the enemy is very clear. Grayling basically asserts that the progress of liberty is generally at the expense of religious authority.”[4][5]
The English Civil War under Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) saw a temporary strong anti-monarch (anti-Leo) sentiment in favor of (Aquarian) parliamentary democracy. Pisces won this skirmish as England is staunchly Leo by nature and still has an anachronistic House of Lords. The American Revolutionary War (1775 – 1783) was a classic example of Aquarius raising its flag, not only for its anti-monarchy (anti-Leo) sentiment but because it also introduced modern democracy. Aquarius is picking up speed.
The French Revolution (1789 – 1799) also had revolutionary Aquarian elements and though anti-royalty, it turned to ruthlessness as its modus operandi – but then again, France has a natural affinity to Scorpio. Nevertheless, a bare-breasted woman became representative of the common people seeking liberty and justice. It should be noted that this revolution encompassed 1791, the cusp of the Libra age decan (1433 – 2149) at its exact midway point and Libra is both strongly related to France, and to justice. 1791 also marked the start of the Cancer sub-age decan(1791 – 1851) of the Scorpio sub-age (1791 – 1970)
The American Civil War (1861 – 65) is a contradiction of Pisces and Aquarius archetypes. Both sides had God on their side, and Christianity has allegiance to Pisces. Pisces also rules slavery, and the northern states promoted the Aquarian element of freedom, while the southern states just remained with Pisces. The period of the American Civil War is an astrological replica of today, as the Civil War (1861 – 1865) occurred in the Libra-Gemini micro-age (1861 – 1866) of the Scorpio sub-age (1791 – 1970) and we currently are in the same configuration but in a different sub-age, the Libra-Gemini micro-age (Nov 2024 – Nov 2029) within the Libra sub-age (1970 – 2149). This time around, the Confederates have already stormed the White House and crippled Congress!
The difference between now and the 1860s is that the American Civil War also occurred near the cusp and peak influence of the relatively massive Cancer sub-age decan and overflow (1791 – 1851 – 1910) with Cancer at its peak potential from 1851 to 1880. Cancer is opposite Capricorn, and Capricorn is the third most important sign for the USA after Pisces and Aquarius. Cancer activates the 7th house of Capricorn, so the conservative Southern states were in fighting mode, but the Cancer energy was too strongly opposed to them. Under Trump, we can again see the ultra-conservative forces are in fighting mode, with their champion Trump at the helm.
The current uncivil war unleashed by Trump and his conservative supporters has the same dynamics as the Civil War, but much less power. However, the American Civil War also occurred in the Libra micro-age decan overflow (1861 – 1866), mimicking the current Libra micro-age decan overflow (Nov 2024 – Nov 2029). Libra historically brings the biggest disagreements, conflicts and wars. If we get away with just tariff wars, culture wars and so on, we will be extremely lucky, as normally, Libra periods are renowned for real wars, and usually major wars and conflicts. [see The Backbone of the Libra Age-Decan (1433 – 2149) ]
It is the 20th century where the battle between Pisces and Aquarius heated to its most extreme to date. The battle lines between Pisces and Aquarius are usually not clean cut as both signs will usually display both Aquarius and Pisces, but at different proportions. With the Russian Revolution commencing 1917, it was Aquarian anti-royalty and pro-socialism (though communism is an extreme form of socialism) – and socialism belongs to Aquarius. However, the brain-numbing Pisces content associated with communist Russia outweighed its Aquarian content. The Russian communists introduced a Kafkaesque monolithic bureaucracy of extreme repression and authoritarianism. Archetypally, Aquarius had the anti-monarchy revolution, then Pisces took over with extreme bureaucratic authoritarianism and repression, Savonarola all over again but at a much larger scale.
Of course, Nazi Germany is the most classic European example of a modern political force determined to return the world to the Pisces Age with a semi-religious approach to its political agenda. Democracy was the first to be shed with book burnings again – thinking and intellectualizing is an Aquarian trait. The Nazi’s drew upon Aquarius by their radicalism and extensive use of radio to promote their demented messages. From a distance, Naziism appeared to utilize the tricks of (Pisces) conspiracy theorists. It is believed that most Germans who survived World War 2 continued to believe in the Nazi ideology for the rest of their lives, but just kept quiet about it. This type of anti-humanity reactionary force was powered by Pisces which even enslaved Aquarius to do its bidding.
It should be noted that both the First World War, Russian Revolution the appearance of communism, and the rise of fascism leading to the Second World War were aligned with a massive Pisces hotspot. Within the Scorpio sub-age (1791 – 1970) is the Pisces sub-age decan and overflow (1851 – 1910 – 1970) which was at its peak from 1910 to 1940, and is one of only the three most strongest Pisces points in the current Pisces-Aquarius age (1433 – 3581). The next one will not occur until c.2507 – 2567 – 2626. The strongest reaction against Aquarius since the arrival of the Age of Aquarius in 1433 were the years 1910 to 1940 and even today in the early 21st century, we remain in the shadow of this Pisces hotspot extending its influence from the early 20th century. There is an equally potent Aquarius hotspot next century.
The Vietnam War (1955 – 1975) was an utter confusion of archetypes. Here was France, then America and some of its allies invading a foreign land that was succumbing to communism, but it was not as simple as that. Vietnam was also fighting for its independence against France, its colonial overlord, so definitely Aquarius was on Vietnam’s side. This is why America lost – as it had succumbed to the brainwashing of Pisces and believed it had right on its side. This is understandable as the USA’s strongest sign is Pisces and therefore the USA is more prone to delusions such as those promoted by their current president, and relatively frequently by previous presidents. Any historical research into Vietnam would show that America refused to come to Vietnam’s aid in its fight for independence against France, and this forced Vietnam to turn to its communist neighbor China, for assistance. Athens, the cradle of democracy, also did many stupid things. This kind of behavior is inevitable due to the collective headspace of humanity at this early juncture of civilization.
One of the latest Pisces versus Aquarius conflicts has been Afghanistan with the Taliban firmly returning the country back to a feudal anti-democratic nation of authoritarianism and especially its repression of females. Most Pisces environments have a strong religious context, and religions are not much different than a complex conspiracy theory, which is not a reflection upon the originator of most religions. Conspiracy theories and religions can energize their followers in the same way Germans became Nazis, and Russians became communists followed by much persecution and destruction.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is probably the latest example of Pisces versus Aquarius. The Ukrainians do not have an entrenched history of democracy, but they live near democratic Europe. The Russians gave them a choice – return to their old Soviet-era existence with Russia, with the normal brain-numbing instrumentalities of the Russian government such as gross corruption, lack of a free press or real election, or fight for the freedoms and liberties that most Europeans take for granted. The Ukrainians have chosen (Aquarius) freedom. This conflict is a classic Pisces versus Aquarius scenario. We can see even here that Trump is having trouble leaving Pisces and being on the (Aquarius) Ukrainian side.
Even now in the USA, we have Trump doing his best to undermine democracy and the rule of law. This throwback appeals to a very significant proportion of the American public. One of the main reasons Trump is so popular, is that he promises social and political changes that favor the cloistered view of the hyper-religious minority of Americans. Any religious perspective always links to Pisces.
Other enemies of Aquarius are conspiracy theorists, who are unashamedly powered by delusionary Pisces. Every week seemingly intelligent people post tracts showing the sun shines out of Putin’s backside and Zelensky is the devil incarnate or other equally irrational and delusionary missives. We now have a president of the USA who would not acknowledge a fact even if his life depended upon it – this is Pisces through and through.
The whole of the Age of Aquarius will be a battle between Pisces and Aquarius, as it has been for the last five centuries, and it is important to note that while Pisces is the most influential or powerful sign, Aquarius is the strongest emergent sign. This means at any stage, there is no guarantee who will win, such as in the 2024 US presidential elections when the world of yesterday under Pisces definitely won, but no matter how many battles Pisces wins, Aquarius will ultimately win the war.
To understand a little better about the astrological ages war games, the spread of Christianity, Buddhism and Islam occurred in the Aries-Pisces age when Pisces was not the strongest sign, it was the strongest emergent sign, while Aries had the strength. These and other smaller religions emerged with their Pisces archetypes, and ultimately won, but Aries fought them all the way.
The Taurus-Aries age saw the collapse of the Bronze Age and start of the Iron Age, with the Bronze Age relatively stable with wealthy elites and trade. The Iron Age swept away any peace and brought in a sustained period of vicious war and conflict with newly formed governments creating armies for invasions.
In the early 21st century, in the so-called modern world, people have been deluded by Pisces that this is the modern world, whereas modernity is a work in progress and has more to go than what has been achieved to date. A better way to describe our time is to call it the Age of Techno-Medievalism. Do you think that AI will only bring benefits to the world? It is like saying that the internet has only brought good to this world where it now seems that cybercriminals are everywhere and every day we have to wade through an excessive number of emails and messages, usually from (Pisces) corporations. It’s a rare week that some online scammer isn’t trying to trick me and steal from me! AI death drones, employed by Russia, are already a reality in Ukraine.
The word ‘fascism’, which was first defined by Benito Mussolini in the earlier 20th century, and readily adopted by Nazi Germany, is believed to be a term derived from the merging of state and corporations, without the unnecessary distraction of elections and democracy. Mussolini also thought an alternative word could be ‘corporatism’. Supposedly this definition was in Webster’s Dictionary until 1987 when a corporation purchased Webster’s and deleted the reference in the dictionary to ‘corporatism’. Corporations are ruled by Pisces, but corporations do have an Aquarian element, as the shareholders vote for their board of directors and so on. Socialism is the child of Aquarius (but not communism which appears nine parts Pisces and one part Aquarius). Remember this when you next see Elon Musk prancing about like a kid given keys to the candy store. Corporate leaders in the 1930’s were also very attracted to Adolph Hitler.
In conclusion, the modern world that many people long for cannot be stable at this early stage of evolution of the Age of Aquarius. Think of the opposition many Christians experienced in the Roman Empire before Christianity became Rome’s state religion. They experienced centuries of persecution and opposition. In the same way, many people and societies do not like the freedoms and democracy brought by Aquarius. They prefer strong-man politics where the exalted leader knows what is best, and naturally persecutes all who disagree. This regressive Pisces reality will do its best to intrude upon our emerging modern world to drag us back into the Dark Ages. If at any time it succeeds, it will not succeed for long, as Pisces is not the growth sign – this is reserved for Aquarius – the underdog in this age.
References
[1] Girolamo Savonarola. (2024, September 14). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_wars_of_religion [3] A Very Short History of the World, p. 253 [4] “At liberty to disagree,” by Stephen Mills, Weekend Australian Review, 12–13 January 2008, p. 12 [5] Terry MacKinnell, “The Dawning – Shedding New Light on the Astrological Age”
