21|12|2012
Standing on the bridge to Tomorrow.........
courtesy google images
The eve of the most famous (or for some, infamous) date in history is a perfect opportunity to review the astrological happenings of 2012……and to reinforce what a unique year, and period, it has been.
The date is of course etched in our consciousness due to years of media focus on one primary event – the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. Innumerable theories - some sublime, many ridiculous, have attached to the ‘meaning’ of this end date. From the mid 1980’s and onward 21/12/2012 gained more and more momentum, becoming the wagon that all manner of cosmic phenomenon and prophesy hitched itself to. From Armageddon to the Second Coming and from photon radiation to alien invasion, the juggernaut rolled on. Entrepreneurs prospered and even Hollywood jumped in as NASA and other scientific organisations sought to hose down the hype and assure us that the world was all ‘business as usual’.
The date is of course etched in our consciousness due to years of media focus on one primary event – the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. Innumerable theories - some sublime, many ridiculous, have attached to the ‘meaning’ of this end date. From the mid 1980’s and onward 21/12/2012 gained more and more momentum, becoming the wagon that all manner of cosmic phenomenon and prophesy hitched itself to. From Armageddon to the Second Coming and from photon radiation to alien invasion, the juggernaut rolled on. Entrepreneurs prospered and even Hollywood jumped in as NASA and other scientific organisations sought to hose down the hype and assure us that the world was all ‘business as usual’.
courtesy google images
What can be said about the Mayan Long Count Calender is that it is an extraordinary piece of timekeeping, on a truly cosmic scale. For the Maya were a star culture, watchers of the sky and brilliant mathematicians. They developed and used many calendar systems based on the Sun, the Moon, Venus and other planetary and natural cycles, that related to their practical, social and spiritual lives.
The purpose and thus significance of the Long Count is not altogether clear. It is a 5,125 year cycle begun on 11 August 3114 BC and, incredibly, ‘ending’ on 21/12/2012. Some see it as a larger cycle; that the Maya comprehended a developmental phase for planet Earth and her relation to the solar and galactic ‘family’. For others it is more prophetic, a fated period for humanity, spelling something of an end and/or a beginning. And one of course goes with the other? Most scholars agree that the Mayan records reveal nothing categorical with few, or at best varied and inconsistent, interpretations.
The purpose and thus significance of the Long Count is not altogether clear. It is a 5,125 year cycle begun on 11 August 3114 BC and, incredibly, ‘ending’ on 21/12/2012. Some see it as a larger cycle; that the Maya comprehended a developmental phase for planet Earth and her relation to the solar and galactic ‘family’. For others it is more prophetic, a fated period for humanity, spelling something of an end and/or a beginning. And one of course goes with the other? Most scholars agree that the Mayan records reveal nothing categorical with few, or at best varied and inconsistent, interpretations.
courtesy google images
Which still leaves why this particular time? For what is striking are some uncanny and profound ‘coincidences’ regarding the end date, which when taken with other astrological ‘events’ during 2012 leave little doubt that something and something significant, is unfolding.
Firstly, the 21st of December is the Solstice. Twice a year the Sun reaches its maximum declination north and south of the equator. These two turning points define summer and winter and the longest and shortest days in their respective hemispheres. We define them as 0° Capricorn and 0° Cancer.
For millennia these were symbolically and historically significant times worshiped by almost all cultures. In the northern hemisphere, from whence we derive our cultural, symbolic and astrological traditions, the light (of the sun) reaches its lowest point on 21 December each year and thereafter begins to ‘rise’. Winter solstice rituals commemorated this re-birthing principle and these practices were the forerunner of Christmas and the Christian worship of the birth of the light of the world.
The Solstice is thus, like the Mayan calendar itself, representative of cyclic life - both an ending (when the light has reached its lowest point) and a beginning (the moment when the light begins to rise and is symbolically birthed).
Firstly, the 21st of December is the Solstice. Twice a year the Sun reaches its maximum declination north and south of the equator. These two turning points define summer and winter and the longest and shortest days in their respective hemispheres. We define them as 0° Capricorn and 0° Cancer.
For millennia these were symbolically and historically significant times worshiped by almost all cultures. In the northern hemisphere, from whence we derive our cultural, symbolic and astrological traditions, the light (of the sun) reaches its lowest point on 21 December each year and thereafter begins to ‘rise’. Winter solstice rituals commemorated this re-birthing principle and these practices were the forerunner of Christmas and the Christian worship of the birth of the light of the world.
The Solstice is thus, like the Mayan calendar itself, representative of cyclic life - both an ending (when the light has reached its lowest point) and a beginning (the moment when the light begins to rise and is symbolically birthed).
courtesy google images
Secondly, the Solstice, at this time in history, is aligned with the centre of the Galaxy. This results from the 25,680 year precessional cycle via which the Sun transits through the 12 astrological ages (of 2,140 years duration each). In this great cycle the Sun slowly ‘moves’ 1 degree every 72 years (= 30 degrees or 1 sign in 2,140 years). The Sun will accordingly be in close alignment with the centre of the Galaxy for many years, a point that many 2012 buffs gloss over, but it nonetheless IS in alignment on the end date.
And the Maya attached a great significance to the spectacle of the Sun rising at dawn out of the very centre of the Milky Way. They saw this centre (known as the dark rift in astronomy) as a cosmic birth canal and the rising Sun as a cosmic birth. By this event the Solstice is elevated to cosmic proportions and 2 orders of birth (solar and galactic) and 2 orders of symbolism are revealed.
In every respect the end (and new beginning) of the Mayan Calendar, falling as it does on the Solstice at a time in history where the Solstice is aligned with the Galactic centre, is the pinnacle of a year already rich in astrological showings.
And the Maya attached a great significance to the spectacle of the Sun rising at dawn out of the very centre of the Milky Way. They saw this centre (known as the dark rift in astronomy) as a cosmic birth canal and the rising Sun as a cosmic birth. By this event the Solstice is elevated to cosmic proportions and 2 orders of birth (solar and galactic) and 2 orders of symbolism are revealed.
In every respect the end (and new beginning) of the Mayan Calendar, falling as it does on the Solstice at a time in history where the Solstice is aligned with the Galactic centre, is the pinnacle of a year already rich in astrological showings.
courtesy google images
For in addition to tomorrow’s alignment 2012 has already been a milestone year. Most of the major happenings have been reviewed in previous posts (which are referenced by their post headings and can be accessed via the Categories section in the right hand margin). They include:
o The transit of Neptune into its own sign Pisces (Month of Pisces), where it will reside for the next 13 years, stimulating watery, empathetic and mystical qualities within people and upon the planet.
o The first of 7 exact contacts (an extremely rare occurrence) between Uranus and Pluto - the agents’ provocateur (Volatility the New Norm), whose archetypal meanings resonate with much of the uncertainty, upheaval and unpredictability seen in the world today. This combination will continue to be active for many years to come.
o The once in a lifetime exact transit of Venus to the Sun (Month of Gemini). This was a companion to the 2004 alignment and the last passing until 2117. This was a reinforcement of the feminine. Venus was held as greatly important to the Maya and had her own calendar…… another 2012 coincidence?
o The shift of the great star Regulus into Virgo (Leo, Virgo and the Sphinx). After 2,000 odd years (and again due to precessional movement) the star of kings/rulers and power shifted out of regal Leo into Virgo – another (and extremely powerful) sign of the rising feminine and of a changing of the guard.
o And last, but not least, the lunar eclipse of 29 November (The Line-up of the Year). This phenomenal, interconnecting pattern of planets, with much focus on the Moon/Black Moon (the feminine again!) seemed the perfect backdrop to the coming Solstice.
o The transit of Neptune into its own sign Pisces (Month of Pisces), where it will reside for the next 13 years, stimulating watery, empathetic and mystical qualities within people and upon the planet.
o The first of 7 exact contacts (an extremely rare occurrence) between Uranus and Pluto - the agents’ provocateur (Volatility the New Norm), whose archetypal meanings resonate with much of the uncertainty, upheaval and unpredictability seen in the world today. This combination will continue to be active for many years to come.
o The once in a lifetime exact transit of Venus to the Sun (Month of Gemini). This was a companion to the 2004 alignment and the last passing until 2117. This was a reinforcement of the feminine. Venus was held as greatly important to the Maya and had her own calendar…… another 2012 coincidence?
o The shift of the great star Regulus into Virgo (Leo, Virgo and the Sphinx). After 2,000 odd years (and again due to precessional movement) the star of kings/rulers and power shifted out of regal Leo into Virgo – another (and extremely powerful) sign of the rising feminine and of a changing of the guard.
o And last, but not least, the lunar eclipse of 29 November (The Line-up of the Year). This phenomenal, interconnecting pattern of planets, with much focus on the Moon/Black Moon (the feminine again!) seemed the perfect backdrop to the coming Solstice.
courtesy google images
The nature and rate of change that flows from this special year can only be speculated upon. Yet change, great change, seems assured? That major astronomical alignments and so many astrological milestones would coincide with the Mayans stupendous calendric achievement is well beyond coincidence, I believe. Much has been spoken of a change of consciousness that can in turn support actions and decisions that are heart inspired. The astrology seems to hint, if not shout, at this, as the path forward to a more enlightened future.
Merry Solstice
Till next time
Bob
Merry Solstice
Till next time
Bob
RSS Feed
