Age of Aquarius

There have been many attempts to put a date to the start of the Age of Aquarius. Proponents of some dates include Carl Jung, Sir Isaac Newton and of course the self proclaimed initiator of the Age, Aleister Crowley who couldn’t bear the thought that this Age would post-date his colourful existence. Estimates range from early 1900’s until as late as 2160.

The concept of the Age of Aquarius is one that’s been part of my mental framework since the first time I saw the musical “Hair” – a film set in the midst of the American rock culture revolution. Images of Woodstock and long-haired hippies swaying in a psychedelic mass of fabric, skin and chemically induced euphoria come to mind. The creation of a new world order also comes to mind, where the youth of the day smashed the grey-suited life-term employment mold, which spelt rules, boredom and other perfect employee recipe ideals. But was that really the start of the Age of Aquarius? Simply put, probably yes. Despite planetary alignments and constellations in celestial houses, the raw truth is that events like Woodstock are synonymous with the ‘new’ Age.

Theoretically, new astrological ages come around every 2000 years or so, dependent on various planetary positions and astronomical alignments. However, the dawn of the age of peace and love came early, as did many children born from the love generation. The age of enlightenment and harmony, of accessing ancient knowledge and secrets, of understanding how it all fits together, of integration and convergence, of simplification and accessibility, of sharing and learning, of growing and developing, of finding solutions and better ways to do things for the good of mankind. There’s a lot to be said for humanitarian and environmental movements that have hatched over recent decades, that support the ideals can characteristics of the new Age. But where will it all lead?

I would love to think that we’re on the right track, but the risk of global meltdown stares us very squarely in the face – more wars, less resources, more poverty, less energy, more disease, less healthy environments, more power for the rich, less food for the masses.

Have we fast-tracked events and sped right past the Age of Aquarius, or is there a promising tomorrow just across the next bump on the road to peace and fulfillment? My hopes are for the latter and I do try in my own little way, like so many others, to create some of that peace and support some of that healthy development along the way to a better future. It must however be very hard to think about these virtuous ideals when there is no fresh water, no crops to provide food and no energy to process it. Love does not feed the hungry and peace does not protect from disease. Where is that optimum balance between ideals and reality and how can we marry these to truly find ourselves in the Age of enlightenment with the water bearer?

“So, now a New Age has started which is called the Age of Aquarius, meaning the pitcher carrier of spiritual holy water that is the work of Kundalini.” Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

Woodstock and the early ‘Aquarians’ catalysed many events which shaped today into what it is, but perhaps it all happened a little bit too fast and was too forced. It was the single biggest event which brought together anti- and pro-activitists with various agendas, war veterans and peace protestors and other polar extremes. The Age of Aquarius, will it ever live up to the ideal Aquarian state, or was that just an idealistic scenario flowing from the pens of flower children and sci-fi futurists? For the sake of future generations, I hope we are only on the brink of entering the house.