The Body Electric and the Soul Tectonic

AN AQUARIAN ERA FOR TAURUS | BY ERIC FRANCIS

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The issue here is that you may feel unstable. You depend on your outer trappings for your sense of stability, and to also present yourself to others. It is this that is shifting, and this that you may be doubting: your outer personal presentation, and whether your personality will hold up under this transit. Well, it’s not exactly going to: you have an unusual, incredible force working from within you to revise your whole notion of who you are. This is designed to push you forward in ways you might ordinarily resist.

The astrology of the Aquarian Era looks like you come into your full adult power, your professional mastery and best of all, your sense of direction. That is your opportunity and your assignment, anyway.

Beginning with the Capricorn solstice of 2020 (Dec. 21, 2020), the astrology focuses your presence in the world.

Think of it: Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets, form a conjunction on the midheaven of your chart, the angle of authority and accountability. Saturn has an affinity for the 10th and is better placed in Aquarius than in any other sign.

Our society is deep into what I consider a maturity crisis. Poet Robert Bly describes the Western world and the United States in particular as the “sibling society” — a culture without adults, and populated by competitive kids. Your calling is to be the adult in any situation: to be committed, self-regulated, and seeking your authority from within.

The 10th, which is the focus of your astrology well into the next decade and beyond, is also the house where authority can be imposed on someone from the outside. It is for this reason that 10th house transits need to be handled carefully, with much attention paid to the maturity level of the person involved, as well as their relationship to external power, in whatever form it may come.

Many have noticed the tendency of people to rely on external structure, rules, schedules, guidelines and philosophies to be able to interrelate with the world in a consistent way. You are someone who has always had a strong calling to do this independently, though you may have been more or less successful at doing so. Now, the responsibility is on you to be the president of your own republic, the chief officer of your own corporation, and the final authority in your life.

This is a tall order in 2020, when all of society is organizing itself around authority and control dramas. Are you the kind of person who can stand up to your doctor, or who can question an executive order of the governor? Or are you the kind of person who prefers to comply?

Uranus in Taurus: Your Current, Immediate Transit

And since the spring of 2018, Uranus has been working its way into and through Taurus. The combination of these two factors is so unusual and packed with energy, this transit has only begun to have its influence in your life. Uranus is a revolutionary influence, and your sign is one of the most stable of the lot.

So this is representing a personal shakeup for you, though it’s coming from the inside out. That is the benefit and the key to working with it. You are fast outgrowing your self-concepts, your identity, and your appearance. Yet the effect of this transit goes deeper than this. It’s on the level of both an alchemical change and also the accessing of something deep within you.

One crucial role of Taurus is to provide some stability of tradition and of culture. While you are going through these transits, I suggest you cultivate your love of the past in specific ways that are dear to you. I do not advocate progress at all costs, though that’s a dime-store interpretation of your transits. You are the kind of person who must be grounded.

Alice A. Bailey describes the inner nature of Taurus as being “the blacksmith shop of the soul,” one of the best insights I’ve ever read, relating to any sign. We all wonder what it is about those Taurus people that makes them so distinctive. It’s almost as if they contain some kind of internal reactor, packaged in a presentation of fine wood and custom-made cloth. This can be a little strange to experience, as you know how smooth your outer presentation can be, and how persuasive of integrity and respect. Then, on the inside, there is the heat and smoke of the metal shop.

Uranus is accessing this inner reality and bringing it to the surface in unexpected ways. If Uranus through one’s sign is about a total transformation, this is the one about bringing what is inside you to the outside, where it’s accessible and available to work with in a conscious way.

The issue here is that you may feel unstable. You depend on your outer trappings for your sense of stability, and to also present yourself to others. It is this that is shifting, and this that you may be doubting: your outer personal presentation, and whether your personality will hold up under this transit. Well, it’s not exactly going to: you have an unusual, incredible force working from within you to revise your whole notion of who you are. This is designed to push you forward in ways you might ordinarily resist.

Before We Go On, a Plug for Tradition

One crucial role of Taurus is to provide some stability of tradition and of culture. While you are going through these transits, I suggest you cultivate your love of the past in specific ways that are dear to you. I do not advocate progress at all costs, though that’s a dime-store interpretation of your transits. You are the kind of person who must be grounded.

Part of how you do that is in respecting personal tradition and cultural tradition. You must have your own sense of appropriateness, of propriety, and importantly, of honoring how things were done in the past. This is not about nostalgia. It’s about having roots into your humanity.

Different people have different ways of doing this. You might have a real piano. You might hang only original art on your walls. You might prefer natural fabrics rather than synthetics. You might have a watch that you wind up. You might have printed photo albums, rather than just online ones. You might keep your diary in your own handwriting. You certainly have the appropriate clothing for whatever occasion you must dress for. Occasions, holidays, anniversaries, commemorations — all are important to you, and I suggest you never, ever sacrifice them to someone’s idea of a sleek, bright future.

Commemorate your own accomplishments. Mark the passage of time in your own life.

I once had a beloved teacher named Arthur Joseph Kushner. He was not an ordained rabbi, but I considered him my personal scholar in that light. He was someone whose wisdom was depended on by the local Jewish congregation leader: the rabbi to the rabbi. He once said to me that the only traditions that survive are the ones that grow, and change, and are alive. Once a tradition stagnates, it tends to die and fall away and be forgotten. Traditions must find their new expression in the current place and time.

The beauty of Jupiter in Aquarius is that it stretches and expands your personal circle, your idea framework, and the benefit that you bring to others. Jupiter is also a reminder to be flexible. As one with a strong fixed sign signature in your chart — and more on the way via Saturn — your flexibility of your plans, your agenda, your ideas, and most of all your feelings, is essential.

You are a personal keeper of humanity’s traditions, even if in small and modest ways. I suggest you step into this role personally, and with your circle of friends, and especially with the people who you end up in the position of leading in some way. I can give you a small example from my life. We are in the age of digital technology. But throughout my office, there are many desks with cutting mats and graphic arts blades, as well as pens and pencils to draw with.

This is a reminder of the tradition from which digital graphic art emerged. I explain to my creative team how the work we were doing was done 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago. In all ways, know the roots of your ideas.

If you have an interest in something, trace it back and see where it comes from, why it exists, and where you stand in the lineage. You will find personal relevance there. The past matters, especially to you. The old way of doing things matters, even if you use the new way. There is a new age rapidly coming upon us — so fast all most people see is a blur. You are, without any doubt, being called to leadership in this time. That will fully manifest with Pluto in Aquarius, which I will cover at the end of this reading as my closing thought.

It is your role to address the “tyranny of the new” and make sure that some of the old and valuable survives in a way that really matters to you, and that you can express to the people closest to you.

Stability has Been a Challenge in Recent Years

In recent decades, you have experienced all but two of the modern planets transiting the professional and leadership zone of your chart. Outer planet transits have a lasting effect that leaves a kind of psychic residue long after the transit is over. They almost function as natal positions, that is, as stationary objects, even though they are moving and do indeed move on. This is why it’s helpful to understand your transit history.

Here is a short summary. In years past, slow-moving visitors to Aquarius included Neptune (1998-2011), followed by Uranus (2010-2019). These were the two most challenging, which I will cover in a moment. In the mix was Chiron (2005-2010). Jupiter made a brief visit, which culminated with the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune triple conjunction in Aquarius of July 2009, which marks the most significant turning point for you vocationally until events of the present time. I suggest you track these dates against your CV and see what results you get.

Each of these transits presented different challenges of focus. Both Uranus and Neptune are chaotic influences, and represent what you might think of as non-ordinary states of awareness. They are good for mystics, musicians, inventors and rebels, which is not exactly your first style of approaching career matters. They have left their impression, which may be some doubt about the capacity for what psychologists call “executive function,” or the ability to make tangible decisions to run your life, and to act on them. Your chart is strongly oriented in the past. This is one of your assets, though at the moment, your whole life is pointed to the future, and the past will have little relevance, except for what gifts you bring forward, and what false beliefs you may have remaining from the Neptune and Uranus transits.

Now, Jupiter and Saturn are about to ingress Aquarius, your 10th house. This is the house of your professional aspirations and your reputation; your house of accountability and your leadership abilities. This is the first time in many years that there will be manageable, tangible planets in your 10th, which I’ve covered above.

This is part cleanup of past impressions, part consolidating what you’ve learned, and part taking new territory: that last bit becomes more significant in 2021 than it has been for many recent years. The beauty of Saturn in Aquarius is that it emphasizes organization and cooperation. The best authority of Aquarius is the one that comes in the form of coordinated collaboration. You are the most likely coordinator, though I suggest you find comrades and allies in this aspect of things.

The beauty of Jupiter in Aquarius is that it stretches and expands your personal circle, your idea framework, and the benefit that you bring to others. Jupiter is also a reminder to be flexible. As one with a strong fixed sign signature in your chart — and more on the way via Saturn — your flexibility of your plans, your agenda, your ideas, and most of all your feelings, is essential.

These are transits you want to take advantage of while they last, which means, beginning now. Compared to Pluto, which I will conclude with, they are fleeting — even Saturn, which is in your 10th solar house until March of 2023. These planets offer you an opportunity for a professional gold rush of sorts. You will need to focus your inner authority to have the benefits of this.

Pluto from Capricorn to Aquarius

In contemporary times, we take Pluto (discovered 1930) as a spiritualizing influence. It is in the “death and transformation” cycle of archetypes, and writing since the mid-1980s has cast it as being a kind of symbol of the soul’s journey. This is a helpful way to look at Pluto, as long as you remember some of the other ones. Pluto has a way of up-ending things, and where it does not manifest as a force of growth and development, it can show up in the form of a severe and autocratic authority.

Pluto has been in Capricorn since 2008, your fellow Earth sign and therefore your 9th house. This house covers matters of a spiritual nature, your vision for your life, your relationship to the distant places in the world, and generally, all things exotic. From the old astrology, it’s mostly about religion, the institutional kind. With Capricorn in this house, you have an inherently structured and traditionalist approach to spiritual and religious matters. I’m not saying that’s what you like, but rather something of your background and makeup. Religion is far more influential than people give it credit for. But religion is not the content, it’s the approach, and there is a high probability that it influenced you in some long-term way.  Currently, we are witnessing the effect of science being turned into a religion: whatever a scientist says is the truth. But that’s not the purpose of science; its purpose is direct experimentation and the questioning of orthodoxy.

And that has been the effect of Pluto moving through this sign for the past 12 years. This has represented a dismantling process that may leave you wondering where you stand with yourself. The events of 2020 may have demonstrated that there is no strict orthodoxy that can provide genuine, helpful and living information, and most of what is sold as absolute truth is usually fraudulent or misleading.

This may have left you wondering where you actually stand with yourself and the universe. It is better not to know than it is to pretend to know. The not-knowing is the opening through which direct knowledge comes through. There has been a new influence in your 9th in 2020, which I suggest you learn about and take with you into the future. That has been the series of Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions.

Your chances for personal advancement, recognition and success will be tremendous the next two years. Yet I suggest you make your decisions carefully, and understand where you are part of a much larger environment. This will necessarily involve acknowledging things that you would rather not be witness to, much less be part of.

We could sketch out two effects of this. I consider Jupiter conjunct Pluto to be the aspect of “many shores, one lake” of spiritual teaching. While religions like to claim that their way is the way and the only way, happily, this turns out not to be true. The life of the spirit is a vast lake, and each position is living along the shore of that lake, sharing the water with all the others.

This is more than a concept. Try experimenting with this as a gift. You might explore philosophies you have never looked into. Have you read any of the Koran? The Aquarian Gospel? The Bible? Teachings on Daoism or Zen? It will not take much to see that they are all offering the same basic, simple message.

The second effect, related to the first, is the discovery of a direct, personal connection that comes through whatever tradition you’re considering. It could be a human connection, or a connection to a place. Whatever it is, you are looking for something that personally moves you, and that you can relate to in a tangible way — even if it’s an idea that you got from someone, and you know who gave it to them.

Pluto in Aquarius, 2023-2044

We now come to a question of power. These questions are rarely asked, and less frequently answered. Through part of 2020, all of ’21 and 22, you will learn something about the authority angle of your chart: Aquarius, your 10th house. We often think of the 10th as related to specific topics such as career, civic duty and elements of family. Yet the 10th is every bit about core identity as is the ascendant or Sun.

To refresh history a bit, so we have some context, it’s been a long time since there was any long-term activity in Aquarius. As written earlier in this article:

“In years past, slow-moving visitors to Aquarius included Neptune (1998-2011), followed by Uranus (2010-2019). These were the two most challenging, which I will cover in a moment. In the mix was Chiron (2005-2010). Jupiter made a brief visit, which culminated with the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune triple conjunction in Aquarius of July 2009, which marks the most significant turning point for you vocationally until events of the present time.”

There were some exciting but faster-moving alignments in Aquarius in 1963, centered around Saturn. There was a spectacular “string of pearls” event in February 1997 — an Aquarius New Moon with a total of six planets in that sign, followed by many in Capricorn. Really though, there has been nothing like we’re about to see in the first half of 2021. Yet this is preparatory for Pluto in Aquarius from 2023 through 2024.

For society, this represents power concentrated through applied technology. Collectively, we are looking at the potential for a surveillance state aspiring to totalitarian control during this era. Therefore, the “power to the people” aspect of Aquarius must be expressed in 2021 as a means of diverting, disrupting and interfering with this plan. Nobody who understands the concept of “transhumanism,” which I take to mean the merging of humans with digital technology, will be very happy about this.

In the Aquarian Era, you will not be able to take any of these questions for granted. You will need to be wholly conscious of the way all of these potentials mingle with your life. From now until early 2023 is a kind of training ground, and proving ground. It is your time to make important decisions, and to learn how to exercise your prerogatives. There will be times when this will be under duress.

Such projects are always incremental, and we have experienced quite a few increments the past 20 years. Everyone currently walks around with a digital ball and chain known as a “smart phone” that tracks their every physical move, transaction and communication.

Based on what I know about current technology, there is no limit to where this can go. Based on what I understand about the evolution and imposition of new technologies upon the public, there is no special reason to think that anyone will be setting boundaries, or even think about what impact this will have before it’s too late.

Now, this is a personal transit for you. We are talking about the solar chart in this essay, and also the chart for those who have Aquarius rising. If you are not Aquarius rising, I suggest you find out what house you have Aquarius in, for which you will need your birth sign (this is based on your rising sign).

A Personal Ethical Question

For you with a 10th house association with Aquarius (anyone with strong Taurus would count), you will get to grapple with ethical questions related to your leadership role, and the role of technological power as it expresses through your work. The chances are that you’re not terribly thrilled about technological advances, as you prefer the natural world, and old-school ways of doing things. However, your work life is one of the places where the digital sphere intersects with your life, as well as anyplace you intersect with the government or corporate world.

Your chances for personal advancement, recognition and success will be tremendous the next two years. Yet I suggest you make your decisions carefully, and understand where you are part of a much larger environment. This will necessarily involve acknowledging things that you would rather not be witness to, much less be part of.

The transit of Pluto through Aquarius will come with the drive for total power over the population — something that is well underway now. You get to decide where you stand on that issue, and I suggest you be conscious about this. Take this as a day-to-day, week-to-week thing. I suggest you take the whole matter as a personal ethical question rather than as an abstract one. There are times when you will be told to abuse technological power, and when you will be tempted to do so.

The most important thing you can do during the approach to Pluto in Aquarius is work with Saturn in Aquarius and do the spiritual work of individuation. Saturn in Aquarius can foster that, and so can Jupiter (though its visit is much shorter, lasting only part of ’21). In order to proceed into the coming environment, you must know who you are, and be confident expressing who you are — and then do it. It is this very thing that is being disrupted by all the movements in society. This is the very thing that technological power seeks to crush.

We have all gone along with this plan to some greater or lesser degree. Technology has given us a form of power (for example, to communicate with others, and to publish). Yet that power has come at a great cost: in privacy, for one thing. The concept is all but gone, yet in your heart, you remain a person who values keeping what is yours, to yourself. You remain respectful of the boundaries of others. You are someone who wants to live your life your way.

The first point of reference for this whole issue is what you do with yourself professionally, and how you conduct yourself when you exercise corporate power of any kind.

In the Aquarian Era, you will not be able to take any of these questions for granted. You will need to be wholly conscious of the way all of these potentials mingle with your life. From now until early 2023 is a kind of training ground, and proving ground. It is your time to make important decisions, and to learn how to exercise your prerogatives. There will be times when this will be under duress.

There will be times when you are presented with the opportunity for advancement and success, and you will need to ask the cost, to you and to society. There may be rich rewards available to you under these transits: power and prestige of a kind you’ve yet to experience. Yet pick and choose carefully what you want and what you need, and remember: there will be times when your role is much more significant to the collective than it may seem.

Remember: life is about living creatures, not robots. You remain human in all ways. This is your most precious possession. Seen another way, the spiritual element of human means to have a soul, and to express all you do through this aspect of your being.