A few years back, I was listening to a Terence McKenna talk where a man stood up and instead of asking a question he made a really poignant observation which has stuck with me ever since.
He mentioned how we are moving from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius and how through analyzing the symbols of each sign we can start to understand the development of consciousness during these times.
In the Age of Pisces we see two fish swimming in opposite directions. These fish represent duality and our understanding of opposites. It has allowed us to differentiate between people, places, and states of mind coming to understand these individual concepts in incredibly specific ways. During this time we have seen the rise of the sciences, hierarchies, taxonomies, and lineages.
A complicated but important time for deeper understanding of our adventure on this planet.
Then he noted that the symbol of Aquarius shows us two waves, moving in resonance but distinctly unique. These waves are meant to represent each one of us in our own particular vibration, yet in harmony with the world around us.
In this era we begin to move past conflict and opposition as a way of coming to know ourselves. Instead, we understand and honor our specific role on this planet and move in unison with all things to achieve greater consciousness and understanding.
Now, we don’t exactly know when the Age of Pisces ends and the Age of Aquarius begins but with an astrological transit of 2,000 years the change from one sign into the other can be felt hundreds of years in either direction.
Some astrologers say that the changeover started happening in the 1950s and will be complete in the 2050s while others say the change isn’t for another 100 yeas.
Regardless, what I have come to find is that shifts like these tend to happen on a sort of bell curve. There are people who can identify the trends or feel the shifts years before they happen. Perhaps you have an experience like this in your own life.
What does feel apparent is that many of us are starting to recognize where this new age is leading us. We are realizing that although we are seemingly individual, the truth is we are actually delicately interconnected to the entire cosmos. There is no real way to separate what one person does on one part of this globe with what happens in the depths of the ocean, or anywhere else for that matter.
Similarly, we are beginning to uncover inequities and starting to bring our systems into balance. Folks are starting to awaken to the fact that industry as we know it does not run on the backs of CEOs but instead it is the workers who keep everything in motion. We are seeing people awakening to this fact and beginning to take back their rightful power.
In the Buddhist tradition we believe that there have been many Buddhas since the name itself translates into English as “Awakened One.” During the Age of Pisces we tend to see one of these Buddhas awaken and then occasionally teach to the masses. It is said now that the next Buddha will be the sangha, an entire group of practitioners together instead of one singular leader figure.
What is also interesting to me is that we are seeing a rise in folks who are exploring meditation, yoga, energy-work, psychedelics, and other realms of consciousness. Even the rise in awareness around mental health and our emotions is representative of an increased interest in what we can feel but cannot see.
We are starting to become more interested in the spaces that connect us all. This is all represented by Aquarius in its element of air — a light, dispersive element, thought by ancient astrologers to be an expression of matter that represents formlessness and dissolution.
I am excited by this transformation we are currently experiencing and it’s no wonder I have become a Reiki practitioner during this time. Our whole realm is working with various waves — from brain waves to gut feelings to vibrations of light. But also, Reiki is mainly a practice of restoring harmony and this is what we are moving toward in our planetary development.
What I feel is important to spread far and wide to folks is that we have nothing to fear by moving in this direction.
Some people have fallen for the story-line that a period of unity and healing will be boring and stale, everyone thinking and acting the same way. That violence and chaos and destruction is the only real and exciting way.
To me this just sounds like the cycle of a trauma loop. Or a karmic (aka habit) pattern. It’s the devil that we know. We prefer to roll over in the same painful circle again and again because it is familiar. It also sounds similar to that symbol of the fish who continue to wind around in the same, small track.
Freeing ourselves of this cycle and moving toward health requires us to be brave enough to jump into the unknown. In this space we can learn to become who we truly are, and that version of ourselves is an ever-unfolding kaleidoscope of experience. We can actually undergo many, beautiful changes in our lives and encounter numerous magnificent situations. Much like the waves of Aquarius we continue to vibrate out in every direction that is possible.
However, what we must also realize is that when we are vibrating at a certain frequency we can only harmonize, or link up, with other resonant people and situations. And when we are all vibrating in unison, we can amplify our experiences to greater heights than we could have ever imagined — in ways we certainly could not have experienced alone.
Categorizing, labeling, and naming helped us to differentiate and learn more about the various parts of our universe but it has also led to a false sense of safety. We have come to believe that if we can place people, spaces, and experiences into neat, little boxes we can curate every part of our life experience and stay safe.
Most of us have probably come to learn that this is not true.
Or some of us, when the house of cards has fallen, try to rebuild it but even more tightly and securely. Unfortunately all this tends to do is make our worlds smaller, our bodies and minds more unhealthy, and it puts us at odds with the rest of the planet.
We are not static beings, and this world is ever-changing. In order to remain healthy we must be willing to be open and in the flow. To experience more wonderful realities than what we have previously endured we have to be willing to let the waves of life buoy us to greater heights.
Not all of us will be ready to jump at the same time though, and we are seeing that right now. This is ok, it’s just what is happening. Everyone will move in their own time.
But for those of you who are ready to see what is possible, we can start to lean in more to the mystery and magic of it all. We can come to know ourselves in the most loving ways possible. We can start to understand how truly powerful we are and the vastness of our impact on the globe. When each one of us takes a step in the direction of freedom, that energy signature vibrates out into the entire cosmos.
When more of us unfold in this direction we amplify and increase the magnitude of our signal. We impact people by our mere existence. No grand speeches or spectacles.
You are not small. You are infinitely significant. Your actions change worlds.
It is no longer time to look around for a leader to come save us. We are the leaders, it is time for us to stand in our rightful power. Together.