Age of Aquarius
Like a lot of people, probably many of you, I’m deeply troubled by the weather we’ve had this summer. I’ve written before about this (Holding the Heat) and I’m trying to hold it gently (Hold it Gently) but it’s a struggle as last week we hit yet another record temperature and nothing seems to shift. Add to that the number of problems here in the UK that seem to be coming to a head (prisons, health, housing, sewage, social care, youth unemployment and disaffection - to name just a few) and more international problems (food security, infection, war, migration, populism, AI) and to me it feels apocalyptic.
Having acknowledged AI in the list of problems, I used it (specifically Claude) to take a look at the Age of Aquarius that we’re in just now. This indicates that, whether this concept is viewed as a lens or as a literal astrological/esoteric claim, both point to significant change, if not chaos, in the years ahead. The current decades can be seen as an early, turbulent phase, not least because at the same time there are globalizing forces (climate cooperation, global culture) running alongside resurgent nationalism and tribalism. There is no single arrow, but plenty of views as to whose arrow is “right” and whose is “wrong”!
How do I/we prepare for this? Well in a recent post Sez Kristiansen invited us to consider our life as being part of something far larger than the idea of a small and separate me. I find this both comforting and alarming. And, rather than this being a contradiction, I work on the basis that both perspectives can be true at the same time.
From one perspective I can acknowledge my individual fear at losing my individuality; that’ll happen when I die anyway and I’m okay with that, I’m more fearful of the time between now and when I die, and that’s what I need to hold gently.
From the other perspective, I’ve held the image for some time that I was once part of some sort of stream of life without any specified parts, then some of those parts came together as me (and you) taking a turn at living this material, physical, messy, painful human life; and when I die I’ll return to that stream and may, or may not, even know it. Of course it might just be unconsciousness and I’m okay with that too.
In other words, there’s a paradox at work. I’d like to believe that one day those obsessed with being right and everyone else wrong will see that two (or more) things can not only be true, but also necessary to experience the full breadth of this human existence.
Meanwhile, what do I/we do? We live our best possible life and where there is contradiction we see how we might bring paradox and mutual respect. We seek to bring kindness and compassion into the worst of situations.
Am I right
Are you wrong
Maybe we both bring truth
*
Is it best to be in the light of day
Or the darkness of night
Both are necessary
*
Where one claims this
And another claims that
See how the two claims might bring a better outcome
