The over-hyped Mayan apocalypse may have been majorly misinterpreted but their indications of a new age beginning may be the critical aspect. Eras don't tend to begin at a single date, though energetic forces clustering at a focal point may later be seen, with hindsight, to have heralded in a new cycle. In general this period around 2012 could be significant in ushering in not simply one single, final cataclysmic event but a sustained apocalyptic era of extreme natural and human forces, independently as well as synergistically operating with pronounced chaotic characteristics.
It's not that the planet has not experienced wild, chaotic and extreme conditions in prior decades, or millennia, but that with the bloated human population exceeding 7 billion at this time, the strain on natural resources along with detrimental human impact, is entering the feedback loop of chaotic natural systems. Furthermore, the apocalyptic vision is not from a natural perspective - for nature it is natural rebalancing - but with more humans on the planet, the impact upon human lives increases and thereby the potential for a greater sense of devastation as viewed from an anthropocentric position.
Even if, like I, you never received an upbringing infused with Christian teachings, you have probably heard of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and you have some basic notion that this is a prophetic vision of a world in serious decline. In prior periods this has had a variety of interpretations, dependent upon prevailing conditions. One which resonates strongly in this era is that the horsemen are the "angels of the four winds" - Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel which in terms of planet earth, represent the four cardinal directions N, S, E, W. The astrological correspondence is the four cardinal signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn - the ingress, or entry point of each at zero degrees is marked by either a solstice or equinox point in the annual calendar, around the 3rd week of March, June, September, December.
Pestilence (disease),war, famine and death are said to be associated with the four horsemen and these conditions have plagued humanity time and again over the course of our existence, in what might be seen as a cyclic healing and cleansing of our collective degenerate short-comings.
Reference to the astrological markers gives rise to the identification of this current period as an apocalyptic era.
Given the four winds of the four directions as a signifier, this is highly symbolic of the energetic forces which operate in the world, both on the level of natural elements, other sentient beings and in terms of the collective of human energies.
Both humans and nature are in a critical situation in this era and we are already witnessing the apocalyptic period if you care to take notice.
Imbalances of all kinds are the dominant condition, locked into a feedback loop that must deconstruct and destabilise before renewal. These processes are the work of the cardinal signs and we will continue to witness with great intensity at times the power of this transformation process manifested through natural forces (extreme weather, climate change -wind, deluge, flood, drought and structural rebalancing experienced as earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic activity.
Regarding astrological signifiers, in this era, the lineup in cardinal signs includes the entry of Pluto into Capricorn in January 2008, Saturn into Libra in November 2009, Uranus into Aries in May 2010. In 2011 Jupiter joined this group while in Aries, so four transpersonal (i.e. relating to the human collective,) planets were in Cardinal signs (March-June 2011).
As 2013 commences, Uranus resumes its synergy process with Pluto. Jupiter enters Cancer at the end of June 2013, accentuating the powerfully transformational mix of Uranus-Pluto in August 2013.
In December 2013, Mars, the activator and energiser enters Libra creating the full house of cardinal signs, with much intensity around the December Christmas-New Year period. (this is likely to correspond with earlier identified powerful envonmental effects) The four signs remain activated by the planets Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto until mid July 2014 and there is then not another such period until September 2016, when these four planets again join forces in 3 of the cardinal signs (October 2016 is notable, then June 2017). Beyond that, the gathering of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn in 2020 will have major long-term implications for the nature of government, control, use and abuse of power as well as the environmental spectre of depleted resources and drought.
What can you do? Find balance within yourself, your own life situation, your relationship to all other sentient beings and life forms and with the natural world. That is what is being demanded.
Updates:
2013 has begun with dramatic news -from weather extremes to destructive human behaviour;
Though major, transformational natural events have always occurred on planet earth, in this era the frequency and severity of destructive natural events & weather is reflected in events such as:
(in particular around Dunalley, January 2013)
Weather extremes Pakistan bombing
Notes:
Image:Lorenz Attractor -Wikimedia - illustrating "sensitive dependence upon initial conditions."
Reference
More Lorenz chaos models
UN warning re extreme weather and the food supply crisis
