There are straws in the wind of the coming of the new age of Aquarius – part of which will be tolerance of difference, an acceptance of a rainbow not just of ethnicity but also of opinion. Aquarius is not all a beacon of perfection but it does have its merits.
This is a thinking-in-progress piece so it will wander.
Since progress usually comes as a result of a backlash against a retrograde step there are encouraging signals that the ‘cancel culture’, ‘wokery’ and ‘snowflakery’ are increasingly attracting criticism and that freedom of speech is heading for a revival. The latest brouhaha in Eton of all places has seen a strong response to the firing of a teacher who opened up a debate on the prevailing idea of ‘toxic masculinity’. He questioned the radical feminist orthodoxy to encourage discussion about the positive aspects of both sexes/genders. 1000 students signed a protest against his removal. Eton claims his lecture was in contravention of the Equalities Act – I’m not sure if that stipulates both sexes are interchangeably the same. If it does it’s wrong.
An old boy remarked: ‘Eton is meant to be a bastion of learning and free speech. George Orwell went to Eton. What would he think? 1984 was meant to be satire, not a how-to manual.’
The Eton hash follows Suzanne Moore’s resignation over the trans argument and the assault on JK Rowling by the shrieking banshees – both of whom are attracting a groundswell of support from the normally silent majority that would have been unthinkable a year ago.
Two things strike me – one is that over-sensitive reactions come from people who perceive themselves as helpless victims, demanding (and bullying) big daddy state or institutions to protect them. And secondly that much of the recent phenomenon of de-platforming has mainly centred around the topic of femininity and male-to-female transgenderism.
Camilla Long bravely took on the subject of female victimhood in The Sunday Times yesterday, asking if this is what early feminists died for. ‘You find this princessy poor-me language creeping into nearly every corner of female experience.’ Misery sagas about the menopause, menstruation etc etc.
There’s also an oddity about allowing the most delicate/neurotic to legislate for the majority. It’s not what you’d normally associate with Capricorn. The old psychological adage that ‘there’s no one more powerful than a victim’ has been proved true over and over again in recent years. And has allowed the culture to be menaced by those howling anguish at the slightest trigger.
Maybe it’s more Neptune in Pisces that has been causing the hyper-sensitivity and woe-is-me wailing. Which would make more sense. [Neptune in Pisces from 2011 to 2026.]
They always say that each sign fears the one before. Drowning-in-water and emotion-saturated Pisces may well be quailing as it views the ascendancy of Airy, emotionally detached Aquarius in the years before it exits.
Aquarius is traditionally regarded both as an androgynous (of indeterminate sex) sign and as against the biology. Hence the connection to its co-ruler Uranus, the sky god, estranged husband of Gaia, the earth mother, who was castrated by his son Kronos (Saturn). Though the other co-ruler of Aquarius is the earthbound Saturn which makes for an uncomfortable combination.
It’ll be ironic if the ambi-sexual and non-sexual Aquarius takes the heat out of this particular debate.
I understand that Knowland’s comments include” rape is not a unique claim for male oppression of women because male on male rape in jails dwarfs male on female rape outside them” and ” Biologically speaking the idea that men exert power over women is nonsense”. Eton provides a disproportionate number of our prime ministers in the UK.
The German method, Marjorie, where all skills and trades are honoured, instead of being associated with ignorance/low class/problem children. Astrologers, above all, can recognise someone who’s brilliant with their hands, passionate about mechanics/engines/hands on talents, so underrated in the last years. All those heavies going through Capricorn has surely forced the world to recognise you get nowhere – by car, plane or train – without someone providing the basics, provided by the greatly overlooked, silent numbers concerned with reality and survival.
Pisces Sun Aquarius midheaven conjunct pallas. I love aquarius’. My soul sister is hugely aware and kind and no nonsense. (ime) Other ‘raw’ aquarius’ can be very rigid and only see from their own pov, of course they can change on a dime if you can convince them of another pov. Of course always another idea, alot of charm, and very convincing. Tolerance is fine until it steps over the line into indifference, self interest, deliberate misleading or other (which is not constructive). They personally always land on their feet?
Will it depend on the orientation of each of us as to how high or low the effect of the saturn jupiter conjunction and age of aquarius will be (in the beginning? Bottoming out to higher aquarius? Or will it be footslog raising awareness or fail in each situation? I have to admit to being enchanted (happy not delirious 🙂 ) when I read that the star over Bethlehem was the jupiter saturn conjunction…)
that the star was possibly the conjunction…
Have you guys ever watched the British TV police show called midsommer murders,certain episodes even if a fictional,show how the midsommer area of southeast England aka as thames Valley is filled with stuff you guys talk about,but add facts to fiction of older dci Barnaby,and his younger nephew solve cases with fictional county of midsummer,mostly the village of causton police,and this all started in 1995 with the muder at badger drift episode,but alot of the episodes show how fact is stranger than fiction,or is it the other way around, actors who played the dci Barnaby’s are John nettles,and Neil dungeon,I’ve learned alot about the u.k. from this police procedural.
Marjorie, I must tell you how fascinating I find the discussion on gender roles that arises out of your astrology presentations. It’s very rare to find a place online where people can share their different ideas and experiences about what gender and sex is/should be without either arguing or echoing each other . We all draw on such different experiences, and yet the experience of being human unites us.
Ditto but I think the great silent majority are perfectly capable of handling differing approaches and staying calm. It’s the screamers in the media especially on twitter who skew arguments.
Have issues with the title of this post to be honest! this whole gender and identity politics including weaponsing victimhood ( at least in the way its being done currently) reeks of Aquarianism. I find Aquarians on the whole much more likely to have a leaning towards authoritarianism than Pisces.
I am struggling to see how the age of Aqaurius can ever be the constantly spouted ‘good thing’ for society. And yes i have both in my chart so familar with the energy.
I do wonder whether the generational tendencies we discussed once before play a role in the “poor me” syndrome. I specialized in child astrology for quite a while in my “hay-day”. There is a definite generation out there that complains about many things. This can be positive or the reverse. If it adds to climate change awareness and animal welfare then it is certainly worthwhile. Complaining about restrictions to socialization or wearing a mask less so.
Agreed
Would like to know more about the Pisces/victim thing. Have met many Pisces, and never seen much empathy or any of the good stuff which is written about them (constantly), and they are just as prone to jump on the “bully” bandwagon as anyone else, have not noticed a firm moral or ethical ground, in their character, although this can be said of anyone. Have noticed Neptune prominent in “victim” persons charts, but not Pisces especially.
Rupert Murdoch is a Pisces.
Be interested to hear what’s happening in Philip Green’s chart
Pisces does seem to have a strange mix of naivete’ and fanaticism that is unable to countenance other viewpoints. In recent years I have watched the increasingly fanatical woke left and the insane anti-science, conspiracy-mongering right with dismay. As an Aquarius Sun (29deg) and Pisces Asc (3deg) I feel that an Aquarian age might usher in a new era of greater tolerance, possibly propelled by some as yet unforseen technological change. There is a significant lineup of planets in Aquarius beginning this month, which could offer a glimpse of what is to come, but Neptune has a way to go through Pisces yet.
“Since progress usually comes as a result of a backlash against a retrograde step there are encouraging signals that the ‘cancel culture’, ‘wokery’ and ‘snowflakery’ are increasingly attracting criticism and that freedom of speech is heading for a revival. The latest brouhaha in Eton of all places has seen a strong response to the firing of a teacher who opened up a debate on the prevailing idea of ‘toxic masculinity’. He questioned the radical feminist orthodoxy to encourage discussion about the positive aspects of both sexes/genders. 1000 students signed a protest against his removal. Eton claims his lecture was in contravention of the Equalities Act – I’m not sure if that stipulates both sexes are interchangeably the same. If it does it’s wrong.”
As someone who had most of the feminist theory to that date explained by a very competent male lecturer who’d wrote his PhD on Lacanian theory over 20 years ago, much of how this is presented doesn’t make sense. I don’t know if it’s the reporting, or if the Eton teacher really confused terms used to the degree it seems from here (I tried to Google, but “Eton teacher fired” brought me to a geography teacher recently convicted on possession of child pornography), but “toxic masculinity” isn’t a “radical feminist” term. Radical feminists of the yore really didn’t see anything redeemable in men, because they, as women, were carrying certain traits of their biological sex. Therefore, men were incapable of reigning their violence and competitiveness, and the only way to establish a more just society was to pass from Patriarchy to Matriarchy.
“Toxic masculinity” was, in fact, a term coined by mythopoetic men’s movement stemming from feminism in the 1980’s and in the 1990’s, aimed to denounce unhealthy cultural norms related to male behavior. The idea was that precisely that this behavior was not at least entirely based on biology, and could thus be issued.
I remember my personal relief, as a student, when I was presented with an opportunity of actually NOT to hate men, masculinity and possible “masculine” traits, such as competitiveness from a perfectly valid theoretical point of view. Decoding masculinity also produced heated, but perfectly reasonable academic conversation in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. It wasn’t until certain corners of the internet, clearly not very familiar with deduction, took over it became this screaming match it now is, based often on completely misinterpreted notions from all parts (where living feminist philosophers have to tell all parts that “this isn’t what I wrote”, not because they weren’t clear, but because people read what they want).
Great article.
Oh oh oh, thank you for that book mention, Marjorie. I’m buying it. Gurdjieff also had ideas about why things end up opposite from how they begin. And I believe Jung called it enantiadromia.. . I wanted to name my rock band that.
But back to astrology — I have an Aquarian Sun and Pisces rising so these two energies have been in my face my whole life. My suspicion is that the Aquarian Age will begin as fascism because it’s the dark side of community, then as the centuries progress the best part of Aquarius will incarnate on Earth, as fascism’s opposite. Nobody likes my theory, BTW. 🙂
OMG, I would like to think the world would remember and learn from the last time fascism reared its ugly head and not go there again. Are you saying we are blindly going down that road and no one seeing the signs?
There certainly is a fascist streak in Aquarius. Though it doesn’t come out in all individuals. Saturn was in Aquarius for the mid 1930s rise of fascism in Germany and Italy, but not elsewhere. Cross fingers that post-Trump the demagogues will slowly – probably all too slowly – fade into the background.
@Marjorie, to be noted, Italian Fascist Regime predated German Nazist Regime by a decade. Mussolini’s March to Rome in 1922 took place with Saturn in Libra. Trump certainly has more in common with Mussolini than Hitler, and the same can be said of many current “populist” movements. Incidently or not, Trump’s current political career started with “Birther” claims on Obama not being born in The US in 2011, with Saturn in Libra. Also, many “populist” parties of Europe gained ground around that period. Finns Party had their first, big win in March 2011 Elections.
That said, the true “Rightwing Tricker” for Europe seems to have been Saturn in Sadgittarius square Neptune in Pisces and Refugee Crisis. Saturn/Pluto/Jupiter passage in Capricorn actually eventually steered many “traditional” parties hard right on immigration, with Covid-19 making restrictions on movement more “palatable”.
Saturn in Air Signs is ideological, not necessarily always “totalitarian”. Last Saturn in Aquarius brough us “End of History”, which, of course, sounds almost ridiculous in retrospect. The one between that and Ascend of Nazism started with Kennedy Assassination, but Lyndon B. Johnson understood how important it was to listen to Civil Right Movement. Latest Saturn in Gemini had 9/11 and Invasion of Iraq, and the one before that Oil Crisis (which makes me think this is an important cycle for Middle East and maybe less worried of the region in general right now, even with Iran highlighted).
It’d all fascina
Quoting:
“My suspicion is that the Aquarian Age will begin as fascism.”
“Nobody likes my theory, BTW.”
I just wanna ask one thing, Liz:
– Are you usually right? Do you tend to be right?
Because if you are… god. I don’t want to live the last half of my life surronded by fascism.
Oh, I’m no more psychic than anyone else, my friend. Lots of hits and misses. Aquarians just LUV their theories, you know. I was totally wrong about the covid-19 pandemic, BTW. I miss the boat on reality all the damn time. 🙂 Cheers.
I like your theory very much Liz.
I am Aquarius but everything else major is in Aries so it precludes me waiting centuries for change!
Interesting piece. It’s bizarre world where we can largely pretend things like the horrendous sex trafficking industry don’t happen and yet be offended by the use of the word woman. But then with the super rich getting richer and property prices going up in a deep recession, topsy turvy seems to be the order of the day. Neptune in Pisces certainly can spin a good yarn so Jupiter’s dive into Pisces in 2022 could be interesting.
Just asking a question really, but don’t you think that during the Capricorn era, we have a sort of hierarchy of victimhood? This may be reflected in the combination of Capricorn and Pisces. There’s a lot of talk on the Left (and I would say I am broadly Left myself), in newspapers such as The Guardian about ‘privilege’, almost as if you cannot possibly suffer as much is you are say a middle-aged white male compared to, for example a trans person. But this makes no sense if we look at the alarming rate of suicide among middle-aged men. It just seems kind of crazy to me to have a scale of suffering when the one shared experience, which should in theory bring us together as humans, is that we all suffer.
If there’s one thing I learned doing ‘emotional process’ workshops in California years back which were seriously heavy duty, listening to stories of human misery that were mind-bending – it is that everyone’s pain is unique to them. Having a hierarchy of suffering, as you say, doesn’t make sense. OK don’t moan about not having holidays when the world is coughing out its lungs. But should someone recently bereaved stop feeling bad because half of Yemen is being wiped out by starvation? Suggesting one deeply felt anguish is less important than someone else’s dramatic tale of horror is a waste of time.
I think partly what’s happened recently is a form of narcissism. The screamers have corralled the public arena and are insisting their pain is the only one worth talking about. The middle-aged men you are talking about will be of the largely silent segment and not ‘sexy’ for media stories. The Eton teacher said he was concerned abut the high suicide rate amongst boys which he put down partly to their confusion and depression around the concept of toxic masculinity.
Years ago I read an excellent book called Why Things Bite Back? which was about the unexpected and unwanted consequences of positive advances. Mainly in the science sphere. But the emancipation of women has had spin offs which haven’t really been acknowledged. It upset the old male-female balance which was damaging but in some ways left a vacuum for men who now have no notion of what they’re supposed to be.
Hi Marjorie
Very interesting piece and I totally agree with what looks like things going to the next extreme and totally getting out of hand. Very undemocratic …. to add to the other list of things undemocratic happening all over democratic countries.
I don’t know enough about astrology and whilst it could be Neptune, the thought that came to me was whether Uranus in Aries had a lot to do with paving the way too? The bullying/all about me tendency sounds more like the negative traits of Aries (maybe cloaked in Pisces ‘poor me’)? Is Pisces the sign of the victim more so than another? Thanks J
Yeah, my aries sun asc mercury daughter with saturn at 24 cap is a screamer at the Boomers like me. As a sun cap at 24, I shut my ears to it all. I was hoping her saturn return might inject a rocket up her %&£ but no luck so far. So tired of it all.
“The Eton teacher said he was concerned abut the high suicide rate amongst boys which he put down partly to their confusion and depression around the concept of toxic masculinity.”
@Marjorie, I finally found news on this “Eton Teacher”, who BTW is called Will Knowland. It’s mainly carried by tabloids, with Knowland obviously closely and willingly collaborating with “Daily Mail”. Can’t blame the man, apparently Eton teachers have nice perks such as housing, and he is not risking to be jobless but homeless with 5 children.
Apparently, context for his “delated” video was a critical thinking class he submitted to Eton e-learning platform and Youtube. He was asked to take it down, and did so with Eton, but not initially Youtube. He has since closed his channel, likely on advice of his lawyer. “Daily Mail”, of all out outlets, does carry the full extend of his “critical thinking” class, where he, for instance, argues that if men didn’t exist, all “dangerous” work would seize, because, well, female biology. Definitely conversation starters in private environment, and I think perfectly defendable as “provoking thoughts, not personal opinions”
But, and here comes a big but. Knowland’s “concern about conversation on toxic masculinity” causing male suicide, comes not from the lecture, but a “private letter” to colleague leaked to “Daily Mail”. And here, Knowland definitely seems to have it backwards. “Toxic masculinity” was a term first used in men’s therapy groups, to describe often intergenerational abusive pattern. So, this was precisely something that was used to help men with suicidal tendencies because of physical and psychological abuse by male figures, not a term to depress young men.
Obviously, nobody should be fired for being wrong in private. “Wokery” absolutely feels disingenious coming from Eton. But someone in staff complained about Knowland, and we haven’t heard their story. “Popular” teachers and coworkers may have their dark sides too. They just tend to get away with it longer.
Will Knowland’s channel is up and running on Youtube + the video ‘The Patriarchy Paradox’. All there in plain sight. The Telegraph and The Times both ran the story as well.
And the ‘complaint’ was about the video not the man himself.
I’m not sure it matters where the original ‘toxic masculinity’ expression came from, it has entered the public consciousness as a concept that is generally understood as meaning that masculinity per se is negative – all men are rapists etc. What Knowland put out for debate is whether there isn’t another way of looking at masculinity and highlighting some of what used to be seen as its traditional virtues. His point about suicide is a fair enough one for young men who have lost their compass and sense of what they are supposed to be.
One person complaining? I’d be inclined to assume it was a snowflakey squeak and given the number of students and staff who have stood up for him he doesn’t sound as if he hides dark secrets.
@ Marjorie ‘toxic masculinity’ expression came from, it has entered the public consciousness as a concept that is generally understood as meaning that masculinity per se is negative
I am a gay black American male and that is not idea of toxic masculinity as I define it.
From my perspective is that excessive machismo better describes ‘toxic masculinity ‘
If you are a man, toxic masculinity expects you to be athletic, loud, physically aggressive, have multiple girlfriends simultaneously or how many girlfriends you have or constantly talk about how much you like sex with women, consider women only as sex objects, or meal prepare-rs.
If you are a boy and you’re quiet, gentle, introverted, artistic, not athletic you’re labeled ‘soft’ if not outright homosexual.
Fred Rogers aka Mr. Rogers was considered gay because he asked people to be kind to each other.
@Roderick, yes that is my understanding of the term too, in fact my recollection is that it was used within the context of the Men’s movements of the 1980s and early 90s. There was a book by Robert Bly – ‘Iron John’ – about the role of men in the late 20th century and the questioning of traditional macho masculinity. I remember this as it was popular with some Buddhist friends of my partner.
Solaia: Obviously, nobody should be fired for being wrong in private.
There is no such thing privacy when you post on social media.
Yes, VF, I agree there seems to be a hierarchy of victimhood. Broadly, I feel this is comparable with the old idea of a ‘hierarchy of sins’ that stems from Christian teachings. There are deadly sins, such as gluttony, and mortal sins and so on. And then you get a hierarchy of privilege too, which to a large extent is based on reality – education, earning power, and so on. This has always existed, which does not make it right of course. However, something about how we are now reinforces the hierarchy, instead of encouraging people to change things.
At the moment I think we’ve got the boundless empathy of Neptune in Pisces, and the pragmatic tendencies of Capricorn, reflecting our current cultural victim/oppressor narrative. Water and earth – a kind of swamp?! That would also describe what Marjorie says about victimhood (Neptune) and the ‘big daddy’ state (Capricorn). That dynamic goes some way towards describing conspiracy theories too – the nebulous fears and fantasies of Neptune versus the all-powerful state/elite/insert bogeyman of choice.
I hope we do see some changes for the better, and an acknowledgment of what free speech actually means and why it is vitally important, even when it makes people uncomfortable.
I don’t know if this fits into the Aquarius Pisces argument, and it may be co-incidental, but the misery sagas of female experience have grown alongside/in reaction to the medicalisation (largely by men, empowering men?) of women’s natural functions, such as giving birth. It could also be seen as science vs nature.
It ties into Suzanne Moore’s assertion that the trans-gender issue, as currently being played out, is at the expense of and ignores women.
As control/agency seeps away, victimhood takes its place. Could this also have been partly due to the dominance of Capricorn in Pluto? Neptune, planet of illusion, would seem to fit in here.
The fact that giant corporations are only too happy to focus on identity and cultural attitudes rather than economics, wealth distribution and class has always seemed deeply significant to me. Social justice from what I can see does not necessarily include giving your employees a pay rise that keeps pace with inflation. In fact the evidence is quite the opposite. Moreover, the idea that people who are white and male can never suffer disadvantage does not really tally with reality – at least in the U.K. – where the working class of both genders and all ethnicities – are statistically among the least likely groups of people to go into higher education or to progress to the top in the professions. Indeed, one of the most depressing failures of recent feminism is that while women are now more likely to go to University than men the percentage of working class women obtaining a degree has risen far more slowly, particularly from the most prestigious institutions. In fact the evidence suggests social mobility in Britain is now less than it was 50 years ago. This raises the suspicion that much of what has been hailed as progress is in fact just a rebalancing of the distribution of rewards within groups of people who already enjoy positions of relative advantage. A just society needs to consist of more than just “tuning up the elite” on race and gender lines.
Of course, the danger is airy Aquarian reason can be used just as nakedly to defend self interest as watery Piscean emotion. To be fully human we need to deploy both our reason and our empathetic emotions. I hope we are not going to jump from one extreme to the other
Indeed, Hugh. For example, I live in a county where we have one of the highest populations of Gypsy, Roma & Traveller people. The prejudice against the GR&T population is deeply rooted and ingrained, educational opportunity is often, though not always (there have been some who go on to higher education and to Oxford and Cambridge) limited. I would say that many of our GR&T residents experience prejudice on a day to day basis, they are frequently perceived as criminal (there is criminality, just as there is within any ‘group’) despite the fact that many local businesses here are owned and run by Romany or Irish Travellers or that Romany businesspeople donate generously to our hospital, or that many Romany families have been here since the 16th Century and the Irish Travellers since the 1950s and 60s. But their voice is rarely if ever heard.
I should add that there is an appalling rate of suicide and mental illness among men in the GR&T community as well as a much lower life expectancy. Only last year, two young men in their early 20s both hanged themselves in a local wood in the neighbouring county. They were twin brothers.
When I was about 10 years old I befriended a traveller boy of the same age. One day after me joking with him that he was so lucky not having to go to school, he broke down and cried to me that he really wanted to go to school and he hated his life. They left suddenly, without a trace as they always did. I never forgot that boy, it breaks my heart to remember his little face now
Maybe the education system deteriorating? Taking out grammar schools and going comprehensive hasn’t produced the results it was supposed to. I don’t think higher education in terms of university is the be all and end all. I’d rather see a trend towards technical and trade colleges which would be more useful.
After the marketisation of education and introduction of league tables after the 1988 Education Reform Act, it has been argued that the comprehensive system was never really given a proper go.