Early 2020s – change comes in mysterious ways

43 thoughts on “Early 2020s – change comes in mysterious ways”

1. I’ve just read this madly interesting topic……I think Wendy hit the nail on the head about communication being so overdone that real relating – which still exists of course! – is relegated. I specialise in vocation for children (astrologically) and in the past 2 months alone have had charts of youngsters who cannot communicate verbally. They are mostly silent and I am wondering if this is unfolding because there has to be an antidote to the noise of Now. One child was excluded from school age 6 because he was violent – though his chart is not at all. Another was of a girl who has been diagnosed with “selective mutism”(what a dreadful thing to call it!) because she cannot communicate with anyone except one other child in the class. The man who sells flowers on my street told me he’s desperate because his 4 yr old boy does not speak – at all – and they’re up to the neck in psychologists and behaviourists – but I feel they know words are so meaningless, they devalue them and retreat as they cannot cope. It’s like an instinct where they have to find themselves from within at a hideously early age……yes there are many Neptune indications (one Merc conjunct Neptune) the other Neptune conj Asc, and in both cases of course they have talents with Neptunian things…..but how do you find WHAT unless you go to an astrologer/medium etc because psychologists stick to known routes and the kids are labelled “difficult” or “problematic”when they are wordlessly trying to be themselves. This is the start of a generation who retreats from the horrors of technology…..let’s hope their paths can be eased, and recognise one when you meet them if you’re a psychologist, please.

   • Hi Maggy,

     I just stumbled upon your post here by chance, I somehow missed it beforehand. I have gone through this with my daughter, she stopped speaking to anyone outside the immediate family when she changed schools at the age of 9. In the NHS structure, it comes under speech therapy rather than child psychology, for some reason. In the end, I had to treat her myself as only a few Speech Therapists specialise in this and none were in this area, not even privately. It was a long road, but four years later she will now speak at school. She does have a strong Neptune and New Moon Gemini in the 12th, Saturn in the 3rd. I have a Mercury/Neptune conjunction, but I guess with Jupiter in the 3rd it wasn’t going to effect me in quite the same way.

     Funnily enough, the expert on this is another Maggie; Maggie Johnson, a speech therapist from Kent. She developed the “sliding in” technique which I drew a lot from. There is an old BBC documentary on it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWYtZ8AFz2M

     • Tara,
       I am horrified to have seen this for the very first time today – apologies for not replying but (like the kids we are talking about) I am Very Bad at technology. Your daughter is extremely lucky to have a mother who tried herself to sort it out, possibly because of the strong Neptune connections you intuited the problem. Just finding the thing they love most in the world can save them…..often its music, poetry, also they are athletic often, sporty – their aim is to feel inspired, not to compete as having the best IQ, exam marks etc but society always applauds winners….all these kids can be in their own way, if shown the way to their own inner talents.

2. Very welcome, considered post. I hope new worlds and unified positivity can take the place of division. Can I ask an uninformed question? When exactly do Jupiter and Saturn go into Aquarius?

   • This December.

     • Thank you Marjorie

3. I open my laptop in the morning and its as if everything in the world is waiting for me to read it, write it, listen to it, but I’m trying to be less seduced by it all. When i walk away from the computer – even though I mostly avoid social media – I find a different world. The hills across the harbour are not angry, and neither is the garden. My friends, family and neighbours are not angry, and neither is my piano, nor the vacuum cleaner. People at the shops are friendly and the birds sound happy enough.
   I do worry though,that technology now can make it hard to know where we are in relation to place as time zones demand attention in order to talk with family.
   Technology makes us less and less grounded so that no wonder we’re failing to respond adequately to climate change on our planet.
   Sorry i’ve said nothing astrological at all but I’ve been really pleased to see you raising this topic, Marjorie. Thank you

4. Found this brilliant, insightful snippet from Alan Moore. He explains how the enormous bombardment of information creates fears in people as borders disappear as the internet expands at a colossal speed. This is reducing our own identities and confusing us about where we come from and where we are going. It creates a feeling in many to go back to simpler times. But it is also giving rise to populism and fascism rearing its head.

   Basically, the fact we are drowning in too much information from which the brain is struggling to process is turning our culture to steam. This video is less than 5 minutes long:

   https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PHP8sihxB8I

5. I’m tempted to comment again… this has intriguing questions, and might suggest we look at a possible root cause (and I’d LOVE to know if there’s an astrological component!) – our society has sped up SO much since even the 90’s but certainly since the 70’s! Just watch old movies or talk shows… between the subtle but huge reduction in the amount of time we have to consider any idea, and the explosion of “conversation members” we may be expecting far too much. These ideas take time and thought and we’re shouting to 10k in a “NY minute” then trying to parse & respond to all their answers, kooks or not. When you think about the other reasons our discussion has soured, picture this piece, please. I think it’s important. And Marjorie, IS there an astrological prediction of/explanation for this speeded up life?

   • It may be that earlier generations were also horrified – for example when cars started to replace delightfully slow horses and carriages. But I agree it does feel like a bombardment, not just of speed but also noise. I watched the original BBC Tinker, Tailor made in 1979 recently on dvd and the first eight minutes had no dialogue and no music – and was absolutely gripping. Such a pleasure.

6. “The general tenor of debate in society (western) is bileful, contemptuous, over-heated, polarised and permeated with outraged disbelief that any other viewpoint could have even partial validity. No middle ground, no capacity for complex thinking. Each group acts as a closed system where no doubt is allowed and nay-sayers are attacked with denigration, character assassination, caricaturing – in order either to silence them or damage their credibility to ensure no one listens. It’s how cults and fascist states operate.”

   While I agree on this, I’m thinking, is this really something new and specific to this moment in history? Have the people who are not in their early 20’s or younger truly been exposed this kind of behavior for the first time in their lives now? Because for me, this isn’t something that started in the Internet, circa 2010, as many seem to think. I’ve read so many comments on how “my neighborhood wasn’t like this”, or “internet wasn’t like that” “before”.

   In my family there were people who didn’t speak to each other because of political differences despite living under the same roof for years back in the 1970’s. Still earlier on certain family members basicly cut my grandmother off because they didn’t like what her new fiance’s uncle did during Civil War in 1918. I personally had tearful friends telling me I was supporting ideas ruining their family livelyhood when I was vocally pro-EU as a teen and not speaking to me for at least 18 months (they’d come back after we’d joined EU, and their family business had received subsidies double the size they were receiving from our Government, but they’ve never apologized or said they were wrong, I was right). Maybe because my complex family background and experience, I never found it difficult to converse and even become friends with people who had very different ideas from mine as a student (and you know how absolute young people can be) also moderated some boards that were considered fairly “fringe” 15-20 years ago. While I admit I couldn’t have possibly imagined POTUS one day retweeting ideas our posters would get suspended for a week or two, or even permanently blocked (and it’s actually not out of question some of these Tweets were originated by our ex-posters), these things definitely were already out there and had a following in 2005.

   So, I’m just seeing this as something that always was there, but somehow surpressed in general discourse for some time, I’d say it was mostly during Pluto in Sadgitaurus. This was undoubtably a period when it seemed things seemed settled to that “End of History” phase. Liberal Democracy and Market Economy had wan, “reasonable” people who supported certain Western Ideals only had to worry about the “chavs” who were completely absorbed in glitzy Celeb Culture or Religious Bigots. There was this seemingly boundless optimism, belief that markets, technology, you name it, would simply “self regulate”. Obvious, this isn’t the case, and many people suffered because of this. And we are now seeing very predictable consequences.

7. Removed. Moderator

   • I am surprised that Marjorie is so brave as to allow amateur astrologers and political aspirants to share their thoughts, opinions, perhaps expertise and experiences. There have been many comments on this site that have not been appropriate, not because they disagree with the conclusions, but because they are making it personal. This is out of order.

     • Cassandra, Thank you. Ad hominem attacks and contemptuous personal comments are not OK and will be deleted.

     • I’m one of those amateur astrologers to whom you refer and am always nervous about posting a thought or idea in case it’s wrong. I’ve been sickened and left shaking by some of the comments on this and other sites. I’m taking a break from it all. I’m. Peace everyone and especially to Marjorie.

       • Sorry to see you go Lena. Never be scared to post thoughts or ideas. I should apologise for not being faster off the mark with some of the recent rancid posts. I’m always reluctant to bin people, naively assuming that a telling-off might do the trick. But have now done so. This is supposed to be a helpful and inclusive forum which it can’t be if there is too much aggro about. Have a good break.

         • Oh good. Now you’ve squashed them under your heel, I shall stay and enjoy these enlightening discussions in a safe space. I’m not a snowflake, just a survivor of PTSD. Bday Jan 12th 56. Pisces moon 8H.

8. Thoughtful and interesting post Marjorie. The comments are stellar too.

   My 2cents is that time is speeding up. Most of us over the age of 50 are struggling to speed up. We’re having trouble splitting our focus. Or assimilating information coming at us electrical speeds. Young people have the nervous systems that actually can keep up and grow/evolve with it. My mother grew up on a party line phone. I was delighted when the curly cord phone came out. My daughter was a very early user of the computer and mouse (thanks to her dad). Her little dimpled 2.5 year old hands could adeptly work that mouse. She is now able to be a valued, effective and fun employee. Works in tech but never does FB. Lives her life fully but also, somehow, has picked up several programming languages (english major, but still). She can speak the language of software engineers, and since, seriously, many of those guys (mostly men) are actually ‘on the spectrum’ she has the skills and empathy to communicate with them effectively. OK, I sound bragging. But so many of the young adults I know are just like that too.

   Throughout history there are periods of mass hysteria/insanity at times of great change. Wasn’t there a gin Mama 20 year madness in London when people transitioned to the industrial age? Now, from my very short list of able astrologers and one tarot reader, and my very sharp intuition there is a growing awareness that we are right at the fulcrum (this week and this year and this decade) of society being able to assimilate the age of the internet. So, yes, we see nutso behavior online (and keep in mind lots of that are not humans, but are bots. And they are fairly easy to spot on social media like twitter) and crazy cult behavior especially on the extremes.

   But the more dangerous speech is telling the TRUTH about one’s views. That can get a person killed and has.

   Spencer Ackeman, a highly respected long term investigative journalist at a long term respected news outlet (has a liberal bias so just take that into account) broke this story today –

   —————–
   A suspected agent of the Saudi government attempted to kidnap a regime critic on American soil, according to the critic and multiple U.S. and foreign sources familiar with the episode. The young Saudi man says the FBI saved him from becoming the next Jamal Khashoggi.—–Abdulrahman Almutairi is a 27-year-old comedian and former student at the University of San Diego with a big social-media presence. After Almutairi used social media to criticize the powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman over the October 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post contributor Khashoggi, an unidentified Saudi man accompanied Almutairi’s father on a flight to collect Almutairi against his will and bring him back to Saudi Arabia, according to The Daily Beast’s sources. —–Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, has investigated the Khashoggi killing….“There is a pattern of the Saudi authorities, particularly over the last two years, targeting individuals—high-profile people with a big Saudi audience,” Callamard said, “either because they’re critical of MBS or the government or not just for what they say but what they don’t say, if they’re insufficiently supportive.”
   —————–
   https://www.thedailybeast.com/regime-critic-says-saudis-tried-to-kidnap-him-on-us-soil

   BTW I think brits read ‘ ! ‘ marks as high emotion. Difference in style. But I’ve decided to not use ‘ ! ‘s again. Well, maybe just one more time! Cheers

   • ‘But the more dangerous speech is telling the TRUTH about one’s views. That can get a person killed and has.’

     And THAT is why I so deeply respect Marjorie and am willing to speak the Truth as I see it, because Marjorie does the same. And then she walks the walk. She actually allows dissenting, (and sometimes rather rude, I admit) comments on her site. Also I think she, and many here, are ready to be willing to do the hard work of evolving. It’s painful and hard.

     The Second Coming
     BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
     Turning and turning in the widening gyre
     The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
     Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
     Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
     The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
     The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
     The best lack all conviction, while the worst
     Are full of passionate intensity.

     Surely some revelation is at hand;
     Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
     The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
     When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
     Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
     A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
     A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
     Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
     Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
     The darkness drops again; but now I know
     That twenty centuries of stony sleep
     Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
     And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
     Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

     IMO, in my intuition (which is nearly 100& spot on) that ‘beast’ is women. The center will hold for humanity. The center for the old old male dominance in pretty much every way possible – that will not hold. My opinion only.

9. Thank you Marjorie for this post, which expresses some ideas that very much need wider attention in my opinion. I have friends who are not on social media, and others who are. I’ve noticed how it changes most of those people who are enthusiastic users. They do become less intimate somehow. And very keen on their private bubbles, less able to consider other points of view. It all gets very my way or the highway. It was horribly fascinating with the endless Brexit debates, too. Once upon a time, Brexit was a dream of the far left, who hated the EU. Joining the EU was a dearly held passion of Tory PM Edward Heath. But many people chose to ignore the political tensions around the whole issue, preferring to say either Remainers were on the side of the angels, or that Leavers had it right. Complexity and nuance were abandoned. I do find it all quite alarming on every level, it seems as if we are going backwards, aided by incredible and amazing technology. Similarly the politicisation of environmental issues is beyond unhelpful. We do only have one planet. We have messed things up, and I hope that the brighter side of Aquarius will prevail and we find ways of working together, globally.

   I was musing on the news today – terrible swarms of locusts in Africa, the threat of a pandemic originating in China, fires, earthquakes and floods. I personally don’t believe in any one religion, but I thought it all sounded rather biblical. Perhaps it will catch the attention of certain religious fanatics, and give them pause for thought. It’s a faint hope, but I cling to it!

10. The ever popular Age of Transition beloved of historians but probably more recognised in restrospect than at the time. Obviously somethings are hugely transformative. For example, the contents of every single dinner plate on the planet Earth was changed by Columbus voyage to the Americas and the exchange of food stuffs that followed. Other shifts are rather harder to pin down. The early 16th century saw changes in western society at the time of the Reformation which had a global impact that lasted centuries. However, I doubt many people got up on 1st January 1500 and thought to themselves the Middle Ages were over. They only knew the past and most of their thinking was conditioned by it. This applied as much to the instigators of the Protestant Reformation and to the innovators of the late Renaissance as to Conservatives in the Catholic Church. Moreover, the clash of ideas generated did not have a cast of obvious winners and losers since the process of political, religious and ideological conflict itself generated change in the mind sets of all parties involved. Thus by the middle of the 17th century Protestantism did not replace Catholicism but it did alter it fundamentally. For this reason while I agree that the recent Saturn Pluto Conjunction and the upcoming shift of Pluto to Aquarius and then Neptune to Aries is going to mark a watershed in human affairs I doubt that our current political and cultural are going to survive that process unscathed whatever ones views about Trump, Johnson, Brexit or the other fetishes of the moment. If I was to suggest a subject that might be worth pondering it is human demographics. Our current international economy and the political, cultural and social constructs that surround it are posited on the simple idea that there will be more humans alive tomorrow than their are today. It is one of the leading drivers of global capitalism, resource depletion, environmental degradation etc. Nearly, everyone regardless of their political views accepts population growth as a given condition that for good or ill will continue. The flaws in that assumption are only slowly starting to emerge. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that human fertility rates passed their peak in the latter half of the 20th century. Indeed, current human population growth is being largely underpinned not by new births but by rapid rises in life expectancy around the globe. In fact 80% of the world’s population now lives in countries where women have an average of fewer than 3 children. The figure for India is now 2.1, Brazil is 1.8 and China is 1.5. This is not just a European or US phenomenon. It is highly likely that by 2050 there may be less Chinese alive now than today. Add in trends such as urbanisation, ageing population profiles etc and global population decline by the mid to late 21st century is already guaranteed according to some demographers. Poland, Cuba, Japan are already shrinking and countries such as the UK, the USA and France are only really increasing their populations by essentially importing humans from their neighbours. Hard to believe but the biggest benefit Britain got from the EU was probably snaffling 1.4 million people from Eastern Europe. Now this shift from a growing to a potentially shrinking global population is probably a highly desirable outcome from an environmental perspective but it economic, political, social and cultural impact are going to be huge. People are only just beginning to glimpse the first signs of this process and it’s impact on the way they see the world has not really taken effect yet. When it does I suspect nothing will ever be quite the same.

    • Now, one can see who is a real historian here. 😉

      As someone whose “stint” was and hopefully will be again some day (I’m 43 and fully expect to have at least two more “career changes” before I die) in Cultural History agree that the things that end up changing people’s lives the most are often overlooked at the time. The demographic change has gotten a lot of attention here, but maybe for wrong reasons – our immediate Post-War “Boomer” generation from 1946 to 1951 was so much larger than any generation we only used “Boomer” for these people, and them retiring was supposed to “tank” the economy by 2016, when the remaining generation had retired. This really didn’ t happen, although Sweden likely fared better strictly because they did not have a visible Post-War baby boom. What this really does is that now that the 1970’s generation whose parents were “Boomers” have mostly stopped having their 1.5 children, we have a dramatic drop in births. This is truly almost a panic right now, because 2030’s and 2040’s will be devastating population wise without true mass immigration.

    • Thanks Hugh. You’re always a sane, calm voice – not sure how I astrologise the population demographics ahead but will ponder.

      • A very thought provoking post with some good comments.
        Change is never ending but with the recent concentration of planets in Capricorn I consider we see this change being manifest in the concrete world. The switch of the various planets to Aquarius will give some airy intellectual understanding of what has been going on.
        For example, in the scientific arena we have had many discoveries over the last twenty years that have thrown “conventional” scientific theories into chaos. This is a necessary part of the process but with the planets moving to Aquarius we will have more intellectual understanding of what is going on- though Aquarius in Taurus will keep proving real world surprises.
        I think that Boris and Trump are mythic jokers who are necessary to upset the previous establishment but do not in themselves build new structures. Both I think were surprised to get power and Boris’ astrology shows that he is worried about how to use it. In both those cases I would keep my eye on what Michael Gove (whom Marjorie said would have a good year) in the Uk and Mitch McConnell ( the senate republican leader) are up to as they will use the chaos to forward their views.
        Two further points: firstly, almost all the serious candidates for the US presidency are in their seventies. Is this a reflection of our Capricorn tinged world?
        Secondly, to recommend Hans Rossler’s book Factfulness about looking at the world through numbers. It confirms Hugh’s view that population growth is slowing and we are becoming an older more educated world.

    • Always enjoy and learn from your posts, Hugh. Thank you.

11. My husband is from the USA… now living in Canada. He is finding it very difficult to have a reasonable, genuine, open discussion about the Democratic party with friends that are American Democrats… issues, who should be the new leader, etc.

    The force of their entrenchment is often just as strong at “the other side” is said to be!!

    so this “I am right” is on all sides, everywhere.

    My father had a saying he lived by… a good guy.. but… “I may not always be right…. (big pause)… but I”m never wrong.”. Sigh.

    Alice Howell wrote an astrology book years ago on The Ages. I felt like she had turned the telescope around to be used to view this 7,500 year span. At the end, I even had a kind of “hope” for humanity… like we made a few inches of progress in our time on this planet!

    The Chinese have a saying… “take the 10,000 year view”.

    thanks Marjorie…. your article gives some perspective.. always a good thing, eh?

12. It is for us to carry the tension of the opposites with discerning speech and basic kindness.

    Remember the difference in the world made as each of us goes about our daily lives alongside everyone else.

    Media and technology have a lot to do with the changes in our perception of time, which can cause many to feel anxious.

    All is well, really true, it is. Look around you, we are all still here.

    Visit a hospital and you will see how many wonderful things are happening now. Imagine, now for surgery for cataracts, lens are placed and vision is able to be restored. No need for glasses. So much good happening.

13. great post

14. This is brilliant Marjorie.

15. Thank you for this lovely post! Perhaps what will bind us together and demand our collective focus will be the environment, as the climate crisis forces us to change how we use the planet’s resources and how we think about wealth.
    Uranus in Taurus and the Aquarian energy together might force to think about the collective more than the individual…?

16. It’s probably the case that the majority of people, outside of cyberspace hold reasonably moderate views.

    I like to listen to the ‘Making Sense with Sam Harris’ podcasts. I would say SH is a conservative with a small c, but I like the way he engages with his guests and questions and deconstructs some of the wackier notions and ideas of our times. The one with Ricky Gervaise is particularly good, a discussion on how Twitter misconstrues and twists the intent of a post in order to launch a host of accusations and labels at that person.

    Recently I read Jon Ronson’s ‘You’ve been publicly Shamed” which explores just this issue. It’s as if we’ve gone back to the Middle Ages in our desire to see a ‘good’ public shaming. He talks about the Scientist who was accused of sexism, decimated and humiliated just because he was wearing a shirt (designed btw by a female friend of his) depicting bikini-clad women. A woman who posted a self-depreciating joke which Twitter users misinterpreted as racist, she was issued with death threats (she lost her job and ended up with PTSD). It really makes you question some of your own knee-jerk, reactive behaviour online. There is no nuance or subtlety with the medium of social media. Everything is very black and white.

    I wonder how much Neptune in Pisces plays a part in all this. Marjorie has said before that Pisces can be fanatical and extreme. The two fish swim in opposite directions. The anonymity and the fog of social media gives us a safe place to hide behind while attacking others. The last time Neptune was in Pisces saw protest and revolutionary ideas spread across Europe. Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto. The media in the form of Newspapers became more influential. The dark side of Pisces can be the eternal victim, martyr and persecution complexes. It perplexes me how offence-taking seems to reached the most ridiculous heights. We are not going to fall apart just because someone has a different view from us.

    • I don’t know if Marjorie will let me post this because there is a swear word in it, but I ADORE Stephen Fry’s down-to-earth, practical and sobering smack of reality quote on those who take offence at everything in today’s culture and it is very apt to this topic:

      ‘It’s now very common to hear people say, “I’m rather offended by that.” As if that gives them certain rights. It’s no more than a whine. It has no meaning, it has no purpose. It has no reason to be respected as a phrase. “I’m offended by that!” Well, so f##@ing what?’ – Stephen Fry

      That aside, I think it good for the mental health to unplug on a regular basis from the fractious, high-octane energy of social media and website posts. I know I get into trouble with it every now and then but the best thing I can think of us to retreat. Repeatedly! Otherwise, we’d all go mad in this sometimes toxic, digital soup!

      • That’s very funny. He’s oh so right and so are you about toxic digital soup.
        It’s the primitive hatred – and there’s no other word for it – that gets hurled by trolls and the deeply offended – which is so corrosive and deeply unpleasant. So much anger. Makes you shudder to think what their personal and family lives are like.

        • It’s where the term ‘Keyboard Warrior’ comes in. Deeply unpleasant in their joyful character assassinations of those who don’t agree with them. Yet if you met them in real life, they wouldn’t dare look you in the eye or say something to your face. You see it all the time when nasty, spiteful sorts get caught up spouting their mouths off on social media until the media glare is on them. They soon scuttle off into a dark corner looking like a deflated bag of crisps!

          But there are also the dangerous ones who take great delight in destroying others this way. I think the internet is a perfect playground for the mind games of the psychopath. In fact, American poet, Shane Koyczan wrote a poem called Troll which addresses this problem and the bullying ways that are prevalent in todays culture. It’s incredibly powerful and very moving. He performs it with music and a video here if you want to check it out: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=670if6Etx0o

          • My mistake, Shane is Canadian! I shall slap my wrist and learn my lesson!

      • I watched a talk by Stephen Fry recently, speaking about this very thing, Jo. I remember he said something like “some people would rather be right than be effective” which stuck in my mind. And you’ve reminded me of another Neptune in Pisces event with your ‘toxic digital soup’ comment; the Great Stink of 1858! Today we are having to navigate around a different form of noxious effluent it seems.

        • Love Stephen fry and could listen to him speak for hours. Even he has said some questionable things in the past, especially about women. But because he doesn’t bang on about it and try to be shocking just for the attention and will try to clarify what he has said, combined with his immense talent, it’s easy enough to just accept that he is what he is. And he’s not making a career or name out of being divisive or deliberately nasty. He’s open to the fact He might well be wrong but he quickly gets back on track. The same goes with Liam Neeson. He’s said some very annoying things in the past few years, but he’s not ramming his attitude down people’s throats. I still like the guy and just accept that he’s nearly 70. He’s bound to have some entrenched, outraged views.

          “Some people would rather be right than be effective.” My god, that is my mother to a T. She has bored me to the point of being comatose regarding Brexit. Before Boris took the reigns, she was spitting feathers about politics and violently reacted to the whole thing like it was a personal vendetta towards her. She always despised Boris and co. But now it was as long as Brexit went through, she didn’t care about how things could affect other people or even herself. She just had to be proven right. Over the years she’s always told me and my brothers, ‘Don’t ever expect me to say sorry about anything. I’m never ever wrong.’ Who would dare to be so arrogant? Their obstinate nature and inability to see and think things through is unbelievably frustrating with these people. Plus, she’s always on social media. I suppose it suits her nature and the types of people she’s ready to clash with.

          I do wonder sometimes if having an such an impatient and super stubborn mother who always has to be right is why my mars/Pluto conjunction feels buried. I often hear of this ‘do or die temperament’ associated with this aspect. I find when faced with strong attitudes or competition I’ll play for a short while. But if someone is hell bent on being right or wants to win at all costs I let them have what they want and walk away. Anything for a quiet life! But I do wish I had some of that mars/Pluto gumption to fuel me forward. I often give up around the second or third hurdle! Perhaps I’ll get it right in the next life

          • That’s meant to say entrenched, outdated views, NOT outraged (Liam Neeson). Damn auto correct!

        • Virgoflake, the Fry quote reminds me of something astrologer Steven Forrest wrote about the Leo/Aquarius nodal axis: the soul challenge there is to move from “rightness” (Aquarius SN) into “effectiveness” (Leo NN). Interestingly, Fry has Chiron in Aquarius/6th opposing his Moon/Uranus conjunction in Leo/12th. As if, for him, rightness is painful and limiting and earthbound, while effectiveness is, for him, liberating and limitless.

          • With my own Saturn conjunct SN in AQ/8th and NN in Leo/2nd, your comment is a timely reminder for me.

          • Hehe, I have NN in Leo 12th, SN Aquarius 6th too.

17. Good post. When it comes to such huge resistance to change ideaologies, conspiracy beliefs, and attitudes which is met with anger and vitriol (cognitive dissonance?) toward an opponent, it always reminds me of Mark Twain’s quote: Its easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

    I think people dig their heels in to such an angry degree could be because to admit that they might be remotely wrong about something is indicative that they can’t even trust themselves, maybe? Same could be said when you present a person’s astro profile that goes completely against how they see this person. Your view makes them uncomfortable, so you get attacked for the discomfort they feel. This idea that a person’s ‘omnipotent’ consciousness of everything is not completely and utterly true could be quite frightening, especially a future/person/outcome, etc, that ‘needs solidity to manifest the way it is should,’ for want of a better turn of phrase.

    I’ve had this problem with members of my own family. My mother despised the Tories and Boris Johnson before. But as soon as he blunders along with his pro-Brexit statements, he’s the best thing since sliced bread. We live in a world where we are only comfortable having our thoughts and ideas played back in a vacuum – it is a form of identifying ourselves as almost concrete, I think? Anything that goes against it completely shatters that comfort zone. I think if it was shattered it would terrify people just how ephemeral and mercurial our minds and reality really could be and that’s just not good enough when planning a future in which certain ideologies keep it deep in its furrow so it can manifest in all its predictability.

    I’m open to having my mind and ideologies shattered these days. I do often question everything I believe in if it is really true. It’s one of the best things that could have happened to me from when I got swallowed up for a while in those conspiracy beliefs where cognitive dissonance is really at its worst.

    Plus, I think social media in particular, which helps create these thought and attitude vacuums in such a disturbingly easy way, must take some responsibility for this huge nasty polarization of people’s thoughts and why it is such a big problem today. Closed off conservative groups, conspiracy networks, fake news, deep fake videos, etc., doesn’t help to engage and expand people’s minds but further entrench them into a way of thinking that they will fight tooth and nail against anybody who dares to present a different way of thinking.

18. Most excellent!
    The pimple has to fill with pus before it pops.

    We are seeing the accumulation of greed, ego, denial, and overwhelming vanity now to be challenged by people who have realized these excesses to be socially destructive.

    The party is almost over. Then the cleanup and rebuilding can begin.

    Thanks, Marjorie.