Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Air Age to Digital Age

In my old volume, The Best of the Illustrated National Astrological Journal 1933-4, picked up in an antique store some years ago, there's a rather odd article by Augusta Foss Heindel, wife of Max Heindel occultist, astrologer and mystic. The piece is titled: "Air Age Tests Human Heart....Noted Astro-diagnostician sees changes in heart due to Aquarian Age influence"

1933 - Aquarian Age? I think not. By some astrologers' calculations we are still, even in 2014, nowhere near the Age of Aquarius, even though that label does fit the current Age - as we see it, not as proper calculation would define it. Maybe people have been willing on the Age of Aquarius since an astrologer first came up with the concept.

Still, laying aside argument about astrological Ages, here are a few excerpts from what the author proposed:
She began:
We are entering an "air" age! On every side we see evidence of this fact. Several years ago an advertising man of Colorado coined the term "air-minded"; daring men conquered oceans with airplanes; millions of dollars flooded into the industry of aeronautics; air mail, air passengers and even air freight were discussed by everyone................It is evident that the public has definitely "accepted" aviation and is building toward an "air" future.
The author goes on to explain why this should be....
We know that the earth itself advances in direct relation to the precession of the equinoxes. And we are now entering into the airy, electrical and etheric sign Aquarius, During this age men must conquer the air and ethers which surround the earth.

That brings me to a point bearing upon man himself. To conquer the air, man's physical body must undergo some changes. Just as Lemurian and early Atlantean men had to develop lungs in order to breathe the clearer atmosphere, so must man now develop organs which will enable him to fulfill the divine plan.

There are two organs undergoing this evolutionary change, the eyes and the heart. The eyes must adjust themselves to become responsive to a higher octave of vision, and the heart must develop "cross stripes" or muscles which will be more easily controlled by mental process. It is interesting to note that eye and heart tests are the outstanding tests in the physical examinations of airplane pilots..................Eye and heart trouble are prevalent now because of these changes which are taking place.........greater number of people, especially young people (are) wearing glasses........The development which is taking place in these two organs has become more perceptible since the planet Neptune transited the heart sign Leo, which occurs only once every 168 years, September 1914 marked the beginning of this transit and since that time heart ailments have increased tremendously.......................
She continues about astrological diagnosis in health care generally.

While I took most of what the author had written with a hefty pinch of salt, I did begin trying to relate her ideas to today's world. Do we need some modification physically to cope with our digital age/ technologial age/virtual age/social-networking age?

Leo rules the heart, according to astrological lore; Mrs Heindel's words were written during a Neptune transit of Leo. Neptune currently, in 2014, transits Pisces, sign of its own rulership. I see no connection to the digital age. A better connection would be Neptune's Aquarius transit, 1998 - 2012. We'd entered the computer age in general some decades earlier than that, but personal computer use and the internet took off on a far wider scale during that time span. Anatomically Aquarius relates to the shins and ankles, and, via its traditional ruler Saturn, to the bones, teeth, joints and skeletal structure.
I cannot see the same kind of connection Mrs Heindel made between the heart, Leo and the "air age". Current human physicality in need of development to better match our digital age would be in the brain's realm, which is ruled by Mercury, whose home signs are Gemini and Virgo. Currently no planet transits, but Saturn, traditional ruler of Aquarius, has transited both signs since 2000: 2001-3 for Gemini and 2007-9 for Virgo.

Are we humans in for some evolutionary modification, mentally, to cope with this digital age? Did humans really need heart and eye strengthening in order to deal with the "air age", which of course went on to develop into "the space age"? Flyers managed well enough with basic aircraft, but once speed barriers were broken, and space travel became a possibility, from there on, I guess only the strongest were chosen to take part. So...perhaps following a similar pattern, to date in the digital age's early stages, we've coped well enough with new technology, but coming decades could prove that we shall not be able to cope with anything more complex without a touch of evolutionary physical modification.

10 comments:

mike said...

You didn't mention Uranus' transit of Aquarius. When Uranus transited Aquarius 1912-1919, aircraft left the prototype for commercialization. This also coincided with automobiles mass-produced for the middle class American and mass transportation (Mercury with a Uranus-Aquarius flavor). Uranus' last Aquarius transit, 1996-2003, brought the personal computer at an affordable price into American homes primarily to access the wonders of the internet (very Aquarian...the world-wide-web of connectivity to the masses). Cell phones were quickly adopted by the masses during this same Uranus-Aquarius duration...connecting the masses any time, any where. Uranus' previous transit brought mass use of the land-line telephone, with the first coast-to-coast call in 1915.

Neptune's transit of Aquarius and Uranus' transit of Pisces, in mutual reception, brought deviant viruses and malware to the internet, social "ghosting" by anonymous users, social linking via such companies as Facebook, Twitter, et al. The internet assumed Pisces-Neptune qualities during Neptune's stay in Aquarius.

Another indicator of entering Aquarius is the diminished Vatican, which brought-in the Age of Pisces and the Christian symbol of two fish. Medical knowledge and treatments have become dependent of electricity for imaging, laser treatments, neural stimulation for paralysis, etc.; much that required the computer to first enter the picture.

The "Age of Aquarius" has an undefined cusp that I assume we have "felt" for many years, whether we are technically "there" or not. The "New Age", as defined by Aquarius, is a two-edged blade...Uranus on one side with the marvels of electricity and technology...Saturn on the other reminding of the responsibility and restrictions. Our current global crisis (aka global warming, global destruction) is an indication of the Aquarian Age requiring the masses that created this problem to likewise solve this problem...Uranus vs Saturn. The foundation of our current global mess can also be found having roots in the previous Uranus transit of Aquarius and certainly in this past century. That previous transit saw urban life supplanting rural life, drastically increased industrialization (particularly of electrical devices and mineral-petroleum for combustion engines and synthetic compounds) to produce for the masses, World War I to squelch the first global conflict.

Directly answering your last paragraph, I think our physical-mental limitations are proportional to the amount of technology we deploy. Humans have only recently recognized the hazards of our (lack of) intelligence, while patting ourselves on the back for our supreme intelligence and rule over nature. We humans will not advance until we recognize our place within nature and need for co-operation with nature. We have probably already gone beyond the potential for resolution. We have already proved ourselves idiots not capable of self-regulation.

On last night's American Masters environmental program, an anti-whaling activist watched the harpooning of whales. One male whale looked him straight in the eye as it died. The whales are harvested for oil used primarily in ICB missiles. The guy made the comment that here we were killing these magnificent creatures for use in ICBMs...he then knew that humans were INSANE!

Twilight said...

mike ~ Hmm - well, yes, but you've enlarged the narrow focus I had in mind, based on the article from which I'd quoted. Mrs Heindel specifically mentioned the precession of the equinoxes, but she then went on writing as though we'd tripped over into Age of Aquarius via that route.

Just because outer planets transit Aquarius doesn't put us in the Age of Aquarius. Those transits leave their many Aquarius/Uranus tinged marks, but don't entitle us to assume we're in the Age of Aquarius....or do they? I don't know anymore.

I agree on what you've said in your 4th paragraph - but would add that what we're feeling is not Age of Aquarius, but side effects of Aquarius/Uranus characteristics on a world not yet ready for them - a world still in the Age of Pisces - we're not "ripe" yet. We don't know how to cope, but by the time we reach the true Age of Aquarius (if we don't end it all first) we'll be in a position, and in a collective mood, to understand that we were previously, During the latter stages of Age of Pisces, in a fog about, and screwing up because of it - pretty badly screwing it up too!

Re your penultimate paragraph, agreed, we'll need to develop better insight and empathy while living in our rather inhuman digital world. Whereas in Mrs Heindel's theory it was physical heart and eyes that needed strengthening for her "Air Age", it'll be the metaphoric, emotional heart and inner eyesight/intuition/instinct we'll need to develop and strengthen for the next round.

I watched the show you recommended on PBS....very good! I wished they'd concentrated more on climate change though, maybe given it 2x15 min segments instead of just one - because it'll not matter how many whales are saved or how many polluted rivers cleaned...etc.if climate goes haywire to such an extent that our whole caboodle goes to Hell in the proverbial.....
:-(

mike (again) said...

Wiki has an interesting say on "Age of Aquarius" as interpreted by various astrologers and mystics. It may have occurred a number of centuries ago or quite a few centuries in the future. Most think that it has occurred "now" plus or minus a century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius

So many astrologers-mystics that I've read base the beginning of the "Age of Pisces" on the change from paganism to Christianity or from ancient Egyptian to Roman Egyptian. An examination of the history of Christianity or Egypt would indicate that it was a very slow process full of tumult, splits, and spin-offs. It seems that the beginning of each "Age" starts with the introduction of something very different than what existed prior...it tends to take about half of an "Age" to settle-down a bit. Whatever the "new" was at the beginning is the "old" and discarded by the end.

According to Rudolf Steiner, we're not even half-way through the Piscean Age. Maybe we're all getting excited about nothing right now...LOL.

LB said...

Twilight ~ I had a similar thought to mike's regarding the Uranus in Pisces and Neptune in Aquarius time period, and how their mutual reception ushered in our love affair with technology as well as our addiction to and dependence upon it.

What stood out for me was the author's statement about us **conquering** the air and ethers, an idea which seems indicative of the Aquarius/Leo axis and its shadow. So far, we haven't been very mindful of our relationship to the air, earth, sea, the various creatures that exist alongside us, or our fellow human beings.

I see it as a spiritual problem. Until and unless we conquer (surrender) our own inner demons -greed, arrogance, cruelty, denial- it won't much matter how well we're able to adapt physically or intellectually. Seems like we're all saying more or less the same thing.

Twilight said...

mike ~ I know...lol/! Age of Aquarirus has become the moveable feast to beat all moveable feasts!

Sticking by the old respected theory that these "Great Ages" are bound by precession though, there can't be any argument, can there? So some astrologers must be throwing that astrological premise under the bus!

I'm going to stick to my theory that when the Age of A dawns, eventually, that will be when humans will achieve, and not without some hard discipline (Saturn) the collective attitudes we truly need now, but simply cannot attain. :-)

The variety of theories on this topic kind of reflects my own general view that, in some hands, astrology can be bent so that anything can be made to mean anything. :-/

Twilight said...

LB ~ Yes, I'm with you here, I think.
We (humans) have achieved more than we are yet equipped to deal with emotionally. This could simply be the way things sometimes are when learning - like being thrown in the deep end (via the outer transits you've mentioned) before we had the ability to "swim" and deal with it all. Sometimes being thrown in the deep end can work, the learning is instinctual and rapid - but sometimes....well... not so much ;-(

mike (again) said...

No post today...grand cross gotcha?! Hope all is OK.


"Stop the Secrecy" campaign:

https://stopthesecrecy.net/?src=dp

Twilight said...

mike (again) ~ Erm - maybe it (Grand Cross) did have me, but I've shaken my fist and it eventually has almost receded - or I'm hoping so; but anyjazz is now under the weather (or under the GC, whichever).

We've both had what must be some kind of allergy-related flu-like or nasty virus-like thing that seems to last around 5 days. I went first, he followed. If it's allergy-related it's VERY unusual for him, not so for me as I'm highly allergy prone (in the USA anyway).

So...anyway, I hadn't prepared anything for today as we had planned on taking a trip starting tomorrow, to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (30 Apr.) and putting Ye Olde Blogge on hold for a few days. That plan has been well and truly shelved, so I've been catching up on a draft or two.

Maybe we'll do a much-modified short version of our planned 10th wedding anniversary trip next week sometime, if all's well.

Thank you for asking though. :-)

I've signed - "added my voice" - to the link you provided - many thanks!

mike (again) said...

It's always good to get the diseases and medical emergencies out of the way prior to leaving for a romantic getaway. If I remember, anyjazz' erratic blood pressure made for a hasty retreat back to Oklahoma a couple of years ago. Be glad that Murphy's Law visited early while you were still at home. Good health to both of you!

Twilight said...

mike (again) ~ Thanks, mike. Yes, better now than later, while on the road in the middle of nowhere ! Been there done that, a couple of times before.