The Mayan Calendar Turneth Over

 Representation of differing forces or elements within man or woman

(Ade McO'Campbell, October 2009)

Though ‘calendars’ are by nature precise – like clocks – I’m not so sure the Mayan sub-cycles are meant to work that way. Or to reference things happening in our world which respond to a particular ‘date’ like we do to the blare of our alarm clock when it rousts us from sleep way to early in the morning.

The parallel I’d use as an astrologer is to the astrological ages. Yes, we can treat the whole of our daily and yearly life with clock-and-calendar precision because we’re working with fairly small chunks of finite time. But an astrological age? Probably not. The astrological ages are ‘clocked’ by a peculiar mechanism known as ‘precession’ which says that as the Earth rotates (and moves) forward through space, there is a slight ‘counter-spin of its axis, much like that we see with a gyroscope or a top.

But I defy anyone to go…wherever….and find a big line in the Earth (or the sky, for that matter) which says “start here.” So when we’re talking about these big shifts, we probably shouldn’t be thinking in terms of a ‘flick of a light switch,’ as it were.

We just don’t have much written by the Maya to go on with regards to this calendar cycle. But one thing we do know – that which ends this December is not “THE” Maya calendar. THE Maya calendar – the Long Count – doesn’t end until the year 4,772 (CE).

(Mark your date book – we’ll have lunch.)

The Maya envisioned the whole of the world as being cycles of ‘worlds,’ which is why people tend to think of this calendar turnover as ‘the end of the world.’ Yet there isn’t anything to really support that, and when I read of the fire and ‘quaking’ which allegedly is supposed to occur at the end of this ‘creation cycle’ (aka “world”) I tend to think more in terms of what those words or ideas would have meant back then – specifically by who would have been writing them.

This gets to be a whole touchy subject as people don’t seem to want to be bothered with facts when it comes to beliefs....or, for that matter, dramas they either like stirring up or like being stirred up by.

But it’s pretty much true that back in a time of no television, no radio, virtually no education and no books, there were only a few folks around (relatively speaking) and since nobody knew very much (certainly not about science or foreign cultures), those who were trying to teach anything to others had a limited “vocabulary” to work with.

So while the term “fire” may be literal, it also may be figurative – which is how we take it in metaphysics. If you’re an Aries or Leo or Sagittarius, you were born with the Sun in a fire sign. Does that mean your brain is literally on fire all the time? Of course not! It means your life is fired with ideas. That ideas ‘fire you up’ and maybe even that you need to get fired up to get anything done.

(It would be interesting to see a study on “degrees” of Type A personality people to see if they have more fire sign planets or emphasis in their natal charts.)

So when it comes to this end of the Mayan ‘world’ (which may better be phrased as ‘phase of growth on the part of mankind’) could it be that were will be getting all ‘fired up’ and ‘shaken’ by new ideas? Or by old ways of living or thinking falling away like so many brick buildings after a terrible earthquake?

I tend to think yes. I also suspect this is a long-term process which began some time ago. Prod me a bit and I’ll come out with “I think this Mayan creation cycle is an echo of the passing of an astrological age and we are currently in the throes of moving from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius.’

The Age of Pisces would have been hugely emotional and very stratified. It has been an age of spiritual gurus and all the pluses and minuses of spirituality. Anything and everything which could test us on an emotional level – money, drugs, sex, power, education, disease, prisons, charity, care giving/health care, fossil fuels, art/artistry – however they have manifested and whether you were in the thick of it or gazing through a window at some situation, it would have all been part of a process all about whether we care only about ourselves or others. And when we didn’t care about others, it was because we couldn’t face ourselves – first and last at some very deep, very personal emotional level.

The Age of Aquarius is not emotional in the same way as the Age of Pisces was. Compassion, empathy, guilt, shame, love, idealism, sensuality, loss…those are Pisces words. Contrary to what people think, Aquarius does have an emotional component (let’s face it, where there are people, there are feelings!) but they’re less personal. The fervency with which you could get fired up about something? The idea is the fire sign part, but the excitement you feel when you realize that you know how to do something or ‘make it work?’ That’s Aquarian.

Aquarius is a sign of social systems and universality. It’s realm encompasses things economic and economies, it’s about power systems (and power grids) and specifically about electricity.

A prime signal that we’re moving from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius would be found exactly here: though we are currently living in a world which is powered by fossil fuels (oil, coal, etc.) the emphasis is becoming the power grid itself. And more and more of our world is moving towards things which run on electricity.

Aquarius is also the sign of information and computers. And wasn’t it back in the late 70’s or early 80’s that we started hearing the phrase ‘the information age’? That – to me, as a metaphysician – is a great ‘date marker’ for the shifting out of the Piscean Age into the Aquarian Age.

I’m betting the Maya would have agreed.

Does this mean that we shouldn’t hold any celebrations to mark this once-in-five-thousand-one-hundred-twenty-five-years-(plus) event? Heavens no! Celebrate! Dance! Have a party!

Okay...so maybe you won't be having this big a party. But it does look like a fun time was had by all!

Eiffel Tower with fireworks by Slumbering (2008)

As a matter of fact, the fine folks at NASA were so sure that the end of this Mayan cycle wouldn't be the end of the world that they issued a circular on December 14th linking to a post dated December 22nd the "day after," as it were.

Link to "NASA: WHY THE WORLD

DIDN'T END YESTERDAY"

(I thought that was so funny I just couldn't resist sharing!)

Chuckles aside...the Age of Aquarius – the incoming age – is all about universality and groups. So celebrating with others is a natural. The letting down of our barriers, the eliminating of the old Piscean ‘us/them’ walls – that’s what the Age of Aquarius is all about. Sure, we’re different. And absolutely, we like different things. But that doesn’t mean that one person is ‘good’ and the other person is ‘bad.’ We cheapen ourselves, we limit our lives when we cling to just what we know or ‘our kind of folks.’ Is it easier? Maybe. But life is all about what you put into it.

Did I mention that Aquarius is the sign of the rewards we get for the effort we put in? Often simply known as ‘income,’ at other levels this same idea manifests as friendship and loyalty. Aquarius says we have to work for what we get out of life and that includes our friendships. That which comes cheaply is probably just that – cheap. And it isn’t about them…it’s about our choosing not to work at/with/towards a higher caliber of discernment.

It’s easy to blame ‘them.’ It’s easy to say ‘us good, them bad’ and Aquarius often manifests as just that sort of ‘splitting’ and factionalizing – the sort of thing which ends up in anarchy, rebellion, elitism, marginalization, fanaticism and all that which detracts from life by over-defining it, by trying to create the ‘theoretical’ barrier now that the Piscean emotional barriers are breaking down.

It didn’t work then, it won’t work now. And that things are changing may well be the ‘fires’ which are burning away the walls which separate us in part from one another, but at a more important level from the recognition of the human being we can be.

The Maya weren’t saints. Far from it! As the Maya culture arose, its leaders fell into the same sort of bickering city-state wars which have felled every society since mankind first figured out how to organize way back when.

What we’re realizing now is how futile it is to follow that path. The quakes and fires going forward are more likely to be the realization of the damage we’re doing to ourselves, our families, our world, our planet…than anything else.

Fortunately for us, there is a solution. The less we clutch, the more we’ll have. Humans are far better off when they accept others and work with them, caring about how everybody does than when we segregate ourselves by social strata, nationality, education, gender, religion – or anything else you care to name.

Sure, this is just one person’s opinion. (Mine.) But there is a level at which we all know that it isn’t okay to write anyone else off. Not for any reason, not at any level.

So let’s not write others off – let’s celebrate being here and being alive. Let’s join with each other and share what we know and learn from what we share.

Let’s be the Maya the Maya talked about being in what of their spiritual writings we have and not a person or a people which undermines our reality for the sake of some idea.

And now…let’s get started again. As of the end of this week we’re “officially” starting on another 5,125 years of human development.

I wish us all our best!
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Dateblog: December 2012

December 2012

The wash of red and burnt-orange of November where here in December gives way to more orange mixed with the turquoise representing Capricorn tells us that the global intensity so prevalent in October and November is giving way to a 'cooler' outlook and a lot of energy going into getting things done and make things work - that being the combined signature of Sagittarius and Capricorn.

That Mars is the first of the personal symbols to be in Capricorn is a bit of a ‘sober(ing) note’ in what otherwise may be an expectant (or expectation laden) mix. So given that Mars (the 'doing' planet) is already in Capricorn as the month starts with the Sun in Sagittarius, we know (or think we know) what's possible but we're not much in love with the current pace of the process.

The human words with would seem to apply here are frustration, impatience, overwrought, even anxious, though anxiety is more of an Aquarius reaction. 

Sun in Sagittarius has us making the effort and trying to get things done. But let's remember...Sagittarius is a sign associated with test runs and ‘putting it out there’ to see how something works. Sagittarius has an explorative nature which with Venus and Mercury still in Scorpio as the month starts is testing us. Are we listening as much as we're talking? Are we taking into account all the parameters of any given situation or merely the ones we think will get US to where we want to go?

The Mars factor in all this is the note of necessity. The thing which is emphasizing structural soundness. Whatever we do now, we want it to be structurally sound. We want it to withstand what life throws at us. And we know getting to such goal may take some time.

But we don't like that it may take some time. That may not work for us, considering other issues in our lives.

What to do? How to keep things moving and working in the meantime?
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 The Great Mosque of Samarra (in Iraq) was built back in the 9th century CE.

Obviously a structure meant to endure through the centuries, this is a

beautiful example of what the human mind can conceive and create when

we build carefully...sometimes in a literal 'brick by brick' manner.

(photo credit Jim Gordon, December 2007)

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That in the wake of the eclipses we’re reconnoitering and recognizing that all cannot remain status quo is signaled by Orcus (a Plutino) going retrograde on December 3rd. That this is happening at 5 Virgo says one of two things: either something isn’t working (or we see it can’t work the way we thought it would) or we’re seeing (a little too late) that actions have consequences.

On that note we continue forward into December’s second week – a week which is notable for Mercury entering Sagittarius (likely to manifest as intensity of focus being released or simply coming to its end) and something we might refer to as an astrological coagulation occurring on December 13th.

This conglomeration is composed of...Uranus and asteroid Kassandra going direct in Aries (would you believe the unbelievable is about to happen?), Circe going retrograde in Libra and, just in case we’re disinclined to think this applies to us for longer than a moment, a New Moon at 21 Sagittarius – which like all New Moons indicates an entire lunar cycle (ending January 11) all about seeing how well things work...and where they don’t work, figuring out why they don’t work and what to do about that.

The combination of Aries/Sagittarius (Uranus-Kassandra-Mercury-Moon) is likely to turn into one of two things, especially when we throw in the Circe ‘spellbound’ effect. Either we reject the idea that we ‘have to be like everyone else’ (and all that ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ stuff) or we are driven by some magical (Circe), theoretically dynamic (Sagittarian) idea that we can change how our life works (or is/isn’t working)...or image how others see and regard us (read: reputation) through doing something either unbelievable or which nobody believes.
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 Mercury's Southern Hemisphere as photographed by the Mariner

spacecraft (photo credit: NASA)

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The plus and/or minus here is purely individual. And considering that this is just about when Pluto is finally (FINALLY) finishing its primary conjunction of that nebula-of-ill-repute (Facies), a lot depends on whether we are each willing to – as the saying goes – ‘clean up our act.’

And if all that happens during the first couple of weeks of December (in the wake of November’s eclipses) isn’t telling enough for you, then we reach December 16th’s Venus entering Sagittarius, the culmination and re-start of the Mayan ‘creation’ cycle (read: a new era of being) and the seasonal (Capricorn) solstice – the official beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and the sounding of the summer bell in the southern hemisphere.

All signs point to one thing: humans have by now learned how to survive in on this planet. What are we going to do now? This is not a question about spirituality or ecology or economics or education or political nationalism or internationalism. This is a question about balance. About taking a holistic view on what it means to exist. For all we know, we’re a mote of dust in some other universe. For all we know, we are the canker sore on Earth’s planetary behind.

Then again, we may just be a gift to the whole of the universe and all that exists and all that ever will exist. In that light, just how important is that new car or iPhone that you want? What is having children really about? 

Yes, there is a level at which we need to find pleasure in our life. But is that all we’re really worth? Is that why we’re given years of breath and a mind to think with?

All this swirls around us in many a form, shading every form of nuance as Mars moves into Capricorn on December 26th and we come to yet another pile of signals on December 28th.

It would seem that Creation wants to make an impression on us. Sometimes, we humans need more than a gentle tap to get our attention.

Hel going direct in Taurus combined with dwarf planet MakeMake and Achilles going retrograde (both in Virgo at the moment of a Full Moon would seem to be something akin to a realization of what it’s going to take to get done that which we need to get done. Considering the combination here, we've put ourselves in various positions which challenge us (Hel) mightily. We also realize (MakeMake/Achilles) that it's up to us to make things work in our lives.

This may have short or long term repercussions (maybe both) and so ends December.

Well, except for Mercury entering Capricorn in tandem with Dionysus (sacred rituals) going retrograde in Virgo on December 31st. For some, there’s a traditional ‘obligation’ of sorts to ring in the new calendar year. The term ‘rituals’ in the astrological Dionysus sense can be sacred, but then again can be that yearly de-cluttering of the house now that festival season is over. Or maybe you’re someone who has New Years Day rituals akin to mine: I belong to the ‘get up late, make breakfast and watch the replay of the Rose Parade’ group myself.
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 A 2008 Tournament of Roses float honoring the City of New Orleans

(photo credit erinbrace, January 1, 2008)

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But whether your ‘ritual’ is family, sports, religion or turning to closing out last years files in anticipation of this year’s business...whether it’s getting back to your exercise routine or starting something new so that 2013 becomes something different than 2012 was, the point is, we all have rituals. Some are declared, shared and traditional some are private and uniquely individual. Some are religious, some are social, some are familial and some are about business.

One last note here...having already done calendared all the major astrological issues "of note" for December (is 'calendared' a verb?) this is one of the 'clumpiest' months I've ever seen. So whether you're in high or low gear, you should expect this month will include some really intense periods with all sorts of factors in the mix interspersed by groups of 'more of the same' and 'adapting, dealing, flexing' days. Here at the blog I'll be breaking some of these lists up (yes, they're actual lists) into separate blogs which post in a chain so that you can read them one by one, like building blocks (or Legos, if you prefer). The famous 'end of the Mayan calendar' is also this month. I've talked about the calendar before here on the blog and there's a chapter on it in my eBook Travel Gossip if you want to know more (the link is in the sidebar). The point which seems most of interest here however, is that the Mayan calendar 'turnover' is in sync with the Winter Solstice with December's day-to-day intensities falling more in line with the Moon's lunar cycle.

There are some of you (and some cultures) which still use a soli-lunar calendar. Because this combination is about 'reconciling' (adapting) our emotional and valuation nature to that rational thought by which we run our daily lives, this seems one of the big 'make or break' concepts this month. In other words, don't work to mesh your feeling and thinking worlds (in every sense that that's applicable) and you'll find life far more difficult than if you do. 

Whatever yours plans are, and whatever your circumstances are, I wish you well in all things, from work to holidays to health and year-end/year-beginning pursuits.

I also hope you'll pass the good wishing along!

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Dateblog: November 2012

 November 2012

As you can see from all the hot red Scorpio and warmly fervent russet-orange denotation of Sagittarius above, this is 2012 in full interactive format. During the first part of the month Mercury and Mars in Sagittarius gives us an indicator of verbal and activity-oriented fervency.

 Maybe urgency. 

Mercury in Sagittarius being famous for discussions, debates, enlightening ideas and oratory, we can count on much being said. Maybe too much being said. Both soulful allegiance and heated opposition go along with this pairing, which with Sun and Saturn in Scorpio points to things of emotional (and quite possibly financial) importance. 

In short, this is a time which feels important – maybe even fateful. Is it really that? Maybe. But then again, maybe we just need to feel we’re being heard and considered. 

The United States presidential election falls on November 6th – the date that Mercury goes retrograde. With Nessus (lingering ill will) having gone direct on the 4th, Damocles (unsuspected difficulties) going direct on the 8th we have both their two-day station allowances overlapping on the 6th, along with the 6th being the date that Charybdis (the need to keep trying) goes retrograde in Cancer, the sign of the people and a national populace.

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 Marine One prepares to land on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.

(photo credit US Department of Defense, PHC C.M. Fitzpatrick, July 1987)

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Plainly the US people will have their say. Whatever the outcome is, that will not fix worldwide economic problems. In fact, as Neptune goes direct on November 11th barely in advance of a Solar Eclipse at 21 Scorpio on the 13th, nations and individuals around our world are likely to realize just how difficult things really are, and – hopefully – how their clinging to personal perspectives and drives has damaged many a goal. 

Yes, their goal. And as Chiron goes direct on November 15th, just what ‘living by our own rules’ instead of universal humanistic rules means is going to become a wee bit clearer. 

We are moving into the Age of Aquarius, folks. This is an Age where commerce is king, but where the marketplace must be open. Playing fields long bounded by idea of ‘us and them’ or ‘have and have not,’ the ‘insiders and outsiders’ are all giving way. Rich and poor shouldn’t matter: survival should. Cultural heritages and religious affiliations can no longer be our definition of worthy and unworthy as they have been throughout the Age of Pisces. I raise the issue now as it is metaphysically clear, merely by the congruence of the changing of the astrological ages coinciding with the ending-and-renewing of the ancient Mayan ‘creationist’ count (which is not the same as their calendar, by the by)...things are changing. 

And that means they need to change. WE need to change. 

It’s just not a gentle process. Not one change of Age, not one round of the Mayan creationist count (which they called ‘one world’) not any of this shifts from one cycle to the next without a deal of fracas. There’s always upheaval. There’s always trials and warfare.

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 From the famous Mayan murals of Bonampak in Belize, this scene from

Room 1 depicts the torture of the captives. How things don't change when

it comes to human beings, right?

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Why? Because human beings don’t like change. People yell and scream that they want things to change, but tell them that the time to change is ‘now’ and they’ll shovel out the excuses. 

Change feels like a threat to our security. So sometimes life has to actually threaten our security to get us to change.

 Once Mars enters Capricorn on the 17th, the determined among us will get to work while the rest of us are treading water. With the Sun’s shift into Sagittarius (on the 21st) falling just a day before Venus moves into Scorpio as Pallas (dispassionate, realistic wisdom) goes direct in Pisces we are challenged to get ‘real’ with ourselves. Importance now falls on the proverbial ‘proof in the pudding.’ Yes, we may bluster and fluster about long-held positions and convictions, but on the inside a lot of us are going to be admitting to our all-important Self that we were wrong: what we were doing or how we were doing it or the company in which we have been doing it...that’s wrong. 

But what to do about such problems? The Neptune bet is that most of us will put a game face on and go about like all is cheerful and status quo. But considering how people react to knowing they’re doing the wrong thing, the only question is whether we are going to make an active move to change (which with Mars in Capricorn is not only possible, but may well earn brownie-respect-points from others) ...or whether we are going to just wait until we ‘out’ ourselves through some compulsive moment. 

For card carrying members of Club Compulsive, Mercury’s going direct (in Scorpio) on the 26th combined with a Lunar Eclipse on the 28th (at 6 Gemini) may mark your blowout. Then again, if you’re a member of Club Compulsive who has reached Gold Card Denial ranking, you may just dig yourself in deeper with this Mercury turnabout and Lunar Eclipse. 

The Lunar Eclipse is in Gemini. That makes it about choices in the moment...or choices already made. Considering that Mercury in Scorpio can either be transformative or incredibly dug in, stick-in-the-mud stubborn, what may come of all seems pretty obvious.

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A lunar eclipse in progress

(photo credit: Juan Iacruz, February 2012)

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No matter which course you choose, experience or get emotionally shepherded into, the whole of the last week or so of November IS ‘emotional territory.’ Those whose charts are closely aspected by this Lunar Eclipse (read: with positions between 1 and 11 Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Aquarius...OR chart contacts between 4 and 8 degrees of Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio or Capricorn) will be most effected.

But this is a time of intensity pretty much all around. 

Still, it’s worth remembering: Solar Eclipses mark events which change your life. Lunar Eclipses are emotional, yes. But very seldom do they indicate a major life change unless your chart is ALSO being transited by the solar side of the eclipse pair.

In which case, buckle your seatbelt and grab a fire extinguisher – it’s going to be a bumpy and hot, hot, hot (maybe even flammable) ride!

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