The Dawning of a New Era

This week we began an important transition time in the collective.

Monday’s Winter Solstice ushered in a new season and the slow return to more light. In addition, there is The Great Conjunction, as Saturn and Jupiter came as close to each other as they’ve been in several hundred years.

The two planets form a “conjunction” — meaning they appear to be next to each other — every 20 years, as Jupiter laps Saturn in their orbits around the sun. This week they formed their closest conjunction since the 1600s and the closest conjunction visible from Earth since the 1200s. The next time they’ll be as closer and visible will be in 2080. So it’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, which seems fitting for 2020.

As planets move around the sky they move through the various signs of the zodiac. For the last 200 years Saturn and Jupiter have met in earth signs. Prior to that, they met in fire and water signs. This year, they met in the sign of Aquarius, an air sign, for the first time in over 800 years, ushering in a new 200-year cycle.

Astrologer Susan Miller explains that the meeting of Jupiter and Saturn influences the arts, music, entertainment, fashion and the values of our time.

According to astrologer Alice Bell, Aquarius is a sign associated with change, forming communities, fighting for causes that you care about, and making technological advances. She predicts that we’ll begin to observe major shifts on a large-scale level.

Chani Nicholas shares that as we move forward in this new era we are asked

to think beyond ourselves, beyond the herd mentality, beyond the binaries we’ve been forced into.

We are moving from an age of individualism to universalism, where the needs of collective will take precedence.

Susan Miller explains that as Jupiter and Saturn meet in an air sign we shift away from materialism:

it’s not what you own that’s going to be important—that’s Earth. Air is what you’ve experienced. What you’re contributing to the world matters more.

What has become clear, especially in 2020, is that current societal structures no longer support the collective.

As we enter a new era, we are collectively called to create new systems and structures that support new ways of living, working, and being in community.