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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Believe it or not, this long post is more related to homesteading than
the political stuff we post.  Lisa and Jeanne have inspired me to write,
but it's a bit out there, so delete if you want.
I know the folks here are pretty smart, and I think I have even said
this before on the list, but this "Dawning of Aquarius" stuff fascinates
me....We are all familiar with the zodiac signs, and hopefully the
constellations..Taurus the bull, Aries the ram, Pisces the fish, and
Aquarius, the water bearer, etc.   We normally think of the signs
passing opposite of the way I just wrote them, i.e. Aquarius is late
January, Pisces is Feb/March, Aries is March/April, and Taurus is
April/May, but when it come to time and the precession of the equinoxes,
it goes backward.  For a quick tutorial on precession, Wiki does well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_of_the_equinoxes
Basically, we are currently in the age of Pisces.  Each 'age' lasts 2160
years-actually closer to 2147 years.  It is important to remember,
however, that that number is an average amount of time, cutting the
circle into equal pie pieces.The precession wobble takes 25765 years to
complete-most people just round it off to 26000 years. On that Great
Circle, there are 12 zodiac constellations.  As it turns out, on the
Vernal Equinox, in the Spring of the Year, if you look at the point
where the sun rises in the East, the area of the sky, the constellation,
is the "Age".  So, if in March, you get up and look East at sunrise, the
sun will rise in the constellation of Pisces, hence, the Age of Pisces.

Okay, so when does Aquarius start and how long have we been in Pisces?
It is an inexact science simply because the boundaries of the
constellations have changed in time.  In fact, there are actually 13
constellations of the zodiac--that is, areas along the ecliptic.  The
ecliptic also passes through the constellation of Ophiuchus.  So there
is a good trivia question in case someone asks the difference between
astrology and astronomy. :)  Anyway, the constellations are not equal in
size, and thereby the Age of Ophiuchus would be short, whereas the age
of Taurus, for example might be long.
Depending on who does the calculations, the Age of Aquarius could have
started back in 1447, or it might not start until 3621.  Aquarius is
probably the hardest zodiac constellation to see in the sky. It just
doesn't have many bright stars.  I have trouble locating it, and I live
in a dark area.  Aquarius is a large constellation, too-the 'rope of the
jar' reaches halfway across the sky(I'm exaggerating, but it is big).
According to the International Astronomical Union which is the agency
that maps the constellations and draws the boundaries, we would
technically enter the Age of Aquarius in the year 2600.

Now for the really wild and cool stuff...
Aquarius, the water bearer, a water sign....water water everywhere..
Think about where sea level will likely be in the year 2600.  From the
looks of the climate change going on, with sea level rising, we truly
may be witnessing the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, an age where water
is the more valuable than oil.
Let's go back in time and look at religion and ancient mysteries...
By most accounts we are still in Pisces.  Is it a coincidence that 2000
years ago, Jesus Christ claimed the sign of the fish for himself?  It
was easy for the Roman Christians to make the sign of the X for Christ
with their toes, and then to finish drawing the fish.  In many 'ancient'
cultures, the fish was synonymous with reproduction and women's anatomy,
and I can't help but wonder about this since it has been in the Age of
Pisces that the world population has grown out of control.
Going back further into time, you come to the Age of Aries the ram/lamb,
and in some cultures, the goat.  Think about how many ram idols and
sacrifices there were in the Old Testament, during the time period that
approximately 2000 BC to O.
Aries is a small constellation, however, so we did not linger in that
age for long.  Still, it was an important time on Earth..and all
throughout the Old Testament, you see ram and lamb symbolism..think
about Passover and the blood.  This is the era that was allegedly
ushered in by Abraham and Moses. In Egypt, Akhenaten declared that
Amun/Amen, whose symbol was a ram, was the one and only God.  We say
Amen to prayers(and to posts<g>) because the Jews spent time in Egypt
during this time.  But I digress.  During this time, much of the world
was in the bronze age, and there are plenty of goat and ram sculptures
in many, many cultures.  In mythology that corresponds to that time,
there is Jason's search for the Golden Fleece. Coincidence?
Going back further in time, approximately 4000-2000BC, probably more
like 6000-1500BC because Taurus is so spread out in the sky, we have the
Age of Taurus, the bull...think of all the Oxes, the Bulls, the Golden
Calves of history.  When Moses came down off the mountain, and the
people were worshiping the Bull, probably Baal (which by the way, is
why the Christian 'Devil' has horns-representative of Baal and the time
when Bulls were worshiped) he broke the tablets and according to some,
this was the end of the Age of Taurus.  There were Bull oriented
cultures in Crete(Minoan), Egypt, and even in early China.  Orthodox
dating of the Giza plateau pyramids and the sphinx relate roughly to
this time period, BUT, the theories that they are much older are backed
up by astronomy and religion.  The Sphinx was weathered by rain and the
last time that part of the world had a lot of rain was at the end of the
last Ice Age...during the age of Leo, the lion.  The sphinx itself is
part Lion, and points directly to the east, where, if it was built in
the age of Leo, it would be looking at Horus of the Horizon, the
constellation of Leo.

This stuff is totally fascinating to me, the way mankind has looked to
the sky and how those early observations of the world led to so many
life altering changes in mythology/belief and in civilizations
themselves.  We may not have written history  prior to a few thousand
years ago, but there is plenty of evidence that man lived in close
harmony with nature, and always has until this generation.  I can't help
but think that Gaia is not amused.  I think she wants our full
attention, and while I am not entirely sure that she will bring up the
Aquarian waters to destroy us as a punishment, it is definitely worth a
few moments consideration, if for nothing other than a short story idea.

Bev



Lisa K.V. Perry wrote:

> >
> Amen. I even had a Bev moment and heard a song running through my 
> brain, "This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius, the age of 
> Aquarius...." ;0 Nature probably holds a special place in our hearts
>  for most of us on this list. I always feel uplifted and refreshed 
> after being outside
--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda