Vedic World Cycles - Part 3
...continued from Part 2
F. CURRENT ERA CHART
Below is the Current Era chart for 9 September 1921, 23:13:41 (-05:00) set for Washington, DC, USA.
As stated previously, the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter occurs in Virgo, so this Era chart indicates a roughly 300-year period in which the world will progress through the paradigm of Virgo: consumerism, business, resource yield, resource access, environment use and optimization, and all sciences related to these fields.
Virgo contains four planets: Rāhu, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury. Jupiter focuses on quality and integrity of outcomes, whereas Mercury brings a focus on material exchange, measures, and quantity optimization or yield. The association of Rāhu and Saturn indicate major upheavals in this development due to political and innovative forces (Rāhu) and systems becoming naturally outdated or less useful (Saturn) - perhaps healthcare systems needing optimization.
Virgo, as one of the scientific-leaning signs, involves the narrow focus and application of science toward earth things, physical systems, and financial systems of exchange, and the optimization of all of these areas. Rāhu in its working sign and Mercury exalted here together with the expansionist Jupiter point to the volume, veracity, variety, and frequency of Big Data systems and the development of artificial intelligence systems in all these areas. Optimizing currency, optimizing health, optimizing food, optimizing business, optimizing supply and services.
The Virgo emphasis also speaks to the need for greater environmentally-sustainable awareness and related technologies, as well as the politicization of the same. Rāhu and Mercury in good state in this sign, influencing the Brahma Yoga, indicate that this Era will see great redefinitions of political and financial systems in the world, spurred or driven by business interests.
On the other hand, the tamasic nature of Rāhu in its natural animosity with Jupiter and Mercury here indicate these advancements come with the dark underbelly of business interest, the exploitation of human and other resources, inhumane forms of trafficking of goods and people, and the overall breakdown of sattva in the world due to extreme rajasic and tamasic forces manifesting through the area of business.
Jupiter periods will inherently show an expansion and development, and the Saturn periods will inherently indicate contractions. However, due to Jupiter losing the planetary war with Saturn, I expect the Saturn periods to carry more weight, relatively speaking.
F1. Venus Major Period (1925-1945)
Vāreśa is the ruler of the astrological day (sunrise to sunrise) in Vedic Astrology. The Day Ruler carries the seat of the creative Fire principle, and is an important consideration in mundane astrology. For the current Era, Venus is the Day Lord. Venus will carry the additional significations for health and vitality and leadership in the world. We can see that only the Moon is placed in a dark house (6th, 8th, or 12th houses) from the Day Lord, so matters pertaining to the Moon (health, family, women) are going to suffer. Sagittarius, the sign of the Moon, has a lawful (religious or secular) focus. A major movement at the beginning of the Era was the Suffragette movement, or the push globally for giving women more and fuller rights to vote and to have a voice in the political process. Sagittarius in a dark house from the Day Lord also indicates the lack of energy and enthusiasm in organized religious institutions, and the questioning of organized beliefs. With the Moon not supported by the Day Lord, we can generally say also that the family unit and the concept of family harmony and togetherness will be very broken and subject to many modifications in this Era.
If we look specifically at Venus in the US Era chart, we see that it is placed in the second house. This shows a major application of intelligence and energy toward the accessibility and volume of cashflow. As fifth lord and twelfth lord in the second house, it indicates major upheavals in the economic wellbeing of the country. The Venus-Moon period (Dec 1929 - Aug 1931) saw the height of the Great Depression in the US and around the world. There was relief finally in the Venus-Jupiter period (Oct 1935 - Jun 1938), Jupiter being in a much better position than Venus relative to the Moon, and placed in an Angle with the Trine lords Saturn and Rāhu.
As Saturn is overpowering Jupiter (planetary war) and the combination is placed in the embattled third house from the Day Lord Venus in a sign of its debility, a great global conflict broke out in the Venus-Saturn period (Jun 1938 - Aug 1941). Coincidentally, Adolf Hitler has a Venus as AC ruler and Saturn in the same sign as the Era chart Venus. Coincidentally, a major portion of the global conflict ended in 1945 as the Venus major period ended.
In any case, the major period of the Day Lord Venus is going to be crucial in setting the dynamics that will play out and be contended with in the rest of the Era. In many respects, the world is still resolving and dealing with dynamics that emerged in the Venus major period 1925-1945. If the Day Lord major period occurs before that of Jupiter and Saturn, then it is setting the stage for events that will take final shape in the later Jupiter and Saturn periods (this is the case with this Era). If the Day Lord major period occurs after the Jupiter and Saturn periods, then it is resolving and consolidating the changes that emerged in the Jupiter and Saturn periods.
F2. Rāhu Major Period (1968-1986)
As one would expect, the Rāhu major period (Aug 1968 - Aug 1988) saw major political upheavals in the world. In the previous Mars major period, many former colonies in Africa fought for their independence from their colonial masters.
The creation of the state of Israel after World War II has caused tremendous religious violence in the Middle East and set up many political alliances and dynamics still with us today. This period also marked the height of the Cold War and espionage in the world between the United States and Soviet Russia and their satellites. We also saw open manipulations of governments on each other, such as the Iranian Coup and related Oil Crisis which was orchestrated by the United States.
The CIA helped the separatist Apartheid government in South Africa find the freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, significantly delaying the road to independence and democracy in that country. This period also marked the height of civil unrest in South Africa in resistance to the tyranny of the Apartheid government.
We had the aftermath of the Civils Rights movement in the US, and that country faced the growing civil unrest that emerged as former separated segments of the population attempted to coexist - the KKK and Neo-Nazi movements went underground and began to operate through the police and prison systems. We saw the emergence of the AIDS pandemic with its attendant prejudice and stigma, separating society even further. Protests against the Vietnam war and unrest continued. The slow deterioration of Soviet Russia continued, setting up what would become terrorist cells in future periods. The list goes on.
F3. Jupiter Major Period (1986-2002)
The Jupiter major period (Aug 1986 - Aug 2002) saw a major developmental expansion in the world in almost all areas of science and business. We had the internet, the dot com boom, the expansion of the global music industry with new emergent genres, and mass media. A plethora of physical daily implements and technologies of convenience and that enhanced communication took place. We also had major developments in genetic engineering during this time and the emergence of genetically-modified food and cloning on the biogentic area.
The Jupiter period also brought freedom to a truly Democratic South Africa. In the same year that the Jupiter major period began (1986) the ruling regime in the country entered into secret negotiations with the freedom fighter movements in the country, paving the way for the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1988 (the first Jupiter-Jupiter period). Specifically, the Jupiter-Ketu period (Jul 1993 - Jun 1994) brought freedom and democracy for all in South Africa (working sign of freedom-loving Ketu).
Jupiter represents the cohesive forces and Rāhu represents the anti-cohesive forces in natural symbolism in Vedic Astrology. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the Jupiter-Rāhu period (Mar 2000 - Aug 2002) we had the infamous terrorist attack on US soil with the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City. There was a sense all around the world that cohesion had been compromised, and we all agree that the world forever changed because of it. These terrorist activities actually were happening in smaller forms throughout the Jupiter major period, with the bombing of various embassies etc. So the Jupiter major period ended on this note.
F4. Saturn Major Period (2002-2021)
This is the period in which we are currently in. As mentioned earlier, the impact of this period will be a lot more intensely felt as Saturn is winning the planetary war with Jupiter in the Era chart. This Saturn major period (Aug 2002 - Aug 2021) will show a contraction in the world, and a development through a sort of global squeeze.
The first period, the Saturn-Saturn period (Aug 2002 - Aug 2005) showed the first warning signs of this contraction. November 2002 saw the very first Coronavirus case in China, which lasted until June 2003. Subsequently, we saw a plethora of new and strange animal-related diseases - variants of Mad Cow Disease, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, etc. Why are we seeing so many diseases emerge in this period? One possible answer is that the sign Virgo has a Saturn flaw, there is a flaw in the creation itself that is being showed to us. Indeed, our physical and immunity vulnerabilities are plain to see, and all notions that we were conclusively at the top of the evolutionary strata have been thoroughly shaken.
Of course, since Saturn is overpowering Jupiter, the Saturn-Jupiter subperiod will mark a major intense manifestation of change in the world. In the Brahma yoga Saturn-Jupiter period (Jan 2019 - Aug 2021), we have experienced the full force and intensity of this contraction in the world with the Covid19 pandemic that emerged in Nov/Dec 2019.
F4.1. The Saturn-Jupiter Period
Saturn is winning the war with Jupiter, and in terms of health, it is clear that the long-term consequences of short-term solutions Jupiter provides are not well understood, and may lead to civil unrest in later periods. We can’t rush things, proper solutions need their time.
In terms of health assistance, I am looking at the Day Lord Venus and its dispositor, the Moon. These two planets are strongly connected to the sign Pisces: Venus in terms of protecting immunity and rejuvenation, and the Moon in terms of longevity and healing. So in the minor periods of Venus and the Moon I am expecting positive developments with respect to the pandemic solutions.
The Saturn-Jupiter-Venus period (Apr 2020 - Sep 2020) saw the first signs of vaccine trials and hypotheses of the disease emerge from the medical science community, and many countries initiated major vaccination trials and research in this time.
Within days before or after the Saturn-Jupiter-Moon period starting (Nov 2020), we saw the first vaccine with 90% effectiveness was announced by the BBC in the UK. In this period (until January 2021) there has been a lot of talk about vaccines and when and where they will become available etc.
So we can clearly see that Venus and Moon periods really have tried their best to provide solutions.
However, we have a period of major upheaval and disruption to this happy story in the Saturn-Jupiter-Rahu period (Mar 2021 - Aug 2021) where we can expect to see the benefits of the vaccine programs being administered suffer from the politicization and profiteering of the process. The vaccines administered themselves may show side effects that cause a public backlash, beginning for further refinements to be done and seeing a degradation of trust in the governmental systems.
It is clear that the vaccine drives occurring in the Saturn-Jupiter period are not ends in themselves, and further refinements and clarification on long term effects will be needed at some point.
F5. Mercury Major Period: 2021 and Beyond
One good result of the Mercury major period is that it will bring the debilitating Saturn major to an end, so we can see a slow easing and opening up of the world with respect to the health pandemic in the Mercury period, again most notably in the periods of Venus (Feb 2022 - Jun 2022), the Moon (Aug 2022 - Oct 2022) and finally Jupiter (Apr 2023 - Aug 2023). These three periods will mark the progress toward final workable solutions, in these three stages.
Having said that, the Mercury major period brings with it its own set of problems, specifically of the financial and commercial nature. This is because Mercury while exalted in the radix chart, is debilitated in the Navāṁśa chart or Destiny chart, being in sidereal Pisces where Ketu is in the radix chart. So from mid-2021 (and especially Aug 2021) we can expect to see the setup of financial problems in national and global economies.
The challenge will be how governments and social systems will withstand the health contractions of 2020-2021 followed by financial contraction in 2021-2022.
But there is also good news. The challenges and innovative solutions that will be put forth in the Mercury-Mercury-Ketu period (Dec 2021 - Feb 2022) will be a glimpse or the starting point of the major changes and formal shifts in currency innovation, normalization of cryptocurrency etc that will be in place in the Mercury-Ketu period (Jan 2024 onward). The Mercury-Mercury-Ketu period will be the final straw on the camel’s back of the current global financial system, spurring them on to embrace new solutions. So the aim of the financial contraction in 2021-2022 will be to impel us or force the global financial leadership to finally and fully embrace virtual currencies in moving the world into a new paradigm of exchange from 2024 onward.
With Elon Musk Starlink global wifi lattice system benig put into place and already available to countries like the US and South Africa, we can also expect these and related technological innovations to be prevalent globally by 2024.
Mercury as the natural significator of learning and the workplace, we can also expect to see the normalization of the major changes we are seeing to the education system as well as the workplace. Once the workplace dynamics change, the education system feeding into it will also change accordingly. This will set up a completely new way of education and working behaviours for people in the coming decade.
