My midlife crisis officially starts in 2 minutes

[Elidor]

I'm 38. And I'm falling in love against my will. God help me. I need a valium. Maybe I'll quit smoking. Ah, shit, here it comes...wow, thunder and lightning, too.

edit: dang, gotta shut down. Ain't that typical. The crack of doom on the stroke of my birthday. Argh...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Oh quicher bichin!!! I'm gonna be 45 in a couple weeks

But this falling in love thing against you will...that's a serious disease...have you considered anti-biotics? :shrug:

Happy Birthday!

:toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce::toast: :bounce:

[HEyHEY]

2. I know

BUY A COWBOY HAT!!! Become a wannabe cowboy, worked for my buddy's dad

[DagmarK]

3. I hate to inform you that this is NOT your mid-life crisis.........

That won't start till you are 41.......

This is the time in your life when the planet Pluto makes a hard aspect to where Pluto was when you were born. It lasts about a year...and a person can get into all sorts of trouble! Maybe not trouble.....but INTENSITY is the order of the day. It can be a very good thing because, well, your relationships are intense......

enjoy your new LOVE!!!!! Wow, it's amazing ........ you forget that you can fall until that one moment when .....well, ya fall for someone!

Pluto Square Pluto, by Robert Hand

This transit signifies a period of general regeneration, which may not be entirely pleasant. (understatement!] Most of us are attached to the past whether or not it is good for us. And this transit will root out precisely those elements of the past that are not good for you, even those aspects that you have forgotten about. Problems that you may have lost track of entirely but which are still working unconsciously in your life may reappear and become active now, usually but not always to your detriment.

Pluto rules forces for change that are inherent within the hidden depths of things. Therefore, you should not blame the unpleasant changes that occur now on circumstances or persons in your environment. Look within yourself to see how the groundwork for the present is laid in the past.

Many things may be destroyed at this time, and the destruction will be ruthless if you defend them with rigidity. Pluto’s action upon unyielding entities is particularly harsh. Therefore, you should simply allow things of the past to fade and allow the future to be born on their ruins. If you can do this, the potential for positive change with Pluto is very great.

The area of your life where the changes occur depends upon what houses are involved, but these changes are likely to affect both your home and your professional situation. Relationships that have outlived their creative usefulness may end, especially if they constitute a barrier to future growth.

This transit may also increase your concern about the creative and regenerative processes within the universe and cause you to become interested in the occult. However, certain aspects of the occult, such as magic, are best avoided under this transit, because the energies involved will be difficult to control now. Although your conscious mind may be in control at first, you are likely to find that entirely unconscious forces within you have taken over and are running you completely. This can have disastrous consequences.

You may also get into severe power struggles with people who are trying to prevent the changes in your life or who are trying to expedite changes that you are resisting. Look very carefully to ascertain which category they are in.

[Maple]

4. A mid-life crisis

in your 30's or 40's?

Not likely.

[Lady Freedom]

5. Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some B-day kisses!
:* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :*
:* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :*
:* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :* :*
:* :* :* :* :* :*

[DagmarK]

6. And here is some reading material on THE midlife crisis.......

When the planet Uranus opposes where it was when you were born.

From an astrology seminar...........

Question: Would you discuss the Uranus transit with respect to its opposition to itself?

Sure. This transit correlates to the famous mid-life crisis as experienced in many people. It generally occurs between thirty-eight and forty-three years of age. Why do most people experience it as a crisis? What is the crisis really about? And what and how are the best ways to respond positively and constructively to it? What is its meaning within the total eighty-four year cycle of Uranus? Since we always have to understand everything within context, and Saturn correlates to the overall context of one's structural reality at any moment in time, how do we understand the transiting cycle of Uranus as it interfaces with the transiting cycle of Saturn? The first dynamic or archetype we should examine is the interrelationship between the Uranus and Saturn cycles in order to understand the structural foundation that induces the psychological and physiological effects when Uranus is opposing itself through transit. Uranus has a eighty-four year cycle, and Saturn has a twenty-eight year cycle. It takes three complete Saturn cycles to equal one Uranus cycle. Relative to the prime vertical and horizontal lines within the three hundred and sixty degree zodiac, Saturn archetypically induces structural reality stress to itself every seven years: seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-five, forty-two, forty-nine, fifty-six, sixty-three, seventy, seventy-seven, and eighty-four. Uranus induces the need to be free from that which is, the freedom from the known, at twenty-one, forty-two, sixty-three, and eighty-four. It is interesting to note that the spaceprobe of Uranus revealed that the "seasons" on Uranus have a twenty-one year cycle.
At twenty-one Uranus is forming a first quarter square to itself, at forty-two it forms the opposition, at sixty-three the last quarter square, and completes the cycle at eighty-four. At twenty-one Saturn is forming a last quarter square to itself, at forty-two it is in opposition to itself, at sixty-three it is in a first quarter square, and at eighty-four it has completed its third cycle. This interface between Uranus and Saturn thus correlates to natural transition points in all peoples lives, whatever their personal, social, or societal context may be. The best way to answer your question is to define the ARCHETYPES at these natural transitional junctures.

TWENTY-ONE: The first quarter square correlates to a crisis in action. The last quarter square, according to Rudyhar, correlates to a crisis in consciousness; a crisis in belief. Thus, the interface between Saturn and Uranus correlates to a need within each of us to determine our own beliefs which in turn determines our overall lifestyle, direction, and way of being within the context of the society and world that we find ourselves in. This archetypal need zeniths, for the first time, at this point in our life. To a large extent our sense of beliefs have been conditioned by our parents, regional and national context, and the subconscious memories of other lifetimes up until this point in time. What one believes determines what one value, how one sees and judges life in general, how one relates to others who may or may not hold the same beliefs, and basically correlates to the nature of one's goals, ambitions, and way of being in life itself. At this evolutionary juncture, the individual needs to separate or rebel from the all the conditions that have shaped his or her beliefs in order to define new beliefs. The new beliefs will reflect the ongoing evolutionary progression of INDIVIDUATION (Uranus), and the beliefs that are NECESSARY in this life to facilitate the actualization of what the essential purpose is for the life.

Remembering that Saturn correlates to TIME and SPACE this juncture symbolizes an acceleration of the emotional and social maturation process in each of us. The separation (detachment, Uranus) from our family of origin (Saturn/Moon) is accelerated. The need and developmental crisis to determine our own beliefs in turn intensifies the crisis relative to what direction do we go in at this point in time. Thus, at twenty-one, we experience a detachment and restlessness (Uranus) that allows us to step back and reflect upon where we have been (our childhood), and where we want to go from here. This is our first chance to make decisions that will determine our OWN life directions, our first chance to decide what it is that we actually believe and value. The beliefs and values we decide upon now will condition our state of being and structural reality for many years to come. This is very important to understand because most people (70% or so) DO NOT individuate (Uranus) at this time. Most seek to individually define themselves relative to the prevailing peer group, and what the peer group (Saturn and Uranus) believes and values from a consensus point of view. This seventy percent feel like they are individuating because they are at least rebelling, to various extents, from their parents lifestyle, beliefs, and values by experimenting with new ideas, ways of looking at life, ways of being in life. Yet, they are not really questioning themselves to the point of defining independently and uniquely what it is that they really do believe and value. Thus, the decisions concerning life direction, goals, and lifestyle are subtly unique extensions of the prevailing peer group.

Generally thirty percent of people at this point attempt to define beliefs and values in relationship to who and what they sense themselves to be; independent of peer group pressure. Generally, these people will experiment with a variety of ideas, philosophies, life experiences, different types of people who reflect a broad range of the total sociological spectrum. In effect, this group is essentially open-minded about life and what life is. They are not willing to settle upon any fixed values or beliefs at this point in time. Being at this juncture this group is mostly aware of what they are NOT.

FORTY-TWO: At this juncture both Uranus and Saturn are in a transiting opposition to themselves. The archetypal intent of this symbolism is to step back and detach from all that has come before, and led to, this point in time. The full phase opposition archetype correlates to the need for MEANING, RELEVANCY, and COMPLETION. It is at this juncture that the famous mid-life crisis manifests. For the seventy percent or so who did not question independently what it was that they actually believed or valued, the mid-life crisis is based upon two primary dynamics:

(1) The individual suddenly and unexpectedly finds him or herself standing back in fundamental detachment from what constitutes the totality of its structural reality. This detachment induces an increasing restlessness, irritability, desire to be free from one's existing obligations and duties, a desire to change many aspects of one's life which intensifies, and is ultimately suppressed in most, BECAUSE OF the nature of one's obligations and duties. Their is a loss of meaning, relevancy, and weariness (completion) because one has suddenly become aware that he or she has been living a life whose values and beliefs were extensions of the peer group. This being the case, there is a need to fundamentally redefine one's beliefs and values. This in turn creates a need to alter one's sense of identity. Altering one's sense of identity leads to the need to change life directions, goals, and general lifestyle. This archetypal need serves as yet another opportunity, in this life, to deeply question and reflect upon oneself. This in turn allows for the individuation of the Uranian impulse to manifest, this impulse attempting to break us free from our conditional reality (identity).

(2) It accelerates the psychology and physiology of aging. Saturn is a co-ruler of the pituitary gland. This gland regulates the functions of the entire organism, including the progressive degeneration or aging of the system. At this juncture we become sharply aware that we are at mid-life, that our youth is receding, that we have an increasingly limited amount of time to live, and that our mortality is perceived in sharp relief. In females the aging process normally 'signals' the beginning of menopause, and in males the waning of their sexual energy or interest. These developments certainly can induce a mid-life crisis in many.

Even though this mid-life crisis manifests in most people for the above reasons, most suppress it and carry-on with their lives in a kind of stoic resignation to their lot or fate in life (Saturn). To radically alter (Uranus) life at this point in time, given the obligations, commitments, and duties that are in place for most at this point in our lives, is just to much to seriously (Saturn) act upon (Uranus and Saturn). However, this crisis has at least promoted an awareness, despite how uncomfortable it may be, within this seventy percent of people whose lives have been defined within the context of their contemporary peer groups, of how and why they have arrived at this point in time with their lives. A small percent of these individuals WILL manifest the courage to break free and liberate from any definition or condition which does not reflect their essential identity. This is initially accomplished through an increasing awareness of what the person IS NOT. This awareness will promote desires to experiment (Uranus) with new ideas, experiences, and people that symbolize realities out side of the status-quo (Saturn). The burst of experimentation will progressively give way to settling upon ideas/philosophies, values, and a general lifestyle that symbolizes and reflects who the person actually is, or is becoming; the deconditioned self.

For the thirty percent or so who have already attempted to define (Saturn) themselves out side of the status-quo (Uranus/Saturn), this juncture will still produce the need to detach from the immediacy of one's life. Restlessness and the temptation to withdraw from the conditions of one's life can manifest in most of this group, these psychological symptoms reflecting the awareness of mortality. The awareness of mortality reflects the restrictions/constrictions of time (Saturn). This awareness thus induces the temptation to withdraw from the immediacy of the conditions of one's life in order to reflect upon it; to detach from it. The need to detach produces the restlessness. The need to reflect (Saturn) upon one's life is linked with the need to adjust, change, or radically alter any condition which restricts (Saturn) the future (Uranus). Since this group has already manifested the evolved ability to define themselves in various ways out side of the status-quo realities. The mid-life crisis associated with the increasing restriction of time, mortality, induces this need to alter the course of life where necessary.
SIXTY-THREE: At this juncture the transit of Uranus will be forming a last quarter square to itself, and Saturn will be forming a first quarter square to itself following the second Saturn Return at fifty-six years of age. Here again we have the archetypal themes of a crisis in consciousness (last quarter square) linked with a crisis in action (first quarter square). This juncture symbolizes the transcendent archetypal need within the entire species to WITHDRAW in total from the DUTIES and OBLIGATIONS of this life; one's worldly obligations. The liberation, or freedom from the known, of Uranus is experienced in this way at this juncture. This need is actually programmed into the RNA and DNA structure of the human organism; the genetic code. Accordingly, the organism produces hormones and enzymes that have the effect of not only accelerating the aging of the organism, but of producing an overall state within the consciousness that progressively withdraws from the time and space associated with this life. This psycho/physiological archetype thus induces the crisis' associated with the last and first quarter squares. This crisis occurs in most, seventy percent, because this group has been caught up in, and defined by, the general nature of the times; the contemporary peer group. How one has defined oneself on a daily basis through the sheer momentum of time, this definition reflecting the beliefs and values of the contemporary peer group, now begins to change at this juncture.

The crisis' involve the psychological resistance to the genetically programmed withdrawal from what has constituted one's life so far. This resistance is based upon a psychological rebellion (Uranus) from the inner and outer knowledge that one is aging and becoming old (Saturn). Outwardly, one's worldly position and authority (Saturn) is being undermined or displaced by younger peoples. In contemporary Western cultures this translates into enforced retirement, in most cases, from a career point of view, and displacement linked with the role of parenting as one's children are normally self-sustaining adults at this point in time. One normally becomes, or is, a Grandparent at this time. These types of displacements enforce withdrawal from the immediacy of what has been the life so far. The crisis in action now reflects the need to plan (Saturn) life directions that are very different (Uranus) than what they have been thus far, directions and goals that are not linked with career, family, and the duties, obligations, and sense of personal identity that has gone along with them. These plans and directions will include the intensifying awareness that one's time to live is rapidly decreasing.

This crisis interfaces with the crisis in belief, or consciousness. This interface occurs because the displacements associated with the archetypal need to withdraw simultaneously induces experiencing one's inner and outer life differently (Uranus linked with Saturn). Withdrawal enforces or induces detachment from what has been the life until now. This in turn enforces or induces reflection (Saturn) upon all the dynamics that have constituted one's life, particularly one's values and beliefs. The reflection associated with detachment or displacement thus leads to the archetypically induced question of "what has my life been about, what has it meant, and what am I meant to do now; from here?". These questions have the archetypal intent of inducing a universal (last quarter square whose momentum moves towards the balsamic conjunction of Uranus to itself at eighty-four) awareness; to abstract one's existence from the immediacy of what has thus far been, and to philosophically expand one's conscious frame of reference to include and understand one's life from a cosmological point of view. This shift of focus within the individual's consciousness is meant to happen within all peoples throughout modern times.

This shift of focus within the individual's consciousness will progressively create the effect of experiencing time differently (Saturn linked with Uranus at this juncture). As one progressively detaches and withdraws from the immediacy of this life,one becomes more philosophical and muse oriented; less concerned or reactive to the immediacy of it. This intrinsic and natural archetype is why older people are considered honored elders in all cultural societies other than the complicated, modern societies other than the complicated, modern societies of the Western world. Cultures that have this archetype thus allow for the older people to feel important, useful, and still providing a meaningful social and family function. Considered elders, these individuals are thus allowed to impart the natural wisdom that life itself brings by simply living it; each time. The natural universalization of consciousness that occurs from this juncture forwards thus allows for these individuals to impart a universal guidance and wisdom to the younger one's. This role and function is important to any culture or time. When provided for by the culture itself, the sense of crisis is diminished in the individual as he or she ages; thus the rebellion towards aging is also diminished.

The crisis associated with this juncture mainly is a current modern phenomena associated with complicated, cosmopolitan Western cultures and societies. In most recent times, the role or elder has increasingly diminished in these cultures. Thus, these cultures have no tradition (Saturn) that is taught to their children that includes the role of the elder. This tradition had been, and still is in most cultures outside of the Western modern cultures, taught or passed on by the actual role modeling of the grandparents, and older extended family or tribal members, by the very nature of the position that they have; elders who are respected and consulted.

Since this is not done in the Western cultures of today the rebellion, confusion, and crisis' occur because the individual is not culturally prepared for it. Thus, this produces many individuals who attempt to carry-on with what they had been doing up until this juncture; to try and maintain their careers as an example. A current sad example that embodies all of these modern Western problems is the case of Ronald Reagan, and until recently the old men in the Kremlin. Since modern Western cultures have broken from the natural archetype of this juncture, we also have the specter of warehousing the natural elders in 'old age' homes; nursing homes. The violation of the archetype thus produces all the current modern problems that more and more of the elders are experiencing; Alzheimer's disease, senility, a sharp and biting cynicism, strokes, heart attacks, despondency, gnawing depression, emotional withdrawal, childlike or dictorial behavior reflecting the need to be perceived as special.

This phenomena will occur more and more until the repeating 'signals' or messages are heeded in such a way as to reinstitute the natural archetype within the species that allows for the correct position of elders to occur. This will inevitably occur not because of some grand reawakening to this need amongst the seventy-percent whose identities, beliefs, and values have been individual extensions of the contemporary peer group. It will occur because of financial necessity. As will be explained when we talk about the forty-eight year cycle of Saturn and Uranus, i.e. these two planets form a transiting conjunction to themselves every forty-eight years or so, we have been living in increasing materialistic times. Thus, for material and financial reasons this 'warehousing' effect will end. The specific circumstances that will induce this is based on the reality that within thirty to forty years the majority of the population in modern Western cultures will be 'senior citizens'.
For the thirty percent who have already attempted to define themselves outside of the status-quo, and who have redefined as necessary their own status-quo at forty-two years of age, this juncture can be responded to in the way that it is archetypically intended.

EIGHTY-FOUR: At this point both Uranus and Saturn have returned to their natal positions. Saturn has completed three complete cycles. The number three symbolizes creation, sustainment of that which has been created, and death of that which has been created: the trinity. Thus, combined with one complete cycle of Uranus, the symbolic completion of one life cycle. The actual withdrawal process from the immediacy of this life began at fifty-six relative to Saturn's second return to its natal position, and accelerated at sixty-three with respect to Uranus. Since that time a progressive MUTATION has been taking place within the consciousness of each individual who has lived past the age of sixty-three. The mutation is symbolized by the movement of Uranus from a last quarter square to a balsamic conjunction with itself at eighty four. The archetype of the balsamic phase is one of mutation and completion of an entire cycle.
The mutation of consciousness means that one state of being is changing into another state of being, one state of consciousness into another. This is facilitated through the programmed withdrawal from the immediacy of each life's duties, obligations, worldly commitments, etc. This withdrawal progressively promotes a different experience of time and space. The mutation of consciousness promotes a progressive shift of focus within the consciousness; from being totally identified with and caught up in this life. The shift of focus induces an awareness of TIMELESSNESS within the consciousness. Accordingly, the individual is living almost totally WITHIN themselves at this point in time. For those who have not been plagued by the various psychological problems as mentioned earlier at the sixty-three year juncture, this can be a time of experiencing pure consciousness that is simultaneously a reflection of that which has been in this life, and, at the same time, utterly removed from it: just consciousness being aware that it is conscious. It is this state that Uranus attempts to achieve ALL THE TIME in ALL PEOPLES. At this juncture some people experience it no matter what their personal pasts have been. This junctures archetypal intent is to DECONDITION and LIBERATE the individual from what the life has been; thus, the mutation. This mutation will allow for a new set of conditions to occur in the next life.

Some individuals will still be very active, or active, at this point in time, and possibly for more years to come. The activity, whatever it may be, is itself experienced differently relative to the above dynamics and archetypes. Some of these individuals actually serve as ICONS to others, or many others, to inspire and emulate. For those who live past eighty-four years of age, who move into Uranus and Saturn separating from the balsamic conjunctions, the seeds of the next life are already being planted in this life.

Another very important cycle is the Saturn/Uranus cycle relative to their conjunction every forty-six to forty-eight years or so. This cycle is important to consider for the sign that the conjunction, blossoms into full glory at the opposition twenty-two to twenty-five years later, becomes actually absorbed in mainstreams society for eight to ten years after that, then progressively begins to wane and ultimately mutate into another conjunction/social tone and focus.
The specific social tone and focus is relative to context. Thus, whatever the existing sociological context is in all the various regions, cultures, societies, and countries will determine to what the specific social tone and focus will be at the time of each conjunction. A simple review of recent history will illustrate this principle.

The last conjunction of Saturn and Uranus took place in 1942 in Taurus. The opposition point to this was during the last five years of the 1960's, the absorption into mainstream social reality the 1970's, the progressive waning leading to mutation in the 1980's, the next conjunction scheduled for February,1988 at twenty-eight degrees of Sagittarius; the center of our galaxy.

The essence of the Taurus archetype is one of personal values, inter-personal relatedness with oneself, the instinct within the species to procreate in order for the species to survive, the instinct to survive in general in each person, the personal and material resources necessary to effect survival, self-reliance or sufficiency, and the need to stabilize whatever is unstable. These Taurean archetypes became socialized needs on the planet in general when the Uranus/Saturn conjunction occurred in that sign in 1942.

The progressive, cyclic, and continuous sociological transformation and liberations from that which has constituted mainstream, status-quo reality is effected by the youth of every culture or society. At the conjunction of Saturn and Uranus millions of souls are born who contain the seed of change for the culture or society. At the conjunction of Saturn and Uranus millions of souls are born who contain the seed of change for the culture or society that they are born into; a new individual and social vision. This group of people, as a generation, progressively rebel in various ways against that which has been the status-quo. Since this group constitutes the leading edge of change, the conjunction of Saturn and Uranus will produce some within this group who are truly iconoclastic leaders who can be perceived as threatening by the prevailing leaders maintaining the status-quo.

The last conjunction took place at twenty-eight degrees of Taurus, and then reformed conjunctions in the early degrees of Gemini. In the Western world one of the primary vehicles through which the new social vision was, and still is, projected is music. Since the initial conjunction took place in Taurus, the original need, music itself was destined to be revolutionized. By having a repeating conjunction in Gemini following the original conjunction in Taurus, the revolution in music was destined to be spread far and wide; the new individual and social vision communicated in new ways through a new music. Some of the original iconoclastic leaders who presented this new individual and social vision, those who have the conjunction of Saturn and Uranus in Taurus or the early degrees of Gemini, include Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Janis Joplin, and Mick Jagger.

Of course the vehicle of music reflected the revolution that was taking place in personal and social values, sexual values, use of resource issues, individual and planetary (social) survival issues, procreational issues, economic issues (possessions necessary to effect survival), emotional security issues based on stability/instability dynamics (World War II was in place at the time of the conjunction), and emotional or physical dependencies versus self-reliance issues.

Since the social context of that time was World War II the conjunction of Saturn and Taurus SEEDED the necessary adjustments within the souls born into that time. These seeds began to also grow immediately as a consequence to the actual circumstances of that time: the atom bomb was born. The atom bomb was developed as a consequence of species survival; Oppenheimer, the original person who conceived the bomb, thought that if this device could be built and in the hands of a benevolent force, there would be no more wars. This 'invention' has radically altered human survival issues forever. The spin-off technologies that have followed from the original splitting of the atom have also had, and will continue to have, far reaching impacts relative to survival issues. The issue of what to do with nuclear waste itself has not been solved. The issue of how much national resource to use and dedicate to munitions development is still creating imbalances in overall resource allocation in many countries; the major players obviously being the USA and the USSR. The survival issue reflected itself during the War obviously, and after the war. Japan and Europe were devastated. The Jewish race and European Gypsies were subjected to the extermination policies and insanity of Hitler. The Soviet Union was utterly depleted. The South Pacific had to be rebuilt. The survival need led to the U.S. financing and policing the rebuilding of Japan, Europe, and the South Pacific; primarily the Philippines. The Soviet Union claimed Eastern Europe in order to have access to the material resources, and people resources, in order to rebuild itself and to survive as a dominant nation on Earth. The great volume of death produced from the War generated an accelerated birth of new souls; the "baby boom" of the late 1940's and early to mid-1950's: procreation linked with survival of the species.

The acceleration of the birth rate worldwide created its own survival issues relative to depletion of the soil, and the wholesale cutting down of forests, particularly the rain forests of the equatorial belt. This in turn has set in motion an acceleration of land that is becoming desert and progressively uninhabitable. Enough food can not be grown to feed the increasing population in already economically depressed areas. This combined with an imbalance in overall resource allocation, in the most powerful countries, leads to famine and death. This is actually a form of population control based on imbalance. Birth control devices are another, governmental regulations concerning procreation (China) is another, abortions yet another, and the increasing numbers of people who are becoming infertile in modern, sophisticated societies all reflect these survival issues from a procreational, and food producing point of view. It is interesting to note that the increasing infertility of peoples in complicated, sophisticated societies is based on the cumulative stress (Uranus) associated with the mainstream values that emphasize "getting ahead" with respect to status (Saturn) and monetary (Taurus) issues.

Survival issues are reflected and symbolized in our times by many things. Everything from the food (sustenance) we eat, to the fossil fuels (Taurus) that are used that are producing an accelerated heating in the atmosphere relative to the building up of carbon gases. This condition will ultimately radically alter the surface and climate of the Earth, as well as the living organisms that live on its surface. And isn't it interesting that our nearest neighbor, Venus (the planetary ruler of Taurus), empirically reflects the worst case scenarios of carbon gases in the atmosphere. Is there a message or signal in this symbolism?

The generation that was born with the Saturn/Uranus conjunction contains the SEED of the "new age". This new age is a direct consequence and necessity because of the above issues; and more. The seed germinated souls who have had radically different ideas concerning individual and social values, social structures, sexual values and lifestyles, inner-personal and outer-personal ways of relating, planetary and individual survival issues, etc. The opposition point to the original conjunction took place in the mid to late 1960's. At that time Uranus had transited Virgo to the sign Libra, Saturn moving from AQUARIUS through Taurus. Neptune was in Scorpio, Pluto in Virgo. The seed generation, and those who followed, had become late teenagers and adults at twenty-one years of age. It was this "flower power" and "free love" generation that radically altered modern societies everywhere with new visions, values, ideas, philosophies, lifestyles, music, appearances, and confrontational demands to change "the system". And, of course, the system reacted violently at first, only to succumb and assimilate the new ideas into the system itself. It was then that most of us heard of the dawning of the age of Aquarius.

As the new ideas, values, etc. became assimilated during the 1970's into mainstream culture they lost power, steam, and momentum. The generation that heralded the changes began to age. After the downfall of Nixon in the U.S., and the retreat from Vietnam, there was no immediate stimulus to maintain the energy and focus of what had occurred. Personal survival issues of the generation that brought in the new visions, beliefs, and values began to dominate as they started having children. This led to jobs versus being students or drifters. Jobs focused attention upon money issues because of the bills associated with the life of a householder and family, etc. etc. etc. Even at its height this "counterculture" revolution never constituted more than thirty percent of the total population. Yet, because this particular group of people was so powerful and dominant, the impact upon the traditional mainstream was pervasive; remember the psychedelic 7-Up billboards?, etc., etc. The waning tide of the "counterculture" thus allowed for the phenomena of the Reagan Era in the U.S., and increasing conservatism everywhere except in already existing conservative countries which have slowly been becoming more liberalized.

This has taken place since the original Saturn/Uranus conjunction reached a balsamic phase in November, 1980. At the same time Uranus was transiting the late degrees of Scorpio, Saturn the early degrees of Libra, Neptune the last degrees of Sagittarius, Pluto moving within the orbit of Neptune, and in Libra. The social consciousness reverted to the opposite extreme (Libra) of what had preceded it for economic (Scorpio) and philosophical (Sagittarius) reasons. Relative to context, this reversal of extremes lead to a mainstream collective need to reorientate to 'traditional' values, beliefs, customs, norms, and taboos. This collective mainstream reaction to the mid-1960's through the bulk of the 1970's was based upon many factors, factors which created a mainstream collective insecurity based on a uneasy sense of instability.

The collective instability was based on economic reasons, the revolution in relationship dynamics that occurred while Uranus had been in Libra, i.e. "free love", which led to accelerated divorce rates, women demanding to be treated as equals in all spheres of life, radical alterations in sexual lifestyles leading to new sexual diseases, and the growth of the sex industry which became accelerated when Uranus moved into Scorpio, following Neptune's movement through it. Neptune's passage through Sagittarius symbolized a massive growth in human freedom and human rights of all kinds, freedoms and rights that all peoples were intrinsically entitled too as long as they did not impinge on anyone else's rights. It also lead to massive growth in human freedom and human rights of all kinds, freedom and rights that all peoples were intrinsically entitled too as long as they did not impinge on anyone else's rights. It also lead to massive philosophical or religious idealism and extremism, the liberalization of the Roman Catholic Church, the increasing collective awareness of international interrelatedness which was enforced through economic confrontations (Uranus in Scorpio), shifts in economic power bases leading to trade shifts, and the transference of money to different groups internationally and domestically; the oil cartels of the Middle-East, the rise in Japan's economic power, the stability of the U.S. economy essentially dependent on "foreign" investment - this leading to a collective sense of becoming 'powerless' because of the undermining effect this produced - the acceleration in the merging of corporations in many countries, the redistribution of wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer, the acceleration in the inflation rate in many countries, and so forth. It is for this and many other similar dynamics that a collective insecurity and instability manifested.

Thus, as the Uranus/Saturn transit reached a balsamic condition in November, 1980 relative to the original conjunction in Taurus in 1942, the collective mainstream needed a sense of stability in many countries that had modern Western values and beliefs. Thus, a reaction leading to conservatism, traditional values, slogan's reflecting 'nationalism', patriotism, "new" economic philosophies, i.e. supply side economics, and beliefs. Thus, the U.S. elected Reagan, Canada elected Mulroney, England elected Thatcher, West Germany elected Kohl, Iran produced Khomeini which reflects the religious conservation of Islam, from a sectarian point of view, as reaction to Western values and beliefs which had been spreading throughout much of the traditional Islamic world, the political right returning to power in Australia, the Roman Catholic Church returning to conservative doctrines, and so on. Meanwhile, in countries that had been very conservative and authoritarian till this point in time, i.e. the prevailing sociological context, a mutation (the balsamic archetype) is manifesting in which a liberalization is underway, a liberalization reflecting the need for more freedom. This began to occur while Neptune was in Sagittarius, and accelerated since Uranus has transited the sign relative to the balsamic phase with Saturn. We see this now in China, South Korea, much of South America, the Soviet Union of all places, etc.

We could go on and on illustrating these dynamics. However, at this point in time, Saturn and Uranus are preparing to form another conjunction in November, 1988 at twenty-six to twenty-eight degrees of Sagittarius. As the balsamic condition of Saturn and Uranus gets closer and closer to this conjunction, all the issues mentioned, and many more, will come to a head and demand individual and collective decisions. Nuclear energy and waste issues, distribution of wealth issues, food and resource distribution issues, distribution of wealth issues, planetary survival issues relative to the atmosphere, ocean, and land, procreational issues, the proper use of technologies, planetary cooperation issues relative to political, philosophical, and religious differences - the need here is for the Sagittarius vision of unity in diversity, not unity in sameness - and the need for various groups within all societies and nations to allow for the INTRINSIC RIGHT of any group or person who has different ideas, beliefs, and values to exist so long as they are not trying to impose them on another group.

The conjunction of Saturn and Uranus in Sagittarius will set the social tone and focus for the next forty-six to forty-eight years. Immediately following this conjunction, the two planets will move into Capricorn until 1996. Uranus will transit into Aquarius, and Pluto into Sagittarius at that time. Neptune will transit into Aquarius in 1998. The conjunction heralds the need to elect political leaders who have a centrist vision will allow for unity in diversity, versus unity in sameness. The delusion of extremist agendas is the notion of stability and security in blind conformity, or imposed conformity to whatever the philosophical or religious basis is of the extremists agenda. This delusion will only promote increasing polarization of groups within national boarders who are not in conformity with the extremists agenda (i.e. the "new" age movement versus the religious fundamentalists), and internationally as the cry and delusion of nationalism polarizes the planet. The conjunction of Saturn/Uranus in Sagittarius means a liberation from such a delusive philosophy, and the raising of individual and collective consciousness in all lands through education; education that promotes a general (Sagittarius) awareness (Uranus) of the planetary survival issues (existing context) so that the status-quo (Saturn) can change with respect to new political leaders (Uranus/Saturn in Sagittarius) whose vision addresses all of this. If this happens, the future (Uranus) will preclude all the doomsday scenarios that most of us have been exposed too. If not, then the possibility of such scenarios manifesting will increase as Saturn and Uranus join Neptune in Capricorn, with Pluto being in Scorpio. If you doubt this simply read and review history when this pattern has been in place before. The great opportunity now (Saturn and Uranus in Sagittarius) is to LIBERATE from the cycle of history repeating itself. This opportunity exists because we are in the midst of AGES mutating; the Pisces Age becoming the Aquarian Age. Anytime Ages mutate, the opportunity to break from the previous cycle exists. The last time we had a mutation of Ages was when Jesus of Nazareth was on the planet. As he stated himself, he was here to usher in a New Age. Jesus, according to the rectified birthtime of Donald Jacob's who was a theologian and astrologer, had not only six planets in Pisces but the south node in Scorpio conjunct Neptune in the eleventh house, Sagittarius rising, with Saturn conjunct Uranus in Pisces. And, yes, Mercury was in Aquarius. Let us hope that this Aquarian, Sagittarius and Piscean vision becomes mainstream Capricorn reality so that the close of the Piscean Age can reflect Jesus' vision of the UNITY of all peoples in all lands!

[WCGreen]

7. My Mid life Crisis,

I ran for congress and gor my ass kicked...

But, It did open the door to a lot of possibilities and really opened my eyes for the next ten years......

[SOteric]

8. Happy Birthday.

I know, I know, getting old sucks. But it still beats all hell out of the alternative.

[Elidor]

9. Wow, thanks for the warm wishes, everyone

:) I truly expected (perhaps even hoped) that this one would sink like a rock.

I've spent the night tossing and turning and analyzing endlessly and gotten to the root causes of my anxiety. 1) I've always been poor, and I have no more 401K. I gotta start socking away some money for old age or resign myself to a grim future. 2) I've never had an adult relationship that was fulfilling and happy. I'm gonna fix that, too. 3) I've GOT to finish at least one of the three novels I'm writing or I'll lose my frigging mind.

Interesting stuff there, DagmarK. I'm pretty much a skeptic on astology, but I have had people draw up charts and tell me the kinds of things about myself that I never wanted them to know in the first place. I don't find it accurate at predicting future events, but there seems to be some kind of scary ability to plumb the depths of personality.

One of these days I'm going to remember to live every day like it's my birthday. You should, too. :party:

[LuLu550]

10. Happy birthday...

but I'm almost old enough to be your mom.
LuLu :toast: