Over the last few years, “2012” has become this thing, this concept loaded with cultural speculation and a touch of doomsday hysteria. I’m not sure when exactly it entered mass consciousness, but somewhere, somehow — perhaps the new age community is to blame — the collective latched onto this idea that we’re entering the end of time.
Humans have had a long history of getting worked up about an apocalypse that never comes. With the Mayan calendar allegedly ending on December 21, 2012, the more fearful began to wonder what was going to happen on December 22. Personally I don’t think the end of a 26,000 year cycle means the apocalypse; I don’t take stock in dire predictions. But I do think the world is shifting gears. Does astrology support the idea that we’re on the precipice of something massive? Let’s take a look.
The Astrology of 2012
It’s hard to fully appreciate the planetary aspects of this year without the context of previous ones. Like chapters in a book, 2012 doesn’t fully read unless you flip the pages back to 2008, a year that marked a significant turning point on our histories. That was the year that Pluto entered Capricorn — the sign of government and structure. The following year, Saturn entered Libra and then Uranus into Aries.
All these outer planet moving into Cardinal signs created a shift in the seasons and it was as if we slammed hard into winter. Banks failed. Governments toppled. Riots in the street. Chaos. If we are waiting for some sort of end, it already happened. We’re in the new galactic calendar whether we realized it or not. This shift in energy continues and the following astrological events are at the forefront of 2012:
NEPTUNE IN PISCES
By far one of the marquee events of this year is Neptune’s entry into Pisces on February 3rd. The Neptune cycle is a 160 year cycle. I’ve touched on this in a previous post and podcast, but it’s worth repeating that Neptune in its home sign of Pisces will make for a huge shot of Neptune into the collective. Music, art, unity consciousness, compassion, and spirituality with be highlighted just as much as deception, illusions, and escapism. Despite Neptune’s less savory predilections, this is a softer energy that will round out the harsh realities of Pluto in Capricorn. Or maybe it’s that we’ll be reaching for the bottle that much more.
URANUS SQUARE PLUTO
This is the other marquee even for 2012. For those not drowning their sorrows at the pub, this is going to be another revolutionary year as Uranus in Aries makes the first square to Pluto in Capricorn on June 24th. This is the opening square (90 degrees) of a conjunction (0 degrees) that occurred in the mid-1960s. Wondering why lately everyone is protesting and taking to the streets? Uranus square Pluto! This is the next phase in an energy born four decades ago — this is the crisis phase. The world built upon the ideals and revolutions of the 60s is coming up for review. What did we learn? What is working? What is not? And with Uranus in Aries, it’s about individualism as much as it is the collective.
SATURN IN SCORPIO — SATURN/PLUTO MUTUAL RECEPTION
Another major astrological event in 2012 is Saturn’s entry into Scorpio on October 5th, forcing us to take a hard look at our finances, debt, what we share, and whom we share it with. What I find interesting about this ingress is the mutual reception between Saturn in Scorpio in Pluto in Capricorn. In astrology, a mutual reception is where two planets are in each other signs, creating this strong dialogue between the two that will dominate the last quarter of 2012. It is said that a mutual reception is like having each planet in its own sign as well as the other. Pluto in Scorpio? Saturn in Capricorn? Is it suddenly going to feel like the mid to late 1980s again? AIDS crisis? Stock market crash? Shoulder pads?? One can speculate.
Want to learn more? I interviewed evolutionary astrologer Dena DeCastro to get her thoughts on the astrology of 2012.
Intuitive Feelings on 2012
2012 feels like a boiling point. There is this sense of preparation, of movement, and continued shifts. The new age community talks a lot of ascension and 5th dimensional energy. I can’t speak to these concepts — there are channels who do it far more eloquently — but I can tell you what it feels like and what I’ve observed. I’ve seen an increasing rift between those who are on their path and getting their work done and those who have avoided making necessary changes in their lives.
Things feel like they are falling apart, deconstructing, and reforming. There are those who are taking this in stride and those who feel like it’s the end of the world. That’s what I meant by a growing rift. It’s more important than ever to stay grounded and a point of calm in the midst of the growing energetic storm.
Acceleration is another aspect to this time that none of us can deny. It’s as if we’re living whole lifetimes, or the emotional equivalent, in mere months. I can barely remember 2011, but I know a lot of ground was covered, like a car speeding along a highway. And I think we’re being called upon in greater ways to express our mastery. This feels like a big test for the collective and there are those moving onto the next level as well as those who are having to go back and refine.
It all boils down to integrity. How are we in integrity with our souls? How do our beliefs and words match our actions?
Y2K12
Compared to the mainstream hype, 2012 is going to feel like a non-event; That I feel confident in predicting. We’ll wake on the morning of December 22nd, wondering what the big deal was, most of us returning to our steady diet of high-fructose corn syrup and cable news.
But something is happening. People are beginning to wake up, make changes. We can’t deny that the old ways are crumbling. Maybe this is what the Mayans predicted all along. Maybe it’s the steady hammering of Pluto in Capricorn. Maybe it’s the culmination of four years of unprecedented astrological formations. It all still seems abstract because we don’t have the luxury of time to give us the necessary perspective. But things are slowly coming into focus, measured against the rise in earth changes and structures collapsing.
Maybe 2012 is the year where it all starts to finally make sense.