Astrology of the Noughties

This post is inspired from a fascinating TV programme currently being aired on BBC titled "The History of Now: The Story of the Noughties" and as such much of what is written here is borrowed from that.  Astrology of course is much easier in hindsight, but nevertheless the decade was very interesting as it was marked by two main themes - the striving for youthfulness and polarisations.

The Astrology of societal change (and generations) is attributed to the outer planets - these being Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  Uranus began the decade in Aquarius (moving into Pisces in mid 2003), Neptune spent the whole time in Aquarius and Pluto spent the majority of it in Sagittarius.  The interesting thing to note here is that they are all reaching the end of their cycles and hence there are themes of 'socialisation' or the 'you out there'.  The enigma that is Chiron (orbits between Saturn and Uranus) traversed from Sagittarius to Aquarius.  The last planet we can see with the naked eye (Saturn) and hence a boundary setter conversely traversed through the opposite end of the zodiac from Taurus through to Libra or 'the me in here' (more on that later).

The outer planets share a common theme which is youthfulness (Aquarius and Sagittarius) that has been dubbed 'kidulthood'.  We have seen entertainment devices for adults (i.e. toys for big kids) and a huge technology boom brought by the proliferation of the internet.  A 'free' entertainment culture also emerged - free music, videos, entertainment and news.  Socialising seems to happen 'technically' these days.  These are all themes attributed to Uranus/Neptune in Pisces and Aquarius.  The .com boom started the decade with huge technology companies being run by very smart and technically savvy 'students'.  The 'you out there' has been an ever expanding bubble of global awareness best summed up by Tony Blair when he said 'I want us to be a young country again'.

The 'me in here' has been standing in full opposition and awareness of all this.  The decade showed us three major planetary oppositions starting with Pluto opposing Saturn in the beginning (crises of faith and belief), Saturn opposing Neptune mid period (dissolution of structure) and Saturn opposing Uranus towards the end (polarising old and new ways).  The decade brought global awareness but also division between young and old and of course 'boom and bust' characterised by these oppositions and Sagittarius and Pisces.  Despite the global village feel the age divide shows as a fear of interacting across generations - there is a smell of rebellion in the air as the young contemplate the mess they've been left with.

If the last decade has been concerned with oppositions astrologically then the next will be squares - i.e. pronounced and sharp challenge (the majority of which will occur in the beginning period).  Of course, not all this is negative.  This is an era where true 'faith' could spring - born of the ashes of establishment structures that we have outworn.  Neptune and Chiron travel Pisces throughout the next decade so perhaps the message is that the global village also includes your friend, relative and next door neighbour.


Picture copyright Henry Hingst