The purpose of this document is to discuss the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius in order to understand the influences of these two sidereal ages on our day-to-day lives.

Actually, astrology reveals to us the influence celestial bodies have on our personal destinies. They also exert a great influence on our lives as a global community.

On the cosmic level, we know that twelve constellations cut across the zodiac. These make up the natural zodiac; they do not move and they always remain in the same place around the zodiac.

However, because of a particular movement of the Earth's pole, the Sun crosses the Equator at a slightly different point every year. With the passing years, this point shifts from one degree approximately every 72 years and shifts signs approximately every 2,156 years. This movement is called precession of the equinoxes. A complete cycle lasts around 25,868 years. At the end of each cycle, there is complete synchronisation between each sign and each constellation.

Some people debase astrology, claiming that astrological signs do not exactly correspond with constellations. Nonetheless, as we have just described, this is a normal phenomenon of great importance that can be explained from the astrological viewpoint.

Therefore, every 2,156 years, a new age begins. From 498 AD to the year 2,654, the spring equinox occurs in the Pisces constellation. Consequently, we are technically in the Age of Pisces. It should be pointed out, however, that an age's influence is strongly felt around 500 to 800 years before the exact juxtaposition of the signs and constellations. Therefore, the coming of Christ into this world inaugurated the Age of Pisces.

In this document, we briefly describe the Age of Pisces, along with the Age of Aquarius that is already influencing us as it is about to dawn upon us soon.

The Age of Pisces

The symbol of fish indeed serves to interpret the Age of Pisces. This age's influence has lasted for at least two thousand years. Here are some examples.

Christ named his disciples "Fishers of Men", alluding to fish, to fishing.

He was born, the Bible says, of a Virgin, the Virgo being the opposite sign of Pisces. Let us also point out that the sign of Virgo is also associated with the wheat head, immaculately white. Indeed, Christ nourished the multitude of people who followed Him with fish and bread.

Some Western religions (Catholicism, among others) have been spread by celibate priests who wanted to remain chaste and pure as the wheat head. These priests devoted themselves to the worship of the Virgin. This very clergy enjoined us to eat fish instead of meat on Fridays.

The pope still wears a mitre, which is in the shape of a fish.

The sign of Pisces is a sign of sacrifice, charity, mercy, compassion and pardon. The entire Christian religion therefore strives in this way. The annual religious period that corresponds to the sign of Pisces is Lent, a period of sacrifice.

The fish was also the symbol of the early Church. Its shape was used in the catacombs in order to identify the first Christians. In this respect, "Ichtus", a Greek word, represented a fish. The first Christians made an ideogram out of it: that is, they took each letter of the word "I-c-h-t-u-s" to form other words related to Christ, "Iesus Christus Theou Uios Sôter". This expression can be translated into "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour".

According to the Bible, Christ transformed water into wine. It was a miraculous event. The sign of Pisces is a water sign.

Sitting with His disciples at His last supper, He took bread and wine and said: "This is my body, this is my blood". Since then, bread and wine are served as sacrifice during mass, and the priest receives communion under both kinds; during mass, he elevates wine and the white, pristine host, along with the chalice.

Christ often pronounced His teachings alongside a lake. Remember the miraculous draught of fishes: there again, a multitude of fish was caught by His disciples.

Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan river. Today, newborn babies are still baptized with water. According to Tertullian, a Latin priest who lived in the second century after Jesus Christ, a Christian born of baptismal waters is compared to a small fish, to the image of Christ Himself. For Tertullian, baptism is as essential to a Christian as water is to a fish.

Also to be mentioned here is the Holy Water, available in churches, with which Christians cross themselves. Again, the importance of water is obviously present in the Church's liturgy; this is easily understandable because the sign of Pisces is a water sign. Still today, priests sprinkle Christians who accompany them with Holy Water.

The sign of Pisces is associated with Neptune, with faith and divinity. During the Age of Pisces, all humanity was invited to believe in God. The lives of martyrs, strong believers, were ended in the worst tortures, as a proof of their faith.

The sign of Pisces is also associated with the sacred sites and sanctuaries that attract crowds of Christians who come to pray. Finally, a sign of divinity, of faith and also of heresy, the sign of Pisces is associated with religious conflicts and crusades, which notably occurred in the Middle Ages. The "Enemies" were called "infidels", in other words, "those who were not of our faith". Christians then fought against enemies under the pretense that they did not share their religious convictions. These crusades were headed by pious, faithful, well-intentioned knights, all keyed up by religious fervour.

Since the Age of Pisces is not yet over, we still feel its effects: in fact, religious wars are still raging on in the world, although this phenomenon will progressively disappear as we are influenced by the Age of Aquarius.

The sign of Pisces also corresponds to the twelfth house of the zodiac, house of prayer, of reclusion. During the Age of Pisces, we witnessed the creation of monasteries: for a greater part, the lives of monks and members of numerous religious communities consisted of meditation and praying to God. There were even cloistered religious communities whose members refused any contact with the outside world, preferring to devote themselves to spiritual activities.

The influence of the sign of Pisces, which represents reclusion, has also manifested itself in other similar concepts. For instance, purgatory or hell are both reclusive areas where the soul cannot communicate with God.

In fact, the sign of Pisces is the symbol of forgiveness, of secrecy, of reclusion. This is why, for centuries, Christians have confessed their sins, in secret, in a reclusive place (a confessional). It was the sacrament of pardon.

The sign of Pisces is also associated with mercy: this is why Christians often asked God to have mercy on them. The "Kyrie Eleison" was in fact sung ("Lord, have mercy upon us") at mass on Sundays.

Let us also point out that the feet are the body parts associated with the sign of Pisces, therefore symbolizing pilgrims on their journeys and missionaries who travelled to far-away lands to spread Christian faith. To undertake a smaller-scale pilgrimage in their own area, people could always pray at the twelve Stations of the Cross in churches. Besides, on Maundy Thursdays, a special ceremony is devoted to the washing of the feet of a dozen of the faithful by the Pope and by priests in their own parishes.

The Age of Pisces was, in fact, a very spiritual one. The Pope is recognized as a spiritual leader, infallible, to whom we have to obey and in whom, along with God, we have to believe.

Finally, let us point out that Venus, the planet of love, is exalted in the sign of Pisces: this is an influence of the message of love from Jesus Christ who died on the cross to redeem us, out of His love for us. He also taught us to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

The Age of Aquarius

As previously seen, technically speaking, around the year 2,654, we will experience the Age of Aquarius to its maximum. Until then, we will feel its influence increasingly.

It is an age characterized by technical progress, by technology, by spectacular inventions: printing, media, medication, internal combustion engines, automobiles, airplanes, rockets, electricity, electric lights, water heaters, telephones, radios, televisions, movies, photography, photocopiers, fax machines, watches, clocks, radars, telecommunications, Internet, information super-highways, satellites, high-tech household appliances, voice mail, answering machines, microwave ovens, computers, compact discs, CD-ROMs, magnetic cards, smart cards, automatic teller machines (ATMs), walkmans, stereo systems, tape recorders, video cassette recorders, headphones, projectors and more.

Americans have even sent an astronaut to the moon. Our world no longer has any frontiers. In a certain way, we have gained a particular freedom that transcends the limits of space and time.

The influence of this age has also brought us the atomic bomb, divorce...

Scientists will take over from priests. We are already in a society based upon knowledge, information and communication. Soon, we will come to know real universal fraternity.

The sign opposite Aquarius is the sign of Leo. This indicates to us that we must focus our efforts in the pursuit of excellence, perfection and mutual respect. During the Age of Aquarius, Man will really be the King of Creation, in the image of his Creator.

Our New Challenges

We are currently being influenced by the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius. In fact, we are progressively leaving the Age of Pisces and progressively entering the Age of Aquarius. We are therefore in a position midway between these two astrological ages.

The greatest challenge we will have to face is of a moral order. Indeed, we are leaving a period that lasted two thousand years, during which our spiritual lives were dictated by religious authorities.

The influence of religions will lose ground in favour of personal moral standards. The problem is that we will need to make an effort to develop these new standards, for we will be engulfed in a technological world, as previously seen in the description of the Age of Aquarius. It will not be easy to build new moral standards; they will have to be personal and adapted to the new circumstances of life.

Religious dogma will be replaced by laws. Christian charity intended for the individual will be gradually replaced with services to the population, provided by public service workers. These new services will be controlled by laws and regulations. In short, everything will be provided for, but in a public, secular way. Already, in several countries, health care, social services, education, etc. are provided by the State.

In short, the State will increasingly acquire more importance at the expense of the churches. The State will also increasingly regulate our activities. Morally speaking, we will develop moral standards whose foundations will be based, for instance, on a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Christian symbols (like Holy Water, for instance) will take on much less importance. Already, these days, few people go to Sunday service, and when we are in desperate need for money in order to survive, we increasingly turn first to social welfare, which is provided by the State.

Your Mission on Earth

It is certainly appropriate to ask ourselves why we were born and what our mission is on earth. In this respect, the Age of Pisces and the Age of Aquarius can shed light on this for us. In fact, we are currently in the Age of Pisces, while being influenced by the Age of Aquarius.

The influence of the Age of Pisces invites us to show love, goodness, mercy, compassion and generosity towards our fellow human beings. In this respect, Jesus said to His apostles: "Love your neighbours as yourselves". Moreover, the Lord's prayer encourages us to "ask God to forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us".

What is more, the influence of the Age of Aquarius invites us to show altruism and favour scientific, systematic or technological solutions. Those whose careers will be specialized in these fields will certainly be at an advantage.

The influence of the Age of Aquarius also started at the time of the French Revolution. The popular slogan at that time was "freedom, equality, fraternity", three values that have influenced us since then. In fact, what matters is to establish our freedom in a positive and constructive way, respecting the opinions and rights of others. Equality among humans is another objective to reach, notably in the economic world, which implies everybody having the same advantages and almost the same purchasing power. Universal fraternity is, finally, another important objective to reach, in order to end wars and conflict among people and nations. Actually, Uranus is associated with the sign of Aquarius. Sir William Herschel, an astronomer, discovered this planet in 1781, a few years before the French Revolution. At the same time, Uranus was transiting the sign of Leo associated with the Sun and France. Uranus itself is a symbol of sudden changes, progress, etc.

To love oneself and others:

The Age of Aquarius invites us to elevate our souls through love of our fellow man and to take the scientific and technological means at hand to improve our comfort and well-being. Hence, Man shall fully achieve his role on Earth by asserting himself as the King of Creation, attaining self-fulfillment and self-control, and controlling nature.

From an astrological point of view, two values represented by two opposite signs (and two planetary positions) are the focus of the Age of Aquarius: the Sun in Leo and Uranus in Aquarius. The Sun in Leo invites us to take care of ourselves, love ourselves and fully develop all our talents. Uranus in Aquarius invites us to show altruism and love others.

These two values (self-love and love of others) are not irreconcilable. Actually, we are encouraged to enjoy a just part of the benefits and joys of life in tune with ourselves and others. A fair balance is to be reached between one's aspirations and needs and those of others. In the centuries to come, such fair balance should easily lead us down the path to happiness.

In short, these two ages invite us to broaden our souls by showing love towards our fellow human beings and by taking the available scientific and technological means to improve our well-being and comfort. Therefore, Man will fully realize his role on earth by establishing himself as the King of Creation, by fulfilling himself, by being in control of himself and nature.

References

This article is based on Rosicrucian teachings. For more information, you may refer to the book written by Max and Augusta Foss Heindel, entitled The Message of the Stars (Chapter 1). You may also refer to another book by Max Heindel entitled Simplified Scientific Astrology (Part II), under the caption Intellectual Zodiac.

Acknowledgements

• Benedict Elie (author) benedict600@hotmail.com
• Aimée Le Breton (translator) acdaimee@hotmail.com
• Published by COSMIC PATTERNS SOFTWARE kepler@astrosoftware.com

AUTHOR: Benedict Elie