The Worst of Times, and The Conceit of Facing The End of the World

"It is a form of vanity to imagine you are living in the worst of times--there have always been worse. In bad times and heavy seas, the natural fear is that things will get worse, and never better. It's a jolt to a Western, instinctively progressive mind, trained to think of history as ascendant--like the stock market, like housing prices--to find trends running in the other direction." Lance Morrow, from Smithsonian Magazine; June 2011 p 94.
These are not the worst of times. For instance, have we considered light, lately? Leave the city at night, go far into the country on a two lane road. Frighteningly, only your headlights penetrate a few yards ahead of you, and to the side...all the rest is pitch-black! The real nature of earth, is darkness. Well, we do have light, we have rescue teams, we have abundant, even if tainted, food and drink. We have too many of us, but at the same time, we no longer have conscription, or the rack. There is so much ease in our modern world, that our worst of times moments,like tornadoes and earthquakes, and lack of new industries, are so much more shocking because of all the comforts that we have made in our era. Who have we become, that we cannot make more? Or do it differently?
In all the yammering of the what-about-2012--there is nothing astrologically to show that anything will really be spectacular, will truly change, or will actually--end. Calendars cycle over and over, planets do too. Occasionally, they cluster all in one place, or scatter in random, or beautifully symmetrical patterns. The patterns are endless, yet don't end. They repeat. In takes thousands of years, or only six months for some of the repetitions, but they are there. So are we, repetitions and clusters and scatters. We cluster for common principles and goals, we scatter over the same things, but are we random? Do we, in fact, have value? or Values?
Coming out of the great Aries cluster of planets from the Spring of 2011, we enter a more random, typical phase in planets, where space is appearing between Venus and Mars, Jupiter and Uranus, the Sun and Moon. Those spaces are for breathing, observing, becoming calm after so much compressed energy. We can shake out our fears now, for a few months, as the buzzing of such proximity in protons releases its magnetic grasp; for isn't fear just pressure?
Where is life? Opportunity? Jobs?
The great conjunction was in the most eminently creative sign of the Zodiac.
The beginning one--only has one message--get going, move it out, start it up.
We missed the gold buying moments... that was when Saturn entered the sign of gold, in 2005! through 2007. Then, came the realization that we can't feed on gold, we have to make food. Saturn in the sign of agriculture, 2007-2009. And where are we now?
In relationship. Find your partners. Gold needs buyers, farmers need consumers, and all of us, must relate to each other. The Age of Aquarius is upon us,
not the worst of times, but a populous time. It will be ascending in order of friendliness. A friend for every whim, for every mood, for every dance. That is what too many people can bring.