The Great Transition

It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.

Thomas Fuller

In 1614, German astronomer Johannes Kepler suggested that a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn may be what was referred to as the “Star of Bethlehem” in the Nativity story, while others have suggested that the “three wise men” could have been a triple conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. But it’s unknown if the “Christmas Star” was a real astronomical event, like a planetary conjunction or a comet. However, whether you believe the Nativity story or not, something significant happened on December 21, 2020.

During my evening walks, since I wrote apo-Kālī-pto in June 2020, I’ve been tracking Jupiter and Saturn move closer to each other. It’s been quite a fascinating experience to witness this once-in-a-lifetime event of the skies and its effect on earth. But why is this a once-in-a-lifetime experience? How does it affect us?

Today, as I write this blog, I see Jupiter and Saturn—the two largest planets in our solar system—only 0.06° apart and appear as one bright “Christmas Star.”

Saturn and Jupiter’s orbits bring the planets into alignment once every 20 years or so—a rare event that the astronomers call as the “Great Conjunction.” However, this year’s event is exceptionally rare and once-in-a-lifetime experience, as you’d have to go all the way back to the Middle Ages—just before dawn on March 4, 1226—to see a closer alignment that is visible as a “double planet.”

Interestingly, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is happening in the first degree of Aquarius—an air element sign. Jupiter and Saturn have a pattern of forming their conjunctions in the same element for approximately two hundred years. So, roughly every 200 years, it transitions from one element to the other. A rough guide to the elemental cycle dates is given below:

• Air: 1186 CE – 1405 CE
• Water: 1365 CE – 1643 CE
• Fire: 1603 CE – 1821 CE
• Earth: 1802 CE – 2000 CE
• Air: 1980 CE – 2199 CE

Note that the elemental cycle dates have overlapping periods of transition from one elemental sign to the next due to the apparent retrograde motion of the planets. Though the transition from earth element to air element started in 1980, after the “Great Conjunction” in Dec 21, 2020 we now have completely transitioned into the air element.

Strangely enough, along with this once-in-a-lifetime “Great Conjunction” cycle another 400 year cycle called “Grand Solar Minimum” has come into effect. Scientists say the Sun may be going through a long period of decreased activity known as the Modern Grand Solar Minimum from 2020 to 2053. The last time such an event occurred was during the Maunder Minimum—from 1645 CE to 1710 CE, which was part of what is now known as the Little Ice Age—when Earth went through a series of elongated cold periods during the medieval centuries.

The intertwining of the 20 year “Great Conjunction” cycle with the 400 year “Grand Solar Minimum” cycle and the 800 year elemental cycle on December 21, 2020 will gradually bring about a great transition—a major shift in world order, science and technology, spirituality and religion, consumption patterns, finance, and almost every other aspect of our personal lives that’ll eventually compel us to evolve, so that we’re more aligned to the cycles of time. I explore a few key areas below:

1. World Order & Politics – The world will gradually transition from a world order driven by a combination of crony capitalism, corrupt democracies, and neofascism, and move toward a concept of “responsible” socialism. Mass protests and emergence of new leaders espousing “social justice” will trigger abolishment of oppressive laws and new laws will be enacted that provide greater liberties and rights for individuals. Government interventions will ensure that everyone is treated equally and taken care of regardless of financial status. People will collaborate locally and globally using digital means and exchange resources by leveraging blockchain-based smart supply chains. Hegemonic governments will gradually lose their influence and a cluster of Nation states will rise with distribution of power based on their military might and contribution to the global economy. Global defense expenditures have increased steadily since the late 1990s, topping $1.9 trillion last year. These trends are likely to continue going forward until the Nation states agree amongst themselves to create a one world government for greater collaboration and economic progress.
2. Climate & Environment – The Grand Solar Minimum is buying us some time to take care of mother nature. Humanity will gradually move away from using fossil fuels to using renewables. Governments will levy carbon taxes to enterprises and individuals failing to meet the emission norms and tax credits for switching to clean energy. Investment into renewables will continue to grow as divestment from fossil-fuels will become widespread.
3. Food – In 2011, dacha gardens of Russia produced 40% of the nations food. More and more Russians are looking for dacha country plots to beat soaring food prices. Triggered by the global food crisis, this will become a worldwide trend. Humanity will continue to explore more sustainable methods of growing organic food. Government interventions will restrict slaughtering of animals as environmental concerns, health expenditure, and animal welfare take centerstage. More and more governments will continue to approve lab-grown meat for consumption.
4. Health – Humanity will gradually start realizing that an “unnatural” way of living is the primary cause of physical, emotional, and mental health challenges. People will want to eat a healthy diet, one that is less intensive (and wasteful) of resources. Increasing emergence of localism, wholefoods, organic, artisanal, and “real food” movements will continue to grow. Our diets may be more vegetables, fruit, whole grains, new alternatives (e.g. soya products and lab-grown meat), and less fried and sugary things. Technology would further disrupt disease. Tiny robotic endovascular catheters will address clots and tumors from the inside out. Wearable health devices will continuously feed in data from external sensors and networked neural sensors meshed into the brain will offer incredibly precise ‘micro-sampling’ to be done in real time. The days of patients dying while they wait for an organ donor will soon be over too. Organs, tissues, and supporting structures like bones or ligaments will be biologically 3D-printed on demand. Rates of traumatic injury will continue to decline as driverless cars and robot workers for risky tasks are introduced. Toward the end of the century medical healing would be accomplished using waves.
5. Banking & Finance – Transition from the heaviness of earth sign to the lightness of the air sign will trigger significant changes in banking and finance. The faster (lighter) cryptocurrencies will gradually replace slow moving (heavier) fiat currencies. Eventually, cryptocurrencies will take over as the preferred payment method given the advantages of speed, security, minimal cost, and “relevance in the digital era.” With regulatory support, their appeal and adoption will increase and eventually replace cash, given the desire of governments and banks to move to a cashless society. DeFi (Decentralized Finance) will expand the use of blockchain from simple value transfer to more complex financial use cases. Smart contracts will replace financial intermediaries thereby increasing speed, security, and flexibility of financial transactions and decreasing cost to a significant extent.
6. Science & Technology – The Sun will be acknowledged as the prime source of manifested energy for our solar system. It’ll be established that all energy that we receive on earth is emitted from the sun in the form of electromagnetic waves. The “wave theory” will be discovered. It’ll be established that five different types of waves (sound, heat, light, atomic, and olfaction) combine and re-combine in different ways to produce the five gross elements—earth (combination of all five waves), water (combination of sound, heat, light, and atomic waves), fire (combination of sound, heat, and light waves), air (combination of sound and heat waves), and ether (consisting of only sound waves)—that make up the gross universe perceived by the senses. Scientists will draw inspiration from ancient spiritual scriptures to understand the nature and properties of waves, Higgs field, and dark matter. The boundaries and obstacles of exploring other planets, satellites, and asteroids will disappear. The boundary between science and spirituality will begin to disappear. Everything will become a “wave movement.” Scientists will begin to realize that the differences between manifestations of matter and the spirit are differences in frequency; everything is the manifestation of the one single, prime source.
7. Spirituality and Religion – The great teachers of this age will abolish all boundaries between the three dominant religions; the inner core of all religions is one and the same truth, one and the same God. Religion will gradually give way to Spirituality—of finding the light within; of finding the happiness that arises from the serenity of one’s own mind.

This is a time of great transition to a new dawn. This is the darkest hour just before we see the light. In the darkest of hours, Krishna gave us The Bhagavad Gita, Buddha showed us the middle path, Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins, Muhammad gave us the words of god, and many more saints who followed showed us the way.

May the darkest of hours not drown you in fear, anxiety, sorrow, or anger. May the darkest of hours light your soul and help you find the God within. May the grace of God flow through you. May you find the light of dawn in your heart.

Wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Think only of me. Have faith in me. Worship me.
You cannot fail to find me.
I love you, so I promise you this.

— The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, verse 65