Revisiting Mythic Times 2012 By Steve Nelson

The Shift Doctors (Tracy Latz, M.D. & Marion Ross, Ph.D.) were  thrilled to have our good friend and guest blogger Steve Nelson share his wisdom. His annual prediction was always a delight to read and a good indication of what to expect in the coming year. Steve was an astrologer who followed a Jungian mythological tradition. He was raised by a part Cherokee shaman Aunt Maude who learned much of her lore from Molly Runningwolf, the mother of Amanita Sequoyah, the last Cherokee medicine man officially recognized by the Eastern Tribe. Steve’s Indian name was Steven Red Wolf, his lineage is of the wolf clan, one of the 7 tribal groups of the Cherokee. Steve followed many of the Cherokee traditions especially as these relate to celebrations, the use of ritual fire and star lore. Since his passing he has been sorely missed by all who followed his teachings, participated in his celebrations, and enjoyed his signature hugs and the joy in his laughter – today we bring back one of his most powerful posts that seems even more applicable today than it did in 2012.

Mythic Times 2012

In 2012 the Feathered Serpent will fly, and all our souls’ dream visions come alive.

Through power of the One, two plus two sum shines the light of the 5th World’s Re-Creation.

Quintessence, 5th element, philosopher’s stone are realized when this movement is done.

In the 12th year of century Twenty-One, the World Woman’s magic dance is done.

New Zeus opposed Saturn at New Year will bring the Fall of the Tower, Return of the King.

The great shaking of Gaia opens the way calling Heart Warriors into the fray.

As Candlemas fires stir hearts desire the Dragon awakens from its lair,

And Anduril, Aragorn’s sword of truth, frees the Spirit King forsooth.

Dragon Fire rises ‘neath Lenten Moon tamed by the magic of Othala’s rune;

Energy flows where attention goes, we seek Love’s kingdom, end of woes.

So the Light of the dawning Equinox Sun raises the Serpent of Tenochtitlan,

And the Dark Tower falls to the rising Star of the Occupy legions’ Avatar

While Grand Trine to Sun in Aries portends bright new beginnings as hearts make amends.

Moon joining the Sun will open the way for all to make merry in month of May.

Souls attuned in this Year of the Moon see wishes fulfilled in the month of June.

Then Medicine Wheels of every clime, begin to turn at Solstice time.

With cymbals, drums and flutes in tune happiness rises with Midsummer’s Moon.

The Phoenix alights in the City of the Sun, as Mother Nature’s work is done;

The 12 Tribe Nations of Inca awaken to the way of Sol so long forsaken;

And great Europa will likewise resound as the Song of the West makes its round.

The hearts of All Nations open too as the light of Sol is reflected true;

So this White Horse Avatar Year will bring a song that every soul can sing;

And 7th ray magic dance and play on waters of Luna to show the way.

Liberty shines from her Island of Love as hearts attune to the Sign of the Dove;

And the Green Dragon led by a Fair Lady’s girdle, brings power to the golden City of Myrtle.

The Crown Stone forgotten, chief of the corner, is revealed now in grain fields, Gaia’s rejoinder.

As the Stymphalian birds that shaded the Sun give way to the glory of the One.

Then the Eagles return with the gay folk of old calling Souls of all ages back to the fold,

And the Ring War ends in the halls of power through gentle hands by wind and shower.

As Light and Love and Power unite, the new Creation comes round right.

At Solstice the Feathered Serpent will fly and all our souls’ dream visions come alive.

– Steve Nelson

 

Mythic Times 2012 World View

This is the year that has long been looked toward with hope and foreboding and rightly so. The good in us is right to be hopeful and the old world shadow has reason for concern. An array of myths apply to this time so it is no easy task to see what will be. And in the end isn’t it true that what will be is part fixed cycle and part what we choose. Collectively we create the future and this is our time (especially now Jan 1 – Feb 3) to see possibility and to seed what will be.

The Yuletide season is our time to dream and shape the future year. The year is seeded at a deep inner level during the Capricorn solstice (Dec 18-24). The New Year unfolds more consciously its theme and story through the 12 Days of Yule / Christmas Dec 26-Jan 6 and the reflection wave that follows Jan 7 – 18. Dreams and events of this time provide guidance for the coming year. The images we give concerted attention will come to be.

On New Year’s Eve people throughout the world tuned in to Times Square to listen to the count down and watch the giant crystal ball descend from its 77′ height. “Friendship” is the message inscribed in this year’s Crystal Ball. Our Friend Ship is this precious Earth vessel in which we sail the universe together. By the close of this year we and our beloved planet will experience a shift into a new state of global consciousness that esoteric teachings term Initiation. New York City has an important role to play in this great awakening.

Jan 6, Epiphany, celebrates the birth of the new Aeon, child of the new year. A year begins on many levels, The 2012 zeitgeist or time spirit is empowered emotionally when the Lunar New Year of the Dragon begins on Jan 24. The year begins on the natural outer world level when the Sun enters Aries and the zodiacal year begins March 20-25.

2012 begins with the great benefic planet Jupiter, the new king, rising in opposition to the malefic old world king Saturn. It’s no longer business as usual as Jupiter moves forward from the pivotal first degree of Taurus bringing a great turn of fortune to those allied with the newly emerging celestial forces. The kings of the old order and the new in mystic triangle with oceanic Neptune activate the realization of global prophecies. Uranus (the higher octave of Mercury) aligns with Jupiter adding an extraordinary magic to this cosmic mix: the wizard Gandalf comes to the aid of the newly emerging king. Magical Mercury’s foray through the underworld (Out of Bounds South) Jan 7-20 represents Gandalf the Gray’s battle with the Balrog dragon and fall into the abyss from which he emerges as Gandalf the White. Our understanding of shadow forces is sharpened in preparation for the global transformation slated for the end of winter and beginning of spring.

Venus Evening Star/Hesperus conducts us into 2012. Hesperus refers to the Hesperides where the golden apple tree of Venus grows. Evening Star Venus is also called Venus Cerridwen to honor the original Queen of the Apple Isle. Cerridwen keeps a Cauldron of Inspiration, rebirth and healing that is the original Holy Grail. Inspirational Venus chi is gathered by raising left palm toward her light and holding right palm over the hara chi center below the navel. Breathe deeply to absorb the subtle energies of Venus.

Uranus is the global revolutionary, Venus Hesperus shapes this revolution. Benefic Jupiter in harmonic relation with Uranus now brings a favorable turn of fortune for the year. Jupiter is the king and order of things, Evening Venus transforms the king and brings forth the true king. Venus and Jupiter/Uranus together open new dimensions of creative expression and discovery.

The Mayans saw Evening Star Venus as the sundog Xolotl sitting in a caldron “pushing the Sun into healing darkness.” Long held secrets are revealed, heroes and kings are healed, leaders change or remove from the scene when Venus Xolotl is seen. So begins this prophetic year 2012.

The Mayans know Morning Star Venus as Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent. The “flying of the Feathered Serpent” predicts a time when America comes to full life and spiritual expression. When does the Feathered Serpent fly? When Venus rises before the Sun in a special time at the end of this great year. Venus becomes Morning Star again soon after her mythic Transit of the Sun on June 5 2012.

Yes, 2012 begins the time of the great Mythic Convergence and the most relevant myths for this year are:

1) The Lord of the Rings including the Fall of the Dark Tower and Return of the King that is slated to occur March 25-27. This great transformation is portended by the monstrous Serpent Storm on Saturn. The key dates for this year are listed in Tolkien’s Chronology. The first of these dates was Dec 25th when the Fellowship of the Ring began their quest at dusk as the lunar crescent appeared. This was also the day that Jupiter went direct and so began the king’s return. In late March Jupiter will have come back forward to 10 Taurus completing its shadow loop, then the dark tower will fall as the new king(s) come forth just as the zodiacal year 2012 begins.

2) The White Horse Avatar or Chiron King and the “sacrifice” of the shadow wolf Lupus. “The burning up of the wolf” is an important phase of psychic alchemy that is strongly highlighted in the Winter Solstice chart. It might be noted here that these myths overlap so Tolkien’s king Eleazar, the centaur king Chiron and the White Horse Avatar in his many forms are all one. Prominent among these is the hero Perseus who becomes king following his rescue of Andromeda. In the chart for this Winter Solstice a great Mystic Triangle focuses energy through Saturn (Sauron) in Lupus the Wolf decan of Libra and Neptune in the Cetus decan Aquarius. Cetus is the sea monster threatening to devour Andromeda, Lupus is the shadow Wolf that Chiron must sacrifice in order to unite the gods of Olympus to defeat the old world Titans. Cetus and Lupus and Sauron are aspects of the collective shadow or the Dark Tower that is to be brought down. All the important stories of this year tell us how we’re to vanquish the old world shadow and begin a new golden age. (We start with our own inner shadow work which will be reflected in the outer world. As within so without. My friends Tracy Latz and Marion Ross are here to help you bring Light to your shadows so that this shift in the outer world might be swifter.)

3) Rebirth of the Phoenix, the beginning of a New Age, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The Dark Lord Voldemort represents our collective shadow with its astral minions. All the senseless violence of the past year and years comes from this shadow source. Only by remembering our natural magic can we overcome this shadow. In a related myth Persephone gives birth to a magical child named Zagreus who is born from her union with Zeus when he came to her in the form of a serpent. The child of this union has serpentine qualities (he can talk to snakes!) and he is born with the lightning bolt of his father Zeus. Zagreus is the model for Harry Potter and the magical child of this new era. Voldemort is real and must be defeated so we can get on with our true story. The new planet Eris bigger(?) than Pluto is Persephone and the dwarf planet Haumea is Zagreus her magical child. Through a very strange metamorphosis Zagreus becomes Dionysus who as heir of Zeus becomes the new king. Likewise, Tolkien’s Eleazar is a healer and wizard king. It is fitting that the kingly leaders of the new Aquarian era would have these magical qualities.

4) The Flight of the Feathered Serpent following the Venus Transit of 5 June 2012. The Mayans call Morning Star Venus the Feathered Serpent. The “flying of the Feathered Serpent” predicts a Renaissance period when America comes to full life and spiritual power. When does the Feathered Serpent Fly? When Venus rises before the Sun again and most likely as the Mayans predicted, when the Sun aligns with the galactic center (the galactic godhead Hunab Ku) at Winter Solstice 12/21/2012. The Flight of the Feathered Serpent symbolizes the activation of the 7 city chakra line beginning with Mexico City where the Feathered Serpent (kundalini) is coiled. The complete 7 city sequence is Mexico City, Atlanta, Washington, New York, Boston and London. These 7 cities correspond closely with the 7 chakras of the human body. Washington is the solar plexus and here is the largest solar obelisk ever created. Renaissance begins when the Phoenix lands atop an obelisk in Heliopolis, the City of the Sun. Washington was designed to be the Heliopolis of this era. New York is the throat chakra, Boston the ajna or brow and London is the crown. There is a similar line of chakra cities on the opposite side of the world that includes Nairobi, Mumbai, Darjeeling and Tokyo. These two lines of chakra cities are conduits for the global kundalini that becomes activated at this planetary initiation. In Hindu tradition there are two serpents, Ida and Pingala, yin and yang, that ascend the spine at initiation. The western Feathered Serpent line is yang, the eastern Dragon Current line is yin. On 12/21/2012 both these lines will be activated and we will experience a great global awakening. This could be what 2012 is all about.

5) The Last Judgment of Revelation and Tarot Key 20.  The Woman of Revelation 12 is the newly awakening feminine consciousness that mediates the coming of the true king represented here by her boy child. The Woman and Child are pursued by a Dragon, here the boy child king like the new Zeus is opposed by the saurian (Sauron) shadow dragon of the age. Leviathan rises from the sea like Cetus yet we are not to fear because the flesh of Leviathan will become as food for the righteous, those blessed ones among us who learn the magic of psychic transformation and herewith will free us all. The Last Judgment Tarot Key 20 depicts the Angel Gabriel blowing a horn calling people to rise up out of the tombs of their old world ways. These are people realizing their freedom and their immortality as souls. And this is exactly what has been happening with the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, people are rising out of the tombs of the old world. On the banner of Gabriel is the design of the City of Revelation, “the city four square.” The instruction is to go to the city center and occupy it with the new spirit of the time. There is more guidance here to be scryed in future months. The Last Judgment and Armageddon have a parallel with the opening of Pandora’s box. Remember the monsters that fly from this box are the children of Eris, the goddess of discord. The new planet beyond Pluto bigger than Pluto is named Eris now (not always) for this is her time. At the end of every age all that has been repressed in the course of time is released to be cleared before we can get on with the new story. At the bottom of Pandora’s box is the winged angel Hope (Eleazar’s childhood name). If the box had not been opened and if the 7 angels hadn’t blown those trumpets we would not be able to begin anew. All is in divine order after all.

6) The Norse Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Ice (extremes of heat and cold), when the Fenris Wolf is set loose and the Dragon comes down from the north to shake the world. Draco the Dragon is 2nd decan Libra star sign. The Ural Mountains of Russia look amazingly like a dragon wending its way down from the pole between 50 and 60 degrees east longitude, the Draco decan of Earth’s Zodiac. Draco includes most of Iran including the capital Tehran. 3rd decan Libra is Lupus, the Wolf that Chiron (Centaurus) brings to the fiery altar Ara. It’s important to note that each of these decans has good and shadow, positive expression and a misapplication. There is a good wolf and an evil wolf in the Native American myth regarding the 2 wolves within, the one that wins is the one we feed. Now at the end of the age the Dragon and the Wolf appear as powerful elements of the collective shadow bent on destruction. These sectors of the world (Draco = 50-60 degrees east and Lupus = 60-70 east) include some of the most troubled parts of the world (e.g. Afghanistan and Pakistan) and the areas of the world where women have suffered the worst oppression. This is more than coincidence, there is a direct relationship between the repression of woman and violence in the world. Why in this region particularly? Because it is here and in 3rd decan Virgo (40-50 east) where the new feminine spirit is emerging that will ultimately break the tyranny of the old global order. When there is peace in the Middle East there will be peace everywhere, when women are free here, women will be free everywhere. Between now and the 11/13/12 solar eclipse the shadow wolf and dragon will be vanquished and woman, the feminine soul, will be set free.

7) Bringing back the Goddess Eye, the Eye of Maat in the Golden Triangle that is source of the Freemason’s symbol on the US Seal. When the Goddess Eye retreats from the world then evil reigns for a time, when the goddess eye returns evil is destroyed. Maat the goddess of Truth and Justice holds a scale in her left hand that has a human heart in one pan and a feather in the other. Maat knows what makes the heart heavy and how to make it light as the feather of Truth. In her right hand she holds an instrument with which she eliminates what makes the heart heavy and this instrument is the Eye in the Golden Triangle. The bringing back of the goddess eye is key to the esoteric Egyptian religion according to the historian E.A. Budge. The hero god Onuris (our Uranus) brings back the Eye by stradling the abyss. This occurs every 500 years when Uranus is at the celestial equator as is now and will be at Spring Equinox 2012.

Planetary Cycles Key

The Seven Rays of creation channel through 7 planets (including Sun and Moon) in three important sequences:

1) The “Chaldean sequence” is the order of celestial motion from Saturn (the slowest planet) to the Moon (the fastest point). This sequence clockwise around the circle gives the order of the planetary rulers of the zodiacal years: Saturn 2006; Jupiter 2007; Mars 2008; Sun 2009; Venus 2010; Mercury 2011; Moon 2012 (Note: The zodiacal year begins and ends with the Spring Equinox). The reverse sequence (counterclockwise) is the order of the planetary hours, another useful key to cosmic timing.

2) The order of the days of the weeks. This sequence is found by following the lines clockwise on the star from Moon / Monday to Mars / Tuesday and so on around. And, on a much grander scale,  this is the order of the seven millennium cycle that began in 4000 BC. We are currently ending a thousand years of Saturn and just beginning the Millennium of the Sun, the long prophesied thousand years of peace and universal prosperity. The past few years have been a troublesome transition period. The influence of the new Sun era has been being felt more since the Total Eclipse of the Sun on July 11 2010. The effects of the Sun millennium will be felt much more strongly in 2012 especially following the Nov 13 Total Eclipse of the Sun. This eclipse is a cosmic reset to the Sun Millennium.

3) Counterclockwise on the star is the order of the seven 36-year planetary periods. This 252 (7 x 36) year cycle is a key to cyclic global renaissance. Each 36-year period is ruled by a planet (including Sun and Moon) in the same sequence as the planetary rulers of the days of the week but in reverse order. The sequence of these 7 planetary influences is the cycling of the 7 rays of creation of which the 7 primary colors and 7 musical notes are key elements. Over the course of 252 years (7 x 36 years) the rainbow of 7 colored rays alternate in their expression. Orange is the color of the Sun. Blue is the color of Venus. We’re currently in a 36-year Sun period entering (at Spring Equinox) a Year of the Moon (violet). At the the close of each 252 year cycle a 36-year Sun period illuminates and sums up the whole. This is our renaissance time.

The 36 Year Cycles run in reverse order to the days of the week: Sun Period 1729 – 1764; Saturn Cycle 1765 – 1800; Venus 1801 – 1836; Jupiter 1837 – 1872; Mercury 1873 – 1908; Mars 1909 – 1944; Moon 1945 – 1980; and Sun Period again from 1981 to 2016.

The current Sun Period began at the Spring Equinox of 1981 and will conclude at the Spring Equinox of 2016. This 56th planetary period since AD 1 represents the missing apex of the Great Pyramid or 1/56th it’s total height. According to prophecy this generation – this year! – will cap the pyramid of the age.

Now, during this 1981-2016 Sun period, the planetary elements that have emerged over the past 200 years are integrated and come to full conscious and creative expression. These times are periods of social renaissance including the mid-1700 Age of Enlightenment and Italian Renaissance of the early 1500s. This is a 2 beat cycle of greater and lesser renaissance periods. Every 500 years a new Phoenix is born and a Great Renaissance begins, this is one of those times.

Every 500 years the Phoenix dies and is born anew. An old world passes away and a new world is born in this recurring cycle of global Renaissance. The last Great Renaissance centered in Rome inspired by cultural winds blowing through Florence, “the city of flowers.”

The political center for the Aquarian renaissance is Washington DC and its cultural center is New York City, the mythic city of Liberty a.k.a. Ceres/Demeter, the torch bearing mother of Persephone, the goddess of flowers.

Of course, global renaissance isn’t dependent on one or two cities of the world. While the 1500s Italian Renaissance was cooking up in the Old World, the Iroquois Renaissance was stirring to life in the New World. 500 years before the Norse settled Iceland and ventured to America while the Chinese sailed to Africa and the Kukulcan (Feathered Serpent) Renaissance was humming along in Yucatan. Each Renaissance builds on the Renaissance times that came before like pearls on a necklace connected by a single thread of evolving vision.

Now we are entering the great Aquarian Renaissance when a 500 year renaissance cycle converges with the beginning of a New Age.

Plato named the 25,920 year cycle of precession “the Great Year.” This long period wobble of the Earth on its axis causes the Spring Equinox to move backwards through the zodiacal signs marking the course of the Ages. Each Age is 2160 years or 1/12th the 25,920 year precession cycle. An astrological Age is sometime called a Platonic Month.

The current Piscean Age began in 108 BCE and  the Aquarian Age fully begins in 2052 with a transition period of well over 100 years. We are now transitioning into a New Age that is portended by many world events and in works of fiction such as Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The cycle of the ages is one of many long cycles converging in this time. The current convergence of the Mayan calendar, the Millennium cycle and the 500 (504) year Renaissance cycle, means the Aquarian Renaissance has its inception some time between 2012 and 2016.

The 36-year cycle is an important key to western esoteric astrology. Each year of the 36-year cycle represents a decanate or ten degree part of the zodiac. Each year a new decanate (decan) begins and a new mythic story unfolds. This story is revealed by the year’s decan constellation and corresponding tarot card.

Zodiacal year 2011-12 is an Equus the Horse year and the 5 of Swords is the tarot key. Equus is a magic renaissance horse that appears in the Central American my The Little Horse of Seven Colors. Through this influence we have experienced a global awakening. The 2012 zodiacal year 3/21/2012 – 3/21/2013 is a Pegasus decan year with the 6 of Swords as tarot key. Pegasus is the great winged horse that is instrumental in the freeing of Andromeda. Pegasus carries the thunderbolts of Zeus and the hooves of Pegasus are said to cause earthquakes as well as opening the Fountain of the Muses. The year of the white horse Pegasus may also portend the coming of the widely prophesied White Horse Avatar.

In western astrology, an Astrological Age is 60 periods of 36 years or 2160 years. In eastern astrology an Age is 36 cycles of 60 years which is also 2160 years.  60 years is key in Chinese or Eastern Lunar Astrology where 12 animal signs and 5 elements occur in combination for a complete cycle of 60 years.

2012 is a Water Dragon year: “I am an unquenchable fire, the center of all energy, the stout heroic heart. I am truth and light, I hold glory in my sway. My presence disperses dark clouds. I have been chosen to tame the Fates. I am the Dragon. ” -Theodora Lau,

The Coming of the Avatars

The myths of all time are now coming to life. This is the end time, the quickening and the rapture. It is the end of the Piscean Age and beginning of the Aquarian when we follow the water bearer into the upper room. This is the time of “the war in heaven and earth.” War in heaven means conflict on the psychic or spiritual plane. As the war is won on the subtle planes war is ended throughout world. Alice Bailey calls the astral plane the battleground of the white magician. This is a magical war for which Star Wars, the many Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Rings books and movies have prepared us.

A spiritual teacher or Avatar appears every 500 years, the mythic lifespan of the Phoenix. The last of these world teachers was the Iroquois Messenger in 1500, before this Quetzalcoatl came as Kulkulcan in 1000, King Arthur & Mohammed lived in 500-600, Jesus was born circa 0-4 BCE, Buddha about 500 BCE (along with the mythic hero saviors Chiron and Dionysus), Krishna 1000 BCE, etc.

Many believe the current avataric descent will be a group avatarship appropriate to the Age of Aquarius. The Avatar of Synthesis (a.k.a. the White Horse Avatar) is said to come from far beyond this plane of creation, from outside our solar system, perhaps from the galactic core, the Mayans mythic god head Hunab Ku. According to the esoteric works of Alice A. Bailey, this transcendent being descends to the higher astral world and then focuses spiritual power through the triad of the Christ (our solar logos), Earth’s Manu and Ray 1 master Morya to awaken a myriad of avatars male and female throughout the world. The classic figure for awakening is 144,000, a number sufficient to trigger the 100th monkey effect and shift our planetary consciousness into a new state of being.

“The reappearance of the Christ and coming of the Avatar of Synthesis is the one great event for which all people wait. The two are to be as one. This reappearance will include many thousands who lift their attention up to receive and channel the new light.” – Alice Bailey

“The struggle between Ahriman, Darkness, and Ormazd, Light, has been going on in the world continually since the beginning of time. When the worst arrives and Ahriman will seem to have conquered the world and corrupted all mankind, then will appear the Saviour, Sosiosh. He will come seated upon a White Horse followed by an army of good genii equally mounted on milk-white steeds. And this we find faithfully copied in the Revelation: “I saw heaven opened, and beheld a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true – And the armies which were in heaven followed upon white horses” (Rev 19)” – H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled pp 236-37

“It is under the form of a white horse that Vishnu has to appear at the end of the Kali Yug. Now is it not easily seen how perfect is the identity of this doctrine with that of St. John as taught in the Apocalypse? … This White Horse upon which Sosiosh (the Mazdean saviour) rides, like Vishnu, is the Horse of the Sun, Shiloh is the Sun’s city, and Shiloh is the God-Messiah, or King coming from the Sun …Arabs represented Iauk (Iach*) by a Horse, the Horse of the Sun.” – Paul Davidson, The Book of Light and Life or the Essence of the Sohar page 53

Each year has a zeitgeist, a spirit and purpose and a recurring theme that shows up in various forms. The two new movies most likely to touch on the theme for 2012 are The Rising of the Dark and The Hobbit. Also for this Year of the Dragon we may want to replay the James Cameron movie Avatar and the children’s film Training Your Dragon. Both refer to the need to tame or train the beast within in order to express the purpose of our inner being or soul. As primal nature becomes aligned with the soul “thine eye becomes single and thy body is filled with light” as the avatar Jesus said. Primal nature includes the shadow wolf (Lupus) that the shaman Chiron brings to the altar of transformation. Then all are united (within and without) and the world joins as one. This wolf sacrifice, the transformation of collective shadow (a.ka. the dweller on the threshold) will be completed by the time of the 13 Nov 2012 Total Eclipse of the Sun. Then the world will become as one.

The nature of each year can be seen reflected in its number. 2012 is a 2+0+1+2 = 5 year resonant with the 5th Ray planet Venus (the goddess of love, beauty and higher truth) and Tarot Key 5 The Hierophant (the cosmic geometer who reveals the sacred objects or ‘hieros’). Venus and the Hierophant connect Heaven and Earth while the Hanged Man Key 12 brings Illumination.

2012 Sign of the Time – The Higgs Boson May Have ‘Five Faces’ – The Higgs Boson, popularly dubbed the God Particle, is a force carrying particle that fills a gap connecting the other 4 primary force carrying particles that are related to the 4 elementary forces and directions. Air/East is the W-particle that carries the weak atomic force. Fire/South is the photon carrying electrical energy. Water/West is the gluon that holds everything together (the gluon quark is charm!) and North/Earth is the graviton responsible for the force of gravity. The “Higgs Boson” is the 5th Element or Quintessence equated with Love in the movie The 5th Element. What comes out in this reseach is there isn’t just one Higgs boson but 5 different versions! 5 is the number of Venus and of 2012. This discovery may be yet another sign of the emergence of the new Avatars this year. Their emergence will become far more obvious to us following the appearance of Venus as morning star beginning about June 10th 2012.

“The most mysterious thing about the universe is that we can understand it.” – Albert Einstein

Winter Solstice 2011-12    12:31 am 12/22/2011 New York, NY

The order of the heavens at Winter Solstice determines what will become as the year unfolds. At this Winter Solstice leading into 2012 the great benefic planet Jupiter, the new king, has risen in opposition to the malefic old world king Saturn. At their midpoint is Venus in a dynamically symmetrical constellation of points. Venus is in square with both Jupiter and Saturn. Arwen/Venus is said to be weakened in the presence of Sauron/Saturn. This means all that denies love and all that resists the new creation is now highlighted as a dark spell – the dark tower – to be broken. Venus here represents the Woman of Revelation who is given the wings of an Eagle in order to escape the Dragon (Sauron), her tormenter. As a sure sign of the time Venus is conjunct with Altair the bright star of Aquila the Eagle. Aquila is the bird of Jove that wields the divine lightnings. Aquila appears in the heavens with lightning bolts streaming from its talons, these are used to destroy evil and to protect the Woman. This Eagle is the Native American Thunderbird that also carries lightnings and it is the Hawk of Egypt subject of the prophecy below that corroborates how Venus is our guiding planet in this time. This Winter Solstice seeds our transformation and the great emerging story of our time.

At this Solstice turn of the year Venus is conjunct Altair, the alpha star of Aquila while Mercury conjuncts the North Node, our soul’s north compass point, in the Aquila decan of Sagittarius. Aquila the Eagle is rising in the birth chart of the USA. It is the Eagle that comes to aid the Woman of Revelation and it is the Eagles that save the day in the final battle of Middle Earth. Aquila wields the thunderbolts of Zeus, the lightnings that break the power of the Dark Tower.

The year begins with Venus as Evening Star presiding over the death/rebirth and healing of the king. Following the Transit of Venus on 5 June 2012 Venus becomes the Morning Star, this is when our great ship comes in. Morning Star Venus is “the star of the ship of the Bennu-Ausar” (Osiris) referred to in this Egyptian invocation to the sacred Sun Bird:

I am the Bennu, the soul of Ra,

and the guide of the gods in the Tuat;

let it be so done unto me that

I may enter in like a hawk,

and that I may come forth like Bennu,

the Morning Star.

from “The Book of Doors: An Alchemical Oracle from Ancient Egypt” by Athon Veggi & Alison Davidson

The most powerful Morning Star Venus / Venus Bennu or Venus Quetzalcoatl appears in the cycle that follows a Venus Transit, a rare event that occurs in pairs about every 135 years. The first of this current pair was early June 2004 and the 2nd and most powerful is 5 June 2012. The last time the 2nd transit of the pair occurred was when the great volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883. It is during the Venus Morning Star phase that follows this transit that the Feathered Serpent flies and the Bennu (also Venus) rises from its fiery nest. This will occur in late December 2012 when Venus rises before the Sun.

Also, at this Winter Solstice 12/22/11, the comet Lovejoy made a splendid return, a seeming miraculous event that is considered a great portent for our time, a sure sign that Arwen / Venus / Love will be triumphant. The surprise reappearance of this Sungrazing comet Lovejoy, a proverbial “horse of the Sun,” at this seminal time of the year is also a certain signal of the Coming of the Avatars in 2012.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Silmarilion were written in the early fifties for this time of transition between the era of Neptune ruled Pisces and the new Age of Aquarius ruled by Uranus. This transition is guided by certain constellations and stars that are active at this time. These include Orion (Menelmacar), Ursa Major (Tolkien’s Valacirca), Arcturus (Gandalf’s star) and Spica (more properly Arista), the bright star of Virgo identified with the Empress in Tarot and the Woman of Revelation with her crown of stars.

“[The Star Queen] Varda set the constellation, Menelmacar, with his shining belt, that forbodes the Last Battle that shall be at the end of days. The belt would be a sword belt warning that the Valar will join the struggle.” This brings us to one of the most important alignments of our time. During this Yule season and for months to come, the Aquarian planet Uranus closely aligns with Alnilam and Alnitak, two of the bright stars in Orion’s Belt. These stars (and their sister star Mintaka) stand out because of their brightness and their striking alignment with the celestial equator [Menelmacar rising]. They’re also special in that these are Super Stars each over 10,000 times the luminosity of our Sun. In the medieval Yuletide tradition these stars are the 3 Magi, the astrologer kings who announce the beginning of a New Age. There is a mystery here to be revealed in March 2012.

Tolkien’s writings hold clues for us now: “when first Menelmacar strode up the sky and the blue fire of Helluin [Sirius] flickered in the mists above the borders of the world, in that hour the Children of the Earth awoke….” The Silmarillion, pg 45; “As Menelmacar rose, the elves burst into song, lit a fire, and said it was time for speech and merriment. Then Melkor [the dark power] was shaken by the laughter of Tulkas and fled from the earth.” Silmarillion, The Coming of the Elves.

In Tolkien’s cosmology the bright stars of Ursa Major are the Valar, the 7 great creator gods. Manwe is the greatest of the Valar. “With Manwë dwells Varda, Lady of the Stars, who knows all the regions of Ea….. Of all the Great Ones who dwell in this world the Elves hold Varda most in reverence and love.” – The Silmarillion, Valaquenta, p 26 According to Tolkien, Varda created the stars, and placed them innumerable in the heavens. “And high in the North as a challenge to Melkor she set the crown of seven mighty stars to swing, Valacirca, the Sickle of the Valar and sign of doom [to the dark powers of the earth].” – The Silmarillion, p 48

It is the Valar Manwe who guides and powers the coming of the great wizard Gandalf or Mithrandir. Gandalf is identified with the “hermit star” Arcturus described as “a Lamp, translucent, set in Ilwe on the edge Middle-earth’s breathable air.” In Tarot, Arcturus is the Hermit standing alone on a high mount holding a lantern. Arcturus is located in the 20th Parallel North as this star casts its influence on Earth. The current eruption at this parallel of the two great volcanoes Popo in Mexico and Kilauea in Hawai’i represents an activation of this Hermit / wizard archetype. The ascendancy of the star Arcturus and the arrival of Gandalf  portends the coming of the Avatar or divine consciousness for the new era.

Ursa Major, the Great Bear, is one of the most mythically charged constellations in the heavens. In Alice A. Bailey’s esoteric astrology the 7 bright stars composing the ‘Big Dipper’ asterism of Ursa Major are the sources of the 7 rays of creation expressed through our solar system’s 7 ‘sacred planets’ and the 7 primary colors radiating from the Sun. One of these stars (Merak) is identified with the new Avatar while another (Dubhe) is thought to be a source of cosmic evil. This teaching parallels the starlore of J.R.R. Tolkien. In his mythic cosmology Ursa Major is called Valacirca, ‘Sickle of the Gods’ or ‘Sickle of the Valar’. “This is the mightiest of the works of Varda, Lady of the stars. It hung above the North as a threat to Melkor and an omen of his fall; the Judgment day.“- The Silmarillion

Events of Winter Solstice seed what will be unfolding in the coming year. Never complete within themselves, these events represent potentialities to be realized. Their realization depends on what we do individually, in dyad and in the many magical working groups that will be forming in this very special year.

Mythic Times Overview

Myths of all time are now coming to life. This is “the end time,” it is the end of the Piscean Age and beginning of the Aquarian, it is not the end of the world. Still it is the time of “the war in heaven and earth.” War in heaven means conflict on the psychic or spiritual plane. As this war is won on the subtle planes then war and violence will be ended in the world. This is the magical war for which the Harry Potter books and Lord of the Rings series have prepared us. And regardless of the many dire predictions, a positive outcome is assured.

A new world is emerging, how soon this new age of peace and plenty will begin depends on what we do.

Times of greatest challenge are times of greatest opportunity. As old patterns of belief and being are challenged, the way is opened to greater understanding and more enlightened living. As limiting reality structures are broken, new worlds emerge. The old zeitgeist based on Newtonian physics is now thankfully giving way to the New Physics and the new more magical order of Aquarius.

At the end of an Age all that has been hidden is revealed, all that humanity has swept under the rug comes to light to be transformed. These astral energies merge as a collective shadow, a psychic aggregate metaphorically called the Dragon of the Age. This “dragon” embodies all that humanity has been unable or unwilling to deal with during the past 2000 years. The reclamation of the psychic energy represented by the Dragon is spoken of in Revelation as the flesh of Leviathan becoming “as food for the righteous.” In psychological terms, this can simply mean bringing to consciousness an outmoded way of thinking or behaving. Once illuminated in this way, the old pattern can be broken and its psychic energy freed for new creative expression. So the flesh of the Leviathan becomes as food. This means undesirable psychic patterns, emotional attachments and addictions can actually be considered a psychic energy resource. As these old forms are broken, energy is freed that can be directed to power our dreams and create a new world. This process was called Dragon Slaying or Dragon Training in esoteric tradition. It can be as easy as focusing on the crown light above while breathing deeply to transform a shadow thought or emotion. The breath is the mechanism through which transformation occurs and right direction of attention is all else required. (For those who struggle to Tame Your Dragon, my dear friends Tracy and Marion will take you much deeper to truly delve into and address your outmoded thoughts that no longer serve this mythic time we are entering!) Seek first the kingdom and all else is added, hope for the world and all hopes and needs are realized.

We enter the Age of Aquarius through the Venus ruled Libra decan of Aquarius so Venus, the goddess of Love, is our guide into this New Age. It’s good to know too that Venus is more than those wonderful qualities of grace and love and beauty, she also brings power to train serpents and dragons and restore the natural order of the world. These are mythic times.

Bright Blessings!

Steve Nelson, Mythic Astrologer with The Shift Doctors (Tracy Latz, M.D. & Marion Ross, Ph.D.)

Steve Nelson was a beloved friend and professional astrologer who used Tarot, name analysis, and traditional astrology to help people understand personal myths and realize natural abilities. His physical presence is sorely missed in this world yet his spirit still guides us.

*****The Shift Doctors (Tracy Latz, M.D. & Marion Ross, Ph.D.) are available for keynote talks, classes, events or for seminars (1/2 day or up to 5 days we have a 5-day coming up in June 2019) on personal transformation, team-building, motivation, anger management, intuitive development, or collaboration for private groups, conferences, corporations or corporate events. Contact them at info@shiftyourlife.com or find out more about them at www.shiftyourlife.com