Astrology for Apocalypse
(intro to the ebook)
It is not an exaggeration to say that the practice of astrology is undergoing a cataclysmic upheaval. With the advent of digital programming, the personal computer, and more recently social media and astrology apps, astrology has essentially been transformed from a closed practice into an open one. For better or for worse, it’s infinitely easier than ever before to have the secrets of the stars at your fingertips.
The earliest astrological traditions date back four to five thousand years, with the lineage currently known as “western” astrology tracing its origins to the Bablyonian Empire. However, throughout most of history, only a few narrow demographics of people were able to access astrological information. Originally, the practice was typically accessible only to political leaders and other high elites. In the past few centuries it began to make its way towards the masses, through books, journals, sun-sign horoscope columns, and professional natal, electional and horary readings. But up until very recently, there was still a high barrier to be crossed in terms of effort — and of linear time.
For those unfamiliar with pre-computer (ie, analog) astrology: the traditional process of casting an astrological chart involves the use of an ephemeris, a book of tables showing the location of each planet on any given day. To look at the astrological configurations of a specific event or birthday, an astrologer first finds the date in the ephemeris, and then maps each planet on a circular graph, calculating the angles between positions and sometimes using a compass to draw them accurately. An extra layer of math is involved to calculate birth time and house placements. It can take over an hour to cast a single chart this way, and there are few ways to guard against human error. Since the time of astrology’s origin, this technical, time-consuming work was required of anyone who wanted information.
The first digital astrological experimentations started in the 1970s, and in 1991 an open-source code for basic astrological calculations, called Astrolog, was released. Throughout the nineties, as the worldwide web sprang into use and personal computers became commonplace, websites and software were developed, at first mainly for professional astrologers but growing increasingly friendly to novices. Then in the 2000s came web 2.0, smartphones, and apps. Web 2.0 allowed for interactive, user-generated content on platforms like Facebook and YouTube, inviting astrologers to stretch beyond horoscopes or newsletters into a more real-time type of coverage. In the 2010s, Twitter and Instagram began to encourage the meme-ifying of astrology, with algorithmic rewards going, as they still do, to simplified “hot takes” of planetary alignments. More recently, astrology apps like Co-Star, Time Passages and Sanctuary have developed services that allow users to track their daily transits; cast, save and organize charts; experiment with different house systems; and access esoteric information with ease. The practice — and the industry — has evolved in multiple directions at once.
Astrology’s “boom” has gotten plenty of press. Much of the coverage explores disillusionment with organized religion, our uncertain political moment, and desire for self-awareness and relationship support as the main factors behind its rise. Yet there’s little analysis of the background effect of digital technology on the field of astrology as a whole. Maybe it seems too obvious to need saying: more people can access astrology because of technology, so more people are. But this overlooks the true implications of what it means to have such easy access to so much information — and what a dramatic, irreversible shift it has created in an ancient practice.
When I say astrology has transformed from a closed practice into an open one, what I mean is that until recently, only those who put in years/decades of effort, often involving apprenticeship as well as extensive study and memorization, could access the secrets of the stars. And no matter an astrologer’s level of expertise, the time constraints of manual chart-casting have always placed a big limitation on how much research could be done. Projects like Richard Tarnas’ Cosmos & Psyche, and my own analyses, including this guidebook, wouldn’t be possible without the ability to instantly check planetary placements throughout history. Astrology’s current use as a tool for self-understanding could never have evolved without easy access to transits, charts, and education, either. Digital tech is at the root of this shift, moreso than any sociocultural argument.
And — we’ve really only scraped the surface when it comes to what we can “see” using astrological technology. This is true both on the level of how well we can know ourselves, how consciously we can work with our personal cosmic timelines; and on the collective level, what we can understand about our moment in history. Astrology is a framework that gives us something conceptually solid to lean into at a time when many of our deeply-held cultural narratives are crumbling. An integrated astrological lens helps us to situate ourselves in the multi-dimensional human experience with confidence, but also with humility.
And I am not being hyperbolic when I talk about the “secrets of the stars”. Once you learn to “read” astrology, a mind-blowing amount of information is available in the form of archetypes and timelines. It’s not about knowing exactly what’s going to happen (would you really want to know, if you could?) It’s about reading the energetic map of the current moment, having a framework for the multiple ways you’re being impacted, both short and long-term, by the various forces and flavors of life. It’s a behind-the scenes look at the cosmic symphony. It’s real magic. And it feels to me like a spiritual tool, for both resistance and liberation.
To use it this way, of course… you have to be truly willing to look at what’s there. Despite astrology’s newfound popularity, the subject matter I cover in this guidebook is barely touched by most astrological content creators. While a google search will turn up hundreds of breakdowns on each outer planet transit, the majority of them are abstract and apolitical, focused on personal predictions, with no attempt to tie in the larger societal shifts that the outer planets actually represent. There are also plenty that do tie in these themes, and especially since 2020, more public-facing astrologers are interweaving mundane analysis with personal. But social media algorithms encourage memes and hot takes, not dense, research-heavy explorations. And beyond that — this stuff is hard to talk about. If you look honestly at the energies, combined with the hard evidence of what’s already manifesting, it’s not a pretty picture for humanity.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s hope, too, or I wouldn’t be pouring my soul into sharing about it! But as James Baldwin wrote: “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” The purpose of this guidebook is to lay out simply and directly the themes of the current outer planet transits, without skirting around the heavy issues, especially in cases where the archetypal picture is undeniable. If we are to access the magic of astrology, we first need the courage to face what it reveals to us. Only then can we accurately gauge how to shift the manifestation.
In my opinion, during this era of expanded potential, the practice of astrology comes with a responsibility to use it towards liberation. I don’t mean social media content, having a woke brand. I mean a conscious approach to the ways we interweave with oppressive systems, a devotion to doing our own work, so that our interpretations of the cosmos are not clouded by colonial programming (and for professional astrologers, so that our business structures and client interactions don’t perpetuate the same systems we theoretically oppose). Beyond that — if we can’t see through the intersecting layers of white supremacy, capitalism and Christian colonial patriarchy that keep us locked in a prison of ahistorical, scarcity-based narratives, we will be blind to what astrology is revealing to us about America. And if we are living in the narcissistic American mythology, imagining the US as an eternal, benevolent monarch on Earth’s throne, we will be blind to what astrology is telling us about the shifts in geopolitical power balances unfolding in real-time around the world.
I created this astro-political guide to help people develop a foundational understanding of the archetypes and timelines influencing us right now, including their most obvious real-world manifestations. It’s by no means exhaustive — it’s more like a zoomed-out summary of the energies moving on Earth, a picture of the weather. It is, however, the product of years of research into these subjects, and although parts of my analysis are unapologetically spiritual, my broad claims are backed up by plenty of non-astrological evidence. One of my intentions is to counterbalance the algorithm, which keeps bite-sized pieces of astrology at the top of our feeds, pushing creators for fresh, timely content if they want to stay relevant. This fragments our big-picture grasp of astrology, and discourages in-depth discussions of outer-planet transits, especially at any time other than when they first begin. What I am hoping to offer is an ongoing exploration of the visible, concrete ways these archetypes are already manifesting, and some extrapolation regarding what might play out in the future.
******
Although this guidebook is not written for anyone with a fundamental skepticism of astrology, before we dive in, I feel inspired to address the haters. I want to call out the deconstructionist worldview that relegates ancient practices like astrology to a placebo effect, or something that we’re all collectively “making up”. To resist the idea that there is interconnection between the stars and the Earth just because our science hasn’t “proved” it; to assume thousands of years of practice in multiple civilizations around the world were nothing more than a desperate, fruitless search for meaning — to me, this is the height of human arrogance. It’s the same arrogance that separates us from the Earth, the arrogance that is a slippery slope to the geocide we are currently committing. No matter how smart or grounded or rational someone espousing these views might be, they are demonstrating a spiritual cluelessness, an inability to accept the most basic of beyond-human realities.
I believe we are arriving in a time when it will no longer be possible to deny the reality of astrology, or of countless other irrational truths. We can’t even begin to grasp humanity’s full dilemma without discussion of spirits, energy, karma or the soul. Just because we don’t have the frameworks of these invisible worlds fully fleshed out doesn’t mean they don’t exist. In fact, we may not be meant to understand them completely. We have to approach them with humility, which is a foreign concept in an ideology that places humans at the peak of enlightened consciousness. But when we do that sincerely — when we learn to work co-creatively with forces larger, wider than ourselves — that’s when the magic really begins.
******
Astrology for Apocalypse is divided into three parts. The first is a retrospective look at the astrology of 2020, followed by explorations of Chiron in Aries, Uranus in Taurus, Neptune in Pisces, and Pluto in Capricorn. In the final section I look towards the future through the lens of Pluto in Aquarius.
As usual, I invite you to maintain somatic awareness as you read. Sometimes even abstract or non-emotional discussions of these archetypes can be triggering: the psychic territories of humanity’s past, future and present all hold trauma. So notice your breathing, your heart rate, the looseness or tightness in your gut, your chest, your brain… wiggle your fingers and toes regularly… and if you notice any shift out of regulation, or a sense of dissociation from your body, take a minute (or as long as you need) to come back to center.
Times have always been dire, but in multiple ways, the astrology indicates that a massive climax is coming. We are writing history as we speak, through the choices we make each day. There are many elements of collapse that can’t be avoided. But there is also SO much that is unwritten. My prayer is that this guidebook contributes to the global astrological awakening with some hard, truthful looks at the apocalyptic times that we’re in — and that it catalyzes a shift in what we’re currently manifesting. I hope you find some perspectives and information that nourish you, and help you prepare for whatever is coming next.
You can find the rest of Astrology for Apocalypse available for purchase here.
