This past
week I stumbled into someone who said we had entered the Age of Aquarius on
March 23, 2023. Oh, joy!
I've been looking for the Age of Aquarius since 1967 when
I saw the stage play Hair in Los Angeles, California.
"When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars,
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars,
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius,
Age of Aquarius"*
The Age of Aquarius represents an age of world Peace, where we love one another without prejudice and fear—I was looking forward to that.
However, upon further investigation, I found that we are still on the cusp of the age. And Astrologers can't agree on when the next age will happen.
I don't know how much stock we can put on the Sun's passage across the sky. Astronomers say that as the earth wobbles, we see the Sun move through the constellations--the 12 houses of the Zodiac.
Ages last 2,150 years, and Pisces began in 68 BC.
That adds up to 2597 years until Pisces ends and Aquarius begins.
I don't know about you but waiting for 579 years is out of my ballpark. We can't wait for the new age to drop on us like the Aquarian lady pouring water out of her urn.
"Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation"*
So the story goes…The lyrics to the song/poem Aquarius, were scribbled on a piece of paper and found in a wallet in a NY taxicab.
(What a brilliant piece of marketing and/or a contribution to humankind.)
And that piece of paper, the song, a mash-up with "Let the Sunshine In," sung by the music group "The Fifth Dimensions, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on April 12, 1969. It stayed there for six weeks, on the chart for 17 weeks, and earned three Grammy nominations in 1970, winning for both Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
The song's album, The Age of Aquarius, peaked on the Billboard chart at the number two spot in late June 1969 and spent 72 weeks on the chart. It garnered two Grammy nominations."
Hair and the song The Age of Aquarius lit a fire under a generation that changed our culture. They protested the Viet Nam war, changed dress codes, sexual mores, championed Civil Rights, supposedly ended segregation, (again), burned bras, draft cards, and gave permission for both men and women to grow hair, for men to grow facial hair, to wear jewelry, and burn draft cards, and for women to burn bras. Oh, and co-ops came into being where people wanted organic food, and natural childbirth was ushered into hospitals.
Why are we losing some of those hard-fought-for rights and changes?
Why is there so much fear and quick resort to violence when once we championed Peace, put flowers in our hair, knew we could make a difference, and believed in a better world?
I want the enthusiasm we once felt. I want to believe again.
“You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.” –John Lennon
“Oh, let it shine, c’mon
Now everybody just sing along
Let the sun shine in
Open up your heart and let it shine on in
When you are lonely, let it shine on
Got to open up your heart and let it shine on in
And when you feel like you’ve been mistreated
And your friends turn away
Just open your heart, and shine it on in.”*
*
*Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Galt Mac Dermot / Gerome Ragni / James Rado
Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC