It was in early 2020 I received an invitation to talk about how Saturn in Aquarius will have an impact on communities and group especially the astrology community. During my preparation for this talk, I noticed that we usually experienced conflicts between different classes or groups during Saturn in Aqurius. I noticed such phenomena were already starting even before 2019 but may become more intense during this time, especially when Saturn starts to square Uranus, and at that time there were few things that drew my attention. The first was in December 2019, when the J.K Rowling-transphobia row started with her support for a researcher who lost an employment tribunal case for using “offensive and exclusionary” language on Twitter. This was followed by the discussion of “Cancel culture”. I naively thought that these may have nothing to do with the astrology community but I was totally wrong.
At that time, I had more concern that extreme comments over “Different zodiacs”, “Traditional versus Modern” or discussion over the U.S presidential election 2020 would cause unpleasant moments in our community. Thank goodness we all behaved ourselves. However, around June 2020, J.K Rowling’s transphobia row again drew our attention, and the conflict got closer to me, as a few discussions on Facebook ended up with personal attacks or insults towards to people with different views. Soon I learned that a few fellow astrologers faced criticisms over race or gender issues. I finally realised that it is inevitable that we have to learn these lessons about inclusivity even if we want to have nothing to do with “Politics” or only want to talk about astrology.
When reading those discussions, I learn that most of us are all trying very hard to build a more inclusive community or society. I have also noticed that what I have been taught in school may not historically accurate and, if I am not careful, my words could hurt some people, which is never my intention.
From the beginning of this year, Saturn square Uranus again and it will be on and off due to their retrograde motion, but these two planets will dominate all of 2021. In one way it clearly suggests the huge tension between different classes, races and genders. However, they both rule Aquarius, a sign representing humanity, community and group. This echoes the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Aquarius at the end of December 2020, that we are stepping into a different era.
The Saturn-Uranus square is calling us to work together, no matter how different we are. There is always space for us to communicate and there is always a way to understand each other, if we want to. It calls us to be more inclusive, more aware of diversity and to respect each other.
As astrologers, assuming that hurting our peers, clients and students is not our intention, we may need to be more aware of the diversity of society. Perhaps in the past we were only taught about male and female and did not realise the fluidity and diversity that gender encompasses. We may have been taught about “great people”, without being told the harm those ‘great people’ may have done. Perhaps those of us with a deeper understanding of these issues can help to educate those of us who do not understand the pain these issues may cause people now.
To my dear fellow astrologers, I want to say that sometimes there is a violent response from some people because they are wounded and in pain, and we can do better by being aware of diversity and historical accuracy.
For those people who have had uncomfortable experiences during talks, lectures, readings and conferences, I am sorry that you were hurt. Maybe you can help others to learn about the causes of your pain and how their lecture content made you feel uncomfortable. I think that most of us are not doing it with the intention to hurt you, and bear in mind that some of us were taught history in a different way and may have not been updated since the 70’s or 80’. I know that an astrologer/speaker/tutor should make everyone in the room feel safe, but you can help them and remind them that they can do better.
Discussions in some threads I have read recently have haunted me.As more and more astrologers will face similar situations: the diversity of genders; injustice and historical accuracy needing to be heard; the voice of minority groups’ needing to be respected and heard. These will help us to build a better future for our community and society. But perhaps we need to remember communication skills and kindness will have an impact on how our messages are received? For most people criticism, harsh words and attack are not easy to digest. I do not mean they are not allowed, no au contraire, you are entitled to say what you want (within the bounds of legality) but think about whether it is helpful.
Another thing that comes to my attention, I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that someone was just slinging mud around to get noticed and in doing so made unjustified allegations against some in our community. This concerns me as we should be supporting each other, against those who have a low regard for astrology.
As I am a part of the QTBPOC community, I have been asking myself the following questions over the last two weeks:
- J.K Rowling ‘s language is hurting LGBTQ+ community, but does that mean that someone is Anti-LGBTQ+ by talking about her chart without acknowledging the harm she caused?
2. Gandhi was a misogynist and a vocal supporter of apartheid, so you can call someone a racist or misogynist for talking about Gandhi’s chart without condemning him?
3. Referring to Andromeda and Perseus in Greek mythology causes someone to feel uncomfortable. Does that mean that those of us who refer to them are helping to perpetuate gender stereotypes? If it does, how should we relate to these constellations without mentioning their gender? Can we continue to discuss zodiac signs and planets in terms of masculine and feminine without causing hurt?
Again, I have learned a lot these last two weeks by reading those threads, and I know that most of us don’t want to hurt each other intentionally.
Yes, injustice still exists, but is it really true that our community is divided and is white people against all the rest and straight people against LGBTQ+? We need help each other, so how will you help your community? Will you simply accuse the whole world of threatening you or will you work together with your fellow astrologers to help improve understanding?
Love