It is easy to see that ‘times have changed’. But we might also recognise that there is no chance of them changing back or settling down. We are in a ‘new normal’. So what should we expect?
Let’s begin with the much discussed topic of 2012. From a numerology perspective this is an unremarkable year, a plain old ‘5’, bringing some change and disruption but no more than happens in every ‘5’ year, which comes once every nine years.
The real shift that so many are looking for has actually already been seeded. The Y2K bug seems a long time ago now, and in the end all the fuss came to nothing, but it was the New Millennium which brought the change, when the calendar shifted from years starting in ‘1’ to years starting in ‘2’. This small shift is easily overlooked – it seems too simple, too obvious – yet like all truth it is profound.
Everyone on the planet, from teenager up, was born in the 1900’s. I was born in 1972. I am product of that time and I carry that energy with me through my life. My father was born in 1934, my partner in 1973, her sister in 1977, their grandmother in 1919. All these people carry the spirit of their times within them. And all these birth years have something in common – they all begin with a ‘1’.
And it’s not just people that have been shaped by ‘1’, it the outer world in which we live. Man landed on the Moon under the influence of the ‘1’, both World Wars were fought in (and maybe because of) the ‘1’. AIDS first appeared in the ‘1’, and the EU was formed in the ‘1’. With these and many other examples the pattern begins to emerge. The institutions that shape today’s world were all created in the ‘1’.
The ‘1’ – and with the Tarot you can also say The Magician and the Aces of the Suits – is all about me. It is the energy of the individual person, the separate soul. It manifests as individual achievement and personal selfishness, as well as energy, action and vigour. And so we see that the entire millennium 1000AD to 1999 was defined by those things, the most obvious of which being the impact of the individual.
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| Magician from the Soulscapes Tarot by Jade Ashcroft |
We don’t need to know a great deal of history to see that the impact of individuals has been huge, but varyingly positive and negative. The history of great men (for 1 is masculine) has raised and lowered the human spirit in equal measure. Think Einstein and Hitler, Gandhi and Stalin. All impactful individuals with direct agendas. All Magicians in their own way.
But this energy has now departed, and although its effects remain, is has been usurped by the ‘2’.
During the one thousand years that started in 2000AD everything and everyone is affected by the ‘2’. The ‘2’ – The High Priestess and the Twos of the Suits – is completely different to what came before. Where the ‘1’ was active, the ‘2’ is passive. Where the ‘1’ was outgoing, the ‘2’ is inward looking, the ‘1’ masculine action, the ‘2’ feminine emotion, the ‘1’ direct, the ‘2’ confused. The ramifications of this are – and will continue to be - earth shattering.
 High Priestess from the Soulscapes Tarot |
There is historical precedent for what happens under the auspices of the ‘2’. The last time a digit shift like this took place was in 200AD, ushering in a period known as The Crisis of the Third Century.
The assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus in 235AD triggered a collapse into civil war that caused the Empire to split into three. Although later reunited the damage had been done and Roman life would never be the same again. The crisis had driven a stake through the heart of the Empire. It caused major and lasting upheaval in many of the institutions of Roman life. While fighting foreign hordes, as well as themselves, Roman society, economy, trade and religion were altered permanently. Constant war took a huge toll on the morale of the people, many of whom were now living in fear. The optimism, expansion and growth of the previous two centuries were no more. The people retreated behind walled cities and hoped merely to survive.
Over in the East, China was experiencing a remarkably similar trauma. The united China of the Han Dynasty was replaced by three warring kingdoms in 220AD. This standoff endured for decades and delivered the loss of around half of the population, until matters were resolved in 280AD and the bloodshed ended. The effects on Chinese life were no less drastic than those that occurred simultaneously in Rome. In both cases human history was shifted by an inability to handle the new influence of the times - the ‘2’.
At the start of the Roman crisis, the military felt aggrieved towards the Emperors, so the Emperors felt that they had to give in to more and more of the army’s demands. The Emperors then failed to deliver on their promises, and the soldiers, unable to check their raging emotions (negative expression of 2), killed their superiors and moved swiftly on to new leaders, giving each only a short window to satisfy their demands. We can only speculate at what point the bloodshed and destruction became too much to bear and how bad things became before it dawned how far society had fallen. Such is the nature of the unchecked emotions that can often be associated with the ‘2’. They flow where they will, but it is only afterwards that we can see where they have been.
Both Roman and Chinese life were restored to some stability at the end of the century, but not before much had been lost. In the case of the Roman Empire, in 293AD the new Emperor Diocletian managed to restore order with his experimental form of rule called the Tetrarchy. In this system the powers of the one Emperor were divided between two co-Emperors, each with a junior Emperor. It had taken a myriad of disasters for this innovation of co-operation (positive 2) to be implemented, but it finally brought society into balance.
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| Emperor from the Soulscapes Tarot |
So might we expect a Crisis of The Third Millennium of similar or greater proportions? History never repeats exactly, and although cycles do repeat it is not helpful to issue specific predictions. But it seems certain that if the institutions of society, family, religion, economy and government are shaky now then they will not possibly endure in the coming decades. We might then start to recognise 2012 as a tipping point within the overall scheme of the ‘2’ transition. Broadly speaking, this means profound and significant changes throughout the rest of our lifetime, such as:
The future is female. The evidence for this is already overwhelming, and the process will be complete when we have female leaders in USA, China and Europe. We are heading inexorably in that direction. It is now a matter of when not if.
The future is co-operative. Interconnectedness of people, emotions, thoughts, and trade is no longer a choice. It is a fact.
The future is insecure. Get used to this. The shadow traits of the ‘2’ cannot be ignored, the Crisis of the Third Century teaches us that much. There are and will continue to be many people who resist change. They see the fluidity of the ‘2’ as weakness and may seek to stamp hard to destroy it. But they waste their time and energy, for the train has already left the station, albeit destination unknown.
The future is mystical. The embracing of the intuitive arts by the mainstream is happening before our very eyes, and as the old teachings say ‘the magic, once revealed, cannot be denied. It will always find its way through’.
The story is not yet written, and this is where the numerology runs out of road. You can be absolutely sure that no aspect of your life can be treated like business as usual, but it up to us to respond in the best possible way to the revolution that has already arrived. Everything is now up for grabs and we must find a new way to be. This is not a function of 2012, and the change has only just begun.
Richard Abbot operates The Hermitage Development Centre from where he teaches and all aspects of mystical, psychic, spiritual and occult practice. He is available for personal Numerology and Tarot consultations. www.thehermitage.org.uk
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