The Astrology of 2021

The second decade of the second millennium made quite a splashy entrance. In 2020 we experienced a pandemic, lockdowns, quarantine fatigue (first, second, and third waves), demonstrations, social unrest, explosions, riots, toppling of statues, changes of flags, chaotic elections, a retrograde bonanza of every planet in the sky, the Neowise comet (once every 6,766 years), and the list goes on. We zoomed in on Zoom and learned how to work from our dwelling place, how to homeschool our kids, fashion homemade facemasks, wash hands for 20 seconds, and shake hands with our elbows. 2020, with all its 2s and 0s, was very hard on all types of interpersonal relationships.

2021 was conceived in darkness, midwifed by goddess Discord. In this book we will look into major astrological trends, numerology, tarot cards, Kabbalah, and cycles of planets past and present to discover the best way to navigate the year ahead. There is no comprehension of astrology without the aid of Kleio, the muse of history. Since today’s news is tomorrow’s history, to understand astrological cycles we first must examine how they manifested in the past. Once we do that, we can design our own free-willed future. But there is no choice without first adhering to Fate. For this reason, for some major aspects this year (Saturn in Aquarius, Chiron in Aries, Uranus Saturn square) I will share historical patterns that can aid in our understanding of the year ahead. It was this type of investigation that allowed me to predict the recession and pandemic in last year’s book since similar cycles to what took place in the onset of 2020 were found in 1982 when we were hit by the AIDS pandemic, world hunger, and economic downturn. Astrology provides us the color palette, but we are the painters, we have the choice over the composition. Yes, red can be used to paint blood but it can also be applied to color a lover’s face blushing at a compliment.

In our attempt to understand the trends and frequencies of any given year, we have to go back to the end of the prior year, in the same way that we now know from scientific research that the time we spent in our mother’s womb has a great deal of influence on our intelligence, health, and personality. 2020 was “born” in Dec 2019, which is how Covid-19 was named. 2021 is forged by two main conjunctions that took place in 2020, both of which launched new long-lasting cycles. The first took place at the onset of the pandemic: the Pluto Saturn conjunction in Capricorn. This cycle demands changes in political and economic structures and will last a generation. The second conjunction took place on the Solstice of 2020, when Jupiter and Saturn converged in altruistic Aquarius for the first time in hundreds of years ushering in a new age of freedom, equality, and innovation. The door of the new year appeared in the last ten days of 2020, but in 2021 we are asked to step through the gateway and boldly go where we have not ventured before. On Feb 11/12 of 2021, 7 heavenly bodies will be in Aquarius for the first time in thousands of years. The quote above is what we can expect from the Age of Aquarius, if we play our (tarot) cards well. 

2021 is challenging in its own right for two reasons. The first is the hard aspect of Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius squaring Uranus in Taurus. The second is the numerology of 2021, which is reduced to 5, a challenging number that is associated with the sphere Severity in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, and in numerology symbolizes war and instability. But to be honest, the biggest challenge of 2021 we must deal with is that it comes in the aftermath of 2020. The good news is that in 2021 we are switching from the Earth element to Air, giving us the potential to soar high above the challenges of 2020. With Saturn and Jupiter switching from earth-bound Capricorn to air-rocketing Aquarius, we have the tools we need to change institutions, overcome racism, dissolve conflict, get rid of populism and nationalism, and reconnect to equality and global collaboration. Aquarius is the sign of democracy, progress, and humanitarian causes. The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius, which we will feel throughout 2021 has not happened since the 1400s, the time we emerged out of the Dark Ages into the Renaissance. May the same happen to us all in 2021. Astrology was born out of the womb of the goddess Necessity. As we domesticated plants and animals, we did the same to time and space. Astrology helped early farmers identify and track the seasons. As the years passed and astrology became more sophisticated, it started calculating orbits within orbits, conjunctions, oppositions and other geometrical relationships between planets and signs. Borrowing from Ezekiel 1:15, “and their work was as if it were a wheel within a wheel,” Astrology is the chariot, the spacecraft that helps us travel in space and time. I hope this book will do justice to the ancient art and help us all steer onto the right path. The times and dates listed are all in Universal Time (UT). The information in Part II relating to the specific signs should be read for your Sun sign as well as your rising sign.  I hope we meet in person or in dreams in 2021, and I am optimistic we will be able to hug and shake hands. I wish you synchronicities, magic, prosperity, health, love, and creativity.

Gahl