21st Century Astrology - What is the Grand Irrationality and Why Is Everything So Weird?

by Robert Wilkinson

Long time fans of this site know we are in the heart of a long term phenomenon for which I coined the term "The Grand Irrationality." All over the world, events and people seem to be pretty irrational right now, with important choices and changes showing us individually and collectively that we all stand at one or more "forks in the road of Destiny."

It's been two years since I posted this, and so I figured it was time to re-introduce some of the key elements of this very weird time happening for everyone on Earth. I’ve re-written it extensively to flesh out some concepts, elaborate on the time line, and make it more readable.

In the past 10-15 years, many clients and friends have reported that they feel driven by events beyond their control, and that events seem to be careening forward with no rhyme or reason to what's happening and why. That certain seems to be the case with the governments in our world as well.

From what thousands around the world have shared with me, along with the obvious irrationality of most social and economic policies that have been in place during the period this “Grand Irrationality” has been in effect, it’s obvious that something very strange has been going on. Many feel it acutely, and it's easily observed in the various types of obsessive-compulsive behaviors in others we encounter.

Some seem to be handling it okay, and are able to function with apparent ease despite the hard edged irrational behaviors so prevalent in our world. Others are having a harder time with the generic weirdness. Those who are having the hardest time are those who are trying to figure out the reason the weirdness is a constant, even though reason alone is not enough to figure out what's happening, why, and what to do about it.

Given the rapid and very strange hard-edged developments of the past 20 years, it seems as though a force of Destiny has put humanity at a series of major and minor forks in the road related to life on Earth. Much we used to believe in or count on in our reality has gone "off the rails," and we are all living a much different way of seeing things than in previous eras of modern civilization.

The period from 1992-1995 was a transition out of the relatively productive Neptune sextile Pluto era that had been in play since the early 1940s. By the mid-90s, things were getting very strange, and that strangeness has only accelerated in pace and intensity since then.

All around the world, things have destabilized in unimaginable ways, and new developments are happening so quickly that it’s almost impossible to reason out why this is happening the way it is happening. From genocides to electromagnetic breakthroughs, we’re seeing a lot come down in this 25 year period of “The Grand Irrationality.”

Each week, each month, each year it seems that we are all confronting important decisions and choices, both individually and collectively. This has resulted in many lives being shifted dynamically, accelerating the pace on their path to Truth, even though that has destabilized many in their work, home life, and sense of purpose. That has affected many relationships on every level, and as a result many are searching for a new life, job, or profession (part 2 here.)

Yet for all these forks in the road we seem to confront on a continuing basis, still very little of it makes sense in the usual ways. That it’s been happening all over the world makes it a global phenomenon, and since it's affecting all of humanity, a.k.a. "the planetary mind," we must consider that since this phenomenon recurs at critical points across the centuries, it is related to Earth's evolution and what part we humans have been and will be playing at this time in history.

From one point of view, due to evolutionary pressures that transcend human issues, the Earth is going into its shift, or "Initiation" into a new way of doing its being, and since we are part of the Earth organism, we also are going through our own shifts and changes, both individually and collectively. Nations, Economics, Politics, Environment, Health, and many other areas are changing into new transitional models for our transitional era.

I termed this collective atmosphere, or phenomenon, "The Grand Irrationality" because Neptune and Pluto, the outermost invisible "spiritual" planets, have been and will be in the irrational, compulsive, "fork in the road" septile aspect for quite a few years. As previously noted, it began to creep into play between 1992-1994, and started to dominate affairs in 1995. The influence will begin to wane in the Springs and Summers of 2015-2020 while still being strong in the Autumns and Winters of those years, after which Neptune and Pluto will again be in a long term sextile.

All aspects in the septile series produce irrational points in our evolution, due to the inherent non-rationality of this series derived from dividing the circle by 7, yielding non-rational aspect values. This nonrationality can show in many ways, both productive and destructive, depending on which is needed and how adept we are at responding to the times when the other planets make conjunctions, septiles, biseptiles, or triseptiles to Neptune and Pluto.

Due to Saturn's association with the number 7, when these septile aspects are active, it is a "destiny producing" influence, and as such are associated with "forks in the road," where we make choices that throw our "destiny" into its path for some time to come. These are points where we fulfill Dharma by our choices and ability to respond to the challenges presented at those points in time. It may not make much sense why we have to make certain choices when we do, or why certain pathways open and others close, but choose we must, for even not to choose is a choice that opens doors and closes others.

The last time Neptune septiled Pluto began late 1934 and lasted through late 1944, when Fascism and other authoritarian models, including the AMA and many draconian US governmental agencies, reared their ugly heads in America, Europe, Asia, and other parts of our world. That was a very hard-edged time that was very much a "fork in the road" of humanity's destiny. Think of our world in 1933, and then juxtapose it with the world of 1945. If nothing else, that period exactly chronicles the rise and fall of everyone’s favorite villain, Adolph Hitler, as well as America’s favorite president of the modern era, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

During the 1940s Neptune began to sextile Pluto which lasted until around the mid-term elections of late 1994. Students of politics will note this marked the beginning of the rise of the present Neocon uber-nasty political movement, new genocides being perpetrated in various parts of the world, and the linking up of various terrorists and their organizations.

Perhaps this is one explanation why many have the sense that there has been an increase in the number of irrational or compulsive people and situations we've had to deal with since the mid-'90s up to the present time. It sure seems that things and people have gotten weirder these past 20 years and it doesn't seem we’ll be over it any time soon, if recent slaughters in America and elsewhere are any indicator!

Of course, since we're ultimately birthing a new way of living our global reality and new ways of relating to all that is, often our familiar references won't make much sense or be useful in learning to live in the Eternal NOW with all the rapid changes happening as a result of the quickening of the timestream. (It's quickened due to our affecting the hydraulics of the planet, as well as how we’re electromagnetically wired globally, but that's another article for another time.)

Each time a planet moves through one of the seven zones that are in a conjunction, septile, biseptile, or triseptile Neptune and/or Pluto, it triggers the entire pattern and sets a lot into motion, both where these aspects fall in our charts as well as in the larger world of human affairs. Thus it's triggered 7 times each month, as well as at least 21 more times each year as the inner planets all move through these zones.

Among the more important points of shift for humanity were those times when Jupiter and Saturn entered into one of the seven "irrational" zones and triggered The Grand Irrationality. For example, in 2004 it was set off in a big way when Jupiter went stationary direct in early Virgo biseptile Pluto and triseptile Neptune in Spring 2004 with Saturn also triseptile both Neptune and Pluto around the same time.

Saturn retrograded back into the (at that time) late Cancer zone making a double triseptile with Neptune and Pluto between February-April 2005, and Jupiter triggered the pattern again when it moved through the early Scorpio zone in October-November 2005.

The next "action beat" occurred in late November-early December 2007 when Jupiter conjuncted Pluto at the Galactic Center while septiling Neptune. This was followed by Saturn triseptile Neptune and biseptile Pluto in September-October 2008 and again between late January-early March 2009 and July-August 2009. Adding to the importance of the period between May and August 2009 was Jupiter conjunct Neptune and septile Pluto.

At that time, I wrote extensively about the extremely important Saturn in Virgo influence triggering the Grand Irrationality in many articles, as well as the 250 year turning point represented by Pluto conjunct the Galactic Center, so please consult the archives to learn more. Also, due to the inner planet transits that whole period of Summer 2008-2009 (especially Summer 2009!) was lit up on a regular basis, making it a very important time where we had encounters and made decisions that determined our future for a long time to come, whether we knew it or not at the time.

Since then, other important forks in the road for us all happened December 2009, late February through early April 2010, mid-July 2010, late September-early October 2010, December 2010, and the third week of February 2011. A huge trigger occurred between March and May 2011 with all the planets transiting the Aries zone which prepared us for the huge shifts beginning January 2012 after which Mars and Jupiter set things into motion in a big way!

In the past year, major triggers occurred the end of May, early June, late June, and between late July and early December. That’s a LOT of activity! Some of what Jupiter in the Gemini zone set up during the Autumn of 2011 will accelerate powerfully in late March through April, so get ready!

Mars will activate the pattern in late January and early February, mid-April (4 or 5 points active!), late June, early September, late November, and early December. These are generic trigger points that affect us collectively, so if things and people are strange in those times, chalk it up to the collective consciousness. We’ll take another big step in the process at the end of 2013 when Saturn begins to transit the Scorpio zone, setting up major developments in 2014.

Since we'll be living within this for a while, please don't think these very weird times are only strange and difficult for you personally, since everyone's going through it. Some are more aware of it, some less, and some are totally clueless. Just remember to take a deep breath when confronted with irrational people, or those hung up on their particular obsessions or compulsions.

That's why it's important to stay focused on your Divine Power of efficient self-reorganization - Pluto in Capricorn - rather than get lost in useless energy-wasting power struggles. Also, having kept our eye on the ideal when Neptune was in Aquarius, we now get to learn how to “swim” in the collective feeling-consciousness represented by Neptune in Pisces.

Neptune will be in the first half of Pisces during these last few years of The Grand Irrationality. Humanity will be forced to confront vague fears and illusions as we learn a greater compassion, a more frequent forgiveness of self and others, and move through an era where human superstitions will be unveiled and released forever.

Neptune in Pisces is showing humanity the need to cultivate a sense of feeling how all life is interrelated within the vast oceanic energy field of Divine Mother energy, the emergent “Godhead” of the 21st century. Of course, there will also be manifestations of irrational duplicity and hypocrisy, but the flashes of intuition that will come forth in ways that "make no sense" should help us spot those fairly easily.

You might think that because this configuration is anchored by Neptune and Pluto the effects are subtle, if pervasive. However, if you consider that the Moon makes conjunctions, septiles, biseptiles, or triseptiles to both Neptune and Pluto seven times every month, it becomes evident that we're never really relieved of the pressure, even if it seems to wax and wane with circumstances.

Of course, since Neptune and Pluto are moving forward in the zodiac, the hot zones move forward every year. Right now in early 2013 the 7 "hot zones" of the Grand Irrationality are around 8-12 Capricorn, 29 Aquarius-3 Pisces, 20-24 Aries, 12-16 Gemini, 3-7 Leo, 25-29 Virgo, and 16-20 Scorpio. (These move forward about 2 degrees every two years.)

If you have planets in or near any of these zones, you are being directly affected by the general irrationality and the pressure of making major choices that will affect your future, both in the life areas of the houses in which these points fall, as well as the life areas ruled by any planets you may have in these zones. Also remember that if you have planets before these zones, you were most influenced by the Grand Irrationality in recent years, and if you have planets later than these zones, you will be going through your Forks in the Road in the future.

To recap, septiles, biseptiles, and triseptiles all deal with the strange "destiny producing" forks in the road we all confront at various times of crisis and decision. While each aspect has its unique function within the series, they all show as obsessive-compulsive urges, experiences, and interactions at the ego level, and major points of choice and irrevocable change in our lives on a dharma level, or in terms of life-changing relationships and activities.

Wherever the active degree zones occur in our charts, as the transiting planets made their aspects within the larger series we've confronted crucial choices that set our lives and future into dynamic motion. We have had to learn a greater maturity, how to set clear boundaries, and take responsibility to choose what we will be limited by, or not. Again, this is due to the Saturnian nature of the Septile series, derived from the division of the circle of 360 degrees by 7, Saturn's number. So while it's not rational at times, it's always important from the standpoint of learning about Saturn in our lives.

Since we're now on the closing side of the historical curve of this influence, don't worry if things make no sense for the next few years, since they don't have to. What matters is to greet each fork in the road with an awareness of seeing clearly how to grow into your Highest Self, and not sweat the harmless compulsions while being alert to the destructive potential for others to go irrational for no reason.

This is the edge of historical change. The period from 1994-2016 will be seen as one where the entire world hit the razor's edge, and found that despite the wreckage of the old era and its ways, a new era dawned that made the old one look dismal by comparison.

So find a sense of humor and determination, relax into the long wave transition, and surf the wild ride of the tsunami of the Grand Irrationality! You have nothing to lose but your fear.

© Copyright 2006, 2011, 2013 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Jean]

"Those who are having the hardest time are those who are trying to figure out the reason the weirdness is a constant, even though reason alone is not enough to figure out what's happening, why, and what to do about it."
"Reason is the Enemy of God".
Thanks for the timely redux Robert!
Namaste

[Valerie]

Robert, your masterful analysis and advice are a true gift for using these times well. Thank you!

[cathy]

maybe I am a part of the G.I. because everything seems fine to me.Gifts of selfless generousity from others, structured for a new beginning in cosmetics. I hope i'm not in lala land.

[Nancy Robinson]

Yeah, I gave up on Reason too!
Great Re-Read, thanks!

Nancy

[Chickie Farella]

Throw up my hands....don't give a flying banana and going with the "flo" Ur Highness cuz that's the name on my birth certificate......:)

[Debbie]

I sooooo know what you, your friends and others on here are saying!
1995, woke up one morning, didn’t know who i was at least consciously anymore,( if you’re interested; uranus/neptune conj saturn, pluto into 2nd house, vesta conj MC transpluto conj uranus, saturn conj pallas/juno, nth node moving towards my libra asc throught the via combusta from 1st house) I had put myself aside since early teens and did it the way I was told I had to, achieved everything I was told I would by doing so, I knew what everyone else liked, everyone else wanted etc, but no idea about me, I had disappeaared, as i was trained through fear not to question the system, or behave like a female naturally is, if i was to be loved and not be a shame to my family (libra moon 12th house, neptune scorp 1st house, saturn late cap quincunx nth node leo)I had brief counselling series then onwards without being able to stop myself towards self discovery and becoming again with maturity the philosopher I was at age 8 with wisdom of course, when they sent me to all sorts of IQ testing etc to figure out where all this information was coming from, they wouldnt accept the "others" in the room who were my encouraging guidance at the time, they dont like to now either, but unable to deny any more :) Most of it felt the correct way to be and do, yet completely irrational to how I had been taught to think. My fav song through many of those years were "shine on you crazy diamond" Pink Floyd, makes sense huh? This is one crazy diamon shining away back in reality lol!
Sadly my mother (sun, moon, merc, venus, jup all in scorpio and all quincunx chiron) had life similar, but didn’t do anything about it or finding herself, eventually now, she has totally forgotten who she is in reality (dementure)  I am grateful for her showing me what not to do and only wish I could help her change it for herself now.

[Sagars]

Debbie, Pink Floyd dedicated your favorite song to Syd Barrett. Today (6th January) is his birthday.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MDHv1xLnlM
.
Enjoy!!! :-)

(Are you there on facebook?)

[AceStar]

good article Robert!
GOD bless my brother :)))

[Max]

Thank you very much for this analysis Robert. I could very much relate to this:

''The last time Neptune septiled Pluto began late 1934 and lasted through late 1944, when Fascism and other authoritarian models, including the AMA and many draconian US governmental agencies, reared their ugly heads in America, Europe, Asia, and other parts of our world. That was a very hard-edged time that was very much a "fork in the road" of humanity's destiny. Think of our world in 1933, and then juxtapose it with the world of 1945. If nothing else, that period exactly chronicles the rise and fall of everyone’s favorite villain, Adolph Hitler, as well as America’s favorite president of the modern era, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

During the 1940s Neptune began to sextile Pluto which lasted until around the mid-term elections of late 1994. Students of politics will note this marked the beginning of the rise of the present Neocon uber-nasty political movement, new genocides being perpetrated in various parts of the world, and the linking up of various terrorists and their organizations.''

I have never been a very political person, other than that I always despised lies and insincerity, but as of late I have had a strong desire and urge to be politically active, because I feel inside that much is at stake if I and we as citizens do not get involved and the process of true Democracy might even be lost completely. Even though Obama was re-elected, which many consider a victory, it was just one battle won of a long war and the other side will just keep on charging and keep corrupting the system for their benefit if nobody stands up to them.

I have felt the spirit of FDR around me and have been drawn to his legacy as of late and it makes sense to me now as to why after having read your article.

I also feel that the deceptive populist energy is being activated again that brought Hitler into power and started the second World War.

After all it was Wall Street and the corrupt American plutocrats that financed Hitler and helped him get into power when he was an unknown. Trying to profiteer from both sides of the war and trying to amass more power and wealth in the process.

I do not now who is the equivalent to the National Socialists of 1930s Germany at this time, but I have been doing a lot of research into the fake grass roots movement that is the Tea Party as of late and I see some parallels there. I watched the great documentary ''The Billionaires' Tea Party'' on Netflix that exposes the propaganda and finances behind organizations like FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party Patritos etc.

Joseph Goebbels no doubt would be proud of such a successful mass-deception campaign.

It is interesting that much of this covert fake grass roots agitation is funded by the Koch Brothers of Koch Industries, whose family has German roots and also had ties to the Nazi movement as far as I know.

I guess maybe President Obama is FDR in this war ( a rather uninspiring and un-progressive version of him though :-) and Grover Norquist and Paul Ryan are the new Adolf Hitlers and Joseph Goebbels of our time, backed by white supremacist Christian fundamentalist billionaires through secretive right-wing think tanks like the Council for National Policy.

It is a thrill to be alive in these times that is for sure and I will do everything in my power to contribute to a positive outcome for the working class, the less fortunate and the planet in this war.

Thank you Robert.

[peggy]

Robert. Thank you for this explanation of why my life has totally changed since April 1993. Fired my husband and divorced him. Spent years picking up and cleaning up my mess while I jumped on my spiritual and magical path to today. No one from those days would recognize anything about me
Not where my office is or where my home is - or who my friends are. Or even what I look like. So I am a testament to being part of the new ways. But confused with where I am right now and am grateful for you and your writings. I check in everyday. And while I have you....so who did tell Bobby to go the other way and why are you the only one who talks about that. Bobby is my personal hero. Period. And I have my own suspicions who did that. Who had the most to gain? Grateful for you Robert. You are holding so many of us together
Divine mother time!

[Chickie Farella]

My marriage ended also in 1993 and I relocated Sept. 1993.....glad u stayed on ur "magical path."

[Debbie]

Hi Sagars, no not on facebook, but thanks anyway :) that is really nice for them to do in his memory as a celebration and to bring folks attention to what the 2 albumns ere about for others suffering similar.

[caliban]

Gosh, so that probably only accentuated the weirdness of my physical relocation to here at the very end of 1992. Really love my cave here, the family stress has finally left with the passing of the parentals, and feel like I am starting fresh here somehow. Normally, I would pick up and go somewhere else for a fresh start. This is different. It seems that no matter where I'd go, there I'd be. Am further exploring for unknown resources here. Amazing how far I don't need to go to find.

[caliban]

Oh, Robert, have been wanting to ask about the effects, if any from your perspective, when neptune travels outside the orbit of pluto making neptune the farthest from earth planet. I read that is a 20 year cycle thing?