by Robert Wilkinson
My new book, The Cycles of Life – 7 Year Cycles and Stages of Change, is your roadmap to understand why certain years of your life were openings, or challenging, or punctuation points which brought things to an end. We all evolve through 7 year cycles, and this book helps you understand why certain themes repeated at key points in time.
This approach to chart analysis came about because I noted recurring patterns across specific time periods in my friends and clients. I always knew certain periods of life seemed to have their own qualities, challenges, and rewards. The method I offer here will help you make sense why certain years were the way they were. I am giving a class on this material for Astrology Arizona on Saturday, June 28, at 1 pm PDT. You can find out more by going to their website page Astrology Arizona workshops.
The basis of approaching the meaning of each year was given to us by Dane Rudhyar. I took the concepts he offered and found planetary correspondences to each year in each 7 year cycle using knowledge from other sources. Are you in a Saturn year or a Mars year? Are you in a Mercury year or a Lunar year? My method explains the trajectory of your evolution as a function of your chart.
In Chapter 1 of The Cycles of Life – 7 Year Cycles and Stages of Change, I offer what Rudhyar had to say about each year in a 7 year cycle along with my own observations about stages of human development. From the section titled “What Each Year in A Seven Year Cycle Means,”
In the section titled “The 7 Year Pattern,” he explores the concept of the first part of any cycle dealing with the involution of energy from Spirit through Mind and then Life, and the second part of any cycle dealing with the evolution of Life to Mind to Spirit. That implies in a 7 year cycle, the first 3 ½ years are a “descent into form” and the second 3 ½ years are a “fulfillment of and liberation from form.” So the first three years develop the forms of the cycle, the fourth year is a turning point in the cycle, and the last three years fulfill the purpose of the cycle.Having offered my take on the 7 year cycles in counseling sessions with clients over the past 50 years, it seems universally accurate. While each person’s circumstances determine how these years within the larger cycles play out, each year in any 7 year cycle shows consistent qualities across the various chapters of life….
The first year of any 7 year cycle (the first year after birth, 7, 14, 21, 28, etc.) is the beginning of the cycle. This is a stage of pure potentiality, where things are not clear, and there’s usually a very strong pull to the past. Insecurity is high, with a need to face the future and gather what is needed to establish the cycle. Home and family may be a priority or reference point. There may be a need for a “protective shell” or “container” to secure the growth into the future.
Rudhyar writes “that year is peculiarly elusive and uncertain in character, or filled with emotional confusion.” He offers that a lot goes on subconsciously or unconsciously, where “life seems neither one thing nor another,” with the possibility of impulsiveness or emotional intensity.
The book explores the quality of each year, correlating them with the “stages of creation” from The Stanzas of Dyzan and the planetary qualities of each year. The Cycles of Life – 7 Year Cycles and Stages of Change offers what each year of each 28 year “life chapter” is about and is an easy reference for you to see where you’re at in your evolutionary process. There are examples of how the process can be applied, and this method adds a dimension to any reading as it is universal and augments what we know astrologically about a chart.
Even if you don’t know astrology, this book will make it easy for you to research what you were learning in each year of your life, and how it related to past and future lessons. It is a workbook for you to see when and why certain major psychological changes happened at key points, and understand the larger sweep of your life’s purpose and evolution. Spanning Shakespeare to Rudhyar, this work will open vast vistas on your life, your evolution, and why you went through what you did when you did.
This work explains why certain life themes and lessons repeat at crucial times, why we confront “ego deaths” at key points, and shines a light on how we can use each year in each 7 year cycle to move our Soul intention forward into the world. It offers practical ways to leave old patterns behind and accept those which are more satisfying. It explores the 7 year material, emotional, psychological, and spiritual cycles and offers ways to change our responses into more satisfying expressions of our love, wisdom, and understanding.
The 7 Year Cycle model is universally applicable. Besides seeing our own growth trajectory, we can see them at work in child development, marriages, friendships, businesses, or any other activity involving years of participation. It will be of great value for parents, grandparents, and therapists in understanding what children and their parents are going through in each year of their growth, and why there are crucial points of choice and change during specific years.
Regardless of your age or interests, this book will help you track long wave changes in your psychological and spiritual development, and offer pointers about where you’re at and what you’re learning. Please visit The Cycles of Life – 7 Year Cycles and Stages of Change and get your copy today! And when you do, please be sure to leave a review on the page site, as it helps boost the book and all astrology books in general.
This work is of universal value, so I've priced it below other books in its class. Thanks for your interest, and I’ll continue to post pieces of the book over the next few weeks and take questions.
© Copyright 2025 Robert Wilkinson
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