The Four Horsemen: Four Global Ideologies

Just as in the case of Revelation 13, which I analyzed in this video, Revelation 5 must be understood from the perspective outlined in the previous chapter.

The key to Revelation 13 is the understanding that "the dragon", the first dragon-like creature portrayed, is "Satan" who is cast down from heaven in chapter 12, as there is a war in heaven.

In the language of arcane mysticism the "war in heaven" refers to a specific set of planetary positions, an astrological conflict, most likely an "astrological cross" involving Mercury in direct opposition to Pluto.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

From this it becomes obvious that we are talking about a radical change in the political composition on Earth, seen reflected by the mystic (John) in the aspects formed by the planetary movements.

Heralding The Age of Pisces

The arch-angel Michael is associated with Mercury, and Mercury (Hermes, Gr.) is the messenger of the gods, and associated with commerce, communication, athletics (indicative of speed, but also relating to ancient forms of communication as illustrated in the legend of the runner at Marathon).

The verses show how Mercury and his angels (a conjunction with larger, more "powerful" celestial bodies") displaces "the dragon" (Pluto), casting him out into the earth, along with his "angels."

Virtually every prophesy in the New Testament relates narrowly to the astrological age it was heralding, the Age of Pisces in which Christian virtue is distributed to the entire world population in one form or the other.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child

The woman in the desert is Israel, who "gave birth" to Jesus. Mary and Joseph's exile in Egypt is seen, here, as a parable of the fate of Israel: To be persecuted, and to be sent into exile, as it occurred with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

This clearly indicates that the dragon, Satan, is seen embodied in the Roman Empire, which persecuted the Jews (or at least they felt injured by the Roman occupation, even if it is clearly stated all over the Old Testament that the numerous cases of foreign administration and exile are actually Yahweh's punishment for non-compliance to the pact between Yahweh and Israel).

The Roman Empire then turns against "the remnants of her seed, which keep the commandments of God" - the Christians who were, in the early stages mostly of Jewish origin (at least until Paul's reformation, where he confronted the 12 Apostles, who opposed the integration of Gentile Christian communities. This took place about 17 years after Paul's vision on the road to Damascus).

The Horsemen Ride Out on Public Request

In the previous entry, shaped as a video, I pointed out that modern day Europe and modern day USA are "the Beast" and the dragon-like beast with "two horns like a lamb" in Revelation 13.

As provocative as this may be to those who are European or American, there is nothing odious in it: In the Bible every nation is described as a beast, a creature driven by self-interest and self-preservation, with the capacity for unbridled aggression.

This is also the underlying esoteric thought behind one of the main works of political science, Hobbes' Leviathan, with the title directly referring to another Biblical "beast", primarily referred to in the Book of Job and thought to represent an empire of the age and, subsequently, imperial power as a principle.

This should bring us up to speed with the events depicted in Revelation 5-6.

First, it is important to notice that the time-space continuum is warped in such prophesies. There is a level of inaccuracy, and the visions are blurry, and their concepts fuzzy.

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. 

The four living creatures are symbolic representations of the people of the Earth, with the number four representing each of the four corners of the Earth. There is more to the symbolism of the four living creatures, but what is important here is that each of the four horsemen are summonned by the four creatures.

Revelation 6:1:

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

The White Horseman: Christian Liberalism

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

The White Horseman is, by some considered Christ himself. According to the Wikipedia:

Irenaeus, an influential Christian theologian of the 2nd century, was among the first to interpret this horseman as Christ himself, his white horse representing the successful spread of the gospel. Various scholars have since supported this theory, citing the later appearance, in Revelation 19, of Christ mounted on a white horse, appearing as The Word of God,

There is some truth to the interpretation, because the White Horseman is associated with Jesus, but interpreting the White Horseman as supremely good whereas the other three are supremely evil is illogical bordering on the insane.

The first incarnation of the White Horseman, the first physical representative of the spiritual principle, is Emperor Constantine the Great, who in 313 - after a mock conversion to Christianity - exploited the growing cult with a tale that he had seen the sign of Christ in the sky ahead of an important battle against a political ally in pagan Rome, then having power divided between three governers.

In the Edict of Milan he describes a new condition of religious tolerance in which Christians are free from persecution by the state, effectively making Christianity state religion, even if it was not formally so at that point.

The White Horseman represents the principle of armed Christianity, Christendom or Christenhood, and as such the relatively succesful conquest and subduction of three continents (Europe, America and Australia). By extention the White Horseman also represents, today, The West, governed by some arbitrary mix of Greco-Roman liberalism infused with Protestantic Christendom.

Ever since the crusades it has been the primary mode of existence for The West to combine Evangelism with military conquest, and along with conquest, theft: Theft of land, theft of ressources and even theft of people (slavery). Other cultures have done so, occasionally, but never as the consistent and primary mode of existence, and never as succesfully.

From the Crusades over Colonialism and Imperialism the Christian West has, more than anything, showed enormous capacity for conquest, and so far their efforts have been crowned with almost supernatural success. Like the other horsemen The White Horseman is neither good nor evil. He is a principle, a cultural phenomenon, and an ideology.

The White Horseman rode West, and is today strongest represented in USA, combining a liberal agenda and vital aspects of Roman administration with a strong Christian Right influence in Washington.

The Red Horseman: Communism and Socialism

The principle of socialism is not a new one, as the Three Servile Wars against Rome testifies to. Of  these slave rebellions we only recall the Third Servile War for the sensational crucifixion of Spartacus and thousands of other rebelling slaves along the Via Appia to Rome.

Modern day Socialism was founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 19th Century Europe.

All four horseman can, in fact, be tied to Europe as products of the cultural and intellectual revolutions of this small, but highly incendiary continent. As I pointed out in Revelation 13 Revealed Europe is responsible for both of the two World Wars we have seen.

As for Socialism, it is represented in the Apocalypse with these verses:

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 

Red is the color associated in the political world with Socialism. Even today, after the Cold War, the socialist leaning political blocks in various parliaments across the Earth, are dubbed Red Block.

The main characteristic of the Red Hoseman is that he takes peace away from Earth.

It is not clearly apparent why, but it is a fact that Socialism rose in opposition to Christianity, as a profoundly atheist ideology, and that it responded to what Socialist perceived as inherently oppressive dynamics of Christendom, the ideology represented by the first horse, and its policies of colonialism and imperialism, domestically, and around the world.

The Red Horseman rode East, namely to Russia and China, fermenting cultural revolutions that to this day "takes peace away from Earth". Understanding the agenda of The Black Horseman helps us understand better the nature of the Red Horseman, so let us skip forward one step:

The Black Horseman: Fascism and Nationalism

The principle of fascism is also ancient, rooted in the Latin word fasces, which means a bundle of sticks. The fasces were used as symbols of authority for officials.

The mythology around the fasces originates in a fable in which a father teaches his son that "united we standl" by asking him to break one stick, which is easy, and then to break a bundle of sticks together, which is impossible.

The "strength through unity" principle is the fundamental principle of fascism, which was revived simultanously in Europe in the early part of the 20th century - namely Spain, Italy and Germany - partly to oppose the rise of Socialism, the Red Horseman.

Now we see a dynamic between the horsemen forming: They are each rivals to each other's powers, and the order in which they appear reveals how they respond to each other.

The Black Horseman is represented in the Bible like this:

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

The most famous form of fascism and the dominant form was the Germanic National Socialism, more often called Nazism or Hitlerism. Like Socialism it was preoccupied with economy, as the scales and the price regulations in the prophesy describes.

The Black Horseman is often understood as Famine, but that is not what the prophetic words from the centre of the four "beasts", or world powers, indicate. During a famine money is almost worthless, and hurting oil and wine would make no sense, partly because there would be very little of it, and partly because they would be extremely high priced commodities.

The words relate to the purpose of Fascism as opposed to Socialism, which would diminish luxury goods like oil and wine, while regulating prices for basic food along with the utilitarian agenda. Fascism accepts this purpose, to some extent, incorporating concern for food prince and wage regulation, but opposes the destruction of "oil and wine", which may also be seen as symbols of cultivation and, by extention, class society.

Fascism protected the rich elite. The Black Horseman rode North, staying in Europe, where the market is regulated according to some level of socialist concern for workers, but with a clear preference for the virtues of the upper class.

The Pale Horseman: Zionism and Capitalism

The Pale Horseman has frequently been associated with the rise of Islam, particularly because of the part of the prophesy that grants it power over one fourth of the earth.

However, this interpretation breaks the pattern, since Islam is not a transcending ideology, and it did not originate in Christian Europe. With transcending ideology I mean an ideology to which you can subscribe, even if it does not fit your ethnic origin.

You may argue that you can convert to Islam, regardless of race, but in the case of the other three horsemen the support from the four "beasts" is derived from conceptual agreement. Islam, as such, does not represent a unique political or economic principle.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Particularly because Muslims today encompass one fifth of the world population it is compelling to see the prophesy as a prophesy about the ascension of an armed and radicalized Islamic world. Lots of energy has been invested in associating the word for "pale" with the color green, traditionally associated with Islam.

However, Islam, even as a quasi-political ideology, does not have power over a fourth or even a fifth of the Earth. Even with its vast masses, the Islamic world is virtually powerless. The power is exercised over it, the power to kill with a variety of means, from warfare over economic oppression to "beasts of the earth" which, in a modern interpretation, would indicate germ warfare.

The regional power to do this is held by Zionism, physically manifested in the "resurrected" Israel. Israel has easily won every military conflict it has been involved in, and even when Israel bombed the Iraqui nuclear installations pre-emptively, it did not trigger any consequences for this regional superpower: Such passivity is hardly what you would expect from a horseman named Death.

Israel as the Fourth Horseman also corresponds to the dynamic pattern between the horsemen - one trigger the next in a Hegelian dynamic of thesis, antithesis and synthesis.

Zionism was invented by Theodor Herzl in the late 19th Century and adopted into policy as a consequence of widespread European and American support for the Jewish cause in the aftermath of the Second World War, a war where Fascism - the Third Horseman - eradicated one third of the global Jewish community.

This was the fulfilment of a terrifying prophesy in Ezekiel stating that one third of Jews would be cut off and scattered about, one third would remain in Israel and one third would be burnt - Holocaust literally means "sacrifice by fire", and the Greek term has overtaken the Hebrew Shoah (calamity).

Born out of a terrible persecution, the culmination of almost 2000 years of European racism against Jews, known as the Nazi Holocaust, rose the fourth of the horsemen, set on securing a homeland for Jews. 

More Than Taboo from Ryantineocon on Vimeo.

It would take place at the price of the effective oppression of not only millions of Palestinians, but the entire Arab-Persian sub-continent through the revival of Cold War dynamics in which Washington and Brussels side with Israel.

Millions have died already, also due to biological warfare, in the proxy war between Iran and Iraq set up by CIA, and in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, all essentially taking place to defend the Western powers' decision to establish a cultural and stratetic foothold on Arab ground, a reservation for Jews.

This is the secret reason for the "special relationship" between USA and Israel. It is the reason Iran has called USA "the great Satan".

Conclusion

Neither of the horsemen can be said to be good or evil. The chapter describes a course of events and outlines the causality between them. The four horsemen are the rise of four ideologies with global influence, and in internal contest, a contest most likely to be won by White Horseman.

As indicated by the headlines each "horseman" or ideology or principle has a benign and a malignant aspect. Christianity, even in its militant form, can be said to have had a relative civilizing effect when compared to, at least, heathen Rome.

Socialism is, today, embedded in virtually every economy of the world, even including the American. It is moderated from Marxist economics, namely by the Western economist John Maynard Keynes. Communism no longer exists in pure form: The Soviet Union collapsed, and modern China is more of a Confucian one-party state with free market economics than Communist.

While fascism is evidently destructive, some level of nationalism may be required as a balance against other excesses, namely globalism and capitalism.National socialism is essentially what is being practiced by European countries today, with strict immigration policies and feverish attention to both cultural heritage, social cohesiveness, regulation of industry and a functionable welfare system, without the European countries being per definition fascist or extremely close to Hitlerism.

It may be seen as shocking or unreasonable or anti-Semitic to associate capitalism with Jewishness, but the fact of the matter is that Jews are intelligent and industrious, dysproportionally represented in top positions in business and banking in the West, favored no doubt by centuries of sedentary employment or scholarly pursuit under various more or less oppressive regimes. There is nothing ominous about that, except for the tendency to tilt towards Zionism, which may constitutes a direct conflict of interest.

Islam, for as much as it cannot be the Fourth Horseman, may yet be represented in the Apocalypse or elsewhere in the Bible (in fact, it is). The discovery that it is not the Pale Horseman does not mean there can be no threat from Pan-Arabism or militant Islam. It just simply means that in the contest between "beasts" it is the lesser threat.

The Dragon and the Beast: Revelation 13 revealed

I have finally had time to finish the first in a series of Biblical expositions and translations of some of the more obscure prophetic passages. This one ties "the Beast" to ancient Rome, and various Christian empires through the ages, up to the European Union of our days. The "Dragon" mentioned is associated with USA.

You may also watch the video on YouTube (coming):

About Eschatological (End Time) Myths

For those who view it from this blog, however, there are some additional "perks" in the form of spiritual insights.

First of all, my theory on prophesies is that they are tied to the culture and mythology from where they originate. They are geocentric, ethnicentric and only marginally relevant to other cultures.

Thus the Norse eschatological myth of Ragnarok is about the end of the glory of Viking empire and not necessarily about the end of the world as such. It is a reflection on the imperial hubris, inherent violence and latent racism that led the Asa to ostracize and alienate Loki, turning him into "the god of evil."

An interesting novel by Jon Ayers titled Frost Giant relates to this by viewing Loki's incarceration and torture from a rather unique perspective, partly as a murder of justice or at least a trial gone wrong and partly as a what I see as a parable of failed integration.

Loki is, in other words, an immigrant, and seemingly one who has seerved national security on a high level. This corresponds well with my knowledge of Norse mythology - that Loki was, indeed, brought into the circle of gods by Odin himself.

In Ayers' account one cannot be sure if Loki is guilty of one or more of the rather fantastic accusations made against him, not even in this post-modern story, where space-time seems to be completely bent or dissolved, as it is the case in a lot of Ayers' writing.

To me, the story is revolutionizing on several levels: As much for "taking the side" or at least explaining the view-point of Loki, the arch-villain, through a cleverly composed inner monologue or stream-of-consciousness.

The story even ties this narrative technique to the mock trial, because the words are his defense, which he must prepare over and over again, since he was never afforded an opportunity to deliver it (Loki is punished for conspiracy to murder Baldur, the god of Innocence, by being chained to a mountain and having venom dripped into his eyes by a serpent - indefinitely...)

The End of the World As We Know it

This led me to think about how civilizations do crumble, and fall subject to disaster or conquest or decadence, or whatever the reason may be they stop evolving.

Similar to the story of Ragnarok, the eschatological myth of the Apocalypse or Judgment Day in the Judeo-Christian tradition may relate narrowly to the Judeo-Christian cultural sphere and represent a highly idealized, highly Manichaean representation of prescient impulses, dreams and visions of the future that may be true on a spiritual level of even have some level of universality to them.

However, they are first and foremost "true" to those who believe in and belong to the particular cultural and mythological sphere.

Judgment Day may simply be a depiction of the end of Judeo-Christian culture and its replacement with "a new heaven and a new Earth" based on the return of Christ in some new interpretation or symbolic form.

It is likely fostered by astrological speculations about the Age of Pisces, which is closely associated with the rise and fall of Christianity as the dominant world religion as well as political and military power.

The subject is touched upon in my first blog posts, When Pluto Attacks With High Powered Symbolism and Pluto Sacking Capricorn: Pruning the Top, which may also serve as good introductions to the astrological method.

An Explanation for the Illuminati Conspiracy Theory

On YouTube thousands of video clips involving Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Eminem and other notable pop icons seek to explain their fame and fortune with a super-narrative in which modern day celebrities, particularly music performers, are custodians of a secret elite known as The Illuminati.

Detecting and exposing traditional Illuminati symbolism in music videos and, occasionally, in Hollywood movies, has become a pastime or even a sport for thousands of young Internet users.

In most cases – despite many spoofs – you will actually find both conspicuous and secretive subliminal messaging that directly corresponds to Illuminati symbolism, most often the imperfect pyramid with the eye inside a triangle, called The All-Seing Eye or The Eye of Providence.

The same symbol is the reverse of The Great Seal of The United States and can be found on the back of every dollar-bill in circulation.

Originally it is a symbol that stems from Masonic rites.

The Illuminati conspiracy theory is a collective response to the long distance-to-power in large urban cultures and, to some extent, the globalized macro-cosmos. People feel disenfranchised and powerless. They feel cut off from the success prresented by the media, and the Illuminati conspiracy is the projection conveniently explaing why some people are vastly more succesful: They have sold their soul.

Why do we actually see overt or subliminal Illuminati Symbolism?

The obvious examples of Illuminati symbolism in pop culture are planted for various reasons:

• They are anti-Christian, expressing disdain for the Judeo-Christian morality system, but claim vastly more power than ascribed to Illuminati
  
• They are planted for effect, because Illuminati conspiracy has become cult fiction and as such secures for instance a music video many views on YouTube
  
•  They express, to some extent, a belief in the superiority of the American culture and enlightenment ideas, and the Illuminati has been adopted as a rebellious identity, distancing artists from the religious right 

Anthropologically, it is not too farfetched to perceive modern day celebrities and artists employed in the entertainment industries as semi-deities, or priesthood for a new secular world order with liberalism as its main value system.

From the video to Lady Gaga's Alejandro: Semi-pornographic tableau, with an inverted cross strategically positioned as a phallos symbol on the artist's body suit.

Economically, mainstreamed movie stars and music performers definitely belong to the elite. They enjoy massive amassment of wealth compared to the average salary worker, and they are cherished and celebrated much in the same way fictional deities and despotic rulers were worshipped in ancient cultures.

The celebrity structure with its hedonism expresses the value system of a new social and ideological system to take over from a waning Judeo-Christian order controlled by White Male Patriarchs. The liberal pantheon is, to some extent, intertwined with the White Male Patriarchal system through its business structure.

As such it does represent a new world order, even if it the Illuminati Conspiracy is not a reality-adequate description of it, and it isn’t a New World Order in the sense that it is occult, nearly omnipotent or uncontested by rivaling “cultural software.”

Why does The Illuminati Conspiracy have such massive following?

The Illuminati conspiracy proponents have various reasons for their suspicions:

• As pointed out in Michael Barkun’s Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions of Contemporary America the conspiracy theorists are often religiously motivated and belong to the Christian Right
  
• In some cases the approach has been adopted by Muslims who perceive the New World Order as a threat to their cultural paradigm
  
• Others are participants in a sub-culture that enables them to perform social criticism, venting perceived social grievances, most likely disappointment in the system that allows others than themselves to be the celebrated and privileged icons of a “new world order”

Jay-Z, one of the most succesful hip hop artists, doing the Eye of Providence pose. It's pop culture, powered by market mechanisms, not a tribute to demonic forces.

The followers perceive the world locked in a battle between good and evil, most often God and Satan, espousing a Manichaean world view in which the conclusion of history is the destruction of the forces of evil that now governs the world through nefarious means, centralized in a secret order known as Illuminati.

Illuminati conspiracies often overlap with other, even more preposterous conspiracy theories like David Icke’s “alien invasion conspiracy theory” in which a great many politicians and celebrities are supposedly custodians for a New World Order imposed on humanity by humanoid or shape-shifting aliens.

According to Michael Burkin’s Cult of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions of Contemporary America the majority of conspiracy theories are “millennial” or associated with Millennialism, a modern Messianic cult based on a belief that Jesus will return and rule a global Kingdom that lasting 1000 years, but the Illuminati Conspiracy can exist isolated from these more fantastic claims.

Conclusion

Millennialism and anti-Millennialism, often represented by staunch liberalism, hedonism or strong atheism, are intertwined in a battle of symbols and representation, struggling to gain the upper hand of control over public sentiments.


The anti-Millennialism can be seen as partly rebellious against traditionalist views of Millennialists.


The application of anti-Christian or occult symbols, such as forming a triangle in front of the eye, or planting overturned crosses or references to Baphomet (Satan) in music videos, is a rebellious, liberal pose not dissimilar from the now popularized Satan sign, originally used in heavy metal circles (forming a head with two horns).

Before that Winston Churchill’s famous V sign was used, less controversially, to express the same idea of vigorous attachment to liberal concepts of freedom.

Millennialists perceive this as proof of a satanic conspiracy, or they exploit it to offer a false deconstruction of societal values and power structures that benefits the Manichaean paradigm.

At the heart of it, it is an ideological conflict between ultra-conservative and ultra-liberal value systems expressed through symbolism and deconstruction of symbolism.

It is a battle about what value system is to be dominant in Western society and thereby form the basis of social structures, government policies and the future development of civilization.

A succesfully mainstreamed "anti-Christian greeting" displayed by Jenna Bush to her father, and by Republican front figure and notable White Christian Traditionalist, Sarah Palin.

Pluto Sacking Capricorn: Pruning the Top

The Plutonic Era of Pluto in Capricorn began in 2008. Pluto hit the ground running with a devastating blow to the financial institutions of the world, and the effect was rapidly distributed to the global economy, resulting in a series of blow-ups and bail-outs that eventually turned into a slow-burning recession with great fears of follow-up crisis, new bubbles bursting and stagflation.

It started out with the Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis:

Cancer is traditionally associated with home and family

In brief the Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis was caused by a combination of state subsidized mortgages for low income households in USA that did not meet the usual requirements for mortgages.

This was combined with poor bank management and an overall tendency to speculation in the booming real estate industry, creating a so-called "bubble", an unsustainable burst in investments that eventually plummeted.

All in all the turn of events follows perfectly the characteristics of Pluto, and they take place on the Zodiacal axis of Capricorn-Cancer, which has to do with fatherhood and motherhood, and with their respective areas of influence:

For Capricorn it is bread-winning, climbing the social ladder and the exercising of authority - power within formalized institutions, whether it is government, private corporations, interest organizations or clerical communities.

For Cancer it is about domestic economy, marriage and reproduction and raising children, all of which can be viewed from a micro-social as well as a macro-social perspective. On the larger scale it is about national economics, security issues and Nationalism, demographics and basic education.

Shape and symbolism of the Capricorn glyph

I promised in my former post about the highlighted symbols of the Age of Terror to review the dominant symbols of the current Plutonic age, for as much as it has been revealed.

The most conspicuous symbol to re-enter the global arena at the same time as Pluto crashes into Capricorn is the Hammer and Sickle, as it appears in the Communist flag of China. China was announced the second largest economy in the world around February 2011.

The Capricorn is by far the strangest and most uneven symbol in the Zodiac, and the myths associated with it somewhat obscure.

The glyph is composed of two assymmetrical signs, each representing a part of the fabled creature with the head and torso of a mountain-goat and the lower body of a snail, said to be indicative of its contradictory main characteristics - perpetual drive towards the top and slowness of action, combined with some protectiveness of its private life.

It is, in a sense, a politician's sign, because politics require a certain level of moral integrity, particularly chastity, or at least discretion when comes to extramarital affairs.

The two major fables from Greek mythology associated with Capricorn is that of a female goat nursing Zeus in his infancy, and that of the forest demon Pan jumping into the sea to save himself from the rampage of Typhoon, an anarchic monster spawned to wage war against the gods.

After saving himself Pan alerts Zeus of incoming danger, thereby saving the Olympian order and winning himself a place in the night sky. However, his features are altered, and he is from this point on half goat, half sea snail.

Draconian Measures and Widespread Revolt

The events around Pluto transiting Capricorn have been misinterpreted widely around the astro-web to mean either massive clamp-down on civil rights from authorities in general or massive insurrections worldwide, attempting to overthrow the established order as symbolized by Capricorn.

It may not be an entirely false picture, particularly not when thinking about the Arab Revolt spanning 20 or more countries in North Africa and the Middle East, involving every world power on Earth and so far creating a couple of seemingly durable democracies.

However, it may be a widely misleading or at least very generalizing interpretation. If we look at Pluto's journey through Saggittarius, it is difficult to see if "freedom" won or lost in the end.

One some level Freedom came out stronger, again with the democratic revolts in the Islamic world in mind, facilitated by the communication technologies that really took pace when Pluto opposed (stood afar from) Gemini.

On other levels Freedom was curbed if not greatly reduced. Draconian measures were applied in the name of democracy, and two invasions were perpetrated by Western coalitions with massive destructive effect to the local populations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

More likely than radical system change we are talking about the introduction of checks and balances to power, whether it is government oversight of financial institutions in USA, or it is a new composition of the UN Security Council, or the effort to curb the outflow of money to Tax Havens within the Multi-National Corporations (MNC).

Some of these may be influenced or produced by massive and, perhaps, violent protests, and in other cases authorities may clamp down hard and by illegitimate means, as it is the style of Pluto.

Neo-Nationalism and neo-Communism

Another polarization seem to be a resurging of the dispute between economic schools, mainly the Milton Friedman school of monetarism or ultra-liberalism, and the moderate school of Democratic Socialist leaning economy of Keynes and Gailbraith.

On the ideological level there is a current conflict between Tea Partiers and their view of small government plus social and religious conservatism, as opposed to liberalism, European style Democratic Socialism and the  Radical Atheism represented by such outspoken atheists as Hitchens and Dawkins.

Some astrologers mention the Catholic Church as a brilliant example of Capricorn values and patriarchal power structure, and the massive damage it has suffered from pederast scandals as one sign of declining power of religion.

Recent reports also point to the emergence of a post-Christian USA, and even if Christianity may survive another century, the distribution of power is also changed by new demographic patterns: The White America now makes only 61 percent of the population of USA, with the largest growth seen in Hispanic community.

Geopolitically, the most characteristic trait is the rise of China as a global superpower, primarily economically, but also regionally threatening, culturally significant and politically assertive, particularly in World 3.

Like the Capricorn itself China has showed incredible singlemindedness of purpose, slow-burning effectiveness and intransigence to political change in spite of adopting some level of free market economics. Their is a calculated bid for power sustained by relentless pursuit according to tested means and carefully crafted policies. There is nothing rash about China, and its a nation unlikely to throw caution overboard or indulge in "Western decadence."

Projecting from previous Pluto transits

However, it seems that Pluto actually curbs and hampers the areas it touches, while it benefits the realms of the opposing sign. This may be due to the fact that Pluto is a representative of Death, often associated with the winter season, and as such its absence from a sign - standing as far away as possible, as it does in an opposition - actually allows the opposing sign to bloom.

Thus we saw innovation and adoption of communication technologies explode during the period in which Pluto opposed Gemini, traditionally the area of sentience, communication and... idle chatter. This began with a major crisis in international relations, and powerful government agencies worked with corporate interests to develop some of the most groundbreaking new communication platforms for the web - Facebook and Twitter, which became crucial to the election of Barack Obama and the relative success of the Arab Revolt.

Before this we saw a robust new physical aestheticism as well as materialism rise to power, when Pluto stood afar from Taurus. This began with an intensified focus on homosexuality, as the main disaster of the area was HIV/AIDS.

Again, it's an advantage to read the previous post about Pluto, analyzing correlation with super-symbols in the past three Plutonic Eras.

Some daring predictions

In science it is a rule that a theory must make a bold statement in order to be falsifiable. I will not claim that astrology is a science, but nevertheless I often felt that astrologers ought to be more radical if they mean to do business, producing some bold statemetns of their own in order to validate their relevancy.

If there is anything to astrology, and if this retrospective analysis is correct, it makes way for a highly counter-intuitive prediction:

In this age we are likely to see a resurge in real estate before 2023, and a political environment in which the vast numbers of homeless in USA, as well as the plight and right of refugees and displaced around the world comes into focus. This may not be as counter-intuitive as it seems at first: A crisis is often an opportunity to focus on the area in question and bring order.

The current trend of micro-loans, however contested and controversial they may be, should also take pace.

Environmentalism may take on a sentimental aspect, as universalists and deep ecologists embrace the concept of Mother Earth. The BP ocean spill in and the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear meltdown that recently struck Japan are good indicators of not only areas of destruction in this Plutonic Era, but also of how these disasters serve to influence the collective mindset towards to embrace new ideas and accept responsibility in the face of new challenges.

Articles and gadgets for improved home security, including CCTV and other monitoring devices, may become mainstreamed and perhaps even the ownership of virtually every household. Look to Great Britain to see how surveillance is implemented on street level.

Conservative values resurface, and marriage becomes a venerable institution - the interest in the royal marriage, also in other parts of the Anglo-Saxon world points to a budding trend of new romanticism.

The 2/3 rule of Pluto transits

Traditionally, astrologers perceive the purpose of Pluto's visit is to destroy in order to recreate.

However, the myth associated with Pluto is that of Persephone being kidnapped by Hades (Pluto, lat.) to become his bride in the Underworld. Persephone complains, and as a compromise Pluto allows her to spend 2/3 of her life above ground, while the remaining 1/3 she must act as his spouse.

Persephone does this, not only because she has been forced, but because the traumatic incident has instilled a sense of affection, loyalty or addiction - however you choose to perceive it - symbolized by her eating a pomegranate offered to her by Hades.

It is a case of Stockholm Syndrome - quite often we find that the emotionally devastating experiences in our life become ingrained in our psyche, and that we develop a strong attachment to lessons learned or habits formed in that period.

Again, backtracking to learn from past Pluto transits we notice that the 1/3 rule is at work. When Pluto left Saggitarius, we found that freedom prevailed, but the ideology of freedom and the power it may exercise in the world greatly reduced, cut by approximately 1/3, perhaps to better fit reality and form a kind of liberalism less preoccupied with itself.

Before that, in Scorpio, sexual indulgence was cut. Overall, the free societies remained emancipated, but with specific imitations imposed by the threat of a deadly venereal disease - reattachment to monogamy, use of condoms. This created a new pattern of behavior, but did not radically undermine the erotic culture: Pornography, sex toys and a growing tolerance for LGBT community members remained.

The Significance of Next

The apparent purpose of Pluto can also be deduced from the upcoming sign in the sense that Pluto may reconnect the world with the values and ideas embodied by the transit sign, but points toward the next sign in the Zodiac.

When applying this perspective it becomes apparent that the purpose of limiting the values of the sign visited serves the purpose of releasing the potentials of the next sign.

For instance, the relative tightening of sexual behavior in Scorpio facilitated a more dignified hedonism, which allows sublimation into complex ideas, philosophical exchanges and universal ideals, such as they are embodied in Saggitarius (Chiron, the centaur and archer who was a mentor to the otherwise crude and inhospitable centaurs, and paid a high price for helping out Hercules).

The great conflict of the Pluto in Saggittarius Era was, to a large extent, a battle of ideas. The battle with terrorism did and still does display actual destructive power, but in the larger picture it is mostly symbolic, and even if death and mayhem and torture are, of course, very tangible to those afflicted, the battles of the current age can be said to be highly symbolically charged and largely take place for the purpose of statement and public effect.

The limitation to the ideology of freedom, to liberalism, may be required in order to release the ideal potential of Capricorn. Astrologers often talk about positive and negative aspects, also of the individual signs of the Zodiac - a lighter and a darker force. When reviewing the Pluto transits the following sign appears to be represented by its lighter, most positive aspects, and for Capricorn it is responsibility, accountability and good governance.

In the current Plutonic Era the next sign is Aquarius, which is the area or aspect most difficult for most Capricorns to assess or access, unless their natal chart contains a planet in this sign. The same rule goes for any other sun sign.

Therein lies the current challenge, because Aquarius deals with science, progress and social order. Authorities will be capped in this era, but not completely as it may be the desire of many an anarchist - only according to the 2/3 rule.

Like in the Chinese anecdote the highest flowers must lose their heads, because that is the only way to pave the way for the Aquarian ideals of equality and sustainability: To let it rain equally on the good and the bad for the purpose of general development, the very job description of the somewhat detached Aquarian rainmaker.

Conclusion

It is relatively safe to conclude that the resurfacing of strong nationalism and racialism we have witnessed over the past three decades will culminate in this Plutonic season, and it is a trend so powerful it is likely to become mainstreamed with new interest in finding the roots, connecting or reconnecting to cultural backgrounds, and backwards time travelling through birth records.

This may not mean increased racism as such, just a tendency to gang up in more or less tribalist subcultures within an overarching multi-cultural paradigm.

Generally speaking sentimentalist values are favored over rationalist or Calvinist ideas. Emotion, empathy and close relationships, the role of siblings and the study of family in general, is favored.


It will be very difficult to be the ambitious loner in this season. Investment in education may be reduced or ultimately not pay out, as more are educating themselves to unemployment. Dictators tumble or lose terrain, and that includes the one party system in China and, perhaps even the monolithich two party system in USA.


The greater the ammassment of wealth, the more rigid the structure, the more self-serving the agenda and the steeper the pyramid of power, the more devastating the effect of Pluto will be in this period. 


Just as the previous Plutonic Era hit the people who expressed their freedom most indiscriminately, or enjoyed it the most savagely, and before that the people who were most sexually promiscuous, this Plutonic Era will lash out at the most ambitious, particularly if they travel with bodies in their luggage, or if they act nefariously for selfish gain.

When Pluto Attacks With High Powered Symbolism

Astronomers don’t even consider it a planet, but astrologers put a lot of faith in its movement across the sky. Pluto is a veritable celestial superstar, not least because its movement is relatively slow, which makes the aspects it forms generational like in the case of Neptune and Uranus. 

Of course, Pluto also has a sort of Goth appeal to it, being the ruler of Death, rebirth and transformation.

As in the case of so much astrology the predictions linked to Pluto travelling through the various signs are rather vague. Most astrologers, however, express the same belief: When Pluto enters a new sign the topics traditionally covered by this sign are highlighted.

I took some time to study the effects of Pluto and found some startling parallels that both fit the political and cultural reality of each “Plutonic Era” and some of the most significant symbols highlighted in the media.

In astrology the Pluto transits have achieved almost the same iconic status as the Astrological Ages that come into place by the movement of the Earth’s axis through the segments of the Zodiac, a process known in astronomy as precession.

Curiously, the symbols of each of the ages, as far back in history as we have records, coincide with the astrological signs.

For instance, the current Age of Pisces has been dominated by two symbols from Christianity, perhaps three: 

1) The fish or IXTUS symbol used by the early Christians as graffiti indicating their hideouts during persecution. Fish symbolism is recurring in the New Testament, but the choice of symbol may be rooted in the very Greco-Roman myth related to Pisces, that of Aphrodite and Eros transforming themselves to fish to escape the wrath of the sea monster Typhoon, and thus be incognito in the swarms of the sea. 

2) After Christianity became endorsed by the Roman Empire the IXTUS was replaced by the cross, which interestingly enough corresponds to the cross in the lower half of the Virgo symbol. Virgo is the opposite sign to Pisces, and it seems that the opposite sign of whatever aspect indicated by a planet’s position in the Zodiac, is highlighted. The cross at the bottom of the Virgo symbol is said to represent the crossed legs of the virgin goddess Astrea.

Since most people know the Christian cross, here is the earliest monogram of Christ, known as the Chi-Ro, attributed to Emperor Constantine of Rome or Constantine the Great (272-337), today the symbol of the Papal regime in the Vatican

3) As if that was not enough an entire cult of Puritanism grew out of from the womb of Christianity, best embodied in the worship of or at least reverence for Virgin Mary (depending on sects). The virgin bith of the chaste Christ is, in itself, a poignant and conspicuous representation of the very symbolism that according to the rules of astrology is supposed to be preeminent in the era.

To the right the misanthropic virgin goddess Astrea, later associated with Themis and Justitia, in her role as goddess of justice (likely a fusing of the two adjacent signs, Virgo and Libra, forming the image of a woman holding scales). To the left: Mother Mary in one of an endless number of depictions with conspicuous resemblance in manner and appearance to the Greek celestial.

Go just one step back, to the Age of Aries, and notice how warlike the cultures were, and how dominant lambs, sheep and goat are in the mythology, particularly the Judaic tradition we know from the Old Testament (Torah).

Pluto in Sagittarus: Assault on The Free World

This all lead me to think about symbolism of the past century, as Pluto travelled through various signs. 

Recently, in 2007-2008, Pluto entered the realm of Capricorn. But before we go into what that may mean, let’s check if the system fits at all.

Previously, from about 1994-1995, Pluto moved through Sagittarius. It is commonly known as the Age of Terrorism, because it also covered the 911 attack on the World Trade Center. Numerous terrorist attacks have been carried out against American embassies or interests abroad, including Lockerbie that killed many US military personnel and, more conspicously, the 1979 kidnapping of US embassy personnel.

But the terrorist age officially begins with the 1998 terrorist attacks on US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These events signalled the beginning of a targeted campaign, culminating with the spectacular and unparallelled September 11 2001 attack on US soil.

Amazingly, the event is a virtual exercise in symbolism, astrological and otherwise. First of all, of course, there is the date: 9-1-1 is, through American film and television, internationally known as the number to which Americans direct distress calls.

This can be attributed to accident or to direct speculation from the conspirators behind the plot, a diabolic timing to play on the associations to the sequence of numbers.

As for astrology, however, the symbolic parallels are staggering:

Sagittarius is routinely associated with aviation and long distance travel, the industry to be most directly affected by anti-terrorism measures after 911. The attack itself was carried out by plane.

To the left the vector outline of a passenger airplane, to the right the symbol of Sagittarius, traditionally associated with long distance travel, philosophy and higher learning, and a zest for freedom.

The destruction was, as indicated by Pluto, devastating and unpredictable. The target: Two towers.

To the left the symbol of Gemini, resembling two towers but really depicting two twins, side by side. Remarkably, the towers of the World Trade Center were commonly referred to as the Twin Towers of New York. The second part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers, was released the year after, in 2002.

Again, the "opposite rule" takes effect, with the sign opposite to the one highlighted by the astrological aspects accentuated. In fact, it seems that the opposite symbol almost overshadows the symbolism of the highlighted aspect, whether it is by Earth precession or a planet.

To the left: The picture known worldwide as "the falling man" from World Trade Center, one of the thousands of horrific deaths in the terrorist attack. To the right: The glyph that symbolizes Pluto, strangely resembling a falling man. The 9-11 attack also evokes a popularly known image from the Tarot deck of cards known as The Tower, usually thought of as a harbinger of misfortune and the least beneficial card to draw in a reading.

Pluto in Scorpio: A venomous virus

The most frequently mentioned defining mega-event of the period in which Pluto moved through Scorpio is undoubtledly the AIDS/HIV epidemic and the social challenges it posed to society.

Pluto moved from Libra to Scorpio in 1982-1984, bouncing as the planet often do - from the geocentric viewpoint - a little back and forth.

The first registered cases of infection coincided with Pluto's transition - or transgression - into the area of Scorpio, which is routinely associated with sexual activity, particularly eroticism for pleasure and a significant bundle of alternative sexual variants. Scorpio is dark sign, and they say Pluto feel perfectly at home there.

To the left: The symbol of Scorpio and the stylized glyph in which the toxic tail is accentuated. Notice the similarity to the symbol for Virgo, except in the case of Virgo the "tail" points downwards and forms a cross as in the female gender symbol, while here it is "erected" as in the male gender symbol. To the right: A graphic depiction of the HIV virus.

If the "opposite rule" is true the overarching symbol of this problematic age should be closely linked to the symbolism of Taurus, or, perhaps even resembling a bull or the symbolic representation of it.

In many ways the 80s were a period of materialism with a thrifty Yuppie culture, and it was also a period in which the fitness mania was mainstreamed, and where peculiarly physical aesthetics dominated, making many strive towards an idealized physical appearance through bodybuilding.

It was also the age in which eating disorders were discovered and problematized, which also makes sense when it comes to Taurus, routinely associated with health, vigor and aestheticism. So far we are on safe ground.

But even more conspiciously, the very symbol chosen for the public campaign against HIV/AIDS, was the red ribbon:

Turn the Taurus symbol 180 degrees on the horizontal axis, and you pretty much have the symbol for a campaign that transformed the face of society, likely peaking with Tom Hanks' appearance in Streets of Philadelphia, assisted by the haunting score by Bruce Springsteen. All of a sudden society had not just compassion for the terminally ill, but a deeper sense of solidarity with the gay communites - an unexpected side-effect of the epidemic and, in the language of the esoterics, a silver lining to Pluto's aggressive onslaught.

Pluto in Libra: The Great Disruption

Pluto moved from Virgo to Libra in 1970-71, an area in which the social sciences exploded with new insights on human behavior, particularly in the field of relationships. Divorce rates in the West peaked in the 1970s, inducing shattered home syndrome and spawning separation-divorce-conflict movies like Kramer vs. Kramer.

Notably, Francis Fukuyama described the era with the poignant title of one of his studies, The Great Disruption, proving a radical spike of divorce, youth crime and drug abuse in the West, coinciding with female emancipation and New Feminist struggle for equality.

Libra is traditionally associated with various concepts of justice and equality, as illustrated above. The 70s was a problematic age, where the chill of the Cold War that governed supranational relations was also felt, on another level, in more than one household. The war of the genders, the battle of the sexes. The media were not shy about such terms.

On the upside: Some level of equality was achieved, just as the Cold War was much to be preferred to actual global nuclear war between the Capitalist and the Communist factions. The West did, and Capitalism prevailed, or...?

To the left: The Peace sign that became the dominant symbol of the age, even more powerful than the horrific warning signs against nuclear fallout.

If we take a closer look at the Peace symbol from the perspective of Aries, we notice something interesting: Not only does the Aries symbol look a bit like a dove with its wings spread, but the Peace symbol is, in fact, composed of at least 3 of the lines in the Aries symbol when turned upside down. Far fetched? Perhaps. I admit that the middle stroke, the straight vertical line completed all the way to the rim of the circle, breaks the symmetry.

All, in all, considering we have covered three "Plutonic" areas, chosen the absolutely most potent symbols of the eras and compared to both the sign transited by Pluto and the sign opposite to it in the Zodiac, the correlations are surprising.

Even if a lot of events fall outside the scope of the "prophetic aspect", and the entire thought process is retrospective and, therefore, guided by a tendency to find matches, the "summarizing ability" of Pluto, the ability to define the crisis and critical tendencies of an era are astonishing.

At least on the symbolic level the effects of astrology are immense, whether it has to do with subliminal preferences for archetypes, or a more cunning use of astrological knowledge for crafting symbols - if so, the artful use resembles some sort of Illuminati style conspiracy.

Challenge: Locate the symbols of the past

I'll invite you to continue the exercise on your own, using as a guideline the ephemeris for Pluto, which goes roughly like this:

Pluto moved from Cancer (Nationalism, homeland romanticism, conservatism) to Leo in 1939-1940, where Second World War begins with the invasion of Poland by Germany and Slovakia, and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth.

Pluto stays in Leo far beyond 1945, all the way up to 1956-1957, where it enters Virgo. Pluto lingers in Virgo up to 1970-71. One of the major changes attributed by astrologers to Pluto's interference in this area is the invention and distribution of birth control (!).

Coming up: The Pluto in Capricorn effect

This was the background for the test. Of course, I still have to put forth the bold and falsifiable hypothesis with regards to the current "Plutonic Era", signified by Pluto's mortifying influence in Capricorn. Hang on for that in a later blog post.

On top if that, expect to read more about astrological symbolism in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and particularly how the symbolism of Kabbalah applies to some of the most famous passages of the most popular prophetic book, the Apocalypse or Revelation of John. 



The articles on the true meaning of concepts like The Four Horsemen, The Dragon and The Beast, and Anti-Christ and the Number of the Beast, will unlock mysteries in ways that have never before been published, in books or on the Internet.

Disclaimer

Different groups of people may be offended by interpretations or depictions in this article, off the top of my head: Relatives to victims of 9-11, or Americans in general, feminists, Christians, AIDS victims or their relatives and peers, or anyone with a vehement rationalistic distaste for mysticism. I do not mean to offend anyone with the words or graphics in this article, nor do I aim to prove any point about causality, responsibility or culpability in disastrous mega-events.

Recession as a Pathway to Transcendence

During a seminar arranged by The Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies several years ago - before the first great depression of the 20th Century - the speaker said something that stuck in my mind:

“If a significant portion of the Western population reaches transcendence it would change the economic system on a fundamental level.”1

The speaker presented it as a “wild card”, but mentioned populations in various Asian countries whose spending habits and lifestyle choices can be considered spiritual or even ascetic.

It goes without asying that there are sub-cultures in the West that embrace an either anti-consumerist or consciously alternative lifestyle, also among those not influenced by Asian philosophies, for instance deep ecologists, neo-pagans and radical socialists.

The Religious Indulgence

One could argue that traditional religiousity is a pathway to transcendence, but even if transcendent values are presented or even prominent in most religious doctrines, history and experience instructs us otherwise.
In Christianity neither the Catholic Lent nor Protestant fasting immunized believers against materialism and overconsumption, particularly not as it became the standard in the industrialized West.

As for Islam the Ramadan and duty to give alms is equally forced.

Ultimately, transcendence incorporated in religion serves as a venting mechanism, an outlet for transcendent ideals, and as a way of buying indulgence.

Maslow: A Crumbling Pyramid

If we look at recession in the past they were followed by industrial booms and gross increase in materialism in the West.

The question is if human nature can be changed on a fundamental level by any set of circumstances.

A subsequent problem is if Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is fundamentally flawed, particularly when it comes to the upper layers of the structure, self-actualization and “peak experiences” or transcendence.

No matter what the answer is, the road to transcendence is very long in the West if the journey must contain all the conventional features of fulfillment: Education, career, procreation and family, and on top of that, fame and fortune.

Alternative view of transcendence

Interestingly, however, there are examples of people who reach straight for transcendence. Political involvement, also on an idealistic level, is common among middle class citizens, as well as financial charity.

It may not be the overarching goal on such a level of existence, but it does deconstruct or at least add nuances to the Maslowian structure in which fulfillment on a lower level goes before involvement in the next.

It may also suggest that Keynesian capitalism provides a far better vehicle for transcendent aspirations than rigorous Communism. Maslow’s ideal has an unfortunate similarity to Ayn Rand’s objectivism, but if you vary his thesis according to contemporary observations the conclusion may be very different.

A strong middle-class is traditionally the dominating benchmark for development and stability in World 3, but often neglected by monetarists in World 1. If we dissolve the false dichotomy between the developing worlds and the affluent West – which is, to some degree, what the Financial Crisis has done – relative middle-class enlightenment may be the single most important vehicle for transcendence in the 2st Century.

Converging factors in the current century

There are three other main indicators – aside from the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis and subsequent recession – that society may be on the verge of transcendence:

• Ecology. The green wave that rose in the 70s, resurfaced in the 90s (where it was most dismissively dubbed eco-fascism), has taken a strong foothold on society and can be expected to gain momentum in the current decade. The agreed CO2 reduction thresholds force, to some extent, industry and households to explore alternatives to traditional consumerism, or at least accommodate the demand for sustainable/clean energy production.

• Techology. Particularly the Internet First generation (people who use Internet and orient themselves around this medium over printed press and TV) has, in the past decade, explored the possibilities of exploring and fulfilling social, cognitive, aesthetic and actualization needs online, regardless of how functional or privileged they may be IRL (In Real Life).

• Globalization. Both Ecology and The Internet Revolution constitutes transnational movements that facilitates a global or geocentric world view. It is the first time in history such a view has been “promoted.” Globalization differs from globalism (but cannot exist logically exist separately from it) by having to do with political and commercial integration.

As the fundamental premises of our existence changes we may see a change also in the primary identity of citizens in the West, and worldwide, flowing naturally from consumer to a more diverse set of behavioral patterns.

Transcendence is not a characteristic of the mainstream culture at the moment, but presents itself as more of a possibility now and ever before in history.

Conclusion

Recession in itself is not a trigger of transcendence, even if it may force people to seek other avenues than materialism. Converging with other megatrends of the century, however, a growing portion of citizens may orient themselves as other than or more than consumers and voters in the hyper-industrialized modern society.


Notes


1. The number may refer to either the 5% rule, stating that 5% of any group or population is generally required to achieve critical mass and perpetual momentum, or 16% according to other theories, since this is the combined force of innovators (2.5%) and early adopters (13.5%).