The prophecy of doom (the return of negative karma), and all astrological analysis is prophecy, is meant to fail. Remember that willful prophet Jonah, the one who after spending 3 days within the whale’s belly, accepted his cargo to prophesize to the wayward people of Nineveh that within 40 days their city would be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4) Ninevah’s King took Jonah’s message to heart; the people repented while there were still grains of sand in the hourglass. When the 40 days were up, nothing happened. Jonah felt foolish and even a bit resentful, but we’ll leave that chapter of the story for another time. The point is that prophecy is not set in stone!

The classic reasoning, if you know better, you’ll do better, (self-sabotage syndrome and psychological complexes aside) for the most part rings true; simplistic and practical, if the forecast calls for rain, you may very well tote an umbrella, if it predicts unseasonable cold, a warm jacket, and so on and so forth. Certainly in the midst of life’s trials and tribulations, navigating our way through periods of joy and those of troubles, it helps to know what, when, why and for how long. A client sighs, “I just don’t know what to do!” and finds focus in learning “Neptune is upon your Sun for two years, its action is stirring up memories, many which have been buried at the unconscious level; this is why you feel so confused.” Then comes the grace, which is choice: the person so affected for a time can choose to continue drifting in a whirlpool or to enter a period of creative self-gnosis, effective meditation, the healing of the wounds of the past, a reaching out to higher levels of consciousness, etc.

But the current astrological forecast of continual great upheaval and destruction on a personal and planetary scale, based upon the tight Uranus/Pluto square with us now and throughout 2012 also adds the kicker phrase — expect the unexpected, anything can happen!!

The same configuration holds the promise of incredible regeneration, as if something hard has to be cracked open and destroyed to reveal and liberate a treasure hidden within; in our personal lives and in the worldwide news, focus your mind and heart upon the treasure. Aquarius is the Age of Freedom, and so we see uprisings and revolts across the globe ousting dictators firmly entrenched in their power for decades, a necessary prelude to liberation; but then, the question of new governance becomes in most cases bewildering, the answer elusive.

Keep the vision strong. Earthquakes and cataclysm can be avoided and the hidden treasure revealed when, to use the same analogy, the harder shell, built up over centuries, is transformed by Love, the most powerful energy in the known universe! The agent of transformation is pain; Love is pure spiritual fire and will challenge and expose all that is Anti-Love within us!

How can we, hearing such dire forecasts, serve Love? Let us start with Mars, since Mars is the indicator of so many ego confrontations – Mars now in Leo, soon to enter Virgo for an unusually long transit—November 12, 2011 to July 4th, 2012—during a time of unusually extreme, almost apocalyptic forecasts, the prophecies we all have heard about 2012.

While Mars wraps up her transit in Leo, practice gratitude, every moment of every day, praise life, all that you take for granted, praise even the opportunity to meet a troubled time, we will be made stronger in Love.

And then as Mars enters Virgo, understand the challenge as a time in which you will be dealing with fire in the Solar Plexus Chakra. Expect to feel anxious and determine ahead of time to vanquish waves of anxiety and riptides of anger. Practice peace. This transit will stir up fear that can lead to panic; fear is more detrimental than any event. If studying astrology increases your anxiety, let it go! Use astrology, rather, as a tool to strengthen your resolve to love, to be compassionate, to find creative solutions, to forgive. There is absolutely nothing worth not forgiving, the lack of forgiveness is a toxin to the soul and not a soul on earth exists who is so perfect as to not him or herself be in need of forgiveness: I Am forgiving all life this day even as I Am all life forgiving me!

So in attempting to answer the question, why study astrology in a world gone mad, I choose the simple language of love to convey the thoughts of my heart this day I would take you up another level, take you into deeper understanding, suggest you open your mind and soul to dimensions of gnosis impossible to access with ordinary intelligence.

The value of Astrology as a tool for the prediction of cycles, for knowing beforehand where and when and for how long and why is invaluable but in the Aquarian Age we must take a step up from today’s popular, and still worthwhile, psychologically based astrological analysis to one based on the transformative cycles of Love, divine love, in a world gone mad because it ventures outside that tone of perfect wholeness.

The Three Magi welcomes your insights on finding peace in the midst of world and personal turmoil.