The day the world changed.

On December 22, 2020, the world witnessed a monumental astrological event: the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn at 0° Aquarius. This rare alignment not only marked the beginning of a new 20-year cycle between the greater benefic Jupiter and the greater malefic Saturn, but also signified a profound elemental shift in mundane astrology — from the Earth Trigon to the Air Trigon.

Understanding the Great Conjunction and Elemental Trigons

The Great Conjunction occurs approximately every 20 years when Jupiter and Saturn align closely in the sky. These conjunctions are crucial in mundane astrology, as they symbolize shifts in societal structures, politics, and cultural paradigms. The cultural paradigms are 200 years long in duration, making it around 600 years between elemental modalities.

Astrologers also observe the elemental quality of each conjunction, linked to the zodiac signs they occupy. The zodiac is traditionally divided into four elements:

• Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
• Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
• Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
• Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)

When Jupiter and Saturn conjunct in signs of a particular element, it signals the beginning of a new era characterized by the qualities of that element. The qualities of Air are communication, flight, space, a rapid development of new thinking and mental philosophical modalities, astrology, and digital technology.

Leaving the Earth Trigon Behind

Before December 2020, the plurality of Great Conjunctions occurred in Earth signs — Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn — from 1842 through 1980 when they started tapering into the air signs. This period is often associated with a focus on materialism, industrialization, and tangible structures. It is also notable as the work of Dan Waites points out a time when Democracy usually flourishes as a form of governmental society. The Earth Trigon emphasized practicality, stability, and the physical world, shaping the social and economic landscape through the late 19th and 20th centuries. During this time there were great earth works that were accomplished including the damning of untamable rivers, the building of monumental cities, the laying of roads across the globe, the list goes on. As is usual during Earth Trigon centuries, the land was tamed.

The first conjunction in an Air sign occurred in 1980, and shortly thereafter, the first reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle, lifted off into the atmosphere in 1981, marking humanity’s first tentative steps into the age of Air. The last time the great conjunction in an Air sign was in 1405. This elemental shift from Earth to Air is significant, signaling a move away from the grounded, material focus towards intellectual, social, and communicative realms. I am sure everyone reading this can sympathize.

Duration in the Air Trigon

The Great Conjunctions remain in the same elemental trigon for approximately 200 years. The last series of Earth sign conjunctions began in 1842 and ended in 1980, the current Air trigon cycle that started in 2020 is expected to continue until around 2400.

During this extended period, the Air element’s influence will shape societal values, encouraging innovation, technology, communication, and collective consciousness. As mentioned, the Air Trigon’s qualities include intellectual pursuits, social networks, but also a touch of brutal enforcement of governing ideals; this suggests a future where information and connectivity take precedence, but under more autocratic forms of government. We are already seeing this movement today. It is possible that mankind has evolved enough that we get a federated “Star Trek” type of democracy during the Air Trigon, but currently it is not looking like that is expressing itself and humanity is moving towards a form of technocratic rule.

Historical Significance of Elemental Great Conjunction Trigons in Mundane Astrology

Mundane astrology studies the influence of astrological cycles on worldly affairs, placing great emphasis on the elements of the Great Conjunction. The trigon in which Jupiter and Saturn align sets the tone for the era’s predominant themes. Here are some examples, which ring true historically.

• Air Trigon (1280–1405): Associated with the exchange of ideas and knowledge between the western and Occidental world, triggering the Renaissance in Europe.
• Water Trigon (1425–1603) During this time Ocean exploration, naval battles, and spiritualism dominated humanity.
• Fire Trigon (1603–1802): Linked to the Industrial Revolution, the development of capitalism, and globalization.
• Earth Trigon (1802–1981) linked to the solidifying of nation state borders, the taming of the Earth, and massive earth resource extraction economies.
• Air Trigon (2020–~2400): Expected to usher in advances in technology, communication, and social reform.

…and around the wheel the cycle goes.

Conclusion

The Great Conjunction on December 22, 2020, marked a pivotal transition from the Earth Trigon to the Air Trigon. This elemental shift carries significant implications for the next two centuries, new technologies and novel ways of thinking that will bridge and harmonize societies and launch mankind into a space dwelling civilization. Understanding these cycles deepens our insight into historical patterns and the evolving nature of human civilization.

What is interesting is this Air Trigon period launches us into the experience of the Age of Aquarius, a 2000 year period from an equal sign perspective that will dominate the human experience. The actual transition into the age of Aqaurius is a hotly debated topic as zodiacal constellations are not neat and tidy spaces that fit with mathematical regularity into the circle of the sky. The Sun rising at the spring equinox does not leave the constellation of Pisces and fully enter the constellation of Aquarius until the 23rd century by Sidereal Zodical measurement.

---

Yet the signifiers of Aquarius and the age of Air now surround us. In my mind, this is allowable considering that we are talking about a relay race where each constellation is a runner jogging over 2000 years, there is a hand-off period, where the effect of the next constellation becomes dominant. Pisces was a deeply spiritual era, and as such, fundamentalist religious traditions ruled mankind. They still do! But also we can see that Science has begun to be the ledger and guide for mankind, dragging the minds of the faithful into the rational, if ever so slowly as we transition through the ages.

The movement into the Air Trigon a span of 200 years, which just started in 2020 is going to be the catalyst of the dominance of the Air signs and science that fully moves humanity into the Age of Aquarius.

Dorje Kirsten is a professional astrologer and you can book a reading with him here.