A few days ago I was in contact with a friend who was born in Israel. We talked about the genocide happening in the Middle East, and about the discrimination she experiences as a Jew living in Europe. “Times are intense, crazy, scary”, I said towards the end of the conversation. “I'm hopeful, but not always.”
Being hopeful, according to ChatGPT, means “having a sense of optimism and expectation that positive outcomes are possible, even in challenging or uncertain situations.”
An unexpected four-digit car repair, the post stealing my daughter's birthday present, job challenges, plus floods, wars, and increasing division - sometimes optimism is swallowed by daily darkness. And as if all of that wasn't enough already, Pluto has just entered Aquarius, the sign of revolution, AI, and dystopia. Will it get better any time soon?
One of my astrology teachers said that when Pluto moves into a new sign, it often shows its ugliest side in the first few months. For example, when Pluto moved into business-loving Capricorn in 2008, we saw a big financial crisis; banks and the housing market underwent a severe detox. With Pluto having fully landed in Aquarius now, we might expect a sudden acceleration of machine madness, or a radical breakdown of government. Just what we need, right?
But Chat GPT also says this: “Hopefulness is not just about wishful thinking; it is an active state of mind that often motivates individuals to work toward their goals, find solutions to problems, and support others. It can stem from faith, past experiences, or confidence in one's abilities and the belief that circumstances can change for the better.”
Remembering the good things.
Honouring who we are.
Believing in life.
The words of another friend come to mind:“Hope and forgiveness are the most powerful medicines at our disposal.” I wonder whether both are interlinked. Perhaps we first need to forgive before we can truly hope – forgiving what was, who we were, and all we doubted. Ridding ourselves of the heavy load of resent and hatred, of old pain, both received and caused. And as hard as it may be: Truly accepting what is! Finding a way to letting go of resistance, and thus liberating new possibilities.
Pluto in Aquarius might bring chaos and unrest, but at the end of the necessary cleansing process, we might find a transformed human collective. AI will most likely show us the limitations of our intelligence, but it might also help us to connect to what we truly are. So the question for the next years might be this: What does it mean, being human?
Dystopia is growing, but so is the dream of a better world. Here's Chat GPT one more time: “In essence, hope gives people a reason to keep moving forward, providing emotional strength and a sense of purpose.”
I don't want to leave the last words of this post to a machine, so with the storm of life raging outside, the final say goes to Eduardo Galeano:
Utopia lies at the horizon. I go two steps; the horizon takes two steps back. I walk ten steps, and the horizon runs ten steps further away. As much as I may walk, I'll never reach it.
So, what’s the point of utopia? The point is this: to keep walking.
