# When did the Age of Aquarius begin/end? What Age are we in now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2015, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618 "2015-01-12T11:09:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/1 "2015-01-12T11:09:47Z")
The 1960’s celebrated the Age of Aquarius. [5th Dimension sang about it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjxSCAalsBE) It’s a song performed in the [musical Hair.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9oq_IskRIg) So, when did it begin in the 1960’s? and End? What age are we in now? _When the Moon is in the 7th House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars. Peace will guide the planets._ ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/2 "2015-01-12T11:32:04Z")
without researching it, the “ages” are based on the precession of the earths rotation, which is roughly 26,000 years; divided by 12 signs, which is roughly 2170 years in each sign, so, if the 60’s was the dawning of the age of aquarius, we are still in the dawning of the age of aquarius and will be in it for quite some time. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/3 "2015-01-12T11:40:18Z")
Here’s [what The Straight Dope had to say about it](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1081/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-officially-start); in any case they were a wee bit jumping the gun. Just like “the 60s” did not really mean 1/1/1960 to 12/31/1969… Notice also that in his initial answer Cecil grabs hold of a “conventional” interpretation of when the “Age of Pisces” would have begun that in the follow-up is pointed out to not be really objectively defined anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/4 "2015-01-12T13:37:12Z")
Given recent news, peace has not guided the planets. 😉 So I wonder who decided to make the age of Aquarius a big deal in the 60’s? Didn’t the counterculture’s interest inspire the song? Or did the song inspire the counterculture? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/5 "2015-01-12T15:25:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > … _When the Moon is in the 7th House, and Jupiter aligns with Mars. Peace will guide the planets._ IANA astrologer and speaking just to this part of the OP … Jupiter & Mars will be aligned (as seen from any single 3rd point) only briefly. However they’ll also \*always \*be aligned when seen from _someplace_, even if there’s no solid body along that line to see it from. If we assume “aligns” means “aligns from Earth’s POV” that means alignments will occur very roughly every two years since that’s how long it takes for Mars to trace a complete circle of the ecliptic from our POV (and pass Jupiter sometime while doing so). Changing to the Sun’s POV doesn’t alter the situation much. I \*think \*the “7th house” refers to one of the 12 zodiacal segments of the ecliptic. If so, the Moon is in the 7th house for about 28/12 = 2+ days of every 28. That’s also 1/12th = ~8% of the time. Putting these two ideas together (the song says “and”), we see this peaceful situation recurring for a few minutes roughly every 2 \* 12 = 24 years. Which sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/6 "2015-01-12T16:30:56Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > … Just like “the 60s” did not really mean 1/1/1960 to 12/31/1969… The 60’s are exactly 1-Jan-1960 to 31-Dec-1969. The seventh decade of the 20th century however was from 1-Jan-1961 to 31-Dec-1970 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/7 "2015-01-12T16:42:14Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > The 60’s are exactly 1-Jan-1960 to 31-Dec-1969. > . . . Yeah, depending upon context. The 60s could also be considered from a cultural standpoint to begin maybe 1963/1964?, with the preceding couple of years belonging to the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/8 "2015-01-12T17:11:23Z")
The Age of Aquarius will also be the end of nitpickery 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/9 "2015-01-12T17:43:34Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > The Age of Aquarius will also be the end of nitpickery 😛 😃 In which case, considering the internet and all, it will never get here. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/10 "2015-01-12T17:52:02Z")
The concept goes way back before hippies. The earliest cite I find is from the January 1907 _Bible Review: Advanced Esoteric Thought_, p. 153: > [@](#): > > But throughout the age of Aquarius - the next two thousand years - this spiritual constellation will eliminate all materiality, until not a vestige of lust will be able to assert itself in dominating force. _The Flaming Sword_, a magazine of similar wavelength, uses the term in its 1913 issues with more context: > [@](#): > > It is written that there remaineth a time when those that have wives shall be as those they had none. The time is foretold to be at the end of Pisces or fishes, and the beginning of the age of Aquarius, the applied science of the law [April p120] > [@](#): > > Though this knowledge and consequent life, vivified by the baptism resulted from the theocrasis of KORESH, the Golden Age - the age of Aquarius - made glorious by the second coming of the Lord, in the Sons of God [August p249] > [@](#): > > Jesus, looking down the long corridors of time to the present day, saw with the eye of prescience that all these things should come to pass at the end of the age of Pisces, and the ushering in of the age of Aquarius, the Water-Carrier. Jesus came in as Aries, the Ram or Lamb of God, and he came in at the culmination of the sign Aries in its own constellation, and its entering into the constellation of Pisces, or fishes. In symbolic consonance with this fact, Jesus choose fishermen mostly, for his disciples and because the man Aquarius, or the man representing that age, should officiate at the ushering in of the kingdom of heaven, he sent his Disciples into Jerusalem to find a man carrying a pitcher of water, zodiacal symbol of Aquarius, of which he was to partake with his Disciples at the Last Supper. [October p304] A rich brew. You can go from there anywhere, not just hippies but to David Koresh of the Branch Dividians. All New Age thought has origins in the esoteric movements. Dozens of groups in California were exploring this tradition from the beginning of the 1960s, so they definitely inspired the song, although it was certainly the song and \*Hair \*that put the phrase into the mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/11 "2015-01-12T17:56:48Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Here’s [what The Straight Dope had to say about it](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1081/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-officially-start); in any case they were a wee bit jumping the gun. Just like “the 60s” did not really mean 1/1/1960 to 12/31/1969… > . Cece’s article sez the Age of Aquarius starts either 2150 or 2660. So, it wasnt the “dawning of the Age of Aquarius” in the 1960’s or even now. Not even a century from now. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/12 "2015-01-12T19:37:37Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The concept goes way back before hippies. The earliest cite I find is from the January 1907 _Bible Review: Advanced Esoteric Thought_, p. 153: > > It is written that there remaineth a time when those that have wives shall be as those they had none. The time is foretold to be **at the end of Pisces or fishes, and the beginning of the age of Aquarius,** the applied science of the law [April p120] In the Zodiac I am familiar with, Pisces comes _after_ Aquarius, or am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/13 "2015-01-12T20:11:45Z")
> [@bizzwire](#): > > In the Zodiac I am familiar with, Pisces comes _after_ Aquarius, or am I missing something here? Pisces does come after Aquarius as a sun sign for a given year. But “Ages” are determined by where in the Zodiac the sun is on the vernal (Northern hemisphere spring) equinox, and these ages progress “backwards” if you will. Currently the vernal equinox falls when the sun is in Pisces. Note that traditionally, the vernal equinox marks the beginning of the sun sign Aries, but that’s simply out of date by about 2000 years. As others have pointed out Astrology has little use for modern astronomy. We’re actually in the age pf Pisces right now and it started about 2000 years ago. One claim I’ve heard and I have no idea how much truth it might contain is. The age of Aries (the ram) replaced the age of Taurus (the bull) about 2000 BCE. This is marked in story by Exodus when Moses is described as coming down from the mount Sinai, decked out in horns (of a ram) and breaking the golden calf (a bull). Christianity got its start about 1 CE when the age of Pisces was beginning and one of its symbols is a fish. I’m not claiming anything mystical about this, I’m saying some have claimed these descriptions were used as markers in the stories because of the astrology. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/14 "2015-01-12T20:38:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Cece’s article sez the Age of Aquarius starts either 2150 or 2660. So, it wasnt the “dawning of the Age of Aquarius” in the 1960’s or even now. Not even a century from now. According to Wiki: Dawn (from an Old English verb dagian “to become day”) is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the Sun itself is still below the horizon. Going by this definition, we are in the "dawn"of the age of aquarius. Being that each ‘age’ takes over 2000 years, the dawn would be quite lengthy. In astrology, the signs have effects even before you are truly in the specific sign, as the influence one wanes, the other waxes. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/15 "2015-01-12T20:52:13Z")
Wow, some great insight into this topic. Thank you. The 60’s were a time of youthful optimism. That generation had dreams of change and peace. The song and musical represents that dream. I still love the music from that time. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/16 "2015-01-12T21:58:57Z")
Plus, naked chicks. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/17 "2015-01-13T01:15:24Z")
Culturally, I’d say the Age of Aquarius ended around the time of the Altamont Concert and the Manson Murders. It was definitely over by the Kent State killings. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/18 "2015-01-13T15:47:36Z")
Let us look at this problem anew, and take advantage of the online resources which have become available in the last quarter century. The astrological signs in your typical horoscope column are based on ecliptic longitude, with the vernal equinox set as zero. The first one-twelfth of the ecliptic after the equinox is Aries, the next one-twelfth is Taurus, and so on. This is worthless for determining an “age” during which the vernal equinox resides in a given sign. You can’t measure the movement of the equinox with a coordinate system that moves **with** the equinox. Rather, you need a system of sidereal-ecliptic longitude, wherein the signs are matched to the actual constellations, not the equinox. The problem, as elucidated by Mr. Jim Klann in his reply to **Cecil** , is that there is no perfect way to match the signs to the constellations. The signs are equal width, but neither the astronomical constellations (as defined by the International Astronomical Union) nor the traditional star asterisms which serve as the basis of the constellations have equal width. What to do? Fortunately Mr. John Pratt has done a great deal of scut work on this topic, and evaluated a large number of sign-to-constellation matching algorithms based on metrics including goodness of fit, centering, and visible star placement. I don’t know Mr. John Pratt, but he seems to be a very anal and thorough person. If he isn’t a Doper, he should be. (Assuming that he is still alive; he produced his web site in 2001.) Mr. Pratt concludes (see “5. The Solution”) that sign boundaries offset anywhere between 27.10 degrees and 29.38 degrees from the epoch-2000 equinox-ecliptic boundaries would be a viable match to the constellations. He settles on 27.56 degrees as the optimal offset, for reasons he discusses at length. From here the math to determine our ages is simple. In the equations below, 25,772 represents the time for the vernal equinox to make a complete circuit of the ecliptic. The length of each age = (25,772 / 12) = 2,148 years; this is the length of time the equinox spends in each sign. This is a slight over-simplification because the equinox does not precess at a uniform rate, but it is close to uniform and we will live with this error. Pratt’s minimum offset = 27.10 degrees. (27.10/360) \* 25,772 = 1,940 Age of Pisces begins = 2,000 – 1,940 = A.D. 60 Age of Pisces ends and Aquarius begins = 60 + 2,148 = A.D. 2208 Pratt’s optimal offset = 27.56 degrees. (27.56/360) \* 25,772 = 1,973 Age of Pisces begins = 2,000 – 1,973 = A.D. 27 Age of Pisces ends and Aquarius begins = 27 + 2,148 = A.D. 2175 Pratt’s maximum offset = 29.38 degrees. (29.38/360) \* 25,772 = 2,103 Age of Pisces begins = 2,000 – 2,103 - 1 = 104 B.C. Age of Pisces ends and Aquarius begins = (-104) + 2,148 + 1 = A.D. 2045 So there you have it. No matter how you slice it, the Sixties hippies were jumping the gun. At best this is the morning twilight of the Age of Aquarius. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/19 "2015-01-13T16:43:21Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > So there you have it. No matter how you slice it, the Sixties hippies were jumping the gun. At best this is the morning twilight of the Age of Aquarius. Isn’t that exactly what “dawning” means? “Dawning” as in “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618/20 "2015-01-13T16:53:45Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > Isn’t that exactly what “dawning” means? “Dawning” as in “This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” Yes, but the 60s were more like the 3:30am of the Age of Aquarius. That could be dawning this time of year at some point on the globe. Near the Antarctic Circle, anyway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-age-of-aquarius-begin-end-what-age-are-we-in-now/709618.md?page=2)