The Coming Age of Aquarius and the Repositioning of Man vis-à-vis God

Chapter Ten

By questioning humanity’s evolving role in meaning-making, we must confront the challenges of self-determination and the search for authenticity in an era where the divine has become internalised and personal.

Lillian Hartley

At the turn of the last century, philosopher William James suggested that “the mother sea and fountainhead of all religions lies in the mystical experience of the individual.” For James, the varieties of mystical experience were as varied as human nature itself, rooted deeply in human consciousness. How our minds and senses combine to create our perception of the world shapes our everyday experiences and encounters with the divine. James believed that, through the lens of personal experience, we interact with and understand God, shaping our religious truths.

In today’s 21st-century world, these ideas are significantly evolving. Advances in technology and consciousness studies have propelled us into what many call the “post-human” era, where human experience—religious or otherwise—has moved beyond biological constraints. In the post-human matrix, consciousness is seen as a function of the entire organism, not just the brain. As William James might argue, our experience of God is inseparable from our embodied consciousness. But today, this goes even further: we control our perception of reality and our physical and emotional experiences. From pacemakers and artificial joints to the prospect of computer implants enhancing cognitive functions, humans are becoming more capable of designing their own experiences. With this shift comes the inevitable question: if we control our experience of God, do we, in essence, control God?

The Shift from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age

For over 2,000 years, we’ve lived in the Age of Pisces, symbolised by two fishes swimming in opposite directions—a symbol of the division between the material and the spiritual. The Piscean era, heavily influenced by Platonic thought, introduced the idea that the earth and heaven were distinct realms. Early Christian theology embraced this distinction, elevating God to a realm of pure spirit while humanity remained bound to the physical. Yet, as the Piscean era wanes and we move into the Age of Aquarius, this separation begins to dissolve.

Aquarius, symbolised by the Water-Bearer, marks a significant change in how humans relate to the divine. Unlike Pisces, which emphasises separation, Aquarius offers the potential for integrating and democratising spiritual wisdom. In the Aquarian Age, the water poured from the heavens represents a new consciousness—universal, accessible to all, and deeply connected to the collective human experience. Where once the divine was distant and superior, the new era invites us to rediscover the sacred within ourselves.

This transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age aligns with the philosophical work of thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche, who declared that “God is dead” and placed the responsibility for meaning squarely on human shoulders. Nietzsche saw the death of God not as the end of spirituality but as a call to create new values and meanings. The Age of Aquarius echoes Nietzsche’s challenge to transcend the limitations of the old religious structures and create a new relationship between humanity and the divine.

Repositioning Man in the Age of Aquarius

Ken Wilber’s *Quadrants of the Kosmos* provides a valuable framework for understanding this shift. Wilber emphasises that reality comprises subjective experiences and includes collective and objective dimensions. This holistic view reflects the Aquarian ideal: the realisation that individual consciousness is part of a larger collective consciousness. As we move forward, the boundaries between the self and the cosmos, between the individual and the divine, are becoming more fluid.

In this context, the Aquarian Water-Bearer is not simply pouring water but distributing consciousness, flowing from the heavens to the earth, from the divine to the human. This symbolises a collective awakening—a move toward unity, democracy, and a deeper understanding of our shared humanity. Prometheus, the mythological figure associated with Aquarius, offers a cautionary tale for this new era. By stealing fire from the gods, Prometheus sought to empower humanity, but in doing so, he also overstepped divine bounds, bringing punishment upon himself. The Aquarian Age invites us to transcend this destructive Promethean urge to “play God” and instead embrace the co-creative potential of humanity in partnership with the divine.

The Mystical Experience and the Post-Human Matrix

In William James’ seminal work *The Varieties of Religious Experience*, he explored how individual consciousness shapes religious experiences, showing that spiritual truth is profoundly personal and shaped by the mind’s inner workings. James’ insights are particularly relevant in the Age of Aquarius, where the lines between the material and spiritual, the human and the divine, are increasingly blurred. Today, we have greater control over our perception and experience of reality through technological advancements and the emergence of a post-human matrix.

In this post-human context, consciousness is no longer merely a function of the brain; it is embodied in the entirety of human experience, including technological extensions of the self. As a result, we are no longer passive participants in the cosmos, experiencing God through divine revelation. Instead, as James might argue, we are co-creators of our experience of the sacred. With the increasing potential for mind-uploading and artificial intelligence, we have the tools to control our consciousness in ways previously unimaginable. But as John Ryan Haule cautions in *Perils of the Soul*, this new age brings unique spiritual challenges. The quest for spiritual fulfilment through technology can quickly become a form of escapism, distancing us from the deeper, more challenging aspects of the human experience.

Nietzsche and the New Hero

Friedrich Nietzsche’s declaration that “God is dead” remains one of modern philosophy’s most provocative and profound assertions. This bold claim, made in The Gay Science (1882), was not a literal statement about the physical death of a deity, but rather an exploration of the spiritual and existential implications of the decline of traditional religious beliefs in the modern world. Nietzsche observed that, as scientific discoveries, rationalism, and secularism took hold in Western society, the foundational religious beliefs that had once provided meaning, purpose, and moral order were being dismantled.

In Nietzsche’s view, the “death of God” signified the collapse of the metaphysical frameworks that had sustained Western civilization for centuries. The consequences of this, as Nietzsche saw it, were profound: without the structure provided by religion, humanity would be left without a universal guide for morality and meaning. This, in turn, leads to nihilism—the belief that life is inherently meaningless.

For Nietzsche, the death of God presented both a challenge and an opportunity. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche introduced the concept of the Übermensch, or the “Overman,” a new kind of being who could rise above the nihilism left in the wake of God’s death. The Übermensch would reject the traditional values and create new ones, embodying Nietzsche’s call for humanity to take responsibility for its own fate and to shape its future by creating new meanings and purposes.

This call for humanity to mature—to “grow up” as you put it—means facing the terrifying proposition that there is no higher power to lean on, no divine plan to follow. Instead, we must embrace the Dionysian/Apollonian tension within ourselves. In Nietzsche’s framework, the Dionysian represents the chaotic, instinctual, and irrational forces of life, while the Apollonian stands for order, rationality, and restraint. The human experience, much like Greek tragedy, is defined by the interplay between these two opposing forces. Nietzsche believed that the path to true creative fulfillment was in learning to balance these forces, to hold them in productive tension, and to forge new paths forward in a godless world.

Yet, as Nietzsche asserted, the death of God also leaves us standing on the precipice of existential dread, or what he called the “abyss.” Without God, there is no guarantee of eternal life or ultimate purpose—only the “brink of Nothingness.” This is the challenge that modern humanity must confront: how to create meaning in a world where the traditional sources of meaning have been stripped away.

Nietzsche’s existential crisis resonates deeply with the concerns of later philosophers, such as Martin Heidegger, who wrestled with the same questions of being and meaning in a post-metaphysical world. As we transition from the Age of Pisces, marked by its emphasis on faith and spirituality, into the Age of Aquarius, where individual consciousness and collective human potential take center stage, Nietzsche’s challenge is more relevant than ever.

Nietzsche’s assertion that “we have killed Him”—that humanity is responsible for the death of God—implies that we must now confront the freedom and responsibility of being our own creators. As the Aquarian Age invites us to reshape our relationship with the divine, Nietzsche’s philosophy asks us to embrace our role as creators of our own reality. This means not turning away from the darkness, the Dionysian impulses within us, but acknowledging and integrating them in order to fully engage with our humanity.

In the context of the post-human era, as explored by John Ryan Haule in Perils of the Soul, we see Nietzsche’s ideas play out in new ways. The technological advancements that allow us to control our emotions, bodies, and even our consciousness, mirror Nietzsche’s vision of humanity taking responsibility for its own fate. Yet, as Haule warns, this Promethean impulse—this urge to transcend our limitations and “play God”—is fraught with danger. Just as Prometheus was punished for stealing fire from the gods, we too must be wary of the consequences of overreaching.

Thus, Nietzsche’s proclamation that “God is dead” is not merely an epitaph for the divine but a challenge for humanity to redefine itself, to embrace the responsibility of creating its own values, and to navigate the perilous tension between our Dionysian desires and Apollonian need for order. It is a call to maturity, a call to face the abyss, and ultimately, a call to become the creators of our own destiny.

The symbol of Aquarius—two parallel lines—suggests a new relationship between man and the divine, where the two are no longer separate but exist in tandem. As humans embrace the powers of technology, science, and collective consciousness, we are also redefining our understanding of divinity. As Nietzsche suggested, we may be moving toward a new being who embodies the meaning of the universe, no longer beholden to an external God but finding the divinity within.

 The Journey Forward

As we move further into the Age of Aquarius, the relationship between man, God, and the cosmos will continue to evolve. Ray Billington’s *Religion Without God* provides a glimpse of what this future might hold. Billington argues that spirituality need not be tied to traditional religious structures. Instead, it can be found in our connection to nature, one another, and the cosmos. In the Aquarian Age, this connection will be personal and collective, individual and universal.

The transformation we are experiencing—both spiritually and technologically—presents new opportunities for growth and self-realisation. However, as John Ryan Haule and others have warned, the path forward is not without its dangers. The Promethean urge to transcend humanity must be balanced with recognising our limitations. In this sense, the Age of Aquarius is not about playing God but about embracing our role as co-creators of reality, working in harmony with the divine forces that shape our world.

As we enter this new era, the lines between the material and the spiritual, the human and the divine, will continue to blur. In the words of William James, our mystical experiences will remain the fountainhead of religious experience. Still, in the Age of Aquarius, they will take on new forms shaped by our collective consciousness and our evolving understanding of what it means to be human.

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**Sources:**

1. William James, *The Varieties of Religious Experience* (New York: Penguin Books, 2002), 37-45.  

2. Friedrich Nietzsche, *Thus Spoke Zarathustra*, trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Penguin Books, 1961), 57-65.  

3. John Ryan Haule, *Perils of the Soul: Ancient Wisdom and the New Age* (Spring Publications, 2009), 122-138.  

4. Ray Billington, *Religion Without God* (Routledge, 2002), 98-105.  

5. Ken Wilber, *Quadrants of the Kosmos* (Shambhala, 1999), 53-69.