Episode Overview
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Changing of the Gods: When the Stars Align for Revolutionary Times (CoG) is a groundbreaking 10-episode docu-series that uses the lens of archetypal astrology to paint a sweeping visual journey across historical cycles of revolution and world-changing transformations in mass consciousness. It’s a deep journey into the cosmic mystery of the overwhelming correlations between planetary transits and the cultural zeitgeist.
Based on the compelling book Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View by acclaimed scholar Richard Tarnas, the film series focuses on the “world transit” of Uranus and Pluto (2007-2020), the archetypal astrological picture for “revolutionary transformation.” Each time these global transits have aligned, the world has been rocked by radical change.
The film series brings to life cyclical epochs of revolution with compelling archival footage, photographs, art, symbols and musical soundscapes. Anchored in dynamic interviews, we visit with a remarkable circle of wisdom keepers, great visionary activists, and thought leaders of our time.
In each episode, we traverse the arc of revolutions and transformations across history, landing in the “fierce urgency of now” with the questions: What is the revolution today? What is the transformation?
If entire cultural and historical epochs do correlate with the archetypes associated by astrologers with these transiting planets, the implication is that consciousness, which we’ve ascribed only to human beings, may be pervasive throughout nature and the cosmos. Are we co-creative participants in a cosmic dance of energy, matter and meaning where consciousness itself is intrinsic to the fabric?
Changing of the Gods is an inspiring call to action to shift our consciousness and behavior on a mass scale. It illuminates a future world of hope.
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Is there a correlation between entire historical epochs and the movement of the planets? Do these “world transits” coincide with a predictable zeitgeist characterized by the archetypes that astrologers associate with those planets? If this is true, could it be that consciousness, which we’ve ascribed only to human beings, may be pervasive throughout nature and the cosmos?
From 2007-2020, the main world transit was an alignment between the planets Uranus and Pluto. Historically, each time these planets have aligned, it has coincided with a world rocked by mass upheavals, breakdowns and breakthroughs, revolutions both left and right, and massive global transformation. The last time it happened was in the iconic 1960s. Would the world transit of Uranus and Pluto from 2007-2020 correlate with an archetypal global surge of “revolutionary transformation?”
Cultural historian and master astrologer Richard Tarnas takes us down the rabbit hole into his groundbreaking research showing these astonishing correlations across history that land us in the “fierce urgency of now” of today’s revolutionary times. We learn about planetary archetypes and how the iconic psychologist Carl Jung used astrology to develop his theory of synchronicity. We explore the archetypes’ universal multi-cultural expressions with African-American Yoruba priestess and activist Luisah Teish.
Richard Tarnas suggests the central theme of Uranus-Pluto world transits is that “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” In the transit from 2007-2020, how would the arc bend – and who would bend it?
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Across Uranus-Pluto transits, history rhymes with recurring cycles bursting with radical social thought and the explosion of mass social movements for justice and freedom – qualities associated with Uranus. Each time there’s also an evolutionary transformation on huge scales – Pluto.
Richard Tarnas guides us through an archetypal comparison of today’s radical movements with the 1960s. History doesn’t just rhyme – it practically plagiarizes. One consistent correlation is the renaissance of youth movements. We meet contemporary youth movement leader, hip-hop artist and climate activist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez to see the revolution now. We look back to the uncanny echoes of ‘60s youth movements.
We expand the frame to today’s ubiquitous political upheavals around the world, both left and right. They reflect the archetypal Uranus-Pluto tensions between the drive for liberation, freedom and justice with the will to power of authoritarian regimes.
According to Richard Tarnas, Uranus-Pluto transits precipitate periods of radical change and disruption that can just as often take the form of breakdown as breakthrough. We scan the horizon of today’s large-scale collapse of power structures, dynasties and empires including major power shifts in geopolitics and imperialist expansions.
We backcast to the French Revolutionary period world transit to trace the lineage of these cycles of revolution and transformation that recur across Uranus-Pluto transits. We meet two contemporary leaders – Iroquois elder Chief Oren Lyons and radical lawyer Thomas Linzey — who take us back to that French Revolution era transit and the origins of the U.S. Constitution to understand the roots of the power struggle between democracy and plutocracy that’s intensifying yet again today.
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Uranus-Pluto cycles consistently show a pattern of a revolt to overcome extreme inequality and ruling elites: the 99% against the 1%.
We track the arc of social movements that were catalyzed in the West by the French Revolution and that have recurred across subsequent transits in the clash between democracy and plutocracy.
We compare the striking parallels between the 2007-2020 transit and the class war of the 1930s transit. Now as then, the Uranus-Pluto transit also has involved a Saturn transit, associated with economic contraction: the Great Depression and the Great Recession. In each case, the financial crashes were characterized by extreme oligarchies bent on further concentrating wealth while battling radical social and labor movements.
From mass labor movements and the New Deal to the Occupy movement and the Green New Deal, the battle between equality and plutocracy that correlates with Uranus-Pluto transits has reached new heights yet again.
We delve into the history of elites and corporate power with the radical lawyers Thomas Linzey and Mari Margil. They’ve “occupied the law” to organize communities across the US and globally to challenge corporate rights and institute legal “rights for nature.” We also visit with civil rights and racial justice scholar and professor john a. powell to understand how elites have historically stoked racial divisions to sustain their wealth and power. We also visit with Iroquois Chief Oren Lyons and feminist artist and organizer Eve Ensler, who challenge the oligarchic economic paradigm with alternative values and visions.
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Once again history rhymes as Uranus-Pluto transits coincide with the cyclical rise and intensification of Women’s Rights Movements. From the French Revolution to today, during each transit there’s a dramatic resurgence of feminism and peak thresholds in the quest for equal rights for women – Uranus. Each time, there’s also the shadow side of patriarchal backlash to retain power – Pluto.
African American Ifa-Orisha priestess Luisah Teish recounts the spellbinding West African Myth of Oshun and the Divine Feminine that sets the archetypal stage for the episode.
We trace the compelling historical lineage of women’s rights movements from the French Revolution transit to today. Since its inception, the Women’s Movement has co-evolved with the movement for racial justice. We track the foundational feminist leadership by women of color that has been largely erased from history.
We navigate the striking parallels between the iconic 1960s transit and today’s high tide of Women’s Marches and growing leadership by women globally.
We look at how the 1960s Uranian technological invention of the birth control pill suddenly caused massive social transformation – Pluto. We highlight the unmistakable echoes of today’s renewed struggles over birth control and abortion to the ‘60s transit.
We explore the aspect of the Pluto archetype associated with sexuality and the primal id, and its shadow side of sexual violence and abuse. We show the correlations with the global explosion of the #metoo movement, as well as the patriarchal shadow side of the “War on Women.”
Feminist artist and organizer Eve Ensler offers insights into how to end violence against women and the interlocking issues of racism, capitalism and imperialism.
We conclude with the radical cultural paradigm shift of masculinity and “The Sacred Marriage of the Masculine and Feminine,” and how the power of women coming into their rights will “change everything.”
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Richard Tarnas describes how Uranus-Pluto transits have consistently coincided with most of the major historical cycles and breakthrough eras of Black liberation and civil rights movements, from abolitionism to Black Lives Matter.
In each transit, clusters of world-changing events and iconic historical figures have surged into prominence. Each time there’s a dramatic intensification and magnification of the struggle for liberation – Uranus – and a Plutonic backlash by elites to retain power by sowing racial division.
We leap from the 1960s epic civil rights and Black Power movements to resurgence in the 2007-2020 transit: the election of Barack Obama, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Black cultural efflorescence. We look at the Plutonic shadow side of the Tea Party backlash and white supremacy movement against the inevitable transformation to a minority majority nation.
Luisah Teish draws direct parallels between the ‘60s Black Power movement in which she participated, and today’s evolution into Black Lives Matter.
We track Richard Tarnas’s research across history and the startling correlations between Uranus-Pluto transits and Black liberation and civil rights movements. We land in the “fierce urgency of now” as the Black Lives Matter movement became the biggest movement in American history, with unprecedented numbers of white allies and another watershed moment in the movement for Black Liberation.
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During Uranus-Pluto transits, the Plutonic archetype brings into play what Carl Jung called “the shadow of the human psyche.” Pluto is the id, the instincts and the underworld in all senses. When Pluto is activated, we see a pronounced psychological tendency in the collective psyche to project these shadow qualities with unusual potency onto whomever people see as “other.”
This Plutonic shadow correlates with an eruption of ancient resentments and hatreds against “othered” groups. It empowers, on large scales, the impulse for scapegoating, feeling victimized, and violence and repression.
When Uranus interacts with Pluto, we see a radicalization and large-scale empowerment of this shadow side. Yet at the same time, we also see an empowered countervailing movement to challenge these kinds of scapegoating. We look in depth at the astonishing correlations between the 2007-2020 transit and the 1930s.
Professor john a. powell guides us through how the shadow side of our psyche allows us to see the “other” as less than human. He describes “The Invention of Whiteness” in the 17th century (during a Uranus-Pluto transit) as a tool to divide and conquer, and the modern form of “Investing in Whiteness.”
As the US is transforming to become a majority minority nation, we look at structural racism and how it creates inequality that helps drive othering. We bring an archetypal eye to how race is socially constructed, and how it’s being used today to fuel white nationalism and neo-fascist populist movements.
Professor powell reminds us that “The human heart and the human spirit without institutions are insufficient. How do we not just say with words, but with our actions, that every person, all human beings deserve human concern. And how do we organize our systems to reflect that?”
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As Richard Tarnas illustrates, Uranus-Pluto transits correlate closely with the liberation (Uranus) of the instincts (Pluto). This has manifested in sexual liberation movements including gay and transgender rights and today’s transformation around gender fluidity.
The transits have also correlated with the liberation of consciousness, as exemplified in the widespread popular use of marijuana and psychedelics that have surged in the 1960s and again today.
We trace archetypal correlations between the astonishing birth of the 1960s gay liberation movement coming out from society’s Plutonic underworld of sexual repression and shame, and today’s sudden cultural shifts: legalizing gay marriage, the movement for transgender rights, and gender fluidity.
We track the threshold moments of sexual revolutions beginning with the French Revolution transit through the 1930’s.
We explore the correlations around the liberation of consciousness. Vivid archival footage shows how these radical changes that began in the ‘60s have now tipped into a cultural transformation in today’s transit with the legalization of marijuana and the renaissance of research on the medical benefits of psychedelics, as well as their emerging legalization and widespread popular use, which is as big as it was during the heyday of the ‘60s counterculture.
Richard Tarnas visits with Stanislav Grof, the iconic pioneering medical researcher of psychedelics and altered states, to explore how these mind-altering substances reveal the deeper archetypal layers of the psyche and have profound capability for self-healing by changing our consciousness.
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Do Uranus-Pluto world transits consistently coincide with game-changing technology revolutions that irrevocably transform society? As Richard Tarnas describes, the Uranus archetype is associated with radical technological invention and disruption, while Pluto empowers these changes on massive, transformative scales. Because the archetypes are multivalent – light and shadow and everything in between – we explore the shadow side of the abuse of technology in the Plutonic “shadow side” of raw power and domination.
“What the hell happened in 2007,” asks acclaimed journalist Thomas Friedman, saying that 2007 may mark the single biggest revolution in technology since Guttenberg invented the printing press.
We trace historical cycles where Uranus-Pluto transits consistently coincide with epic world-changing watershed moments of technological invention:
The Industrial Revolution
The Fossil Fuel Revolution
The Renewable Energy Revolution
The Biomimicry Revolution (“innovation inspired by nature”)We meet the celebrated biomimetic inventor Jay Harman, who suggests that today’s biomimicry revolution is the biggest one yet, foretelling a future environment of hope and sustainability.
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We revisit a driving question from Episode 1: What’s the worldview that brought us to this brink, and is there another worldview emerging today that could lead to a very different and restored world?
Richard Tarnas opens with the Parable of the Two Suitors, a metaphoric view of the current scientific paradigm shift. He describes how Uranus/Pluto alignments of the past 500 years have coincided with dramatic consistency with key milestones in the major revolutions and paradigm shifts in Western scientific thought that have dramatically changed our worldview and cosmology.
The Copernican heliocentric revolution during a Uranus-Pluto transit marked the birth of the Modern Mind and the reductionist, materialist science that displaced religion with reason. It set in motion a metaphysical, cosmological, religious transformation that has taken giant leaps during successive transits. It was shockingly upended during the transit at the turn of the 20th century with relativity theory and quantum mechanics. As Alice said when she landed in Wonderland, ‘Things get curiouser and curiouser.’”
So much of what is most precious to us came out of the birth of the Modern, yet it came with an enormous shadow. It has left us with a spiritual as well as an ecological crisis from objectifying nature and the cosmos, a “disenchanted” universe devoid of intelligence, meaning and purpose.
The Pluto archetype is associated with nature itself, and the explosive 1960s transit that again coincided with game-changing paradigm shifts such as the Gaia Hypothesis and groundbreaking research showing intelligence throughout nature. These paradigm shifts simultaneously coincided with the birth of the modern environmental movement.
Anthropologist and author Jeremy Narby portrays startling contemporary research of profound intelligence throughout nature. Scientists are starting to talk like shamans, and shamans are starting to talk like scientists.
Richard Tarnas describes the dramatic shift in scientific worldview toward a “re-enchantment” of the community of being of which human beings are a part. Chief Oren Lyons suggests that as long as we observe nature’s laws, the regenerative cycle will go on forever.
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In this climactic episode, we weave together the threads of our cosmic mystery story to explore the mystery of consciousness itself. If planetary configurations and transits do correlate with archetypal human consciousness, is consciousness a fundamental part of the fabric of the cosmos underlying both matter and psyche?
We plunge into the mystery with Chief Oren Lyons, Jeremy Narby and former quantum physicist Will Keepin. He describes the model of the famed physicist David Bohm, who sought answers from both science and spiritual masters.
Bohm concluded that there are three fundamental constituents of reality: energy, matter, and meaning, or consciousness. Because each contains the other two, there are correlations between what’s happening in the microcosm of human consciousness and the macrocosm of the solar system and beyond. Astrology is the consequence of this fundamental fractal, or holographic structure of consciousness.
Richard Tarnas deepens the mystery with Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity where inner states and outer manifestation seem as if they are being invisibly orchestrated. These events are connected not by cause but by meaning. Stanislav Grof observes that Jung used astrology as a primary data set for his theory of synchronicity.
Richard Tarnas observes that a fundamental changing of the gods seems to be at work right now – of the basic principles, symbols and myths of civilization.
As we have reached the end of this Uranus/Pluto square, Saturn is again entering the picture. It’s a serious time that concentrates the mind when the chickens come home to roost. Our future deeply depends on what level of consciousness and engagement we bring to this historical moment to, to bring forth the best possible results.
We close with a deeply emotional and uplifting “Changing of the Gods” reflective reprise on the state of the world with several of our interview subjects.
