We enter the world as an energy, totally aware, totally open and totally knowledgeable. Everything you need to achieve the goals in your life is given to you. The seven-year cycles are a flow, a rhythm. It is not something cut and dried. You may feel it coming or going two years in advance or two years later as it builds, peaks, and wanes. The seven-year cycles are an evolutionary spiral. They belong to every being that has ever been created. There is no one who does not go through them.
Every seven years there is, within the system, a total change. It is a soul’s demand to be seen as an individual, not as a collective. At the age of seven, the first realization of self begins to occur. The restlessness that is felt within is due to body chemistry changes from that of an infant to that of a child. There is a natural release of energy every seven years which encourages you to move forward and make changes.
During the course of your life you are gradually influenced by others. Perhaps, in your early years, you can say that the sins of the father are delivered upon the child. What does that mean? It means that the prejudices and the opinions of the parent are visited upon the child, and if a child hears something long enough, it is going to accept it as fact. What other images do children have to turn to early in their lives but to those that are governing or raising them? Every one of you has been in that position.
This school of life is the place where you are always given an opportunity to learn. The process of learning makes the journey more interesting and gives you a chance to evolve. Exams in this school can be simply described as crisis years or times of drastic transformations in life. These are the years that test how well you were able to learn the lessons offered by the Universe and how well you have managed to implement the solutions to challenges in life. If you pass the exams, you are offered a chance to get to the next level in order to meet new teachers that help you learn new things about life.
7 Cycles Ideas
Cycles of life – Numerous rhythms and routines occur in the universe, from the movements of the planets to the cycles of earth’s seasons, the ocean tides, economic cycles and in our lives.
We have many cycles, from the cycle of birth, growth, maturity, and the transition back home to spirit, God, or the All—you make your word choice.
The physical body experiences a multitude of cycles, such as sleep and awake time, breathing, blood flow and more. These cycles of the body extend to the smallest level of cells, including the cells in our hair, skin, muscle, etc.
Underlying these cycles of the body are spiritual cycles. As we evolve, we experience a new cycle every seven years in our state of consciousness.
A key to successful spiritual cycles is opening up your inner connection and following what you feel is best. As you sense what you truly desire and do what you can, you will be experiencing and learning what you need in your cycles of life.
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THE NUMBER SEVEN
What is it about the number seven that fascinates us? With a pair of dice, seven is statistically the most probable number to be thrown. Fortunes have been made and lost on that premise. In many holy texts, the number seven is ubiquitous. Seven is mentioned over 700 times in the Bible, starting off as the number of days it took to create the world and going from there. There are seven seals in the Book of Revelations. Seven trumpeters blew seven Shofars, ram’s horn trumpets, for seven days around Jericho, until the walls crumbled, and much more. There are seven unique notes in our common musical scale, the eighth note being the octave above the first note. There are seven colors in a rainbow. The moon has four distinct phases: new moon, first quarter, full moon and third quarter, each of these approximately seven days apart. There are seven Chakras. Last but certainly not least, and probably the most important reason that humans are fixated on the number seven, is that there are seven visible planets in the heavens. The most obvious of these are the Sun and Moon. The others are Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These seven planets have provided a foundation of belief that has been drawn upon for millennia. They became the Gods of the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians, as well as most other cultures. In Vedic astrology, they can define almost every aspect of our life, from birth, to death and beyond.
THE PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM
In the second century of the common era, Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria used the planets, based on their astrological and astronomical attributes, to define what he called, “The Seven Ages of Man.” Ptolemy was a genius and a student of astronomy, mathematics, music, cartography, humanity and the natural world. His theory of a Geocentric Universe defined celestial mechanics for centuries, mainly because it worked.
Ptolemy believed that everything that existed is connected to everything else and is ultimately linked to the planets. Each planet was given attributes, many of which are still used today by astrologers.
This led to the concept of each person being a unique microcosm of the cosmos, thus providing a model for explaining our journey through life, each planet ruling a designated number of years.
Ptolemy started our life cycle with the fastest of the planets, the Moon. Our lunar neighbor ruled birth to the age of 4. The Moon was thought of as pure and dynamic. It was equated to motherhood, children and protection. The second phase belonged to Mercury, the second fastest planet, and ruled until the age of fourteen. From 14 to 22 years of age, Venus took control. I was once that age, and I can attest to the fact that my thoughts were often about Venus-ruled concerns, often way too much!! The Sun took over for 19 years, until the age of 41. This was an individual’s time to shine and was followed by the period of Mars, which ruled until age 55. Jupiter took us to 67 and Saturn delivered us into our dotage.
Ptolemy’s stages of life are sensible, and have been expanded upon by metaphysical and philosophical thinkers throughout the ages. Many such views are popular now, equating each stage with a certain animal, temperament, or some other sort of influence.
Incidentally, I often say that the planets don’t punch time-clocks, so there will usually be an overlapping of planetary influences and gaps.
STAGE 1: THE MOON – 0 TO AGE 7
We come into life without knowledge of the world, a state of innocence. As the moon brings light to a dark night this period provides our first views of life. Sometimes the light is bright, and other times it’s dim, like moonlight during the Moon’s various phases. Today, children are exposed to a form of electronic illumination, unprecedented in history. I’ve met year-old infants who can work a smartphone better than I can. Hermeticism teaches that the Moon, as a reflection of the Sun, is a source of possible illusion. I hope the children of today will find a true light to guide them on the path of their future. The main goal of our first 7-year cycle is to ground ourselves. This life cycle is dominated by the Earth Chakra. During this chakra life cycles we begin to explore the world around us, our immune system is activated and we begin to form our energy shell or aura. Our experiences during the first seven years become the foundation of the future life we want to build.
STAGE 2: MERCURY – AGES 7 TO 14
Mercury traditionally rules the mind, intellectual pursuits, bargaining and mischief. This ten year period includes going to school, making friends, puberty and becoming a social creature. It was during this stage that I discovered my obsession with metaphysics, or it discovered me, and I also became a certifiable Nerd, complete with pocket protector and tape on the glasses. This period is one of the most important in our lives, as it often creates some of the most powerful impressions that makes us who we are for the rest of our days. Our second seven-year cycle is guided by the Sacral chakra. We begin to embrace our sexual energy, identify ourselves with gender roles and go through puberty. During this life cycle, we are eager to learn new things and are often active in sports. We begin to explore the world outside our family.
Mercury can deceive, so it’s important to remember that not all memories of the past are what they seem to be.
STAGE 3: VENUS – AGE 14 TO 21
During the third chakra life cycle, we believe that we are ready to change the world. Solar Plexus chakra is the leader during this life cycle. We try to find the place where we belong and try to join different social groups. It is the time when we learn the rules society plays by in practice. Most people lose their virginity during this cycle and it makes us think that we are ready for an adult life. Fortunately this stage segues into young adulthood and more to it than just angst.
Venus also deals with aesthetics, concepts of beauty, the development of certain ethics and one’s worldview.
In many ways, this is one of the most formative of all the stages, because it sets us up for whatever comes next in the world. This eight-year period aids us with our sense of reality and may imprint how we view our partners, as well as our friends, relatives and even ourselves throughout life. It’s vital that a positive self-image be nurtured during this period, as the results can linger for decades if we don’t actively seek changes.
STAGE 4: THE SUN – AGES 22 TO 41 The Crisis Years
After we turn 21 and until 28 we enter the real world of an adult life led by the Heart Chakra. The main goal for this cycle is to learn how to refine and effectively invest our own emotions in order to get back the best possible results. It is the time to start building our own nest away from the parents, find a way to independently support ourselves and even perhaps start a family.
Our Solar stage allows us to exert our power and sparkle in the world of adults, whatever that may mean to the individual. We have all the rights and benefits of being full grown, often without the experience and wisdom to know what to do with it. Some will use this period to gently warm their surroundings, nurturing, growing a lush garden for all to enjoy. Others will scorch the planet with intense heat and a lack of consciousness of other people.
It’s important to remember that for all of us, the Sun gives life, but it’s up to us to do something positive with that power.
If we don’t help others, we are lost. Personal and spiritual growth is often a part of this stage, but sometimes in an egocentric way.
In this range we also experience our Saturn Return-or at least the beginnings of it. You will come face to face with your own blocks and be forced to push through them. All the “mistakes” you made in the nearly three decades leading up to this seem to crystallize. Rather than repeating them on autopilot, you have a chance to turn lemons into lemonade. And if you refuse to heed those lessons, Saturn will bring a drill sergeant style smackdown. Indeed, the Saturn return starts off feeling a bit like boot camp for a lot of people. This is the astrological period of our life when the planet Saturn completes its orbit around the Sun, coinciding with the time of our birth. It happens every 29.5 years, so if you have skated by in your late 20s, this period could get you in your late 50s. Now’s the time to get prepared!
We often feel the rumblings of this orbital transition a few years before it begins — prior to the big 3-0. Careers will take off — or completely flop. We will meet the love of our life — or bolt from the partner we thought would be our happily ever after.
One of the keys to this cycle is breaking away from the illusions that were created by parents. Your parents can, of course, keep playing a major role in your life, but only if they are evolving themselves. If they encourage your freedom and if you can help each other in realizing the individual creative essences of your higher selves. It might sound harsh, but in a way, from the beginning of this cycle, you no longer owe anything to your genetic relatives, especially when you are being forced to do something that you intuitively know is wrong. The main theme of this cycle is to find your own way of moral judgment, conscience .It is the time to search for the life partner and start building a family if it happens to be the right time for you. You also have to acquire emotional intelligence so later in life you are resilient to any kind of stress and you know how to react to any challenging situation.
The pressure can feel insurmountable. If you are in it, take a deep breath, because your so-called “quarter-life crisis” could just be part of growing up.
Although growing pains can be difficult, if you navigate this fierce storm wisely, you can come out stronger, braver, and happier than you ever thought possible. Studies show that rates of anxiety, depression, motor-vehicle accidents and alcohol use are at their peak from 18 to 25, trends that tend to level out by age 28. We begin to look for the meaning in everything.
STAGE 5: MARS – AGES 41 TO 55
Throat Chakra governs the energies of our fifth seven-year life cycle. The fifth chakra is responsible for our creativity and will power. We are free to exercise our creativity and will as long as we stay in the limits of the mission given to us by our higher self. If we have not done it by this life cycle, it is a great time to establish a true communication channel with our own Spirit (or clear distortions if any). Mars means action and is best exemplified by doing something positive in the world. During this cycle we should be as active as possible and fight for those things we believe in.
Unfortunately, along with this stage may come the realization that we have not found the life we thought we’d find and that things are not going precisely as expected. This is generally when a midlife crisis occurs. Men and women find themselves wondering if that’s all there is, turning to physical pleasures, new cars, affairs or whatever else seemingly soothes the red-hot, Martian energy within them. Many divorces occur during this stage, mainly because the reasons for such dissatisfaction are rarely searched for internally, especially when it’s easier to project our woes onto the outside world.
During these years you should try and establish yourself in the new ideology directed towards fulfilling your full potential. These years reveal the true role you were playing together with your Higher Self. If you are still obsessed with the material things without exercising your creativity, then there is a great chance for you to stumble upon problems in your social, professional as well as the life of your physical body. This is the cycle when you need to find and establish your own unique way of communication with your Higher Self and live under the guidance of your intuition. The end of this cycle is the exam that ends your spiritual childhood.
STAGE 6: JUPITER – AGES 55 TO 67
Our inner philosopher is born from. We begin to look for the meaning in everything. We need to walk the walk, we cannot just talk the talk anymore. It is the final battle between the Wisdom of Heart and the Wisdom of Logic. With Jupiter comes the ability to sit back and look over one’s life objectively and hopefully without regrets.
Jupiter is a natural ruler and assumes a wisdom and understanding of the way things work.
In Vedic astrology, the planet Jupiter is often known as Guru, showing it to be a teacher and a giver of life and hope. It’s during the Jupiter stage that we can find the mastery of those pursuits we’ve been working on all our lives. Once mastery is attained, the realization of one’s mortality hopefully leads to the desire and imperative to teach. In the best of circumstances, Jupiter’s stage reveals a realization of the responsibility we have to those generations that will follow. It’s our duty to be benevolent, expansive and to pass along our knowledge to those who come after. This can be a highly spiritual time in our lives. The second Saturn Return may occur within lifetime space.
By age 58, Saturn has completed another 29-year journey around the Sun, and you get your second Saturn Return. While this can also be a challenging period — requiring big changes in work, relationships and other areas of life — the second is typically less tumultuous than the first. As you revisit themes from your first Saturn Return, you now have the wisdom and experience of the past 29 years to draw on, and are likely to have much greater clarity about who you are and what you want to accomplish.
At the second Saturn Return, people often feel like they’re finally free to do what they want — no longer trying to please or prove themselves to others. Retirement is a common theme around the second Return, freeing up time to pursue a hobby or creative passion, and some even start on a new career path altogether. Even though people can still feel quite youthful at age 58, the second Saturn Return marks an initiation into the role of elder. This could mean taking a more active role in your community, or mentoring or teaching the younger generation.
STAGE 7: SATURN – AGE 67 ON
Saturn is the planet of chronological time. In Saturn, we realize the reality of our existence and true self-knowledge, or the lack of it. Youth gives way to maturity, and eventually we move to a more joyful experience that can only be completely appreciated through the wisdom that comes from decades spent on this planet. For some, the Saturn stage creates an influential and enduring presence that should be embraced by society, but has unfortunately been mostly neglected in the West. For others, it’s a time of bitterness and regret. Within the memories of those in their Saturn stage is the living history of our planet. It is the time when we have a choice. We can either listen to our ego – stop evolving and begin to decay or we follow the voice of our higher self and begin to cooperate with Nature through realizing our own creative potential that was given to us at birth. Past is prologue and the information Saturn has to pass on to us is priceless. The ability to embrace our Saturn stage, without fear and with a sense of gratitude, is the reward of a life well lived and well loved.
These cycles are repeated in miniature forms every day in our lives. It’s possible to use the 7 stages for analyzing anything. For example, what stage is your job in right now? If you’re just starting out, are you in your Moon or Mercury phase? How about a relationship you’re in? Are you in a Mars phase? If so, can you be patient enough to move into your Jupiter phase, or are you anxious for Saturn to take over and begin again with the Moon in a new relationship?
A TIMELESS SYSTEM
There is much that can be done with this system. You are limited only by your imagination and your willingness to embrace a concept thousands of years old, yet timeless. Ptolemy’s system works and makes sense.
Peer inside yourself to see the beauty of the celestial clockwork that we’re all part of. You’ll gain more than knowledge.
Nature has taught us everything we know. To reach harmony in life, we all need to learn how to observe Nature and learn the laws that govern our Universe. We as humans are a part of Nature and we also have cycles of our own. In order to move forward in the spiral of our evolution, we all have to go through the crisis years which happen when we change from one cycle to the next. Some people get stuck in the loop of problems during their crisis years while others are able to overcome the challenges and move to the next level.
If you are following the mission of your higher self, there is no need to be afraid of the crisis years. However, if you keep violating the laws of Nature and keep failing to listen to your own intuition, you might experience certain turbulence with your state of health, personal or professional life during the crisis years.
Major crisis years of the adult life are ages 21, 28 (also called Saturnian death in Astrology), 35, 42 and 49. The first 49 years of human life can be simply described as spiritual childhood. We observe Nature and learn from it until we grow up. Some of us mature before 49, some never do. A spiritual adult is the one who is able to express their own creative essence and cooperate with surrounding environment by living a happy life, as Nature intended.
The 7×7 table presented below is based on the seven chakras system and describes the first 49 years of our life. This illustration of the seven chakra life cycles is supported by the spiritual science research as well as esoteric teachings. Contemporary scientific research also has proof that cells of a human body change every 7 years. You can analyze your own life to see if this model of chakra life cycles resonates with you.
One poignant thought……..
Did you know that no two people see the same rainbow? It’s a fact. Each of us views a rainbow through billions of water droplets. Even if we are only a couple of inches apart, we’re looking through a completely different set of lenses in order to see one of the most magnificent sights in nature. Hold that thought. Use it for all of your perceptions through your life cycles.. Remember that rainbow. Just as no two of us sees the exact same rainbow, none of us will experience a stage of life like anyone else. Therein lies one of the greatest benefits of this existence, that being the mystery itself. Don’t let anyone ever take that mystery away from you.
I wish you all peace and love.
Kate
