Truth Telling and Fact Checking Through Fictitious Times
The Age of Aquarius offers valuable lessons if we're willing to embrace them
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The Breakout Rooms in this post:
Tech: Meta and TikTok
Democracy: Trump and U.S. politics
Spirituality: Astrology
Wellbeing: Accountability and responsibility
Truth is in transit across society – from fictional facts being advocated within politics to the TikTok influencers revealing that they lied to gain millions of followers – and so is our ability to know what to do about it, both personally and collectively. When truth turns on us, where do we turn? What do we do?
Truth is supposed to be everywhere because a truthful existence is a peaceful one. Untruths create friction, cause unnecessary pain, stress, puzzlement and bewilderment. They are hazards in motion, emotionally, physically and mentally. That’s why it’s vital we pay attention to how we feel and process untruths, as through untruths we sense what matters to us and why.
Truth is a natural state of our being and flourishing. It’s one of the fundamental – if not the most fundamental – reasons why it’s important. We were born true to be true to ourselves and others. Truth gives more than it takes, revealing the essence of a person’s character, intentions and feelings. It’s a quality which determines our life and how well we enjoy it and how far we go in the journey of experiencing our soul’s truth. It’s the sun to the moon, the light to the dark, and helps us grow and nourish ourselves. It’s a thing that we can’t live without. Or at least for not too long.
I’ve been thinking about truth, fact and fiction since the author Elif Shafak published a piece a few weeks ago claiming that “We can no longer be “wonderfully sure” that our political and cultural systems are “more durable than ourselves. We live in the Age of Angst. Nothing is solid anymore. These are liquid times.”
There’s something jarring about reading the sentence “These are liquid times.” So many images come to mind. The reliability of politicians. The decency of individuals. The character of companies and the people who run them. We may be living in The Age of Angst, but 2025 marks our first full year in the Age of Aquarius (the last time Pluto was in Aquarius was between 1778 to 1798) which brings change and focus on the consciousness of humanity, collective responsibility and personal liberation from things which don’t serve our soul’s purpose. I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty damn solid to me.
When events and people show you what and who they are, trust them. Rather than being dismantled by untruths, trust the untruths because they are there to teach us an invaluable lesson; that through lies and deception we see, feel and know what we dislike and don’t want. And that in itself is powerful.
Last year my most popular piece on Substack was about Political Astrology in the Aqe of Aquarius and it’s a topic that I LOVE to research, talk about and keep track of. It even made it to the first page of Google search which feels very special. Something is shifting – a greater receptivity – towards talking about political change, wellness and astrology. For me, it’s difficult to talk about one without referring to the others. They are deeply interwoven and connected subjects. How can they not be?
Through the events of January 2025, the lessons of the new Aquarius Age are being revealed. They are not there to shy away from or complain about. Rather, the people and the situations causing disruption are there for us to witness and learn from so that we’re hyper-clear on how to move forward in such a way that lifts humanity instead of dismantling it.
For context, January 2025 has been a wild (wild!) month in astrology, with the majority of us being tested in some way – either collectively through political events (Trump in the U.S.), environmental disruptions (LA fires, storms in the UK), economic jitters (lovely to see the UK economy taking a deep dive again 🫠) or social media (Tik Tok’s brief but complicated ban in the U.S.) and also individually as we respond to these events and how the world is being run.
On 21 January the Pluto Cazimi took place – the first time this has happened during our lifetime, and strangely close to Trump’s inauguration. The significance of this is profound. As a planet Pluto represents death, transformation and the underworld and is closely associated with power, control and secrets. During the Cazimi, Pluto essentially enters the heart of the Sun. This means that the Sun shines its intense rays of light on all of Pluto’s character traits, highlighting everything that is usually hidden and cloaked within the dark. In the context of Trump and U.S. politics, everything we’re seeing and hearing right now is for us to become aware of.
One of the powerful things about astrology is that it provides a sense of personal agency and responsibility through the language and knowledge it offers. Not only does astrology inform us of the planetary changes and the obstacles and advantages that these changes bring, it also gives us helpful guidance on how to work with the energies of celestial activities. Astrology gives language to people and events. It equally encourages us to think about what we do with the power and responsibility that we each possess (in varying ways) to proactively respond, rather than react, to them.
As a former democracy academic at Cambridge University, I believe that truth and facts are essential for a healthy, functioning society but also for individual relationships. What applies at the societal level also applies within the personal. Speaking about Trump, Graham Allison, a Harvard professor, claims that Trump’s recent rhetoric at Davos “weaves fact, fiction and fantasy” together. But how often do we do that as individuals (and influencers) through social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok?
The call of this moment is for us to take on the responsibility of truth and facts, and to own our own power when doing so. For example, Meta ending internal fact-checking within its companies means that we must do better at fact checking ourselves and not outsource our knowledge and responsibility – something which most of us are guilty of at some point through laziness and apathy. This indifference won’t help you or any of us.
Information is abundant, knowledge of applying information and turning it into knowledge less so, but the ability to do this ourselves is infinite. By assessing the intention behind the creation of information, analysing the possible agenda that the information is being used for and deciding how helpful/unhelpful the information is are things that we are capable of doing ourselves. The Age of Aquarius signals the end of traditional hierarchies, and reclaiming our power, making my suggestion a very Aquarius response to what is, on the surface, a troubling development at Meta. But would it really be so troubling if more of us took responsibility for fact-checking information?
Facts have rigour; fiction has flounce. They each possess a different vibe, have a totally different meaning and create an alternative reality. Truth isn’t a given unless being truthful will get you what you want – usually money, power and fame – but these things usually never stick around for long because of the repelling energy that untruths bring.
Truths and fictitious facts can’t thrive when people aren’t receptive towards them, where there is nothing to gain and have the discernment to know better. Like a raw but real wound, truth heals us in the long run even if the pain of it stings in the short-term.
Tomorrow marks the New Moon in Aquarius and Thursday marks Uranus stationing direct, demanding that we break free, embrace change and bring more lightness and high vibrational energy into our lives.
In this moment of strong astrological movements, what lessons and learnings will you apply?