Pyxis, the magnetic compass used on ships, is a
minor southern constellation, formed from
stars in the mast of Argo Navis, the Ship
Russell
Lincoln Ackoff (12 February 1919 – 29 October 2009) was an American
organizational theorist, consultant, and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of
Management Science at the Wharton School , University of Pennsylvania
Kirby and
Rosenhead (2005) observed , "the fact that systems were experiencing profound change
could be attributed to the end of the "Machine Age" and the onset of
the "Systems Age". The Machine Age, bequeathed by the Industrial
Revolution, was underpinned by two concepts – reductionism (everything can in
the end be decomposed into indivisible parts) and mechanism (cause-effect relationships)".
Hereby "all phenomena were believed to be explained by using only one
ultimately simple relationship, cause-effect", which in the Systems Age
are replaced by expansionism and teleology with producer-product replacing
cause-effect. "Expansionism is a doctrine maintaining that all objects and
events, and all experiences of them, are parts of larger wholes."According
to Ackoff, "the beginning of the end of the Machine Age and the
beginning of the Systems Age could be dated to the 1940s, a decade when
philosophers, mathematicians, and biologists, building on developments in the
interwar period, defined a new intellectual framework". [2]
Astrologers
have long proposed that the start of a new age is usually accompanied by a new
synodic cycle involving outer planets. And sure enough in 1940s we have a
Saturn-Pluto synodic conjunction at 13le03 on Aug 22, 1947. The stars that form
the backdrop to this conjunction are those of late sidereal Cancer.
The
conjunction nests between the ecliptical
longitudes of Acubens of Cancer; Zeta Hydra; and Dubhe (Alpha) of Ursa Major;
and the longitudes of Naos of Argo Navis; and Merak (Beta) of Ursa Major.
Sidereal Cancer supports our birth
or emergence from darkness into light. It is of migration, new beginnings,
shedding old skins, skeletons, and cocoons. It is of emerging out of the
collective frenetic confusion of mass or family consciousness, finding new ways
paths and directions; of leaving behind old dwellings and the structures of
consciousness they represent. It is of getting out of our personal and
collective dogmas and the darkness and limitation they create.
So why were
people like Ackoff pioneering this new systems approach? A look at Ackhoff’s
horoscope explains why. He had his Sun [23aq] in revolutionary Aquarius
conjunct Uranus [27aq] with both these opposite Saturn [25le]. Tarnas [3] describes the Saturn-Uranus
opposition with the following key phrases:
structural breakdowns and collapses,
technological breakdowns, a pervasive atmosphere
of crisis management and mindset of crisis prevention and more generally, a
taut conflict between the conservative and the liberal or progressive; change
and the resistance to change.
Ackhoff’s
Saturn [25le] was conjunct the stars Alpha
Pictoris [25le25], Subra [23le08] , Adhafera [26le27] and Al Jabhah [26le47] and the stars of Pyxidis at the beginning of
sidereal Leo.
Alpha Pictoris and Subra, the Paw of
the Lion, which mark the cusp of sidereal Cancer-Leo; Alpha & Beta Pyxidis;
Alphard of Hydra; Suhail Al Muhlif on the Sail of the Argo; Pup-A Supernova
Remnant; and Adhafera and Al Jabha, the mane and forehead of the Lion Let us
explore the individual themes of these stellar entries to get a feel for the
overall character of early sidereal Leo:
Subra, marking the end of sidereal
Cancer, is the paw of the Lion impressed in the desert sand. Subra is of
prints, tracks, plans, codices and ancient maps--clues to hidden trails and
paths obscured by the sands of time. Subra indicates a discovery process is at
hand, one leading to the secret chambers, entryways, even to liftoff sites of
the gods--places hidden from ordinary view. Simply, Subra asks that we dig, explore,
uncover, and find a new way to navigate the passage that leads to living from
the integrity and passion of out hearts, which Regulus embodies.
Synthesizing with Subra is the
primary star of the very southern constellation Pictoris, the Painter's Easel.
Alpha Pictoris indicates a picture or scenario is emerging from the æthers.
This is a picture assembling itself as we break trail in our discovery process.
Alpha Pictoris asks us to see the pathway or entryway emerging out of the mist
covering an abyss, in the rock of a mountain side, in the billowing clouds
blown by the wind, in the leaves fallen upon the ground, or simply in our
mind's inner eye. Alpha Pictoris asks us to creatively
assemble the signs, to read the message, to see the coalescing spirit substance
yet to become, to paint a new picture, a new life.
Pyxidis asks us to peer beyond what
is visible, beyond the common world, and to navigate through potential problems
or obstacles upon our exploration. Pyxidis inspires us to find the map obscured
in the sand, to see the picture waiting to emerge from the obscuring fog into
visible sight, and to take an abode, place, vantage, or perspective from which
we can see and find distant lands.
Pyxidis indicates a discovery
process is at had, one that requires patience, foresight, and perceptual
attentiveness. Although this often is a lonely process, it is one serving our
greater evolutionary journey, and as well, the journeys of our colleagues and
companions. Pyxidis has little interest in the superfluous pursuits of the
common world, always seeking new ground, looking forward, gazing ahead through
time, to see through the present limitations into the depths of what can yet
become.[4]
This long
quote from Nick Fiorenza should clearly indicate why pioneers like Ackhoff living
to the full potential of their stars need to be honoured and celebrated.
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