The Piscean Age religions taught you about helping others, charity, giving to the poor and tithing; and in the Age of Aquarius the good life is all about random acts of kindness, niceness and altruism.
It’s a situation that baffles the evolutionary psychologist. S/he views the natural world and observes selfish surviving so explaining helping others, giving to the poor, niceness and acts of senseless kindness isn’t easy. In a mental world of harsh, selfish feelings (Mars-Saturn) s/he has to explain why many people behave in a way that is kind, generous, charitable and benevolent.
Charles Darwin observed sympathy (Pisces) and benevolence (Jupiter) as ‘an essential part of the social instincts’.
Sympathetic benevolence is prevalent. Chances are you’ve seen a child spontaneously express concern and reach out to help another child; and maybe you do good by supporting a charity. Maybe you adore helping people; but there’s more to altruism than sympathetic benevolence and helping.
What is altruism?
The Greater Good website defines altruism as ‘when you act to promote someone else’s welfare, even at a risk or cost to yourself’.
And the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy states: ‘Behavior is normally described as altruistic when it is motivated by a desire to benefit someone other than oneself for that person’s sake. The term is used as the contrary of “self-interested’ or “selfish” or “egoistic” – words applied to behavior that is motivated solely by the desire to benefit oneself.’
The teachings of spiritual astrology, which provide the more comprehensive knowledge embraced within the tenets of The Religion of the Stars, explain that your altruism is spiritualized when you: ‘Do and think unto others as you would have them do and think unto you.’
Aquarian Age philanthropy
Aquarian Age philanthropy is aimed at delivering ‘high-impact reality’ and in 1999 The Bridgespan Group, a US nonprofit organization, was established in Boston, Massachusetts to provide management consulting to nonprofits and philanthropists. As a non-profit it does not earn profits for its owners. The money it earns or receives by donation is used to pursue its objectives and keep it running.
Bridgespan’s mission is to ‘work to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society’s most important challenges and opportunities’.
Bridgespan helps ‘social change leaders find solutions to economic and social barriers that perpetuate inequities and prevent individuals, families, and communities from having access to opportunities they need to thrive.’
Bridgespan distributes the money given it by philanthropists like MacKenzie Scott. It and its donors are not attention seekers. Philanthropy is a house 12 activity and philanthropists work behind the scenes. They rarely gain public notice, so there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Bridgespan.
Altruistic giving goes scientific
There are moral dilemmas involved in giving money away and in 2007 GiveWell – a US charity and research organization – was founded to quantify the amount of good that various charities (house 12) did. They wanted to know the number of lives saved, the amount of poverty alleviated, the extent of health improvements, etc. that your $1,000 donation did by measuring what it actually achieved.
In 2009, Giving What You Can, a community of effective givers was founded in Oxford, UK and in 2011 an umbrella organization – The Centre for Effective Altruism – was established.
Effective altruism quantifies the amount of good you can do by ‘using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis’.
In the Age of Aquarius effective altruism addresses the central question of the philanthropic movement: What is the best way to help other people?
Effective altruism in the Age of Aquarius
Altruism in the Age of Aquarius is a moral-spiritual issue with the focus on effective outcomes; and effective altruism combines reason with sympathetic benevolence to ensure that your financial giving achieves the greatest benefit. But it’s not just about making a financial donation.
Effective altruism is an Aquarian Age worldview and way of life that aims to bring rationality to what people choose to care about and how they spend their time.
Like all your fellow travellers you were born with a generosity-charitable impulse. It can be strong or weak and your urge to do good has been conditioned by experience to develop a personal mode of expression.
Its data point in your birth chart is Jupiter.
You have a propensity for benevolence, spirituality, kindness, sympathy and altruism and you can assess your tendency to put someone else’s needs ahead of your own by checking the power of Jupiter, Pluto, Leo, Pisces and Aquarius in your birth chart and assessing what you actually do to contribute to the welfare of others.
You have ingrained tendencies to act altruistically (Aquarius-Jupiter) or selfishly (Saturn); and only you know which way you’re inclined to swing. Your challenge is to evoke the better angels in your soul.
You could say that altruism is where you put another person’s needs before your own. It’s a very smart, high calibre, AAA grade behavior – the highest expression of human intelligence; and Aquarius reckons you’ll like it.
Giving a financial donation is the most common way of helping others but there are other ways. You can give your time, talent and expertise. But your giving only becomes altruistic when it is motivated by an unselfish desire to benefit someone else strictly for their sake.
Astrology for Aquarius gives the thumbs up to effective altruism and those who financially, or in other ways, make this world a better place by contributing to the welfare of others.
Astrology for Aquarius – sharing our knowledge
