Aquarius Now: Radical Common Sense And Reclaiming Our Personal Sovereignty [Hardcover]

Marilyn Ferguson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Themes of seeing light through darkness and revealing secrets once hidden, as well as a range of inspirational thoughts on human perseverance from many a familiar thinker, pepper this book and indicate its tone and content. Using an often vague and confusing self-help style, Ferguson, author of TheAquarian Conspiracy and former publisher of Brain/Mind Bulletin, attempts to reignite the radical left toward social revolution by transforming humanity to combat the current "malaise," one self at a time. What we must save ourselves from is unclear, though Ferguson asserts it is neither Republican nor Democrat, liberal nor conservative, and only offers confirmation of her view that Christian fundamentalism is working for the dark side. Each chapter offers readers passionate, if choppily written, explanations of the many ways to use bodies and minds in the battle toward a higher consciousness. Filled with motivational bits like "Liberty is what we make of our freedom" and "You can have control or you can have creation but you can't have both," Ferguson's book is unwavering in its determination to inspire, if not offer an intelligible thesis. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Marilyn Ferguson published Brain/Mind Bulletin from 1975–1995. Her work not only culled the best of the new consciousness movement and put the word out, but also offered commentary and insight that helped launch a whole new way of looking at ourselves and the world we live in. She published the bestselling The Aquarian Conspiracy in 1980 (the 25th anniversary edition is to be published by Tarcher/Penguin in 2005). Voted the most important new age book of the 1980s, this book has remained in print continuously for a quarter of a century.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 213 pages
• Publisher: Samuel Weiser; First Edition edition (November 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578633699
• ISBN-13: 978-1578633692
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,060,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up, Sleepyhead, November 14, 2005

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Mystic" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aquarius Now: Radical Common Sense And Reclaiming Our Personal Sovereignty (Hardcover)

"Our sleepwalking is the source of our collective misery. We have been asleep to our subtler conflicts, our deep impasses, and our latent gifts. But having glimpsed the range of our unconscious knowing, our rich `secret lives', we can hardly be content to go back to sleep." - From the book

In 1980, Marilyn Ferguson published The Aquarian Conspiracy-a book often called the Bible of the consciousness movement. At that time, inspired millions scanned the radar for signs of this nameless positive movement, as well as for like-minded others. These one were looking to create a more humane society and began working a quiet revolution by emphasizing creativity in the workplace and blending cutting-edge science with mysticism in both classrooms and pulpits.

In her new book Aquarius Now: Radical Common Sense and Reclaiming Our Personal Sovereignty, Ms. Ferguson shows readers how to thrive in a time of escalating change. Through exposing the insidious effects of the "Cult of Numbers"-the mindset that thrives on first, biggest, most, latest, and best-she sends a clarion call for humanity to "wake up in the dark". She says that our task is not to climb a mountain, but to navigate a river.

While humanity is asleep at the wheel, Ferguson asserts that we each have a latent visionary inside of us who can break loose from the prison of apathy. Surviving and thriving in this ever-changing world requires us to be innovators. In times past, troubled societies has a simple solution: move. However, Aquarius Now describes not a physical migration but one in which humans leave the familiar world of habitual strife and irrational priorities. Where is this amazing place the Great Tribe must emigrate to or perish? One of new understanding.

According to Ferguson, "a successful migration depends on the ingenuity of the tools we crate along the way." These are:

* Vision: A credible picture of what we might do and where we might go.

* Values: The return to classic values like kindness, willingness to work, and civic responsibility-and embracing newer values like caring for the environment.

* Purpose: Meaningful causes or projects that can unite groups of people.

* Common sense: A demonstrated awareness of facts and consequences.

* Action: It's all within our ability. Somebody *do* something.

Every one of us contains multiple selves that make up "me". One "self" may enthusiastically agree to take on a project while another self is later horrified that more was bit than can be chewed. A self avowed "black thumb" eagerly takes up gardening. Although our internal "repertory companies" may vary, we all have them. However, Ferguson maintains that it's not multiplicity that's the problem, but rather our *obliviousness* to these selves. She writes:

"C.G. Jung insisted that when people are unaware of their inner opponents, the world acts out the conflicts and is torn into warring communities...Behavior we call unconscious may be a conscious choice of one of the parts."

Interestingly, visionaries learn to use this multiplicity creatively. Ferguson goes on to say:

"Intelligence may reflect a company of talented subselves, each at the ready with a skill or insight. Our ability to manage these perspectives and passions rewards us with inner and outer balance".

In a call to reclaim our sovereignty and creating a future, Aquarius Now shows us that the imbalance we see "out there" is merely a reflection of the imbalance within. To heal the imbalance, we must heal ourselves. Because there is no "map" to where we're going as a species, each of us must take responsibility for ourselves and go within to find the way. One of the ways we create this map is to recognize the archetypal selves that can lead us to "begin the world again":

* The Athlete - Challenge and the Art of Self-Encouragement
* The Hunter-Gatherer and the Scout - Choosing to be Intelligent
* The Dowser - Tuning In to the Field
* The Firemaker - Rekindling the Flames of Intuition
* The Artist-Scientist - The Drive to Discover
* The Sacred Warrior - Finding the Right Engagement
* The Holy Fool - Creative Responses to Fear
* The Free Spirit - Liberty and the Law of Levity
* The Navigator - Remembering the Future

Serving as a modern-day prophet, Marilyn Ferguson provides timely insights, strategies and tools for navigating the evolutionary river. She speaks as one who has peeked into the future and beheld the awe-inspiring horizon of a more mindful society-bringing back to us the necessary coordinates for getting from here to there.

It's time to wake-up, sleepyhead. Our collective survival depends on you.

And you.

And you.

(P.S. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because Ferguson relies heavily on quotes from others. If you're looking for another good book along this line, Urgent Message From Mother by Jean Shinoda Bolen is an excellent book. Ferguson actually quotes Bolen in her book, in fact.)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Aquarian Conspiracy for a New Generation, January 28, 2006

By 

Dr. Richard G. Petty (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aquarius Now: Radical Common Sense And Reclaiming Our Personal Sovereignty (Hardcover)

Her book the Aquarian Conspiracy is now 26 years old, and when it came out it shocked many people and outraged some others. With hindsight, it was an important catalyst toward some new and important ways of engaging with the problems facing us all.

This new book is wise, well written and acutely insightful. Her passionate optimism is no New Age fluff, but is grounded in experience and science.

This really is a Must Read for anyone with any interest at all in our future. And that should be all of us!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read the book!, January 3, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aquarius Now: Radical Common Sense And Reclaiming Our Personal Sovereignty (Hardcover)

Marilyn Ferguson has done it again. Succinctly, she weaves together the threads of science, psychology, and sociology to deliver a compelling message that we are hungry for.

Aquarius Now builds an undeniable case and guide for freeing ourselves with Radical Common Sense, the hyper sense of today.

This book is for the molders and shapers of today who want not to control their lives but to be in command of it! Ferguson invites us to be self-leaders, and then she provides us with a guide, to paraphrase Gandhi, to be the change we want to see in the world.

She includes well-documented quotes, research and examples for us to grasp while repeatedly cautioning us not to become addicted to the Cult of Numbers.

The chapter on the brain and the importance of teaching really charged my neurons. She provides one of the best arguments I have read on why we must focus on increasing human intelligence rather than trying to measure it.

From her enduring wisdom she reminds us it is the individual that benefits first, and society second. Through the process of internal "common sensing," which is the effective use of our multifaceted, paradoxical multiple personality--the community of learners within us--that harvests our expanded intelligence and opens the door to greater understanding, experience and vision. We can then deliberately increase the collective intelligence by passing it on to others. It is this process that shapes society.

It is best stated in her own words, "The ferment and viability in any society is directly proportionate to the number of people actively living their ideas. This is not positive thinking--it is positive action--the spirit of experiment." Spread the word!

Armchair Interviews says: What can you do? Read the book! It is not a gauntlet being thrown but a gentle request to join her in a place where life is good and of our own choosing.