“For Plato the universe was a single, living, rhythmic organism subject to the two opposing principles of strife and love, and it was the tension between these two principles which created life itself. The number 36 was the key number of change, and the universe breathed in for 36,000 years during which there was an increase of Strife and breathed out for 36,000 years during which there was an increase of Love, with each complete cycle being 72,000 years long. Like the Assyrians before him, Plato believed that the crisis or turning points in these cycles coincided with powerful conjunctions occuring on the Cancer/Capricorn axis” (which has been very active for several years in our time).”It was humanity’s task to align and harmonize with these great rhythms, to help the universe balance itself.” Clare Martin