“The shadow thrashes loudest just before the dawn.”
As we cross the threshold from the Piscean to the Aquarian age, humanity finds itself caught in a paradox. A time when technologies promise decentralised expression, yet voices are increasingly policed—not just by law, but by mobs, algorithms, and ideologies. The freedom to speak one’s truth, long imagined as a cornerstone of civilisation, is once again under threat. But this time, it’s not from kings or inquisitors—it’s from within the very systems that once claimed to protect us.
In his sweeping analysis, historian Robert Tombs charts Britain’s long, uneasy relationship with free expression—not as a consistent right, but as an intermittent luxury granted or revoked depending on political whim, public mood, or sacred orthodoxy.
The truth? England has never had a robust, constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of speech. Instead, we relied on “the gaps”—on what the law didn’t say, rather than on what it guaranteed.
🔄 Back to the Future: Mob Rule Replaces Monarchy
What’s emerging now feels eerily familiar. Once, a misstep in faith could see a heretic tortured by the church. Today, a misstep in speech—an errant tweet, a challenge to the prevailing dogma—can destroy careers, reputations, and lives. Tombs argues convincingly that Britain is drifting toward “blasphemy by another name,” enforced not by law but by social mobs, digital outrage, and ideological compliance.
In the past, blasphemy was a sin against God. Today, it’s a sin against unchallengeable narratives: the new sacred scripts of identity, safety, and speech. But these taboos serve the same function—enforcing order by silencing deviation.
🌊 A Sign of the Shift
This turbulence is not regression—it’s a sign of transformation. The Piscean age, defined by hierarchy, secrecy, and control, is giving way to the Aquarian age of transparency, individuality, and liberation. But the Piscean systems—religious, legal, bureaucratic—are not going quietly.
Just as the Inquisition once fought the printing press, today’s institutions struggle with social media, open-source truth, and the empowered citizen. And just as the scribes and priests once feared literacy among the masses, today’s elites fear unfiltered public discourse.
We are witnessing the thrashing of the shadow—an old system’s desperate attempt to maintain control in an era where control is dissolving.
✨ The Aquarian Response: Protecting the Right to Err
The New Age does not promise universal agreement—it promises universal authenticity. In Aquarian thinking, the right to speak is sacred not because speech is always wise, but because only through dialogue can wisdom emerge. Only by making room for error, discomfort, and dissent can truth be collectively refined.
This is the heart of the Academy of Life Planning’s mission: not just to empower financial independence, but to enable human sovereignty. Sovereignty means reclaiming one’s voice, one’s choices, and one’s vision—free from dogma, coercion, or silent shame.
The transition calls for more than tolerance—it demands courage. The courage to speak, to listen, to disagree, and to defend the right of others to do the same.
🛡 A New Ethos: “What is Not Forbidden Is Protected”
Tombs ends his essay with a powerful call: to move from the passive idea that “everything not forbidden is permitted” to the active stance that “what is not forbidden is protected.” That is an Aquarian idea—a shield for the seeker, a safeguard for the speaker, a sanctuary for the soul.
Tombs’ call to move from “everything not forbidden is permitted” to “what is not forbidden is protected” marks a fundamental shift—from passive tolerance to active guardianship. It reflects a deeper legal, ethical, and spiritual evolution.
In the Piscean age, power was hierarchical, and permission was implied only in silence. Freedoms existed in the shadows—granted not because they were valued, but because they were overlooked. This legal vacuum meant rights could be revoked without warning, subject to changing political winds or cultural moods. Expression was permitted, not enshrined. The individual remained dependent on the benevolence of institutions.
But in the Aquarian age, we move from dependence to sovereignty.
To say that “what is not forbidden is protected” is to take a proactive stance. It reorients the state’s role—not as a gatekeeper of speech, but as a guarantor of the conditions under which truth can flourish. It affirms that silence from the law is not ambiguity but affirmation. It creates a positive freedom, not merely a freedom from interference but a freedom supported by structure.
Aquarian philosophy honours the individual as a channel of universal truth—each voice a unique harmonic in the greater symphony. In this model:
- The seeker is shielded from persecution, not silenced by it.
- The speaker is safeguarded from ideological mobs and institutional cowardice.
- The soul is granted sanctuary—not because it conforms, but because it exists.
To protect what is not forbidden is to make space for emergence. For ideas to evolve. For beliefs to breathe. It is the ethical infrastructure of a society ready to trust its citizens, not control them.
This is what the Academy of Life Planning stands for. Not just liberty in theory, but dignity in practice. A system where life, speech, and sovereignty are no longer permissions granted—but truths upheld.
And it is our task now to carry that shield forward.
🌀 Final Thought
As the structures of the Piscean era collapse—sometimes gently, sometimes violently—we must build new ones. Not just with laws, but with values. Not just in courtrooms, but in classrooms, living rooms, and online forums.
Freedom of speech is not the end of the journey—it’s the beginning of conscious, co-creative civilisation.
Let us not fear the noise of the dying system. Let us listen, speak, and build anew.
“Human beings interpret change in different ways—some through logic and evidence, others through intuition, cycles, and symbols. What follows may not resonate with everyone, but for many, the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius offers a compelling lens to understand what’s unfolding in finance, politics, and society. Whether literal or metaphorical, it helps explain why the systems that once felt solid are now crumbling—and why new paradigms, grounded in transparency, empowerment, and collaboration, are taking shape.”
đź“ś Addendum: The Piscean Age and the Long Silence
The Age of Pisces, spanning roughly 2,000 years from the time of the Roman Empire to our modern day, has been marked by duality, hierarchy, sacrifice, and control. It was a time where truth belonged to institutions—empires, churches, states—and where deviation from official narratives was often punished with severity. Free speech, as we understand it today, was not a birthright. It was a risk.
đź”’ The Piscean Pattern: Speak and Suffer
From the persecution of early Gnostic Christians to the brutal censorship of heretics by the medieval church, the Piscean era instilled obedience by sacralising silence. Ideas deemed threatening to doctrine—spiritual, political, or scientific—were suppressed with fire and iron. The printing press challenged this order, but it too was quickly absorbed into control structures through licensing, regulation, and censorship.
In Britain, even the end of print censorship in 1695 didn’t guarantee free expression. As Tombs documents, authors were still mutilated, imprisoned, or exiled for sedition, blasphemy, or obscenity. Truth was subject to interpretation—not by the people, but by the powerful.
🪞 The Illusion of Freedom
The Enlightenment brought the idea of free speech into mainstream discourse, but real protections remained elusive. Even during the “golden age” of British liberty in the mid-20th century, this freedom was contingent—granted to the respectable, revoked from the controversial.
Victorian morality campaigns, Cold War conformity, and post-war institutionalism preserved the Piscean shadow: that free speech is acceptable only when it aligns with the moral consensus of the time.
⚖️ Blasphemy Redefined in a Secular Age
The blasphemy laws may have been repealed, but a new orthodoxy emerged. Today’s digital mobs, ideological enforcers, and bureaucratic silos mirror the priests and inquisitors of old. The crimes have new names—“hate speech,” “misinformation,” “non-crime incidents”—but the aim is the same: to silence dissent and preserve power.
🌊 The Aquarian Awakening: Voice as a Birthright
As we move into the Aquarian age, the cosmos calls for decentralisation, transparency, and individuation. The right to speak—and to be wrong, to be questioned, to be challenged—is no longer a threat, but a necessity.
We are not returning to chaos. We are reclaiming a natural order where truth arises from open dialogue, not imposed doctrine. Where expression is not a privilege of the elite, but a tool of collective evolution.
This is the age of the sovereign voice. And the shadow will thrash until we no longer fear it.
Join Our M-Power Movement
Our Strategy:
- Vision, not critique.
- Surgical, not sweeping.
- Stories, not slogans.
- Accountability, not lost.
- Alternatives, not arguments.
What’s in it for you?
- Empowerment:Â Learn how to manage your money and grow your wealth with confidence.
- Entrepreneurship:Â Discover tools and support to turn your ideas into thriving businesses.
- Community:Â Connect with like-minded individuals and organisations dedicated to financial freedom for all.
How to Get Started:
- Join Our Community:Â Access free resources, workshops, and networking opportunities.
- Book a Call:Â Speak with an expert to explore how we can support your journey to financial independence.
- Spread the Word:Â Help us build a global movement by sharing this vision with your network.
Together, we can redefine what financial planning means, transforming it from a service of dependency into a tool of empowerment. The M-Power Movement is not just about creating wealth; it’s about creating a fairer society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Are you ready to take control of your financial future?
Academy of Life Planning 