It's worth taking any inkling of timing offered by Ye with an extreme grain of salt — remember how many times DONDA got delayed?
Well, Ye's promising that its sequel, DONDA 2, is dropping on February 22, a seemingly arbitrary date.
Arbitrary, that is, if you don't understand astrology like Yeezy apparently does.
On January 27, Ye uploaded an Instagram story explaining the astrological significance of February 22, 2022.
According to those savvy with birth charts, that's the exact day when the United States will experience its first-ever Pluto return, referring to the planet traveling to the same place that it was in when the United States was "born" in 1776.
This moment hasn't occurred once in the past 248 and will apparently usher in a spiritual makeover.
What exactly is a spiritual makeover? I have no idea, so I asked one of my colleagues here at Highsnobiety, who turned to her own spiritual guide: her mother.
"I have been hearing about the Pluto return for the past year," the mom said (Shout out to moms, by the way).
"I don’t think its the first though. its the same energy as 1776 when America was founded. It is really what you want to make of it. Some say it will be a revolution in an aggressive way and some just say its cracking open for a transformation time."
Just to be safe, we also checked with Co-Star, seemingly the internet's favorite astrology app.
"On February 22, 2022, Pluto will return to the exact degree of Capricorn it was in when the United States was founded," Co-Star's astrologers explained.
"Pluto transits come with significant transformations, and Capricorn is the sign associated with authority. This date could bring a complete breakdown of repressive institutions, and their replacement with something else. This might be what Kanye is hoping for."
Thus, some astrologers reference the fall of the Roman Empire as evidence that Pluto's return brings literal destruction or at least wreaks havoc on human psyche.
Others suspect that the phenomena will incur a more optimistic refresh of America, with the "power-hungry underbelly of societal structures... forced into the light," as Bustle put it.
For whatever it's worth, I'm inherently skeptical of woo, especially that of the QAnon-flavored variety. That is to say that I'd normally be less inclined to believe any kind of doomsday preaching.
Astrology makes more sense to me as a spiritual belief than a reactionary political movement, though, so I get the appeal. It's also not harmful so I don't consider it woo (it does have some extreme proponents, of course).
The heightened tensions of the past pandemic-stricken years certainly aren't inspiring any notion of relaxation, that's for sure, and I can buy that the alignment of heavenly bodies impacts our mortal well-being in a similar way to how it affects the ocean.
Plus, I don't think anyone's reading a literal doomsday out of the charts (it's guaranteed, anyways!) more of a metaphorical one through emotional affectations.
What's this all mean for Ye and DONDA 2? Well, presumably, he's getting a more positive spiritual read from Pluto's return, which keeps in line with his particular brand of evangelicalism. It's also just a neat hook to hang Donda 2 on.
Of course, Ye's probably going to push the release date back and undercut all of this layered meaning. Prove me wrong, sir!
