Neptune’s Coming to Power in a Subsiding Polarization of Grace

.

Neptune's Rings

photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 /

Discovered on September 23, 1846 when at 25 Aquarius 53, planet Neptune has recently finished its first (human-known) return to its discovery degree and now sits at 29 critically intense degrees of Aquarius, poised to enter Pisces.

In Pisces, Neptune rules the outcome of all things Piscean, which considering says a passel of things. First of all, with Neptune having completed its first known round of the zodiac, we are ‘leaving something behind’ (or letting it go) as we enter a new phase of growth – one which began back in the 1800’s. Back then, humans were still finding their way around Earth. Now we’re figuring out what to do with it – and not to it, because after all, this is where we live.

With Pisces being the sign which follows Aquarius (and Aquarius being the sign before Pisces), what we have between them is a semi-sextile. And semi-sextiles are typified by a grinding, ego bruising sort of struggle. We don’t want to not have things our way…and it may not be the ‘thing’ which is important to us – what we really don’t want to go through is dealing with our own feelings, whether that entails realizing we were wrong, that we created more of a problem instead of fixing it, that others don’t ‘like’ the way we think…etcetera.

If Neptune was discovered when in Aquarius (which it was), that also makes Pisces the ‘2^nd harmonic’ to Aquarius. That makes Pisces – and all things Piscean – and our ability to deal with all things Pisces (which includes everything from spirituality to charity to art/inspiration/innocence to mercy to communal/universal acceptance to rejection, abandonment, addiction and fears from A to Z) …those things become the ‘resources’ and source of self worth for Neptune as we think of it as having been discovered in Aquarius. 

From Pisces to Aquarius, we have a whole 12^th house vibe (harmonic), what with Aquarius being the sign right behind Pisces. To the Piscean world, that makes Aquarius the sign of universality – which commerce and society has been during the Piscean Age. Society itself has been the unifying factor for the past 2,000 years.

How very (sort of) egalitarian of us, right?

In the Age of Aquarius, which we are moving into, Capricorn holds that 12^th sign ‘commonality of emotion’ spot. Leadership, achievement, social status and commerce (the ‘business of business’) becomes a great calling card and glue in the incoming age.

Into all this comes Neptune, a planet which is all about our challenge to know ourselves – and in knowing ourselves come to understand others better from the point of view that we are all so very human.

This requires awareness, compassion and a willingness to feel not just your own feelings, but those of others. Dismissal of others or saying they ‘should’ feel a given way is our desire not to avoid, deny – not feel who someone else is, or what they’re feeling. It may even be our attempt not to feel our own feelings. Or deny everything about reality! 

Neptune is about the illusion. 

It also symbolizes our willingness to be vulnerable when we open ourselves to understanding others.

Often spoken of as spiritual awareness, Neptune represents our awareness of our own spirit – our ability and willingness to see, accept and abide by (and in) reality.

Yes, even though known as a symbol of illusions and fantasy and faith…yes, even though associated with loss and despair and addiction and abandonment, in the end Neptune is mostly about our ability to live with the reality of what is…or whether we will choose to distance ourselves from that, lie to ourselves (or others) about what reality (a reality or the reality) really is…or what we will do to escape, deny, avoid or obliterate some truth, some fact, some reality which may be sad, wonderful or simply what it is.

 Planet Neptune

photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 /

And whatever that is, we don’t want to face it…why? Because we don’t want to deal with how we will feel about the feelings whatever that is will evoke. Because we are so afraid of risking some loss of emotional equilibrium we believe we have, lack or need.

Neptune is the precept that we are tested, and how well we do with tests of Self.

And seeing that this is a planet all about rejection of ego, these tests often originate in, or with regards to others, asking us to extend our perception beyond ourselves to understand where they are ‘coming from’ and to allow for a different validity.

To allow them to be who they are is, in essence, validating our desire to be allowed to be who we are. Do we care about that? Do we dare not care about that? Can we get past our own feelings, fantasies and yearnings to deal with them and their concerns in light of who they are?

Neptune is dissolution. When we start with a fantastical fantasy, the Neptune effect is to 'dissolve the dream' and thus bring about a return to factual reality. If we start with thinking that hard core reality and facts are all there is, Neptune challenges with the inexplicable or inspirational, if merely to get us to loosen our death grip on reality and experience something beyond our previous imagining. When/where we invest (abandon ourselves) to too much faith, Neptune represents those forces which require that our over-idealization get tempered. If or when we are faithless or lacking in faith, Neptune transits and precepts (i.e., where it is in your chart) teaches that we don't know everything which exists, that some we need to allow ourselves to be taught (extending faith to others) and some we are simply stuck with having faith in.

The more you struggle with ideas, the more Neptunian non-force is brought to and enforced in your life. The Neptune ethos tends to prove that what we vest ourselves in by choosing to base our life or thinking on that particular reality…at some point that is tested because and to the degree that we vest ourselves - our ego - in the belief and not what may be a difficult or merely humdrum reality.

Like I said – Neptune is all about ego dissolution. And sure, that goes by many names. Some think of it as disappointment. Others call it dismay. Disillusionment. Loss of faith. We humans like clinging to our ideas of the good and workable – that’s the airy Aquarius concept of ‘systemic functionality.’ And that Neptune was discovered in Aquarius says that as it returns, a lot of ‘systems’ will be tested and some will dissolve away…right before Neptune enters the watery, globally emotionally sign of Pisces.

Pisces is the universality of emotionality. It's all we long for, all we fear. It's our yearning to surrender, the desire to be protected, the desire to be released into the abandonment of whatever it is we don’t want to have to deal with. Thus we get to the idea that Pisces is denial: reality as the ‘non-truth’ – another form of Neptune.

Those who deny are making a bet (vesting their ego) in their ability to get away with not having to deal with something.

It simply never works. Why? Because reality asks that we define our Self in realistic terms of simply who we are. We are not the ‘fantasy other.’ We are simply ourselves. We have good and bad, strengths and weaknesses, and whether we know it or not, so does everybody else.

But getting to that point? That takes acceptance – the great cornerstone of Neptune which we only arrive at once we relinquish our demand to live in and self-define ourselves by the mirror image of ego.

Ultimately, the lesson with Neptune is to let go. And why is that so hard? Because we would like to control things. We love fantasies and ideals because they’re in our imaginations – and we control that. But to live day to day life with all its perilous grunginess, imperfection and stubbed toes? That’s not nirvana and we have no control.

And yet, inspiration is a good and precious thing. Inspiration tells us what reality could be.

But it’s only ever going to be that if we accept the reality which is and work to do something to change or improve it. And given that, it is to be guessed that sometimes we define things sometimes in order to explore our understanding, and sometimes because the idea of not knowing and not understanding terrifies us…but then again, it is by understanding the difference between the reality and the ideal which allows us to think about what it would take to make a better world.

And what may make that hard.

Being the symbol of super-anti-ego, Neptune is all time, and no time. Neptune is everything and nothing. Neptune symbolizes infinity, inclusiveness, acceptance and ultimate unity and a melding which defines the loss of identity.

With Neptune, we allow...or we are denied. And we deny at dire peril to our sense of ultimate fulfillment.

Neptune is the fantasy and the illusion. It's the symbol of all which can inspire the delight of anticipation but which will disappoint us if we try to turn that undefined joy of anticipation into a defined and locked-in expectation.

Allowing ourselves not to know…that is the ultimate Neptune lesson. Emotionally, we call that acceptance. Practically, we need only to know the difference between reality and fantasy to deal with Neptune well. We can long for that nirvana in our head, we can use our ideas and ideals as inspiration – but to expect any fantasy to be in reality what it is in our heads…? That’s asking for trouble. That’s asking for disappointment and often, a loss of faith.

Yes, we yearn. Yes we long. But reality is what it is (Saturn) and fantasy is what it is (Neptune). And never the twain shall meet.

(And if they do, our solar system is in a lot of trouble!)

As Neptune came back to its return point in 2008/2009, our sense of involvement in our world and our world being ‘connected’ to our conception(s) of what is and should be came under heavy challenge. That was about the time the world came down with a serious case of economic flu, if you remember…and that’s apt. Money, per se, isn’t real. We assign value to money – but the paper money is written on is not actually “worth” any more than paper and ink.

The ‘worth’ is what we ascribe to money as a ‘placeholder’ for a standard we all agree to as a medium of exchange. In fact, more and more – as money overwhelmingly becomes a series of debits and credits in an electronic data bank – paper money and coinage is itself is slowly edging towards becoming obsolete.

Once it’s gone we’ll talk about ‘credits’ and that too will be highly Neptunian by nature.

Neptune is the outcome ruler of Pisces. And Pisces is our confrontation with and struggle with our own emotions in the whole of the life we inhabit. Do we do ourselves credit? Do we give ourselves credit?

And ultimately, what is real ‘worth’? Is it money? As has been proven a zillion times, money can’t buy happiness.

The answer lies in understanding the fixed house process. That begins with the ‘what we start out with’ as human beings – our self worth and talents, abilities and aptitudes.

That’s the horoscope’s 2nd house. Typically thought of as Taurean, in the incoming Age this will be where Pisces resides.

Through the fixed house process we take those 2nd house attributes and develop them (5th house). Then we put them through a test-and-revamp process with others to see how our ideas, products or offerings ‘fly’ (8th house). From that they go out into the world and produce results – be that income, success, a ‘brand name’ …all the things which are natively 11th house and thus Aquarian. 

Note to Self: The incoming Age supports branding. 

Oh! We already know that? Fine!

My point here is that when this cycle concludes, like all good cycles it comes back to where it started – in this case, the 2nd house. And when we ‘do’ the fixed house cycle well, what results?

Answer: security and personal satisfaction… the ‘matriculated’ (validated) forms of self worth and abilities.

So let’s hope we figure out that the credit we extend to ourselves or invest in ourselves (2nd house) is what we build with. And how in the Aquarian Age, this means the biggest bestest satisfactions (and securities, which surely will amount to “money” however we come to see that)…involves doing something which is of worth to others. 

But to get there, we have to be able to understand that others exist. And that other people have values and needs which while sort of like ours, differ. 

Those differences, far from being the thing which divides (which goodness knows they can be!) will do best when they are that which unites. Computers work (and the inventors of their operating systems have become wildly wealthy) because the product (the computer) offers uses to everyone.

/

 In the Age of Aquarius, Pisces appears on the 2nd house

of values, self worth and resources for the whole of the

Age (look for the house color-coded to the frame)

 

To put this one more time in a form I rather love, the common ‘old style’ definition of the 2nd house is ‘money in the bank.’ But the 2nd house ‘my money’ only happens when we successfully tap into and/or manage the polarity house to the 2nd – the 8th house.

And this brings us to something Donald Trump said which I think is rather brilliant. Said The Donald: money is just a scorecard. It measures how well we’re doing whatever it is we do in this life. 

That’s the 2nd/8th house polarity in a nutshell. We all want the gold but the process of acquiring gold – which in the end is not the coin by the security and satisfaction is more like ‘turning straw into gold’ (to borrow from an old folk tale!).

As the Pisces Age promoted one ‘up’ fish and one ‘down’ fish – the producer and the consumer, the boss and the employee, the leader and the follower, the provider and the cared for – the Aquarian Age asks that we all play on the same playing field. We can provide for ourselves by pooling our interests, and if you look at social networking as a ‘power force’ of late you’ll get a good idea of what lies ahead. Social networks are not the end of any process – heck no! They’re barely a teething ring for the incoming Age.

But they do teach us a valuable lesson which is going forward: connectivity counts. You don’t have to know everybody, but you can’t ignore anybody either. The greater the mainstream, the more stable the mainstream and the less radicalized the extremes of good and bad get. 

The pendulum now seems a bit radical – there are proselytizers of every ilk on every side. (I try hard not to fall into this group, though if I do for thinking we should all think about what things mean, I guess I can go with that...!) With Sagittarius on the social/societal/systemic 11th house of the Aquarian Age, that’s to be expected though. Sagittarius is the realm of the proselytizer, as we’re seeing that in action in pretty much every quadrant.

 /

Sagittarius will be on the 11th house of the incoming Aquarian

Age (look for the house which matches the color of the frame).

This speaks to internationalization of society(societies) and the

necessity to preserve the whole by integrating the whole. The

solution is not 'having them think like me' (or look like me or sound

like me, etc.) but in recognizing not just the validity of differences

but the powerful potentials to spark innovation and grow the

whole which only comes from differences.

Ah, baby Ages! They’re so demanding!

Another Sagittarius on the 11th to contemplate: international commerce. Anyone who thinks the old days of total national self-sufficiency and ‘retreat’ from the global market/world is kidding themselves. 

But they’re out there. And when you hear them, I suggest you ask yourself when was that person born? The younger they are, the more ‘Aquarian Age’ by nature they are. That a good many people still ‘in power’ were born in the first half of the 1900’s is why we still hear so much resistance – to a whole lot of things!

Having Pisces on the 2nd house of the Age is certainly helpful for those who want to foster a ‘I can have it all!’ mentality. But in doing that, they may be doing us all a huge disservice. After all, what happens if you’ve been told you can ‘have it all’ and then you’re not so good at doing so? Or maybe you don’t even want ‘it all’? There is a level of shame and dis-affectation being bred throughout the world not by consumerism per se but by this concept that discretionary emphasis is either a bad thing or unnecessary.

In other words, ‘having it all’…or maybe more precisely, wanting it all may be a blessing or a curse. Even a blessing and a curse!

It’s all about how well we deal with the moderation of our own emotions.

And that’s Pisces, the outcome of which is symbolically ruled by Neptune. 

This all really interests me (hence this blog – duh!) because Neptune is coming into its sign of power (Pisces) just as its going ‘out of style’ as ruler of an astrological age.

What should we expect? Well, not that Pisces is the easiest sign for anyone to handle (all you fish…let’s hear a big splashy ‘amen!’)…and seeing that Pisces is all about emotional confrontation and trials…

…I mean, who wouldn’t expect a lot of trouble and turmoil at this time? 

And we’re getting it in all the very Piscean areas: oil, health care, pensions, support of the needy, pharmaceuticals, problems with toxicity, not wanting to face truths….

And the financial emphasis on everything which is going on? That would be Pisces shifting to the 2nd house of the incoming Age.

I’d like to give with a big ‘ta-dah!’ here, but this isn’t really anything to ‘ta-dah’ about. History suggests that the periodic changing of the astrological ages is never a peaceful time, and Neptune’s moving into Pisces tells us the emotional and financial factors are going to be tested on every side. Insecurity versus compassion versus indignation versus selfishness versus rejection versus delusion versus preference versus intimidation versus idealism versus…

…We’re going to get it all. Expect every side of every argument to sound selfish and ‘in denial.’ That’s a symptom of the time. And we can expect this split to be exacerbated in the weeks, months - and years ahead.

A wonderful photograph of a magnetic storm

as seen from Denali, Alaska

photo credit: Daryl Pederson (April 2010)

And let’s not forget – as the Age of Pisces ends, so does the ‘nobility of service’ vibe which goes with Pisces. We’re seeing that everywhere – particularly in the corporate world (corporations being ruled by Aquarius, herald-sign of the incoming Age) and to a great extent in leadership.

Are these problems really any worse than they’ve ever been? Well, with politics and leaders, probably not. Look at history and you’ll see that leadership, rulers, politicians have all had a problem with that old slogan absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

But corporations? First of all, the idea of ‘corporate entities’ is pretty new – and entirely Aquarian! Next, modern technology has empowered corporations and global transacting in ways and at a level which a hundred years ago (never mind a thousand years ago!) would simply not have been possible.

Technology is also Aquarian. So both of these ideas: the corporate entity and the technology which has empowered those entities so (and the rest of us, yes) are signs of the incoming Age.

Those thinking about how to survive and thrive should take note of this. The corporate ‘shield’ is probably on its way out – by definition that would be rather Age of Pisces. But the corporate entity? That’s so coming into fashion!

In time, that too will probably get scaled back, but seeing that Ages last over 2,000 years, I wouldn’t be holding my breath about it. Astrological Ages seem to have ‘pendulum-like’ swings. In the Age of Pisces, nothing was bigger than spirituality (for some, religion, for some ‘their beliefs’ whatever those may be). And here at the end of the Piscean Age we are seeing yet another big upsurge of this oh-so Piscean test.

At it’s base, spirituality (or beliefs, however you care to frame that) are all about whether we are able to deal with our existence…and our mortality.

And for those who have no 'belief system,' you’re not off the hook. Not questioning or confronting the feelings which are natural to experience when the subject of mortality comes up is no better than being immersed in same.

But to have these issues so polarized? That’s Pisces.

With Pisces moving to the 2^nd house of the Aquarian Age one would expect that philanthropy of various types will actually become a resource and tool: those who feel it or participate in it or understand why helping others ends up helping everyone (and therefore yourself) will have something to work with.

But as for the sheer ‘money aspect’ of things, what we are seeing now is merely the tip of an iceberg which is going to rear up as Neptune moving into Pisces. The ‘I’m entitled to be rich’ (or – shockingly, poor) is going to be very much more evident going forward. Both (read: BOTH) are going to be a cause - count on it! Pisces on the 2^nd house of the incoming Age is a ‘radicalization of self’ which will – moving forward, cause us to question ourselves. Relative values and valuations are going to get more questionable.

Hopefully it will become a discussion. Like as not, knowing people, it will become another reason to disconnect, which is not the high side of either Aquarius (the Age) or Pisces, as home sign to Neptune.

We would all like to think these fractious times are going to soon be over.

Truth is, they’re probably just beginning.

Neptune: The Non-Look of the Thing

In the annals of things one shouldn’t say in a given manner, the title of today’s blog probably ranks high. After all, the ‘non-look’ of a thing is rather like saying ‘confused precision’ or ‘demonic goodness’…or one of my fave John Lennon lines of all time about someone getting gradually injured. (That comes from a great Lennon poem called ‘Arimenta Ditch’…which I may have spelled wrong, yes.)

Yet when you talk about Neptune, to say something has a non-look is actually vaguely apt. Neptune is the there/not-there precept which in positive mode represents elation and inspiration, and which in negative mode is delusion, lack of coherence – even deception (of self or others, Neptune doesn’t care!).

And why would all this be? Well to look at this in the science-astronomy light, that could be taken in two ways. For one, Neptune is the last ‘true planet’ out there as you move away from the Sun in our solar system.

Or at least it has been. If you’re up on your science news you know that there was some burbling going around a couple of weeks ago about some giant thing the size (even bigger) than Jupiter lurking out there…. waaaaayyyyy out there in the distant Kuiper Belt region, like maybe beyond Sedna-land.

(And trust me…that’s far. We aren’t going there for a quart of milk, not ever!)

But even if this ‘new giant planet’ thing is an actuality, Neptune still is what it is because Neptune still does what Neptune does – which is to say that it controls a huge swatch of space (including objects in that district) via something called ‘magnetic resonance.’ And among those objects ‘controlled’ by Neptune are Ixion (emotional entitlement), Pluto (emotional transformation) and Orcus (emotional experience of consequence).

Obviously Neptune represents Things Emotional. More precisely, it symbolizes (or is said to 'rule') those moments and experiences where we experience feelings which result from something we’ve done or committed to (Orcus being the former, and Pluto the latter as outcome ruler of Scorpio)....or which drive us to do something which in turn will create emotionally transformative (Pluto) or corrective (Ixion) moments.

And all this happens…why? Well, speaking from the philosophic base of it all, this all results from Neptune as the theoretical time/space marker (e.g., hands on the cosmic clock sort of marker) of things which we can get into on faith…or things which we end up disappointed by.

To put it another way, Neptune produces what you don’t believe can happen, and will often prove to you that the fantasy is far more appealing than the reality, which has ‘you asked for it – you got it!’ dollops of glitchy disappointment (Ixion), consequences (Orcus) and giant emotional challenges (Pluto).

Hopefully you've got all that, as (not to be too infinitely and finitely vague about this here) we’re all in for a seriously imprecise dose of Neptune over these next few weeks. You know – sort of like Things Uranus (change) has been in the air for the past few months?

With Neptune, the ‘operative’ rule is to allow yourself not to know. When Neptune is thus ‘an active imperative,’ you don’t know what will happen and you should try not to drive yourself nuts wanting to know what will happen.

Go with the flow! Practice your Neptuuuuunne….mantra! Allow yourself and your life and your everything to be in flux. Do, be and participate, but don’t try and nail anything down. Aim for the optimal but don’t focus on the reward – and don’t be surprised if goals, schedules, needs, priorities – all that stuff – changes here and there because of this and that.

In other words, be in the moment. Just do the Nike thing and do it. 

Neptune favors altruism. Neptune favors humility, modesty and being surprised at how much you’re appreciated, not the reveling in the limelight.

And yet (here we get into the Neptunian deep water)…Neptune is often – in the chart – and emblem of fame.

Why?

Because fame isn’t anything you control. You can’t bottle it (boy, would I be rich or what…!) ….you can’t even define, control or point to it. Fame is just….there. It’s just a nebulous something out there which is. Notoriously, when you revel in it (focus on it) it disappears…or it eats you alive. About the only thing you can do (successful) is ignore it.

That would be the humility part, capiche?

Charts of the famous often have Neptune in the 10th house – a house often associated with achievement. But such people are fascinated by what they do – not the fame itself. Charts of the rich often have Neptune in the 2nd – the house of resources. These are people who aren’t in it for the money (shocking, right?) but who are trying to do something of value. 

Are you beginning to get the Neptune factor? Neptune is often referred to as the ‘negator of ego’ because when you focus on something, that something is not what Neptune delivers…leading us to Neptune Slogan Number Two: where Neptune is concerned, the thing you want most is likely to fall through while the thing you think least likely will prove to be the truth. 

And this implies yet another important idea – namely that allowing yourself not to know is entirely, even dismally different than not wanting to know! The latter, in Neptunian terms, would seem to be the quintessential invitation to disaster – whether you achieve that aim through avoidance (which is very Neptunian, as avoidance’s cousin evasion)…or through intoxication, inebriation or out-and-out addiction (all three of which are related to the Neptunian concept of abandonment, which can be of a thing, a person, your morals or your mind!)…

…it would even seem highly Neptunian to want just to believe everything will be fine. While optimism is a fine, good and positive thing, there is some need in life to be realistic. And with Neptune, that seems to be part of the ticket: moderation and balance. 

So to go a bit Italian-idiomatic parlance here, what’sa my point? You know I have one – and no, it’s not just on my pencil (yes, I still use pencils).

My point is that come March 5th at 7:45 in the evening (UT/+0) Neptune will move into 29 Aquarius – the final degree of Aquarius, and allegedly where Aquarius should be most intense or at ‘critical mass.’

Except..uh…this is Neptune. Is anything Neptune ever felt to be critical?

Why heck yes! Neptune is not only the unknown and the vague and the ill-define, is it the definitely wonderful and the absolutely sorrowful.

And there is that Neptune association with the verb “to dissolve” to be duly contemplated as well.

A rainbow over Bristol, UK. Rainbows are a quintessentially Neptunian thing - they're there, but you can't touch them. Even try to approach them and you run the risk of having them vanish entirely, leaving you with your dream and the disappointment of its having apparently 'vanished.' The kinds of hopes we assign to rainbows...those are Neptunian dreams which may come to us if we chase after them, may happen to us where we are by just going about our business. And then again, if we get what we dream of, it may not make us all that happy while something we never dreamed possible, probable or even desirable, may make us happiest in the end. The lesson? That we do not know all...that we should allow ourselves not to know.

photo credit: Klafubra 

Society, economics, systems, acceptance, energy, things technological, corporations (not commerce – corporate entities), groups, societies, friendships, ideals and hopes, tyrants and elitists, anarchists and uniters…all such things are really, truly, highly Aquarian.

So as Neptune hits 29 Aquarius, we will propose that a good many of these things on this list will shift into maximal plus, minus or ‘disappeared’ mode. 

Or…they will appear and like some giant toxic boil, swell up and force us to deal with some sort of ick.

Now these things can be very real. Neptune as ‘outcome’ ruler of Pisces points to very real losses – sometimes of a loved one or a much-loved relationship (with someone or some thing). Neptune and Pisces are associated with such things as pensions, annuities, oil and pharmaceuticals…which given that Pisces is a water sign and water signs always imply ‘things fiscal’ could be extended to become a discussion of health plans – insurance and otherwise, though a plan to get healthy is more likely to be Pisces’ polarity sign of Virgo.

Speaking of polarities however, since 29 Aquarius is the polarity of 29 Leo which brings in the whole ‘fixed star Regulus vibe,’ there would seem to be an underlying what you want and what it takes to make that a functional reality which involves NOT “punishing” the other guy (or the Aquarian society or the ‘system’) if your dream appears to go ‘poof!’ now.

Two things to note: one, dreams which disappear now may not actually disappear for all time. Neptune – remember? Two, something which was an unrealistic dream all along may need to have a little encounter with reality now.

In the end what this period may stress for us is that there really is no nirvana. Good times are good times and lovely to look forward to and cherish, but there appears to be nothing more deadly in the human spirit than the thought that we shouldn’t have any responsibilities.

I know – it sounds good. But when you look at the actuarial tables (for instance), people actually seem to thrive on work – a lot of people don’t live well once retired, monetarily or in people terms. Wealth seems to play reasonably well for those who earn it but not so well for those who are born into it unless something along the way becomes their ‘personal imperative.’

Don’t like it? I can’t help that! The idea of responsibility, which is the astrological Saturn. Saturn’s list is daunting: dedication, responsibility, limits, rules, structure, fears, cost, pragmatism, reality, slow-and-lasting growth, durability…and time. 

And that last one is the kicker (all puns intended!) Take our responsibilities away and by astrological definition, we’re out of time.

Saturn partners with knowing/knowledge-based Jupiter rather as guardians of the inner solar system (Jupiter seems to be particularly good at that) but also in the idea that these two planets we can actually see as we stand outside at night here on Earth…these are about things we can ‘see to do’ or make of ourselves.

 Symbolic ruler of Capricorn achievements, the reality of the

Aquarian society we live in and our need to function in this

world, Saturn's present retrograde-in-Libra motion is asking all

of us who we are in this world and what we are going to make

of ourselves, our world and our times.

photo credit: NASA/JPL

Saturn has a whole other relationship with Neptune as that thing which teaches us boundaries and to try …not without fear of failing, but without fears of being a failure. 

If we can for these next few weeks hold onto this idea of experiencing but not pinning our own ‘judgment’ of self on what happens, we will probably be a whole lot better off for it. Against this, we may also find some boundaries melting away. That as Neptune has been pressing to the end of Aquarius while Mercury is in Pisces (Neptune's sign of rulership) and we've seen several public figures start dancing distinctly outside the lines of mental sensibility - even stability? That's very Neptune, and we shouldn't be surprised to see more of the same. Even the unreasonable extents to which such things can go. Neptune-Mercury is a traditional astrological marker of 'delusion' or 'the lie' as often as it marks extreme creativity - the problem is telling which is which!

And for those who are dubious about astrology, let's be clear here (this being a good moment to try for clarity!): planets don't "do" anything. Neptune isn't going to give you a call on the cell or tweet you with morning doings. But as planets move through space they do distort the space they move through. It creates a 'ripple' defined by distance, angle and planetary characteristics. Astrology is the study of using positions of planets to "clock" when effects reach Earth. Much as the Moon tugs on Earth's oceans to create tides, so planetary movements help us track the tides of influence in a global life on Earth which is after all, contiguous with the rest of the E=mc2'd universe.  

Neptune enters Pisces on April 4th (a whole other Neptunian saga!) and we won’t know what we don’t know – like as not – until then!

Can you wait?

What’s your option?

Maybe for the moment we should just enjoy the pluses and figure on a few ‘that’s life!’ minus moments?

Maybe so. And maybe…just maybe that’s what we’re meant to learn and should take with us – moving forward – out of this time.

Everything happens for a reason, right?

Neptune-Damocles Station Effects: Layering on Reflectivity

Neptune and Aphrodite (Venus) - detail from

a painting by Frans-Fracken de Jungere

 

This post is about a pair of astrological signal lights suddenly beginning to blink. And of the many lights which could go off at the same time, to have those symbolizing Neptune and Damocles going direct...what, at the same moment ?

That's a celestial odd couples if there ever was one! 

And yet...that's what's happening. So on one hand, it's up to us to cope. And on the other, those among us who have some sort of belief or faith that What Is happens when its supposed to happen...? Those folks will say these are the attributes we are supposed to learn about at this time.

Specifically, this pair of attributes. 

But maybe you're not so familiar with these two? Or maybe you've never considered them in tandem? Well then - you've come to the right place! That's why we gather here several times each and every week...to muse over (and occasionally get all aghast about) the doings of life and the the universe - which is surely more convoluted and surprising than we suspect!

Okay...so what's up here? For one, Neptune is an immortal and Damocles is a mortal - which astrologically pretty much comes out to the difference between something we are and something we experience, do or choose.

Put another way...one is fate (Neptune) and one is free will (Damocles). And yet in either case, if is what you do about the situation once you're in it.

There are certainly longer forms of the Neptune and Damocles stories than we're going to go into here. If you want to read them, here a full scale article Damocles link...and here are the links to Neptune Part 1 and Neptune Part 2 articles at Daykeeper Journal. (And yes, all these articles are by yours truly.)

Getting back to our musings and ponderings however, Neptune is about to go direct in late Aquarius: the emotionality of our world society and how we feel about said world society. And Damocles? Damocles is also going direct in Aquarius - but in the Aquarian 2nd decan.

What's a decan? From the Latin 'deca' meaning 'ten,' a decan or decanate is a group of ten degrees. The first - of any sign - is physical and pro-active. The third is experiential - results, reactions and responses from the world around us.

And the second? That being degrees 10 through 19 of any sign, that decan is where the sign manifests emotionally or through evoking our emotions. 

So if you start with Aquarius - the world, what I get from the world and how I'm treated in the world - and you add emotionality and funnel it all through the testy and testing measures which are so very Damocles (how everything looks easy until you're the person in the hot seat making the hard decisions)....'at'sa pretty darn toasty hot seat, no?

Ouch - yes!

Then we have to deal with Neptune. Neptune is famous (yea verily, infamous) for its ability to fog issues, delude us, inspire us while baffling us. And Neptune in Aquarius? That's about life itself. About our ability to deal with the world and be understood by it. That's about finding our place in the world and getting what we should get from that world.

Neptune clouding these issues? That would seem to spell a lot of insecurity. Or what seems like irrationality. People who make no sense, and getting presented with options which would seem to be either too good or not enough, which when real turn out to be nothing and which are served up like slices of pie in the sky which we're supposed to believe in but which....what, we really think that's going to hold water?

Whenever a planet goes on station, its effects are felt as is intensified. Life seems 'full of that' for those given moments. So Neptune plus Damocles? Let's just say these next couple of days are not likely to be filled with peace. More like a bunch of internal question marks, most likely!

And when is this going to happen? Well, since both planet Neptune and comet Damocles go direct on November 7th, that means station effects start tomorrow - November 5th - and continue through two days after the station, which would be November 9th.

Understanding that astrological effects work like swinging doors (that is, we can be walking into the mess or the mess can be being delivered to us on what in this case is likely to be a tarnished silver tray...) our quandaries, puzzlements and downright despairings on what to do about....whatever ....can be about looking at the world (who can fix THAT?)....

...about what we can do about our lot in the world (heavens to Betsy...what ever am I to do NOW?)...

...or about what's going on in our personal world which prevents us from even being able to really cope with that other stuff (don't bother me with that stuff, I have my own catastrophe in progress...!).

Or any combination of the above (she says, trying to smile in spite of an inner conviction that her face may possibly crack).

 The Sword of Damocles (1539)

source: Artshooter

Last week we had Nessus go direct as Mars moves into Sagittarius - just as bodies as yet unnamed tried to ship packages containing explosives into the United States). Mars equaling things which are 'new or foreign to us' combined with Nessus' 'poisonous jealousy, even beyond death' is very fitting to this scenario. And to many a dynamic I heard floating around at that moment. 

The point in raising this is so that you can understand what Neptune/Damocles may be going into this joint station/retrograde. You thought last week was a bump in the night, a shudder of the window, a crinkling of you wanted-to-be-peaceful-and-lovely-day?

This is likely to be stronger. Not necessarily worse, just stronger in its effect on you. Mind you...there may or may not be any real tragedy here at all. But the effect of this moment is one where we all are likely to feel a sense of 'OMG..I hadn't thought about that!'

And that may just be the point. Maybe we should all stop insisting and hoping (instead of doing something about things) and trying to cling to our ideals....maybe we should all deal with reality?

Those who don't, or tend not to? Those are the people who will feel this station the most strongly. Those who are used to sorting fact from fiction and who get how to enjoy the moment without relying on it will do okay. Those who don't...? They're going to have a few problemos.

The station occurs on Sunday. Lore suggests that events which happen prior to that time have yet to fully unfold. Events (recognitions, realizations) which happen in the wake of the station but before station effects end are like as not about learning the lesson(s) implied.

Of course, with all of this happening under Venus retrograde, it all feels a bit more oppressive than it might otherwise. But this too is part of a process. It's not fate as in 'no option' - this is fate as in here's the situation - what are you going to do about it?

Considering we are likely to be able to see the possible difficulties and dangers of the situation (a nice Damocles touch) there is a distinct possibility that this can indeed be a turning point when we stop ourselves from going over some brink. Neptune is a wholly positive signal in that it's premier theme - that of ego negation - allows us now to take a breath and see where we have maybe put the cart before the horse. Or where we have made a really bad bet and need to cut our losses.

Whatever happens, this is yet another one of those odd moments in time which believe it or not, is meant to allow us to educate ourselves. On what? On who we are, and what actually will work, never mind what we want to work or think should work.

Sometimes that square peg just won't go into that round hole. Do we want to break ourselves, others or our world - or are we willing to admit we may need to refine our ideas and ideals, that maybe we have gone down a wrong road, that maybe we need to take a more productive tact? 

What can I tell you? Life has its Damocles recognitions and its Neptunian quandaries. It's up to us how we deal with them each and every time they arise - yet again!