By Len Wallick
Neptune starts our weekend off with a supportive aspect to the North Node, newly in Sagittarius. In astrology, Neptune has to do with the faucets of our mind. Sagittarius and the North Node have to do with ideals, beliefs, and their manifestation. Our astrology theme for the day coincides with what is going on in our lives, both personal and political. Belief and thought are assuming actual form before our eyes.
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The word belief is often used interchangeably with faith. On the whole, however, belief seems to be more assertive. In the common use, belief implies what we support — an opinion or conviction. Faith, on the other hand, is something we tend to conceive of as supporting or sustaining us, rather than the other way around.
Neptune seems quite resonant with the concept of belief. Named after the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Poseidon, lord of the oceans, ruler of the seas, there is potential for both nourishing abundance and mysterious menace. From the depths of his kingdom, armed with a trident spear, he ruled not only the salty waters but all things associated with them, from fish to fog. It is thus that the outermost of the solar system’s gas giants has a wide degree of interpretations in astrology, bestowing an ambivalent, ambiguous quality that is often difficult to define. Sort of like belief.
Neptune has been in Aquarius since November of 1998. That was the year that the overconfident Republican party actually lost ground in the mid-term elections and Newt Gingrich had to pull out because he came up short. During the decade after Neptune’s entry to Aquarius, it maintained an interesting, if often broad, energy pattern with Pluto in Sagittarius. This relationship coincided with an era when belief really did manifest itself in the real world, making history in the process. Pluto, the planet of compulsory transformation, in Sagittarius, the mutable, final fire sign of idealism, philosophy and belief coincided with a period when belief became fanatical. Believers not only advocated for but sought to impose their beliefs on others. The “at any cost” approach by spiritual and ethical value-activists at this time seemed to emphasize one of Neptune’s less savory attributes.
In astrology, nearly everything is double-edged. Every sign, house, planet and aspect has positive and negative potential. This polar flux manifests in the real world. Winning the lottery can be a blessing or a curse, as can losing your job. In practical experience, we often see a little of both.
One of the negative potentials for Neptune is deception. The planet was discovered during a period in the United States when traveling medicine shows not only bilked farmers out of their seed money but also served as the genesis for the motion picture, petroleum and pharmaceutical industries which are now so dominant in the world economy. Talk about about belief manifesting in the real world. Who would have thought that snake oil and magic lanterns would have such a future.
During the ten years Pluto in Sagittarius was bringing out the worst of Neptune in Aquarius, a different kind of snake oil was being sold in the United States. Gingrich and his cohorts ingeniously circumvented election law, exploited the constitutional separation of church and state and turned entire segments of organized religion into unregulated political action committees. The Republicans secured this cooperation by promising delivery on ‘values issues’ derived from belief, at the expense of women, gays and lesbians, science and knowledge. The political landscape changed for the long run and one party gained a huge tactical advantage over the other, using beliefs and values to spawn wedge issues.
The support afforded out of belief did not, however, manifest as the believers had hoped. While the Republican Party gained wealth and hegemony, they did not, for the most part, deliver on the ‘faith- and values-based’ legislation for which people gave up their health care, access to quality education and collective bargaining rights. They were deceived. In return for their Pluto-zeal to transform American culture to their own ‘faith-based’ image, they received a handful of beans.
That was then, this is now. You will have noticed that the same people who gave away the farm are demanding the cow back. And they intend to keep the beans. Interesting how that correlates with a change of energy pattern. Pluto has moved from the ideology of Sagittarius and is taking care of business in Capricorn. Neptune is preparing to sample a new sign — Pisces, the sign of its home — for the first time since it was discovered 165 years ago.
But Neptune is still in the late degrees of Aquarius for the time being and it has an entirely different arrangement of support with an entirely different presence in Sagittarius: the North Lunar Node. The nodes are not material objects, they are locations. There are two of them, the North and South Nodes. They are the points where the Moon’s oblique orbit intersects the plane of Earth’s path around the Sun. They are perpetually opposed and they move backwards through the zodiac. In other words, when they enter a sign, they come in through the back door and count down through the degrees, taking nearly a year and a half to move through their respective signs. In western astrology there is also a traditional name for the North Node, dragon’s head.
Whether it be head or North, the idea associated with this hypothetical point is moving forward, going up and leaving the past behind. Not only that, but acting with awareness. It is the concept of dharma — acting as if to create the future, which we all do. With this node now in Sagittarius, the conscious, creative action is informed by belief: belief in ourselves. Neptune is getting another chance. Instead of participating in a time of deceiving the masses, its last days in Aquarius coincide with the masses waking up.
What we believe influences our desires and values. Those in turn influence our choices. Our choices form our character. Our character creates our destiny. It’s almost magic, if you think about it. An intangible thought, closely held, believed, can ultimately result in a handful of beans, or a beanstalk. It can place us in the line of fire or on the picket line. It can make us slaves or masters of our own destiny. What do you believe? What are you going to do about it?
Offered in Service
Thanks, Be! Jere, my natal chart has Leo being pretty much all of my 9th house with no planet or asteroid or any thing in it. It’s just hanging out, by itself, presumably enjoying life. But I do have a lot of stuff in Saggitarius, which is pretty much my whole first house, (my ascendant is 27 Scorpio), maybe that’s the animal element.
Hazel, what’s in your late natal Leo? I’m just curious, I’ve got a thing for animals and my Leo’s pretty prominent. I’m trying to connect the dots.
Jere
Hazel1?
You are making more money, and the drama-free environment is a fringe health benefit, and apparently the cats didn’t pee on your resume. I’d say it is poetic justice, and I’m so happy for you. I would have loved to have had a job like yours when I was working. Thanks for sharing your good news!
be
Nothing poetic here, but I got hired at a Boarding Kennel today, full time, thus more money, not as exciting as the drama of the animal shelter (I’m the one who worked at the animal shelter and it got bizarre). There were several charming cats who walked across my resume while I was interviewing (so there’s your poetry, the cats provided it, imagine it and you’ve got poetry), and part of the job is cleaning their cattery, which I’d rather do than deal with the people I used to work with/for. Not a leap of faith, not a poetic change of soul or anything, but a real, live job with animals and less drama. Now that’s poetry for me.
Fe: thank you for your outstanding contribution.
aword: Like W.C. Fields (“mother of pearl”, “godfrey dandridge”) i do my best to supply the readers with hidden word funs, as you so artfully put it. Some get through. You should see what gets cut. Sedition can be fun. It’s true, i’m a bad boy.
be: That has got to be the most beautiful and poetic comment you have ever written. Thank you.
Huffy and tatonnement – Thank you for your kind words.
Be,
And I think I have never seen my alone-ness, my frozen-in-the-headlights-ness, seen inside to my own tears more strongly than “today”.
At a point it’s not frightening anymore – but I can feel the fear in every breath of the people around me. Or maybe that’s my own breath and I just think I’m in a sea of others. But to me, I’m just cold and numb and drifting on a piece of shipwreck in the middle almost-frozen nowhere while the rest of the still-partying-people’n’ship begin to go down.
Thank you for sharing your moments of truth all of you. Love.
Dear Len,
Sometimes you are so wise it makes me want to cry. And Fe, before I go too far, you too can often hit a something. . nerve. . brain cell?. . that just pops open a visual and comprenhensive thought . . .a picture laid out in language I understand.
At 10 minutes to 11 AM (EST) the TV spoke to me saying “they don’t give us what we want, they give us what they want us to have”, or words to that effect. They were talking about “talk radio” and the reasons why it is predominantly right wing. Instantly, I knew that all of media (tv, radio, print) was the opiate of the masses, and especially the American masses in this case. Every minute of it, especially the commercials, is geared to a target group of people who could and would be swayed one way or another to follow their hypnotic lead. And Len? It is so Neptune sextile, septile or quintile Pluto. It is so Sagittarius to Aquarius.
My fellow Americans, you (and I) can not always deal with the facts. Our minds and hearts refuse to accept the often painful reality that facts make us face. Maybe later, or maybe not ever, so-help-me-God, will I ever let that truth be real in my world. Not ready. So the best way to dodge that bullet? Pills? Booze? How about TV? How about the crazies that give us our escape in exaggerated, clown-like vitriol? We need our fix every day, all day long sometimes. Maybe if we hear it every day, all day long, we won’t have to accept those truths that will change our life (for the worse!) forever. Maybe if we only talk with those who belive the same things we do, it will make it true.
My friends, what we have is fear so overwhelming that it makes us lash out at anyone who gets too close, like a wounded dog when somebody attemps to help. We froth at the mouth and scream and brandish weapons we are so frightened. Afraid to see – to look at – how wrong we are. We are scared shitless.
So Neptune, Neptune, where’s your compassion for those of us who are so frightened by the changes in our world? Is it in Pisces? Will you comfort us and coax us to see the light and the truth? Or will it be even more escape into our drugs of choice? Please love us and tell us everything will be alright. Give us the truth in small, managable bite sizes. Explain the ways these changes can make it better for me and my loved ones. Tell us we are normal to resist change and that we aren’t the beasts the “others” say we are. Talk in soft voices with encouraging words. Really, We are all one? You and I are just alike except for details that can be overcome? REALLY?
And then the Moon passed over Neptune and it was 11 AM. Time to get to work.
Love is all around us. be
Really excellent perspective and information Len, thank you so much for sharing this uber awesome insight with me/us……but then really I’m in this mostly for finding the hidden Word Funs. 😀
re: your Theory of the Cow – is the magic in the Bean or in the Stalk?
I seem to remember Cow Theory coming up once previously when the Moon was on the Jump.
Anyway, Snake Oil and Magic Lanterns made me smile. I’ve been dabbling a bit in Snake Oil lately, but my real passion is on the Magic Lantern end of that equation.
Fe,
It’s sort of like the conversation I had with a friend the other day re: Madison wherein he said that in his opinion the argument is really only about union pensions (not bargaining rights) and a rational behind not looking at the situation at a deeper level was based in the idea that “because here, (meaning the USA) we would never put our 9 year old children to work in the mines anyway”.
THAT is the head in the sand that created Nazi Germany – yes?
Denial; Belief in What is Convenient to ‘Believe’ in the Moment – yes?
Here’s a diary I found last night at Daily Kos which completely illustrates Len’s Point: (I provided the link for fellow lurking Kossacks to post comments on that diary if in case you could not find it — fb)
“What we believe influences our desires and values. Those in turn influence our choices…An intangible thought, closely held, believed, can ultimately result in a handful of beans, or a beanstalk.”
Indeed. You made me think of something my meditation teacher always says…that when we’re feeling unhappy or not right we need to ask ourselves “what am I believing?” and it’s usually some story about how we’re not good enough, not measuring up. Amazing how just recognizing that can help loosen its hold and change our minds and ultimately our path.
Thank you so much Len. So what I need to read right now – really helps me in my difficult quest ‘to break on through to the other side’, to let go of the old and negative stuff and start something new at last.
Love
Liz xx