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.
 |
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.