**Note: I wrote this post on Imbolc 2015, and never posted it. Now it is here! For currency, begin from the 3rd paragraph. The Saturn-Neptune square is still in effect and April to June 2016 sees the Mutable T-Square as a main feature in the heavens above.
There is a major aspect pattern forming this year marking a notable transition from the energies we’ve experienced in recent chapters of our lives. Mid-January through mid-February we’ve been journeying with the previews of these energies as Mars and Venus move through the early part of Pisces.
The beginning of this shift occurred right around Winter Solstice 2014, with Saturn moving into Sagittarius soon after (December 23 2014). Saturn, a slow-moving transpersonal planet, governs challenges we face in collective and individual consciousness. Since October 2010, Saturn has been grinding through Scorpio, a Fixed Water sign. Our hard work has been primarily taking place on a deeply psychological, hidden, primal emotional sphere.
Sagittarius, which Saturn now occupies, is a Mutable Fire sign. Mutable energy spirals, and Fire element represents Spirit. Now the difficult work will crystallize in the sphere of the Spirit. Sagittarius is the sign of Knowledge, and this surpasses the intellect. The intellect stores information (Gemini) whereas Knowledge arises from direct transmission: having lived experience that synthesizes knowing into your being. Saturn in Sagittarius brings learning experiences you will not forget. You embark on a pilgrimage to discover your Truth, your core Beliefs, your Passions, and the fulfillment of Meaning.
We are hard-pressed to Seek to Know. Many of us will travel. Many of us will go back to school of some sort. All of us will feel the urge from within to get in touch with our nature and our inner compass. We are exploring realms within our own beings and in the world in order to dis-cover what we believe.
The astrology of the first half of 2015 points to creativity, adventure, invention, and enlivened self-discovery via Grand Fire Trine between Saturn, Jupiter (in Leo), and Uranus (in Aries).
But there is another facet in the mix.
Saturn Square Neptune
Not new, Neptune has been in Pisces since 2011. Pisces is a Mutable Water sign of spiraling emotions and etheric awareness. What IS new is that Saturn and Neptune form a stressful Square aspect to one another, perfecting November 27 2015. We are feeling this as early as now, and the effects last long after the date in November.
Saturn Square Neptune is not an aspect to take lightly. I have hesitated to write this article because it is not my intention to inspire fear. I feel the call to serve as messenger, so whomever cares to can prepare themselves and go over this information as desired whilst living the effects of this transit.
Saturn rules form and material. Neptune rules the formless, purely spiritual. Saturn is concrete structure and Neptune dissolves into oneness/nothingness/all. You might begin to see the trouble here. How do these two energies combine?
On the Troublesome Side
Across the board:
Saturn is a solid, Earthy planet. He rules institutions, business, and material manifestations in general. Challenges with liquids such as water and oil are indicated: especially those that negatively impact natural sites. Fluids are blocked or stagnated. Ice and water from the past, dissolving. Pressure increases when it comes to hospitals, jails, orphanages, homeless shelters, and halfway houses. Financial support for charitable organizations is drained or withheld.
Individually and Transpersonally:
I see this period as an existential crisis of consciousness. I have read several charts for folks with strong Saturn/Neptune aspects, and commonly they struggle with confusion and a loss of purpose/direction in life. Some of them have also dealt with chronic fatigue, depression, and mysterious body illness. Saturn feels like pressure/weight/criticism/fear and Neptune feels like discouragement. The two together create depression, anxiety, and acute confusion. There is a feeling of groundlessness that can lead to chaos. Escapism and addiction become serious blocks to our personal growth. We are pushed to examine and shift our habits when it comes to avoidance, laziness, deception, and lack of personal responsibility. Playing the victim or martyr is a problem, as are strong desires to shirk your responsibilities and run away.
Saturn-Neptune aspects feel disturbing, as if something’s not right. And they are known to give rise to “mental illness.” In my previous article, I mentioned a foresight of “madness” coming this fall. I use quotes because the phenomena commonly referred to via these terms feel much more complex that the terms suggest; and they imply that there is something wrong with the mental states mentioned above. My belief is contrary to this, as everything serves a purpose in Divine Order, even if that purpose seems painful or defies logical/linear sense.
I feel that I have personally experienced states where I felt close to insanity - and at the same time, I was developing spiritually at a rapid pace. I feel that many valuable, long-lasting gifts remained from this ‘brush with madness.’
Illusion and Reality square off. What is real? What is imagining? Where is the merger between these 2 states of being? Material planes and spiritual/emotional planes collide uncomfortably. It is dangerous to tip too far into the imaginal realms without proper grounding and boundaries. At the same time, it is tragic to bend too far into the existing structure when your heart whispers of other lands.
This year into next, it is possible we will all experience symptoms mentioned above. I view this time period as a Great Initiation into a new way of being, knowing, feeling, and dreaming in the world.
Keeping on the Sunny Side
This transit is about bridging Spirit and Earth, despite their differences. An example of how this could function. I came down with the flu during this Saturn-Neptune square. One friend said; it’s not the flu, it’s transformation! My feeling is: it is the flu, AND it is transformation! The Spirituality (Neptune) of it is: I am going through a cleansing and dissolving process. The Material Reality (Saturn) of it is: I’ve got body aches, shivers, phlegm, sore and swollen throat, and a continually mucous machine inside my head. Here is an opportunity to honor, accept, and appreciate both of those in existence at once together!
Achieving this blend is not easy. In the beginning of this transit period, and again this coming fall, it is likely we will experience disillusionment, depression, and questions around meaning, growth, and faith. Many of us will ask: But what does it all mean?
As we continue in this transit, the question becomes: what does it all mean if not for a higher spiritual purpose? And how do spirit and my intuitive feelings inform my beliefs, my unique path?
I can acutely feel the ways current material reality does not align with my ideal. The disparity between the life we want to live and the world we now inhabit will become even less bearable. We feel the pressure to bring our highest dreams and ideals into being in a concrete way. We have been actively dreaming our lives into being since 2011 and now is the time to overcome obstacles and actively plant the seeds of our dreams into the Earth.
Our purpose becomes more aligned with spirit, nature, egolessness, compassion, and the need to be our brother’s (and animals and plants!) keeper. Those who have been operating from expanded Ego states will be humbled. Most likely we will all be humbled. As children of the Earth, we are Earth, and the Earth is entirely humble. We have the opportunity to rewild ourselves and soften our hearts in service of spirit and nature.
Encrusted beliefs, religions, and rituals that no longer serve a purpose will dissolve and scatter. Travel and education are not easy or clear, but they help to cleanse us of burdens we didn’t even know we carried.
Rigid or stagnant conditions are subject to cleansing. We enter into higher and deeper states of sensitivity, beauty, harmonic, and compassion. Music gains ever-greater importance, as does meditation and creative pursuits. We turn our attention to the condition of waters within ourselves and in the natural environment.
Confusion drives us ever deeper into seeking truth and meaning. Our intuitive and imaginative powers gain great strength during this time. We are in a mass cleansing process, surrendering to chaos; divine Knowing.
“Mental illness” and human suffering will become more greatly understood (through lived experience). The spiritual realms will be ever-closer. This is a process of healing and grounding our most beautiful imaginations into reality. We learn to really balance our spiritual lives with our mundane lives. We learn how to balance taking authority and control versus relaxing and letting things naturally flow.
Some of the difficulty of this period resides in the fact that psychic and emotional forms will become widely accessible. When boundaries dissolve, empathy heightens as we “catch” each other's’ thoughts and feelings. We are launched into the task of learning to discern what is ours and what is not - and when that even matters. As we merge towards oneness on the psychic and emotional planes, we need to strengthen ourselves, use energetic protection, and keep as clear as we can through individual choices.
Problems with addiction, alcoholism, and escapism will come into the public eye as serious matters to attend to. We will be refining our methods of escape and transcendence.
Jupiter in Virgo: Making everything bigger
Jupiter in Virgo represents a call to service. Jupiter, the gassy giant in the sky, widens and expands wherever he resides. In this T-Square, Jupiter is opposite to Neptune in Pisces and square Saturn in Sagittarius.
The Virgo-Pisces axis represents order (Virgo) and chaos (Pisces). Jupiter opposite Neptune is a highly spiritual aspect; but it can also emphasize illusion and delusions of grandeur. Make it into big dreams and vast inspiration.
Jupiter square Saturn is about controlled growth. Jupiter expands while Saturn contracts. Lawmaking and global relations will see an impact of various movement, swinging between conservative ideals and sweeping progression. We are all in this type of birth canal together. Be patient and measured in the growth taking place.
Trust and surrender are the main messages here.
Mutable Soup/Static
Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces) are the most delicate and refined portions of the zodiac. They deal with perception. Mutable energy is circuitous and spiraling. Its purpose is to adapt, distribute information and energy, facilitate learning and progressive change, increase complexity, and allow for necessary undoings.
With so much emphasis on mutable energy at this time, it can feel like we are wading through soup. Our nervous systems are highly stimulated as we make considerations and face multitudinal choices. There can be a sense of static in the air. This is an emergence of greater multidimensional reality.
Recommendations
More than ever, with so much in motion, it is essential to locate your inner center.
Find your center, and hold onto it. Do not let go. Hold thoughts of courage, determination, and stamina. Join with others for support. Take positive action. Look for ways to keep your heart light.
Locate the things in your life and heart that remain constant. Marry yourself to those. As unnecessary pursuits reveal themselves and begin to fall away, take stock of what is leftover. These are most important. We all must rearrange our lives to accommodate what demonstrates itself as essential. The world is changing. The needs of the world are changing. Re-distribute your energy that you may be of service to this earth in the best way while you are here.