the Path of Neptune….oOo

” Love is fearless in the midst of the sea of fear.”

Rumi

…as of the 6th of August, Neptune has moved back into Aquarius in its Retrograde motion.  This Transpersonal planet gave us an elusive taster of what is to come, once “she” decides to fully unleash the power of the ocean on our Collective imagination when she finally stays in her own sign of Pisces (this will occur of February 4th, 2012).  This “re-visiting” of Neptune in Aquarius allows for us to plan, network, and envision our unmanifested future for just a tad longer. In this blog, I want to talk about Neptune, as a spiritual Path, and how it’s lessons may look, and why it sometimes feels like we are drowning.

Before any of my musings, here is a lengthy, yet thorough explanation of the nature of Neptune by Richard Tarnas, from his exellent site Archai.org!:

Neptune
“Neptune is associated with the transcendent, spiritual, ideal, symbolic, and imaginative dimensions of life; with the subtle, formless, intangible, and invisible; with the unitive, timeless, immaterial, and infinite; with all that which transcends the limited literal temporal and material world of concretely empirical reality: myth and religion, art and inspiration, ideals and aspirations, images and reflections, symbols and metaphors, dreams and visions, mysticism, religious devotion, universal compassion. It is associated with the impulse to surrender separative existence and egoic control, to dissolve boundaries and structures in favor of underlying unities and undifferentiated wholes, merging that which was separate, healing and wholeness; the dissolution of ego boundaries and reality structures, states of psychological fusion and intimations of intrauterine existence, melted ecstasy, mystical union, and primary narcissism; with tendencies towards illusion and delusion, deception and self-deception, escapism, intoxication, psychosis, perceptual and cognitive distortions, conflation and confusion, projection, fantasy; with the bedazzlement of consciousness whether by gods, archetypes, beliefs, dreams, ideals, or ideologies; with enchantment, in both positive and negative senses. The archetypal principle linked to Neptune governs all nonordinary states of consciousness, as well as the stream of consciousness and the oceanic depths of the unconscious. Characteristic metaphors for its domain include the infinite sea of the imagination, the ocean of divine consciousness, and the archetypal wellspring of life. It is, in a sense, the archetype of the archetypal dimension itself, the anima mundi, the Gnostic pleroma, the Platonic realm of transcendent Ideas, the domain of the gods, the Immortals. In mythic and religious terms, it is associated with the all-encompassing womb of the Goddess, and with all deities of mystical union, universal love, and transcendent beauty; the mystical Christ, the all-compassionate Buddha, the Atman-Brahman union, the union of Shiva and Shakti, the hieros gamos or sacred marriage, the coniunctio oppositorum; the dreaming Vishnu, maya and lila, the self-reflecting Narcissus, the divine absorbed in its own reflection; Orpheus, god of artistic inspiration, the Muses; the cosmic Sophia whose spiritual beauty and wisdom pervade all.
Considered as a whole, these themes, qualities, and figures suggest that the name Neptune is both apt and inadequate in denoting a mythological figure embodying the planet’s corresponding archetypal principle. On the one hand, central to the observed characteristics is an underlying symbolic association with water, the sea, the ocean, streams and rivers, mists and fogs, liquidity and dissolution, the amniotic and prenatal, the permeable and undifferentiated. In this regard, one thinks of the many oceanic and watery metaphors used to describe mystical experience, the all-encompassing ocean of divine consciousness of which our individual selves are but momentarily separate drops, the ceaselessly flowing all-informing Tao whose waterlike fluidity evades all definition, the primordial participation mystique of undifferentiated awareness, the mists of prehistory, the amniotic fetal and infantile states of primary fusion, the oceanic realms of the imagination, the fluid nature of psychic life generally: the flow and stream of consciousness, the influx of inspiration, the fog of confusion, drowning in the treacherous deep waters of the unconscious psyche, slipping into madness or addiction, surrendering to the flow of experience, dissolving into the divine union, the cleansing waters of purity and healing, melted ecstasy, and so forth. One thinks here, too, of Freud’s reference to the “oceanic feeling”: “a sensation of ‘eternity,’ a feeling as of something limitless, unbounded— as it were, ‘oceanic’. . . it is the feeling of an indissoluble bond, of being one with the external world as a whole.” Equally relevant is William James’s image of a transcendental “mother-sea” of consciousness with which the individual consciousness is continuous and of which the brain essentially serves as a sieve or filtering conduit (Cosmos and Psyche, 96-97).
Many of these associations are empirically related to important phenomena surrounding the Discovery of Neptune.”

Surfing Neptune:

…It is essential to understand Neptune in both the Natal chart and through Transits! Now, this may be true with all the planets, but with Neptune, it is truly where we may be sleeping, so its vital to put awareness on this area of the chart, so that we don’t run into walls, or get taken advantage of.  Neptune in the chart–at least in its more shadowy way of expressing itself–is naivety and neglect! Bringing awareness to this part of ourselves is essential for the growth of the Individual.  And in waking up Neptune from it’s dreaming state, we then access all of its oceanic power and mystical potential.  Neptune relates to the “collective unconscious” mind, the masses, and our own connection with Spirit.  On all three of these levels, the material which binds them, is the mystery of Neptune.  It is a truly mystical energy.  This is why I say “Tao.”

Let’s say we are looking at a person’s chart, and by conversing with them, we realize that they have “awakened” to their Neptune in their chart; it doesn’t seem that the aspect of “neglect” is expressing itself too strongly, yet, they have a powerful Neptune transit happening in their chart.  For example, Neptune is transiting into their 7th house, and they are curious about their love life.  What do you tell them? What do you ask? For starters, it’s also important with Neptune to gauge a person’s connection to Spirit and Surrender.  If they seem to be in a “trusting” state, they are already doing the work.  But the types of experiences that can manifest during this time for the native is: disillusionment with others–esp. lovers, fantasies about love, dreams of constant longing, mystical breakthroughs in relationships, in sex, and understanding another; it is also a time of deep surrender in the arms of a lover; if a person isn’t with someone at the beginning of this transit, they are definitely in their imagination, dreaming them up. No matter what seems to be expressing itself, it still depends on the rest of their chart, and also the choices they have made within the experience.  The goal of Neptune through any of the transits is complete humbling of the “ego,” and a realization that everything is working out perfectly. Nothing is broken, nothing is lost, everything is on track, everything is perfect! It’s universal, it’s everywhere, and in everything.  We cannot escape Neptunes Path, nor are we supposed to! We must align ourselves to it, and be patient with the gifts of Ka’s will.  Only then will we experience the true Oneness we are all always craving.  And it must be sought after without the help of drugs and alcohol! These are Neptunian tricksters, and can lead us down back alley’s in scary neighborhoods within the netherworlds.  So beware FOOL! We are all foolish in the arms of Neptune!

(you can apply this logic to your understanding of all the areas of the chart, and see how this oceanic power is humbling the ego, and inspiring the Spirit!)

Like I mentioned earlier, Neptune just moved back into Aquarius, and will remain until February.  What does this mean? Well, its a re-visitation to the Archetype of Aquarius (which relates to plans for the future), so that we can hopefully better prepare for the wrath of Mother nature over the next 14 years (the length of time Neptune will be in Pisces, its own sign).  Both Neptune and Pisces relate to “Truth,” a truth, where nothing is relative.  Its Nature untamed.  When Neptune moves for good into Pisces, I feel it is the window we have all been speculating about, which relates to Peak oil, the melting of the polar caps, pollution in all of the world’s water, massive extinctions to aquatic species, etc, etc, etc…As Maurice Fernandez says in his wonderful book on Neptune, “it is the end of hope, and the beginning of Truth.” We have been blindly destroying this Earth at a neck breaking speed since the Industrial Revolution (the time of the last Neptune and Pisces experience) and now, is the time of “truth.”

What will it really look like? I have no idea, but there is no transit in the sky that I am more excited for! It’s a time of awakening, of coming together, where individualistic society melts into the collective, and reforms itself on the foundations of spiritual insight and experience.  It’s a time of reconnecting to Nature and remembering who we really are.  It could even relate to aliens….an idea, I’m a lil’ partial too! lol……Neptune in Pisces is nothing to be afraid of.  We human’s have forgotten, and the time has come for great remembering.  Embrace it, and rise higher than you have ever been before.

Remember, wherever this is happening in your chart, relates to where in your life you will be experiencing the most effects of this potent transit. If you are more curious about Neptune in your chart, and maybe how this Transit if affecting your life, please contact me at KOSMOGNOSIS@GMAIL.COM, and we can set up a Neptune specific reading, to help bring clarity to this foggy Archetype!

In Lakesh,

sOMa

Boulder, Co, 8.8.11

WWW.HOLESTOHEAVENS.COM