Making sense

Painted American Flag is a painting by Duukster fromhttps://pixels.com/featured/painted-american-flag-duukster.html

In light of recent political events, I feel it’s necessary to focus upon the astrological transits which are influencing them. Mostly because we are gearing up for a number of great outer-planetary transits in 2025 which will change the social landscape for years to come. The transits I will focus on in this article are those of the planets Neptune and Saturn as they are joined by the North Node/South Nodes of the Moon in the signs of Aries and Pisces; but I will also reflect on the previous transits of Jupiter throughout Aries and Pisces between the years of 2022 and 2023, since past Jupiterian aplomb laid the groundwork for the current Saturnian injection of fear into the collective.

These transits began roughly in the year 2022 and will continue up until 2027, and the two astrological signs from which they draw energy are those which represent the Alpha and the Omega of the zodiac. This is no coincidence but a fated mark representing the building of a different social landscape than the one we have witnessed in the last century. It is evident that we are living in times in which many of our social institutions, core values, ways of relating and defining ourselves are not functioning anymore. You could say that they are ‘plastically transforming’, if this transformation wasn’t so painful for ordinary people just trying to get by.

Aries and Pisces are the first and the last sign of the zodiac, and in the last years they have been unleashing their energies in our collective unconscious, marking the end of an era and the brisk creation of the next: the first sign of impulsive and creative primal energy (Aries) and the final twelfth sign representing the wise, compassionate elder of the zodiac (Pisces).

On a darker note, Aries (ruled by Mars) is also the sign of war, aggression and anihilation due to Ego strengthening, while Pisces (ruled by Neptune) is about delusion, addictions and pendulating between extreme self-abandonement and extremely uplifting spiritual states. Outer planetary transits impact the collective more than any other transits, especially when they are supported by conjunctions to the karmic lunar nodes: two imaginary points on the Moon’s eliptic movement around the Earth, which represent past life karmic energy and show us where we loose collective energy (the South Node) and what we are obsessively drawn towards, where we feel like the energy is never enough and we crave more of it (the North Node). To aid in my analysis I’m hitting the books and getting some support from Jan Spiller, Liz Greene and Stephen Arroyo, three well-known astrologers who have written extensively on the deeper meaning of Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter and the nodes of the Moon.

The first outer planet to move through these two signs was the Great Benefic, the planet Jupiter. With its natural expansiveness and enthusiasm, Jupiter led the masses into increased radicalisation and heightened religious and nationalist fervour as Jupiter moved through Pisces between 2021 and 2022, and then Jupiter put the legacy of Pisces into action by intensifying global conflicts as it briskly moved through Aries, the sign of War between the 2022 and 2023. I want to allow an experienced astrologer like Stephen Arroyo to describe the energy of Jupiter as it moved from the first through the last sign of the zodiac, so he can help us put things into a larger perspective (which also happens to be the main hustle of Great Jove) :

Jupiter in Pisces “Keeping one’s feet on the ground may be the hardest challenge for those with this position. They can float away into dreams of personal glory (…) they can be lost in self-agrandissement posing as big-heartedness; or they can indulge themselves in exaggerated, mythologised versions of their lives. In some cases of more ordinary mortals, they can ‘go to pieces’ if their lyfestyle, marriage or job to which they have been devoted, disintegrates resulting in disorientation, escapism and difficulty coping with reality. Self-esteem and confidence for most of these people, however, slowly develops over time as they align themselves with a spiritual, social, or artistic ideal (…) These folks are usually, future-oriented people and almost invariably they have some kind of special imagination, intuitive understanding of life, or breadth of vision that can inspire themselves and others, and which they need to act upon throughout their lives if they are going to feel prosperous and succesful. As Moore and Douglas explain, “success” for those with Jupiter in Pisces has little to do with money and material goods.”

Jupiter in Aries “This is perhaps the most fearless risk-taker of all Jupiter positions. Inf act, these people usually love risk and challenge; they crave the experience of the new and the unknown, and life quickly becomes boring without such stimulation. In fact, they sometimes live in such a way that more cautious types wonder if they are bent on self-destruction! They are naturally rash and impulsive liking to act quickly and think about it later, if at all. They are frank and honest, but others must be equipped to deal with their directness and bluntness without over-reacting to them emotionally. They don’t usually mean any harm; they are merely thoughtless at times. However, there can be a mean streak with Aries, especially if other planets are there also. And almost invariably, there is substantial competitiveness, which serves them well in their natural entrepreneurial activities. Those with Jupiter in Aries thrive on constant growth towars the new, and they may best express their potential in very independent work situations, such as being self-employed. They do not like to take orders, and in fact they are the epitome of people who can be called ‘head-strong’ (…) Yet, their intuition into the future is often strikingly apt. They invariably know their future direction, although they may impuslively change it with surprising suddeness. So many new ideas and projects occur to them that many are never pursued long; finishing things may be a problem (…) For those with Jupiter in Aries, progress and prosperity depend more on directing and channeling their innate confidence and vision than on developping those capacities. These abilities are already there, but cultivating more faith in that inner initiative and intuitive sense of what ‘I can do’ may be the next step for some individuals.”

Jupiter’s transit in Aries also debuted the transit of Saturn into Pisces, when it concomitantly worked with it in an uncomfortable semi-sextile in March of 2023. As Saturn began to move through Pisces, it also began to slowly approach the planet Neptune, now almost at the end of it’s years long transit through the sign of its domicile. Mayans adequately predicted the end of an era back in 2012, a year which eerily coincided with Neptune beginning its transit through Pisces. So Saturn is left now to uncomfortably clean up and provide structure to the Neptunian ‘spiritual spills’ in which we have been bathing for more than a decade now. The astrological expert on everything Saturn and Neptune-related is without doubt, Liz Greene, whose profound reflections on both Saturn and Neptune in these two zodiac signs, can help us understand what exactly we have been immersed in:

Saturn in Pisces “Saturn in the twelfth house, and to a lesser extent in Pisces is difficult from the point of view of the personality because the Saturnian energies, geared initially toward self-protection and defense against the environment, are rendered ineffectual. This may in extreme situations be through hospitalization or imprisonment for a period of time, and the man may learn through his own helplessness how ultimately impotent the personal will is against the forces of his own past which he himself has set in motion. The feeling that one is helpless and must submit to something larger and greater is frequent with this placement of Saturn, although it may occur on a very subjective level. This is a cadent house and refers to states of mind, and Saturn here often generates a vague fear that someone or something, a misty or generalised fate or destiny, is going to destroy him or control him. He may isolate himself and attempt to shield himself from contact with others at the same time that he is weighed down by an oppresive loneliness and sense of powerlessness (…) It is also often the reflection of a fear of confronting external life and a sense of impotence in being able to handle practical affairs (…) Typical Saturnian ambivalence occurs with a twelfth house Saturn too, and there are both a compulsive fascination with and a great fear of losing one’s identity and individuality (…) It is man’s defense mechanism which is necessary for a long time while the unfolding consciousness needs defending; however, when Saturn is found in Pisces or in the twelfth house, the time has come for the scaffolding to be taken down for the inner structure is nearly complete, and stripping this away is initially like stripping off one’s outer skin and exposing the raw and tender area beneath (…) Saturn in water is responsible for a great deal of loneliness and isolation so apparent at the present time. It is of some help for the individual who has Saturn in a watery house or sign to recognise that his potential in terms of inner peace, understanding, and wisdom is as great as his potential for despair if he will only turn inward to the realm of feelings and of the unconscious.”

Now, starting from 2025, Saturn will temporarily dip into Aries for a couple of months next Spring, form a great conjuction to Neptune (just enough to give us ample material to work with) and then dip back into Pisces next Autumn, for a conclusive final act. It needs to be said, that Saturn doesn’t enjoy being in any of these two signs, since Water and Fire energies are the most resistant to any discipline, structure or grounding that this Earth Papa wants to impose on them; so these transits are uncomfortable and wounding to our personalities and only with great effort can we distill the gold inherent in Saturn’s karmic lessons. But let’s allow Liz to explain it further:

Saturn in Aries “One of the main qualities which appear to accompany Saturn in Aries or in the first house is a lack of self-assertion of a positive kind. There is often a need to enforce one’s will and to control the immediate environment; but rather than being the spontaneous and self-confident assertion of the individual, this is more of a defensive maneuvre which sometimes attempts to attack first because it is fearful of attack. Sometimes the need for control is expressed in a subtle and indirect way so that situations are manipulated without any real evidence of aggressiveness. This is the characteristic coupling of need and fear which is so often found with Saturn. The natural shyness and stiff awkwardness of Saturn is expressed more obviously with this placement than with any other although the individual often learns during life to cultivate a smooth, cool and polished surface (…) Saturn is considered to be in his fall in Aries, and from this one might deduce that this is a difficult position for him and one which is not easily carried. Possibly the most difficult side of it is the tendency to be cut off from both the flow of outer life and the flow of inner life so that the individual is stranded in a very small and very arid area of his psyche, difficult to reach, and unable to touch the mainspring of purpose and meaning which would enable him to face the outer world with courage (…) This is because a planet in its fall must generally struggle, and it is this struggle which, if carefully tended, yields insight and eventual expansion of the field of consciousness. This is particularly true of Saturn, who when placed in the sign of his fall is often stripped of the courage and confidence – the natural gifts of Aries – which are required to tackle the problems of living head-on. Yet the thing he wants the most is the joy of being free, of being first, of exploring unknwon regions and meeting unknown challenges and revelling in the innate realization that his existence is guarantee enough of his purpose. Saturn in Aries or in the first house tends first to emphasize the fear of powerlessness because it suggests a clinging to the more superficial features of the personality and a consequent loss of contanct with the rich inner person. Eventually this fear can prod the individual into a deeper exploration of what he considers to be his identity.”

And here is Liz’s primer on Neptune’s energy as it will make an epochal shift next year (if you thought delusions related to wars and conflicts were abundant in the collective, well next yer we may never see the end of them; at the same time issues related to personal identity and who we are as human beings will become the center of our collective concerns as AI and robots will become common-place in society):

Neptune in Pisces “In the 12th house, Neptune comes home (…) Neptune in the 12th house is a transmitter of the richness, darkness and light of that which came before us. The 12th is the house of pre-birth and therefore also describes the period of the mother’s pregnancy, when we were contained within the uterine waters. As a medium for the archetypal themes of the ancestral collective, Neptune in the 12th is particularly attuned to feelings and images of suffering and redemption (…) It is not surprising that this house is called the house of self-undoing; if we are unconscious of this vast ancestral longing to go home, we may ensure that we are dragged home in spite of ourselves (…) Commitment to a religious or spiritual path may offer consolation to Neptune’s melancholy and world-weariness, and may provide a means of redeeming not only one’s own loneliness but the victims of the past. Neptune in the 12th may shoulder the burden of redeeming family sin and unhapiness, and is particularly prone to identification with the suffering saviour (…) One may become addicted to the creative powers of the psyche, retreating from relationships with the outer world in order to partake of the universal waters of the source. The individual may see himself or herself as a Christ-like figure, come to save the suffering world (…) The line between Neptune in the 12th as visionary, artist and healer, and Neptune in the 12th as addict, invalid or psychotic, is very fluid (…) Neptune’s eternal enemy is also Neptune’s eternal friend, and a little Saturnian realism can go a long way in assisting a 12th house Neptune floundering in deep waters – although too much Saturn may provoke the very flood the individual is seeking to avoid.”

Neptune in Aries “Neptune in the first house poses an immediate dilemma, for the nature of Neptune is antithetical to the nature of Mars. Where Mars seeks to assert its power over life, Neptune seeks to avoid birth. Where we experience Neptune, we feel helpless abd impotent, for we are in the hands of powers greater than ourselves (…) Neptune in the 1st may secretly feel emasculated and deeply anxious when confronted with choices and challenges that require a definite decision or act of will – particularly if there is any risk of separation or loneliness. Sometimes one adopts instead a strange fatalism, as though life is unreal anyway and therefore not worth struggling with. Eschewing of personal responsibility may undermine efforts to establish a coherent life direction. Both good and ill are “meant to be” (…) Neptune in the 1st often reflects gifts of tact and subtle diplomacy, one navigates rather than shapes the outer world. The needs of others take on the shape of the redeemer; to merge with others in an ecstasy of mutual pleasing is a form of redemption (…) Neptune in the 1st has a reputation in astrological texts for blindness and self-deception (…) Every personal interaction with another individual thus becomes a potential experience of salvation; and clarity, judgement and initiative dissolve as a result. But this destructive extreme of self-effacement can only occur if there is no sense of self to balance Neptune’s longing. If one has one’s own feeligns and values, the need for others will not swallow up the outlines of the identity (…) The challenge of a 1st house Neptune lies not in any intrinsically malevolent property in the planet, but in the task of balancing its chameleon-like inclinations with a healthy dose of self-value and self-preservation. Neptune in the 1st can also be the special gift of the counsellor or healer, because of its unique capacity to enter into the feelings of others. But the individual may become addicted to those who are needy (…) The inner solidity of the personality decides in the end whether the gifts of a 1st house Neptune will lead to the waters of oblivion or the waters of life”.

At the moment at which I am writing these reflections, Pluto is a mere 24 hours away from definitively switching from Capricorn into Aquarius; this transit will last until 2044 and it will reconfigure our social landscape. To add to this transformation wave, we are collectively feeling the energies of the North Node in Aries (red and male) and the South Node in Libra (blue and female). It’s kind of on the nose how the colours and gender associated with Mars/Aries and Venus/Libra fit so strongly with the two political party which competed against each other during the American elections at the begining of this month; similarly, the upcoming Romanian elections may also lead to a negative surprise, as the old-guard political party PSD, whose logo is covered in red may become the populist darling, thereby sealing the deal on the gradual “Russification” of Romania during Saturn in Aries’ reign (although, I pray that votes will be disparate and PSD won’t get the majority and my fears will resist to manifest; I also pray that Saturn will freeze & limit conflicts at global level).

Because the North Node represents a point of collective obsession, and its transit usually describes what we become attached to and constantly crave more of, we would understand why Trump’s campaign which it’s fleet red caravans covering the US and it’s sexist but direct rethoric, had more success than Harris’ – people unconsciously wanted Mars-like energy, so that their personal anger would be reflected on stage, in a form of political anger that was mistakenly associated with true power. Here is how astrologer Jan Spiller describes the core traits of the Libra SN/Aries NN axis under whose spell we have been since July of 2023:

Aries North Node people have spent so many incarnations supporting the identity of others that in this incarnation they have no sense of who they are. On an energetic level, they are missing the insulation of a sense of identity. When a baby is born, there’s a band in its aura called “identity”, and people in other nodal groups have this. It acts as a shield against the strong energy field of others. Because of it, people can interact intensely without damaging one another (…) In this incarnation, Aries North Node people face the challenge of stregthening their sense of identity. Because they have no preconceived idea of “self”, they are open to discovering what is real and natural within themselves. It’s an innocent process. Their natural impulses validate their identity, and their identity is strengthened through their actions (…) They don’t have enough personal identity left in their “battery” to hold the “charge” for the other person. To be deeply happy in this lifetime, they must focus on developing their own identity and recharging their own battery (…) When they encourage independence and individuality in their relationships – dealing directly with the other person and supporting him or her in being strong and separate – they win, because the other person will give back in the same way, supporting Aries North Node’s independence and individuality (…) For these folks, bein drained and being overly excited are two sides of the same coin: not dealing with what’s actually happening in the moment (…) The balance lies in being consciously aware of others’ energy without being consumed by it. Aries North Nodes need to stay connected to their own power and be in touch with what they can comfortably contribute. The idea is to share their talents freely, to be of service, and to give from the heart without trying to be more – or less – than they actually are.”

Notice the proliferance of images of ‘birth’ and ‘identity’ in the quotes I shared above. Despite the fact that most of these descriptions are referring to individual circumstances in a person’s chart, they can be extrapolated to explain the current energies we find ourselves navigating through; and the struggle to form identities in the debris of a dying world speaks volumes to what is happening to us, as human beings, on a collective level. As the nodes of the Moon will switch signs on the 11th of January 2025, and as we will move from Aries and into the North Node in Pisces, the collective obsession will turn to spirituality, dissolving, addictions and losing our personal identities in order to recover a feeling of unification; we will long for some sort of connection, with what has previously been separated in the past years, but we may also attach to that which is toxic to us and build up a Stockholm syndrome around it, also because we will long for wholeness, peace and unconditional love and forgiveness. Again, I invite Spiller to describe in her own words how the Virgo SN/Pisces NN axis will manifest in the coming 18 months:

“The Achilles’ heel Pisces North Node people need to be aware of is their compulsive need for order (“My survival depends of everything being in order according to my view of how life ought to be and how others ought to behave”), and it can lead them into the trap of an unending search for perfection (“If only the people around me were more perfect, I could relax and trust”). But it’s a bottomless pit: Since life and other people are never in a static state of perfect order long enough for Pisces North Nodes to feel secure, their expectations can lead to continual tension and anxiety. Because life – and others – are never ideal enough for them to let go of control, they continually postpone trust and joy. The bottom line involves acepting the universe’s plan is better than their and that things are unfolding properly, regardless of how it seems. The only place they can create “perfect order” is within themselves, by surrendering to a Higher Power and trusting that everything is indeed in order. The irony is that when Pisces North Node people blindly trust the infinite and accept that everything contributes to their greater happiness, they suddenly become aware of the larger picture and begin to sense how things are working to their advantage. Then they can let go of control and be happy (…) They are filled with calm and feel in alignement with ‘the plan’ because the spiritual vision is the energy of perfection they are seeking.”

In a period in which we may have to bite the hand that feeds so that a new system of feeding that helps all get nourishment can come into place, we may also decide to caress and allow the hand that feeds to even strike us. With both Saturn and Neptune in Aries, we may not be able to see clearly ‘the enemy’ and considering that Chiron, the Wounded Healer is still moving through Aries for the entirety of 2025, we may decide to turn our violence against the enemy within. The hardship of our coming years will stem from the fact that we may be up against forces which we will have no control over, as the changes that will follow are in a large way, fated. Each one of us will feel called to play their part, at the right moment and in order to do so we will have to rely on nothing else but the strength of our faith and the force of our convictions. Living in a world whose material foundations are shacking can be taxing on the nerves so time alone to decompress will become imperative. But at the same time, we may also allow the energy of the unknown to surprise us with what we discover, to create ripples of fun and imaginative exploration, and in this way, the dark path ahead can become illuminated by our everyday, common sense courage.

We may need to ask ourselves ‘why are we so obsessed with safety?‘ If Pluto in Capricorn broke our souls and spirits and transformed us into pragmatic capitalists so that we could survive, we may need to revise why we do the things we do each day, in order to reclaim control over our minds and souls. At this point in time, we all crave more money but then when we manifest it we just buy shit we don’t need, thereby contributing to the environmental collapse that is defining the current limits of our lived reality. Maybe time spent dreaming, resting, saving up, trusting, fluidly going through life may help both our mental health, and the environment and allows us all to see just how deeply the two are connected.

Looking at these transits, I have already decided that 2025 will be my year of testing the limits of my solitude. I want to own being a Hermit, to dive into the study of occult scriptures and commit to a disciplined form of mediation and stillness that may help me achieve a state of inner oceanic vastness. And whatever I will find that is meaningful I will share with you all. Who knows? Perhaps once I have made this difficult but empowering decision, life will surprise me in a powerful way by showing me just how connected I am to everything and everyone in the pit of this self-imposed, militant solitude. I look forward to the discovery.

With universal light, always

Lexi

Comments

Leave a Reply