Category: World transformation

Crisis and Opportunity (Part 4) Neptune in Pisces

by Lynne Speight, posted in Coronavirus, Transformation, World Crisis, World transformation

A deep red curtain rises for the opening night of ‘Crisis and Opportunity – a commentary upon this time’, a much heralded new theatre production.

SCENE 1: A backdrop of a smoky industrial chimney skyline, government buildings, grey clad workers in line…images of the Establishment; schools, hospitals, banks, silicon valley. With an ambience of something is gathering momentum and about to happen.  (Subtitle: Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn)

SCENE 2 : Lush green pastures and blossoms, vibrant wildlife, organic food; images of agrochemicals, pollution, dying bees and fast food. With an ambience of something is brewing towards critical mass and about to change. (Subtitle: Uranus in Taurus)

RANDOMLY INTERWOVEN CONNECTIVE SCENES: Morphing symbolic images of earth-scapes and cosmos-scapes; temples, prayer wheels, majestic mountains, bliss and beauty…ways we reach for a fusion with Spirit…the ocean, mermaids and monsters. Hallucinations? Real or unreal? Now you see them…now you don’t.
Revolving and evolving scenes. Variations on a theme of a longing and yearning to infuse our lives with something higher, something pure and perfect…an ethereal essence of paradise and unification.

So let’s look at these curious ‘Randomly interwoven connective scenes’ within the imagined theatre production of ‘Crisis and Opportunity – a commentary upon these times’. Maybe you’ve guessed the planetary transit within the ambience of my words….? Well, we’re about to explore another protagonist in our present time: Neptune in Pisces…    Note: Scenes 1 & 2 were explored in my three previous Crisis and Opportunity blogs.

Neptune is in Pisces from 2011 to 2025. Neptune is one of the slow moving far/outer planets, with a 165yr orbit around the Sun. No-one presently on Earth has experienced Neptune in Pisces during their lifetime. Its last sojourn in Pisces (1847-1862), saw the vast unfolding of the Industrial revolution.
Neptune is the planetary ruler of Pisces, so whilst abiding in its ‘home-sign’, it is very strongly active amidst the very best conditions to fulfill its cosmic remit. In a nutshell, this is a process of dissolving that which is outworn and no longer necessary; enabling the freeing up of wing-room to develop crucial evolutionary changes towards living with more Spirit and Compassion. This principle goes for both individuals and the collective.

The Zodiac sign of Pisces 

Pisces is the twelfth and last sign of the Zodiac wheel. It’s a mutable water sign, symbolised by two fishes swimming in opposite directions. One fish swims horizontally around the ecliptic and the other fish reaches up towards the heavens. Pisces represents the area of life beyond the physical realm ~ the Otherworld. This is the invisible world of intuition, sixth sense, desire to merge with the Divine, God, angels, phantoms, and ghosts.
It’s the realm from which we each emerge into Earthly life through our birthing, and where we return through our dying.
It’s the chaos from which all creation emerges…and then dissolves for purification and re-emergence.
It’s the habitat of dreams, trances, visions, kaleidoscopic perceptions, psychic connections, and knowings.
Artistic and symbolic expression perhaps most effectively convey this mysterious, ethereal, and powerful realm, which weaves throughout our earthly mortal coil; a continual thread of connection with the divine realm and spiritual home. Art awakens us to this realm within our lives and our psyche…a realm which is oft imperceptible, invisible, and semiconscious. Through art, we may reach into or be transported into the Beyond and maybe gain a touch or a fleeting glimpse of the Otherworld.
There are many ways of reaching into the Beyond. All require a giving up or sacrificing of individuality to enable merging into fusion. We may journey into the Beyond with intention.. or we may find ourselves unconsciously slipping or led into an altered state.
This journeying may be stimulated by prayer, meditation, ecstatic dance, ritual and ceremony, hallucinogenics, deep love, sexual bliss, poetry, psychosis, dreams, and addictions. Within these altered states, our consciousness expands and morphs as everyday boundaries dissolve. Through these portals, we may touch the Divine and experience fusion (going beyond the Self into cosmic attachment and Oneness), merging into the oceanic bliss of divine unconditional all-encompassing love, true compassion, and empathy.

Neptune in Pisces

The planetary archetype of Neptune is an ‘active principle’ within our psyche. It is the vehicle within which we may journey towards this state of Beyond and fusion, reaching for a state of redemption and maybe bring a little heaven to earth if we are able and willing.

When Neptune is in Pisces, there is an expansion and a going beyond everyday earthly concerns. An opening of a portal through which we may enter and imbibe an in-fusion of Spirit or Otherworldliness. Each individual and each worldly culture has its own interpretation and imagery of this place within and without. This ambience inspires and calls us to reach up and move beyond our everyday boundaried Self…to touch and merge with the divine.
There is a vast array of mediums of trans-port to this destination. And they all run on Kairos time…no Chronos timetables. Only Magic Portals.
We may journey either alone or alongside others in religious or spiritual ceremony, vision quest, or ritual. Or our journey may be through collective movements reflecting the current Zeitgeist in music, art, dance, fashion, theatre, film; community formation and gatherings. These are some of the ways of bringing Mystery and Magic into Life, adding meaning and dimension.

Neptune in Pisces may also bring confusion, morphs, and shifts….previous ‘knowns’ transforming into dissolution and undoing…old forms of being heaving and groaning in their death-morph throes. Tides alter their course and wild waves dissolve rock faces and cliffs, those densest substances of Earth. The creative force dissolves and re-emerges in a renewed form.
There may be tidal Collective Uncertainty; now you see ‘it’, now you don’t. And what may ‘it’ really mean?! Glamour and the weaving of spells and manipulations.
With Neptune in Pisces, a figurehead may appear out of ‘nowhere’, rising to fame or recognition…maybe becoming a Saviour/Messiah figure, soon mysteriously disappearing and returning to nowhere. Or being collectively dispatched back to Nowhere, when the tide turns and another twist in the tale emerges. These figureheads may be alluring and magnetise attention. Illusion or Reality? Dream or Nightmare? Light or Dark? Questions arise amongst the collective as to what such figures may really represent. Who or what might be behind them? What’s the real agenda or underlying intent? Are they truly all they seemingly portray…or are they riddled with manipulated image and grandeur? Deification contains inherent danger; the projection of a perfect redeemer cannot sustain itself…and there is only one way to fall from a throne.
Are we each willing to stand by our own perceptions of Truth and risk the loss of fusion, which collective following and groupthink enables? Or might we yearn to belong so deeply that we are willing to compromise our own individual viewpoint or intuition, shapeshifting our own views to fit into the collective or group container. A mature and grounded selfhood is capable of holding one’s own point of view whilst being open, interested and curious towards the differing opinions of others. This is a skill in which we are not generally educated!
This is Rumi’s place of true meeting:

Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
– Rumi

New spiritual or philosophical angles and outlooks may pervade the collective when Neptune transits Pisces…sweeping into consciousness; critical mass reached, sometimes becoming viral. What do we believe? How do we know? Maybe we can’t know for sure, and we may go by intuition. Is this wisdom or risky danger?
Movements and figureheads arise on powerfully pervasive tides. Within the mass of new paradigm philosophies and conspiracy theories there lie crucial grains of both important truths and questionable truths.
Maybe this is where the opposite sign of Virgo has a complementary role….to sift through and discern. Trash or treasure.
Pray to Allah….but tie up your camel. 

Neptune in Pisces ~ a real life infusion

Within our present phase (Winter/Spring 2020) of Neptune in Pisces, we are experiencing the global pandemic of Covid-19, a virus which is at least debilitating and at most life threatening for a significant number of people. Coronavirus has surreptitiously and pervasively spread throughout many countries through human contact and virus-carrying vapour. And it is mysterious; constantly mutating, adapting, and renewing itself in slightly altered forms in order to evolve new strains in the hope of securing its own survival.
As a response to Covid-19 during these last few months, many governments initially restricted social contact between people and then moved into Lockdown in an attempt to ‘limit the spread of infection, save lives and support health services to function within their capacity’.

The everyday lives of many people have morphed dramatically. Our daily schedules, rhythms, and pace are moving from one extreme to another. The experience of these changes is largely dependent upon a person’s lifestyle, health condition (mental and physical), home-life, and work. Alongside this is our fundamental capacity to adapt, be creative, and self-care.

Health and care workers lives have become intensified…long hours and high risk of infection alongside more ‘public’ recognition of their value – yet no pay rises. Beyond government attitudes and legislation, individuals and communities have created a swell of compassion, kindness, and practical support. Some shops are offering a specific time of day when healthcare workers can shop, and/or a reduction on their shopping bills, free downloads, free services, and much more.

Some workers are finding themselves with slightly reduced earnings and lots of time freed up. This is wish come true for some, who are unearthing projects and plans and enjoying having time to do them.
For other it’s a struggle; a new and unfamiliar state of being, whether this is alone or maybe with a challenging household nucleus, or ongoing care responsibilities.
For many, changes in work and income are causing stress on both practical and psychological levels. We are in a situation of unknown timing and future outcome, with media announcements of a looming and chronic economic recession.

There is a sense of collective unrest within some nations. Many are experiencing feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and mistrust as to the capacity of their governments’ ability to manage Covid-19. Do we trust them to handle the situation in a sensible, supportive, safe, and fair human way, acting with wisdom and common sense? The British and American governments are under particular scrutiny here!
Enter the issue of trust, manipulation, and agenda…is that ‘new idea’ or approach really supportive? Or is it riddled with undercurrents which support an elite and undermine others?  Is a government a reliable and trustworthy authority (like a good parent!) …or not?

Alongside these transformations, compassion, care, and consideration are being inspired, re-fuelled, and re-birthed.  Neighbours share resources, organise shopping rotas and deliveries, swap vegetable and flower seedlings, people chat over fences and in socially distanced queues outside shops. Local communities build support networks. Kindness and empathy flows…

There are a torrent of images, poems, photos, videos, and offerings being shared and ‘gifted’ on social media, mostly well-meaning. And yet, depending on personal nature and stance, these may be received as either a gift or a bane.
The Internet has become a rainbow bridge for many; an amazing medium for virtual connection, education and entertainment. It has become the first and, for some, the lasting ‘go-to’ amidst Lockdown. But the increase of information sharing has clearly provoked a sense of overload and overwhelm for some. Questions, confusions and doubts as to simply what to believe have arisen.
Many people are now finding the necessity to limit or shift their newfound internet and social media habits, wishing to regain a subjectively ‘healthier’ level of use during their home-bound or socially distanced reality. For some it has become a mode of distraction or a growing addiction. Amidst this expansion, morph, and shift in reality, boundaries may become an issue. Fortunately, there is an OFF button.

Hatching within our present Covid-impacted Neptune in Pisces reality, there is a growing recognition of the truly important things in life. Our altered reality is inspiring us to reflect upon those qualities in life which give us fulfillment, contentment and joy.
These qualities are so often connected with friendships and relationships, health and wellbeing, simplicity, and a slower pace which enables us to enjoy and notice the wonder in our lives with a sense of gratitude.
The simple and joyous pleasures and importance of really being with family, friends and loved ones.

During Lockdown, absence has made the heart grow fonder. Through the loss of face-to-face contact, many of us have realised a new level of value for friends and loved ones. There are connections which we may well have taken for granted, such as the value of hugging a beloved one, the pleasure of eating yummy cake in a cafe with a smile, going to a festival with friends, travelling or trecking, cuddling a child, holding the hand of a lonely or grieving person, and wandering, with no restriction, in beauty.
These precious common experiences, oft taken for granted, give us great nourishment and soul food. They lift us up and take us beyond our individual everyday routines and focus, infusing us with the wonders of connection and healthy life-sustaining cathexis. Connections of the heart, soul, and spirit are a deep longing and yearning within us humans.

So what might be written on the Neptune in Pisces gravestone as a testimony to the passing of this Cosmic signature when it completes in 2025?
What would you like to see written there, on the stone pages of the open-winged Angel’s book?
Would you like to see inscriptions of….

  • A shifting in societies throughout the world towards peace and compassionate inclusion?
  • A transformation in healthcare provision, encompassing the best of mainstream and complimentary medicine?
  • The growth of sustainable methods of agriculture?
  • The development of a wiser education, supporting young people in growing into the very best of themselves?
  • Shelter, clothing, and clean water provision for all, based on a well-functioning and simple model with respect for cultural diversity and people’s dignity?
  • The beginning of a renewed vision within world religions and spiritual philosophies?
  •               ?

We each have a meaningful part to play as individual pieces of the Global Jigsaw. Each of us have specific gifts and wisdom of experience which we may gift to the world.

In these times it is crucial that we each choose our own theme of engagement, focus of further enquiry, and gift to the world with care.
Take some time to deeply dream your way into finding it. What inspires you?
This needs to be a reflection of you; your passions, your seeking, and your unique gifts.
Dream and meditate upon it, as these qualities bring your empowerment into being.
When it emerges, infuse it with your own wise knowings and intent to bring Spirit that bit further into a bonding with Matter.

Then breathe it into Life through compassionate action…

Crisis and Opportunity (part 3) Uranus in Taurus

by Lynne Speight, posted in World Crisis, World transformation

An exploration of Uranus in Taurus (2018 – 2026) – a major planetary wave currently intensified, with far-reaching meaning for all of us Earthlings.

As I write, we are now experiencing one of the powerpoints of this Uranus cycle, opened up with the New Moon of 23rd.April, with a Sun-Uranus conjunction continuing until 26th.April 2020. Here come metaphorical flashes of lightning, illuminating the dusty cobwebby corners in our relationship with the Earth, our ecosystem, resources, land, farming and growing, our physical body, sutainability, practical stability. Quite simply, the potential here is the provoking and inspiring of change! May this blog offer some thought-provoking context for the present Zeitgeist. Engage and Enjoy!

An initial word on planetary movements…                                                                                                          Planets are in continual orbit around the Sun, like clock hands moving against the backdrop of the 12 Zodiac signs. Psychologically, a planet within a Zodiac sign creates a very specific combination. A sharpened focus of an archetypal principle within a meaningful theme is co-created. To understand any combination, it’s helpful to explore the meaning of both the planetary archetype and the Zodiac sign.

Here’s an illustrative analogy involving the weather: we can choose how we approach it! We can resist and ‘distance ourselves’ from the experience of particular weather conditions, and maybe even complain or ‘blame’. Or, we can put on appropriate clothing, be curious, participatory, immersive….embrace it and enjoy! Making the choice to engage and be curious about the nature of a planetary transit enables us to build a descriptive image and story of the current ambience, to face/embrace it, to build a map and begin to engage in the best way we can, with some simple navigational skills. As with the weather, it’s useful to remember that we Earthlings are free to choose how we engage with this. Or not. Our choice towards engagement leads to a maximisation of inherent potential!

The Zodiac sign of Taurus

We are presently in the Zodiac season of Taurus from April 19th – May 20th 2020.  Taurus is a Fixed Earth sign, with Venus as its planetary ruler. It represents all areas of our natural world; presiding over our experience as a physical being on Earth; representing our fundamental need and desire for grounded and reliable practical security and stability, beauty and Earth-wonder. Through the principle of Taurus, we find and recognise that which we value, need and desire for our continuing life and wellbeing…and what we love and has worth to each one of us. Earthly treasure…

Taurus Zodiac season during Spring reminds us of the wonder of the world as perceived through our five physical senses…our amazing and unique capacity to experience our world as Spirits clothed and arrayed in matter….a physical body. We perceive through our five physical senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Wow. These  senses are the modus operandi of Taurus. Through these portals, we take in the world around us; experiencing, absorbing and knowing…responding with an ‘Ooooooh!’ or a ‘Yuk!’…and much inbetween. Through these senses, we may see beauty and ugliness; we hear harmony and discord; our taste gives us experiences somewhere on the scale of pleasure and displeasure, as does our sense of smell. and touch takes us into pleasure or pain. Our senses of smell and touch also imbibe a mass of unconscious information, which we register and translate into ‘knowing’, deeply within our body, in a treasure trove beneath our consciousness.

Being human necessitates nourishment, hydration, medicine, shelter and clothing as well as tools and the development of skills for our survival; growing food, building, crafting and healing. We are totally reliant upon the Earth and it’s growth for the crops which gift these necessities. Humbling. Over time, we have grown way out of kilter in our attitudes and stewardship of our land, animals and waterways. We have become largely divorced from our original relationship with the Earth and our physical bodies….slipping into unsustainability and compromised health and wellbeing in many areas. We have lost a sense of sacred honouring, interconnection and interdependence which reflected gratitude and appreciation of all we have on Earth being a precious life-sustaining gift. We are now at point of escalating crisis. And any crisis state encompasses both danger and opportunity. 

Uranus and it’s psychological archetype.

Uranus is one of the three Far or Outer planets, orbiting far out in our solar system, discovered in 1781 and breaking the mold of our solar system as containing seven heavenly bodies. On a psychological level, Uranus inspires sudden or even awe-inspiringly shocking opening of our awareness to incorporate another whole new angle or perspective. Stretchy consciousness stuff, with the potential for illuminations, eurekas and enlightenments which may seed an evolutionary paradigm shift in the collective. And potential is the operative word! Uranus inspires revelations and revolutions, change and re-visioning. It’s a mover and shaker; destroying outworn patterns and razing things to the ground, creating a blank slate. A transformative Void. And of course, change appears in many guises. It may be change via a complete U-turn. Or more of the same way, in disguise. It may be radical or liberating….or dictatorial. The allure of change, paticularly driven by the desire to escape may apparently take us into new or different ways and patterns…yet we may later discover that we’d run with the herd only to find ourselves locked down within an illusion without clearly having seeing manipulative tactics or illusions at work. Uranus principle inspires us to see things from a different angle and shifted perspective; seeking further evolution towards a better world. And we all have our own versions of how a better world might look! Uranus is a lightning bolt and a soaring eagle within our consciousness, flying high and gaining a broader perspective alongside our more everyday, and equally important perspective of immersion, which is the psychological experience of being fully present either emotionally or physically.

Uranus in Taurus

The passage of Uranus through the Zodiac sign of Taurus (2018-2026), heralds a great opportunity to clear away the deadwood and malfunctioning within our attitudes, values and actions regarding all that is physical, of the Earth (including our body) and necessary for our continuing survival. Uranus in Taurus inspired the uprising of Extinction Rebellion, Re-wilding, Re-storing and Greta Thunberg’s school strikes for climate change, amongst other potent and illuminated movements towards radical and sustainable change. Yet still the majority gazes elsewhere…concerns focused upon a self-oriented distant horizon.

And now the uprising of Covid-19 affects everyone in some big way…either through contracting the virus itself, experiencing suffering or death; grieving the death of a loved one; axis-shift, financial struggle and hardship, job loss, and the many practical and psychological challenges during Lockdown. We are all ‘in it together’ and no-one is exempt from risk of illness or Death, or the wondering, re-jigging and questioning of our ‘old’ life-style in the face of this ‘new’ reality. And….for many, a pause has been created. A divine gap amidst struggle. We are noticing things with more awareness and sensitivity; birdsong, simple pleasures, human connection. kindness and thoughtfulness; solidarity in neighbourhoods. We are noticing the people, states and things which we value, love and hold dear.

* What is most precious in your life? May you feel gratitude for these wonders. And may you remember these knowings and recognitions; dreaming and nurturing them into your future.

When a Uranian eagle soars through and above the verdant Earth realm of Taurus, might we re-member or see anew, our instinctively known Vision of the inherent interconnectedness of nature and ourselves? Might we rest awhile on a mountain ledge, beholding the wonders of our Earth and dream into a vision of a beautiful and sustainable world, where natural and social systems are inspired by co-operation, natural economy, respect and gratitude? Might we pause and more fully enter into our eagle-eye view….to en-visage how we may begin to work both individually and together to bring such a  sustainable reality into being? We need an Earth care-plan, just as we would create this for an ailing person in need of healing, with an initial diagnosis being divined for clarity and understanding, then followed by a care-plan to move forwards into healing and well-being. We can each do something, Remember, Small is Beautiful. Slow and steady wins the race. And politics begin at home. Vision inspires Reality. And our intent, will, commitment and perseverance move our visions into the actuality of our Everyday.

The current bigger picture:

Things get interesting when we begin to look at the current ‘Whole’. The multi-planetary picture forms a Zeitgeist Fusion Jigsaw (please see Crisis and Opportunity 2020 part 1 & 2, for further understanding on the various cosmic jigsaw pieces at work!). The current Zeitgeist is one of a yawning, creaking and stretching of well-established and traditional Authority structures…with the challenge and potential for breakdown and breakthrough of a new vision which could revolutionise our lives. Or not. It’s a choice-making in which we can powerfully re-create the  jigsaw within which we all participate and reside. We can choose to turn and face the strange Ch-ch-changes (thankyou Mr.Bowie), or turn away and shuffle off into a familiar, apparently easy, continuing version of malfunctioning de-volution. This is our chance…and we have the chess players beautifully aligned on the Cosmic chess board. So our sacred respons-ability is to engage…to participate deeply and thoughtfully with our senses open, clear and receptive, with an expanded heart and mind, inhaling inspiration…and to care-fully consider our moves and motives. Vision-formation and moves which we now make are critical, and will cast light or shadow into the future survival of our Earth and ourselves as Earthling visitors.  May we choose our moves with wisdom. And our moves can be small or large….and of a style which reflects our own nature and capacities.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!– Goethe

Appendix:  What’s your Eco-thing? An active engagement with Uranus in Taurus

Here’s some food for thought and action. And the reaching of critical mass through individual ‘small’ – yet very meaningful – moves).

Major resistances to change are our love of comfort, force of habit and overwhelm. Each of us has natural areas of understanding and interest concerning our Earth and it’s resources….these are the areas we will most easily notice and connect with. be ‘on it’ and pro-active towards creating ecological sustainability, resourcefulness and wellbeing.

  •  Consider which areas you most easily relate to… Examples may be food growth, food processing (ie. herb or medicinal plant drying and storing, medicine making, preserving, bread and cake baking), eco-building, crafting, community farming, sharing resources and skills, recycling, refilling or making your own household cleaning or personal care products, maintaining and mending, systems building, re-visioning, living simply, creating Earth enhancing activities…ie. Biodynamic preparations, or teaching Ways to engage in co-operation with the natural world both within and around us.
  • Consider attitudes you hold, decisions you have made, actions you have taken, which support a positive and sustainable relationship with the Earth, the eco-system and our physical bodies. Honour these!
  • Consider any ‘glitchy’ areas with which you may personally struggle…and consider whether you can, want, and maybe how you could alter your relationship with this area. Even if slightly….this is a no guilt approach!!
  • Consider the art of ‘extending’ yourself….by taking a ‘new’ focus for this next month. For instance, you could pick any of the above areas, and consider making a small or large move within your chosen theme, then actually create or do something which will be your own ‘bit’ towards change. And notice how you feel as you become pro-active.

May we co-create a sustainable and beautiful world, through both sweeping vision-inspired change and tiny committed steps…each one of us. May you bring pleasure into your actions and work and enjoy the beauty of our world.