Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces is a tricky bit of business – in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, it seems some politicians are trying to put a stop (Saturn) to the immigration (Sagittarius) of Syrian refugees. That an entire population be judged based on the actions of a few extremists seems so many degrees of prejudicially wrong to me and utterly lacking (more Saturn) in compassion (Neptune). For the love of whatever Deity you prefer, people have just been displaced from their homes in a war-torn country…where is the humanity if we were all to simply turn our backs on them? What if the shoe were on the other foot and it was OUR country undergoing a civil war and WE needed safe haven in a foreign land?
This whole deal just smacks of xenophobia to me – excerpted from my December 2014 newsletter:
“…another Hi-Fi expression of [Saturn’s] passage through Sagittarius could involve better control and management of exaggerated fears; specifically of the things that fall under Sagittarius’ umbrella. This includes (but is not limited to) fear of flying; fear of horses; fears about religion (say of Hell, for example); fear of going away to college or back to college; agoraphobia, or conversely, claustrophobia; and fear of other cultures (xenophobia) or religions.”
The current square between Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune in Pisces sure is bringing this theme to a head; it seems we are currently resonating with the Lo-Fi end of Saturn in Sagittarius’ energy by letting these exaggerated fears get the better of us – they are being used as an excuse; a cop-out. I’d like to think at some point, though, some sense (or compassion?) will eventually be knocked into us where we’ll get a grip to turn this around and start doing the Hi-Fi end of this placement. Learning to manage these irrationally distorted fears rather than letting them control us is key – our spiritual wellbeing depends on it.
From the same newsletter:
“…sometimes, without realizing it, our life experiences may form the framework of a (negative) bias or prejudice of some kind, and Saturn in Sadge can challenge these kinds of beliefs for the sake of putting a stop to them.
…the Hi-Fi side of this transit is well served by getting a handle on discrimination in all its forms; all the “-isms” of life like racism, sexism, classism, ageism, or whathaveyou. If we’re called on the carpet and held accountable for a bias of some kind during Saturn in Sadge, this is definitely the time to get it in check.”
Well I suppose we could consider this post a callout then, because I’m officially throwing down the “bullshit!” flag on this kind of discrimination. But….
“How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others…and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told: If you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it; I know you were afraid…who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease….there were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you…” -V for Vendetta
I do understand the “why” that is driving people to want to close the borders, so don’t get me wrong because in pointing out this apparent shortfall in the compassion and tolerance departments, my intention isn’t at all to downplay the severity of the global events that have hit us right where we are most vulnerable: our sense of safety and certainty. I recognize that right now we are still hanging out in the residue of the tumultuous upheaval that was Uranus Square Pluto. In fact, though this aspect will not perfect again, Uranus & Pluto are indeed closing the gap toward one another as we speak – during the entire month of January 2016, they will be a mere degree away from re-forming an exact square even though it never fully completes. This is still more than enough to radiate energetic shockwaves, however; recent world events serving as astrological proof of this fact. The square between these two planets remains within +-4 degrees of being exact between now & the end of April, so for all intents and purposes this energy should be considered re-activated for the entire duration of this time period.
Getting back to Saturn in Sagittarius and this xenophobia business, I try my best to understand other points of view even when I don’t agree with them – sometimes this is challenging, but if nothing else I try to strive for balance in my perspective. For example, although you may see me decrying the flimsy notion this kind of prejudice will somehow keep us safe (and truth be told, I think in many cases this is actually a thinly-veiled way for people to validate/defend/substantiate/justify their bias), I will also tell you – on the other side of the coin – about what happened when I saw this news clip:
I found it a charming, heartbreakingly sweet and naïve notion that “flowers will protect us” – this is the other end of the Saturn/Neptune Square; the Neptune in Pisces utopian idealism. As beautiful and romantic an ideal as it is, though, it’s not very realistic. I understand that I am probably going to catch hell for saying that, but the astrology absolutely backs it up and I am prepared to stand behind my astrological perspective. See, Saturn squaring Neptune is *the* reality check that bursts the safe, protective little bubble of our ideology and forces us to look at the problems with our philosophy/beliefs/worldviews/etc. rather than deny them. So while this certainly applies to the politicians who think that closing the border to Syrian refugees will make us “safer” (and as the father in this video points out to his son, there are bad people *everywhere*), it equally applies to those who believe that mere “flowers will protect us”. As the child initially protests, “But flowers do nothing” – out of the mouths of babes. We need real-world solutions that deal with our CURRENT reality; not just those that would deal with a reality “as we’d wish it to be”. And the reality is: How do we protect ourselves from terrorism? Do we pull a Chancellor Sutler move à la V for Vendetta by being complicit in invasive mass surveillance? Do we let xenophobia get the better of us and close our borders? Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces unfortunately makes a great Propagandist, good at using illusions for political/ideological goals. This is on ALL sides, from the politicians to the terrorists to the everyman – anyone looking to present a perspective of reality that is, shall we say, cockeyed.
Just think – it’s not even time for the 2016 Election yet. And this square will remain in effect for the next year – can you see the potentially problematic implications this may have for people looking to select their political leadership under such astrological conditions? Three words: Land Of Confusion
I digress, however, from my original point – how do we protect ourselves from terrorism? I do not pretend to have all the answers, but I think we might come a step closer by trying to understand the variety of sociological factors at work that breed these hidden enemies. To this end, I want to make an important distinction in that I see ISIS as very much being a cult; Saturn in Sagittarius symbolizes ideological frameworks and Neptune in Pisces represents a distortion occurring – Neptune in Pisces is where we drink the proverbial Kool-Aid. It is my opinion that we are collectively being challenged to understand the basic structure that goes into making one vulnerable to this kind of ideological framework if we are to to put a stop to it. This is hard to do, though; mainly because it is so foreign to us. But I see the problem as originating from a mis-application of “spirituality”; a rigid and yet twisted interpretation of the supposed “word of god”. And we shouldn’t confuse that to mean we should look at any particular belief system as “the bad guy” here (there is a shit-ton of Islamophobia going around these days, is there not?) – false constructs can exist anywhere in any faith, organized or no. For an equal opportunity example, look at what happened with Christianity during The Crusades, or with those who claimed to be pro-life and yet bombed abortion clinics or murdered those who worked there. There is a definite twisting of morality and ethics occurring when the Ten Commandments dictate “Thou shalt not kill” and yet there are still those who selectively apply this precept. The existence of hypocrisy and double standards are not a phenomena exclusive to any particular faith.
This problem not unique to institutionalized religion, either – I have also seen these same problems occurring within the “spiritual” crowd; i.e. those whose concept of faith is more free-flowing and who don’t necessarily go to church/synagogue/mosque/whathaveyou or subscribe to any particular dogma. There is true Spirituality and then there is pseudo-spirituality – I learned to spot the difference between the two at an early age and see this issue as something that is truly non-denominational. So when I hear people spouting on about how the problem is supposedly “that” country, or “this” particular region of the world, or with “those people’s” religion, I shake my head. Because if anything, the problem lies with those who misuse “faith” as an excuse for escaping moral/spiritual accountability and their ability to hypnotize others into swallowing this homebrew soul cyanide.
It really is no different than brainwashing, and what we need to understand are the variety of factors that go into making someone vulnerable to wanting to merge with these kinds of cults so we can stop it there. In fact, my initial thoughts about “religion” being (mis)used as an excuse for a lack of spiritual accountability seemed further validated by a quick examination of some of the Fixed Stars involved with the Paris attacks – my attention was immediately drawn to Saturn near Acrab in the Scorpion’s head. According to Vivian Robson’s take on this pairing Saturn conjunct Acrab is “cautious, cunning, self-seeking, deceitful, progressive ideas, religious but hypocritical…”. As an interesting aside of further note, he also said that more generally Acrab itself causes “…extreme malevolence, mercilessness, fiendishness…”, while Elsbeth Ebertin – another authority on Fixed Stars – associated this star with “mass casualties”. Meanwhile, I noted the Moon’s North Node dangerously close to Alkaid; AKA “The Destroyer Of Nations”. 😯
But my point in explaining all of this is that I hope we will collectively challenge ourselves and work toward getting away from pointing fingers at those from different cultures, ethnicities, religions, etc. and using these events as, quite frankly, a bullshit excuse to support or defend bias. It is concerning to me, for example, that someone like Donald Trump actually has a shot at the presidential seat – what does his negative rhetoric (and the people supporting it) say about the United States? And I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic toward those who are scared, as I do understand we can’t forgo all sensible cautions either by expecting “the flowers [to] protect us” – indeed, it would be tragic if we were to indiscriminately dole out charity, aid, compassion to someone harboring a hidden, twisted ideological framework that could later be used to betray our kindness like the biblical Judas. Tragic because it is preventable provided we don’t rely on blind faith alone to support us. However, once again as the father in the first video above states “there are bad people everywhere”…even at home. Already – look at Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who had lived in the US for 11 years prior to the incident and who had even been put on a watchlist – looks like someone in the government was derelict in their duties there. So what do we do, then – deport everyone? We are a NATION of immigrants, for crying out loud – how would one even begin to determine who is “safe” and who is “a potential threat”? There has to be a balance; a way to help those who most need it without letting our guard totally down…..a way to manage and control irrational, exaggerated fears and a way to have checks and balances in place for the benefit of all so that our good faith and tender hearts also don’t inadvertently wind up causing our own undoing.
Almost a year ago in that same December 2014 newsletter, I said that Saturn in Sagittarius will bring us tests of faith – boy, is it ever. And I think if there were ever a time for all the religious leaders of the world to unite together as one singular voice and denounce anything, it would be now and it would be to speak out strongly against the paradigm of “justified” killing of any stripe so there will eventually be no more “killing in the name of”.
11/20/2015
EmpoweredDestiny.com 