I’ve noticed there has been an interesting trend with Neptune’s passage through Pisces correlating to a marked rise in what I’ve referred to as “pseudo-spirituality”; the *appearance* of something looking or sounding “spiritual” when it’s actually….not.  So often a premise, philosophy, etc. gives off a false glamour – yes, as in the faerie kind – designed to allure; to hypnotize and captivate, but it offers very little to nothing in the way of true substance when broken down.  With Saturn in Capricorn now marching toward its third and final sextile this year w/ Neptune in Pisces (exact on November 8, 2019), cutting the nonsense and separating the real from the bull in this regard is utterly en vogue at the moment.

I’ve written before about how this astrological alignment correlates to a sense of sane & grounded spirituality, but these days  with earth-worship (why hello Saturn; our most terrestrial of planets!) becoming so popular I think we need to differentiate what it means to truly revere the sacred earth rather than just *appear* to worship it.  There are many things that prompt my desire to broach this subject, but the most recent was when I came upon a booth selling things like crystals, incense, and essential oils along with blessed white sage and palo santo at a local country fair.

Why was this triggering, you ask?  Because as of recent there is such a demand within the New Age, contemporary “shamanic”, and neo-pagan communities for these sacred plants they’re now being grossly over-harvested.  How can it be true earth worship if we’re supposedly “all about the plants” and yet using them in our own personal spiritual practice when we’re not doing our due diligence to ensure they’re being sustainably and responsibly harvested? I’m not sure how it got to be this way, either – the fundamental foundations of most earth-based spiritual Paths (whether more in alignment with traditional indigenous ways or neo-pagan lineages) entails making use of what’s available in our local environment and developing a personal relationship with the plants that grow in our own backyard. Why and how have we lost this critically important context?

This is the hazard of people blindly exploring spiritual “trends” while failing to take the time to truly understand the root foundations they are built upon – is it any wonder that people are crying out about appropriation, colonialism, and capitalism in response?  When it concerns spirituality – and far be it from me to police anyone’s personal Path which I believe is something strictly between the individual and Divinity alone – talking the talk is one thing, but walking it is something else entirely.  Anyone can pay lip service to an ideal without actually taking the time and effort to check themselves regarding how they are applying it, and this is something we should all find universally problematic.

With sage plants in particular, what also puzzles me – besides how people have latched onto this herb as if it were the only etheric cleanser available – is why people don’t just grow their own.  Seriously; sage is a hardy perennial in many climates that will grow back year after year – even if it’s too cold in our location to keep it outside all year long, it can be grown in pots and brought inside during the winter months.  We can get years of service out of a single plant if we learn how to take care of it properly. We can even take cuttings off of it to grow whole new plants.  Or just grow it as an annual and harvest & dry it before the cold & snow start blowing.

What’s that; you say you kill every plant you come in contact with?  I realize this is going to be controversial and I certainly don’t mean this in any sort of jerky elitist way, but in all seriousness I do have to be real: Please rethink your spirituality if it revolves around reverence for plants & animals and yet you can’t/won’t tangibly show care for the land; specifically when a plant is being over-commercialized and over-consumed to where it has become a matter of grow your own or do without it.

Again, this is the difference between *saying* one believes in the *ideal* of Nature’s sacredness vs. having such reverence for it that one will bother to educate themselves and actually toil in order to ensure they are authentically walking their talk in this regard. I’ve heard cockamamie pseudo-spiritual ideas like the concept of only eating with one’s hands to get closer to the spirits of the plants we’re consuming, but if we’re *that* concerned about getting spiritually closer to the earth, then instead of focusing on nonsensical things like silverware usage wouldn’t it instead behoove us to learn how to grow a vegetable garden? 🤷‍♀️ It takes time and energy to raise a plant for our own consumption; whether we’re talking organic farm-to-table dining, medicinal usage, sacred smoke cleansing, or as a component of magick.  But the sweat equity we expend preparing and fortifying the soil and raising that plant ourselves both establishes a sense of sacred reciprocity with the earth and gives us a tangible and personal connection to our spirituality that makes that plant’s holy Medicine all the more potent.  While we might not all be green-thumb gardeners, it is important to take the time to learn about our plants and how we use them to – at the bare minimum – ensure we’re living in harmony with the land and our environment as much as humanly possible if our spiritual Path claims to respect Nature.

Regarding Palo Santo, the trees this wood is obtained from are endangered and it should only be harvested when trees or branches die of natural causes.  And while we’re on this subject I should also mention Frankincense resin, which comes from an endangered tree as well. Frankincense is harvested by making cuts in the tree’s trunk and this damage makes it more susceptible to disease &/or predation from pests, which can in turn kill the tree. For both Palo Santo & Frankincense, if we insist upon using then it’s very important we obtain from sources that engage in responsible harvesting practices.  If we can’t find a good ethical source or the carbon footprint involved in getting to our door is massive (which is the case for most of us since the trees only grow in very select locales), then please consider other alternatives.  Remember that both indigenous peoples & pagans the world over have known for thousands of years how to make use of whatever Mother Earth provided in their local environment – we can consult any manual regarding the metaphysical properties of plants and come up with a whole host of potential alternatives that will suit our purposes without doing irreparable harm to the land. The core of any earth-based spirituality is to respect, protect, and live in harmony with flora and fauna and if we’re not doing this where the rubber meets the road, then our spiritual practice isn’t very legit now is it?

10/3/2019

Though we’re now through the first round of the Saturn/Neptune Sextile and its influence will continue to dissipate in the immediate short-term future, we do have two more hits of this energy coming in 2019 so it’s important we continue discussing this energy and what it brings to the table.  Over the last month+ you may have noticed any or all of the following themes coming to the fore in your life, but in addition to what we have already covered regarding this astrological alignment there’s also an aspect of voluntarily surrendering to the yolk of responsibility and making some very “adult” sacrifices somewhere in our lives; partly because we know we “should” and partly because we may see our labor as being in service to an even more important/monumental goal of some kind.

For example, one way this could play out might be through logging in some serious community service hours for free because it looks good on our resume, or maybe because it helps us get our foot in the door in the social services department of a nice secure government job somewhere.  It doesn’t have to play out exactly this way mind you, but there is a very real sense of there being some kind of deferred “payoff” arising from whatever mature sacrifice we might be called to make during this sextile that is both altruistic and yet strategic; something that both serves our 5-year plan AND helps us feel good about our reasons behind whatever we’re giving up.  This oblation has a definite purpose; whether we might see it as a Divine lesson or model (ex: In the spirit of following the teachings of Christ or perhaps another Ascended Master of our choosing), a means for the absolution of difficult karma, or perhaps because there may be a higher or more more spiritualized goal/calling we’re answering by giving something up now.

The point is we are likely to be called to give something up this year – it could be a goal, it could be a dream.  But this is *NOT* defeatist; make no mistake – far from it!!  It’s something purposefully done out of humility, out of a desire to be used in service to Divinity’s Master Plan, and there is indication of a reward for doing so.  Granted this is more of a delayed reward scenario, but Saturn’s gifts are always tangible; especially when it traverses dense and material Capricorn. If you’re sitting there waiting for Divinity to throw you a bone, how about you try reversing your stance and throw Divinity one instead? Don’t resist giving up what you think you *should* be giving up; the tighter you hold when you should be surrendering, the less in alignment with this energy you are and thus your chances of reaping a favorable reward are greatly reduced by staying stuck in this setting during 2019.  Remember, to sacrifice is to make sacred; what would you sanctify through the act of necessary relinquishment this year? While this series of sextiles continues to play out (next hits are in June & November!) it’s time to stop putting it off and suck it up, buttercup; bite the bullet & get on with it instead of trying to postpone the inevitable. You’ll look back on it later and be glad you did.

02/14/2019

Or rather; when Saturn meets Neptune, I should say – yes, this post is a reference to the upcoming sextile between Saturn in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces that is in the process of activating for the first time as we speak!  Though Round 1 of this cosmic alignment doesn’t perfect until the end of January 2019, it will be felt weeks before and after it peaks and it’s beginning to kick into gear now.  You may recall from our previous discussions on this topic there are two more hits of this vibe that will occur in June and November of 2019, but setting these particulars aside for moment let’s talk about what else we can anticipate with this vibe on-scene.

Since Saturn arrived in Capricorn about this time last year, it may have felt like a grind for many of us under this super hardworking vibe.  Yes, we’re productive.  Yes, we’re getting our shit together.  But the hours may have been long, we might have significantly more responsibilities than we’ve previously had in our lives, and we’re generally inclined to get stuck on one setting under this vibe: TCOB Mode.  Needless to say while this energy *is* useful, it’s not exactly what you’d call “fun”; Saturn in Capricorn = hardcore “adulting”.

But something awesome happens when this planet slips into supportive alignment with relaxing, restorative Neptune in Pisces: We ease up.  Neptune in Pisces affords Saturn release and escape; as they always say there’s not enough hours in the day, so why waste them all on workaholism when it doesn’t matter anyway?  For goodness sake, even God rested on the 7th day; why can’t we??  When Saturn in Capricorn synergizes with Neptune in Pisces, the rigid structure of our timelines, plans, and life goals start to soften a little bit so the hard edge comes off and we’re not so freaking uptight and on-deadline all the time.  Yes it’s OK to slack a little bit, because busting your hump 24/7/365 simply isn’t sustainable.  Loosen your necktie; maybe live a little and go business casual for a change.  If you can’t remember the last time you had a day off, call in sick.   Neptune in Pisces gives us permission to take the time off we’ve earned and just sleep in or have a day where we don’t get out of our PJs because we’re binge-watching movies or our favorite TV series on Netflix.

If Saturn in Capricorn is all about control and having things in order, Neptune in Pisces is all about surrender and letting go of the need to have everything all lined up and squared away.  When these two celestial bodies link up as they are about to next month, it’s OK to tap out if/when we’re tired and take 5.  It’s fine not to bust our butts at work for a boss who – when (s)he sees how hard we’re working – just “rewards” us with more work; sometimes there’s merit to pretending a task is more challenging/taking us longer than it is so our competency and efficiency isn’t treated like slave labor.   What’s the sense in burning ourselves out for an imaginary carrot (a raise, promotion, etc.) that we have no tangible proof even exists? It’s OK to throttle back and coast a bit where we can under this energy – we’ll have plenty of time to resume O.D.-ing on Saturn in Capricorn’s ambition when it‘s *not* in helpful alignment with Neptune in Pisces; particularly once it joins up with the South Node (Sept 2019) & then Pluto (Jan 2020).  But for now, maybe figure out when you wanna pencil in time to take that breather.

12/17/2018

As 2018 comes to a close, we’re inching ever closer to the first of three alignments between Saturn in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces; a helpful astrological influence that plays out in tandem with the more problematic effects of the Jupiter/Neptune Square.  While I’ve written about both these cosmic configurations in the aforementioned linked posts, there’s another timely angle I want to discuss about the Saturn/Neptune sextile in particular because I think it will help alleviate challenges for so many of us.

Ever since Saturn entered Capricorn at the end of 2017, many of us have the acute awareness that time is ticking away in some sense. Perhaps we feel the pressure that we don’t have enough time to do x, y, or z in or *with* our lives.  Or maybe we feel it might be “too late” to pursue a given avenue; like a ship has sailed or it’s possible we’re “too old” to do whatever it is.  But with Time God Saturn being augmented by spiritual Neptune throughout most of 2019 (Jan, June, & Nov), the edges soften and the pressure relaxes a bit; all is manifesting in Divine Time if we will only allow it.  It behooves us to challenge what we thought possible to do with our allotted time here on this earth because as this aspect kicks into gear, time starts to flow in a gentler way that’s not as solid and hard as it has been over the past year.  It becomes less linear during these periods and we can start to experience a certain degree of slippage that acts like a grease upon Saturn in Capricorn’s hard cogs.  What if the dial were slowed or even turned back just a bit to allow the possibility of something that you thought was passing/had already passed you by?  What if – going forward into this series of astrological alignments – we anchored ourselves in trust that The Universe has a perfect order in which it orchestrates all things; regardless of whether or not we can understand the rhyme or reason to it?

As this sextile continues to play out on and off through 2019, there really is something to the concept of “What’s meant for you will not pass you” – if there’s something about which we had previously adopted a wistful sense of resignation in sad acceptance of this limitation we know as time, perhaps this energetic influence may be akin to the possibility of having some kind of  “Get out of jail free” card slipped to us where we no longer need to be a prisoner of that particular self-defeating, self-limiting premise.  Now I don’t mean that everything will magically come to us; as I said in the other post, elbow grease will be required.  We can’t just coast on autopilot; we have to recognize the moment(s) when this celestial easement is being granted to us and then get to work making the most of this wrinkle in time!

11/30/2018