Neptune and the Great Galactic Cycle
Neptune, the distant, large and beautiful blue planet, is the ruler of the zodiac sign Pisces. Pisces is said to be the most spiritual of all signs, however much misunderstanding and confusion is associated with it as well, and perhaps especially so because of its spiritual connotation.
Neptune symbolizes our spiritual impulse to be one with the Source. Since this Source is who and what gives and sustains life in general, Neptune and Pisces also symbolize the human experience of life on Earth.
Humanity, however, in its eager efforts to spiritualize its experience, seems to have lost respect for life itself. We have adopted an attitude that all life on Earth is here to serve us. What are the larger, cosmic forces behind this development? Can the planets direct us to a way back to our natural spirituality and balanced way of life?
For the past 2000 years the influence of the Piscean age has prevailed in our universe. It is associated with faith, spiritual belief and the religion of Christianity. Around 500 B.C.E. (before current era), the Essene culture was established in the Middle East region to usher in the new way of living and thinking we now know as the Christian religion. Through the natural progression of the zodiacal eras, two thousand five hundred years later we find ourselves in the 500 year time span preceding the Aquarian age. Sometimes referred to as the New Age, this movement heralds yet another new way of thinking, living and cultivating spirituality. Most prominently, the New Age embraces many different methods and pathways to experience union with the Source. It is based on tolerance and acceptance, knowing and experiencing, rather than believing.
The Piscean age on the other hand is characterized by the belief in “one and only way.” This is true not only for the Christian religion, but for other contemporary religions as well. The religion becomes the excuse for much inhumane treatment of others who do not believe in the one way the dominant religious group dictates. The Christian Inquisition of the medieval times is one example; women being stoned to death for having gotten pregnant out of wedlock in certain Islamic countries even today is another. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ and Osama Ben Laden’s crusade on September 11, 2001 fit this category as well. Of course, these acts of violence are not seen as such by those who commit them, but as an act of cleansing, correcting or improving those who are “wrong.” The most unspeakably cruel crimes in recorded history seem to have been committed in the name of blind faith in this punishing God.
We are living in a time/space-based universe where everything manifests through opposite polarities such as hot and cold, night and day, soft and hard, etc. This is also reflected in a succession of polar forces called the great galactic cycle which we are a part of here on Earth. Picture this cycle, which takes 24,000 years to complete, as an indefinitely alternating sequence of expansion (light) and contraction (dark). When we enter the light phase of this cycle, we see reflected the refined spiritual nature of human consciousness. In the dark phase, we perceive gross materialism.
The Piscean age we are leaving behind coincides with the darkest and most materialistic phase within the great galactic cycle. It is dark because the cycle’s polarity has been at its maximum contraction preventing human consciousness to see beyond perception on a material level. Tolerance for differences has been minimal and as mentioned above, much injustice and violence has been committed under the banner of religion.
Human consciousness has been influenced greatly by this darkness, the rise to power worldwide of Western materialism being its prime example. However, we are now in an ascending phase, which is why there is also such a dawning awareness of spiritual values today on the planet. The law of opposites is apparent here. Just like the seasons on our planet Earth which cycle between extremes of winter and summer, the ascending and descending galactic epochs of light and dark obey the laws of polarity.
The Dark Ages
During the peak of the last dark era around 500 C.E. (current era), there was no country on the planet in peace; all people were obeying the law of gross materialism only. Human intellect had lost its power to grasp knowledge of spirit and divine magnetism, as well as an awareness of the energetic nature of all life. In the ensuing centuries, human consciousness has slowly grasped just an initial understanding of the teachings on the electromagnetic nature of the universe. It is important to understand that we are at the very beginning of this development, and that over many millennia to come humanity will be progressing towards the full esoteric knowledge of the light of spiritual awakening. We can see this in the many techniques of energy healing now being popularized and explored. Modern sciences such quantum physics and chemistry have also converged with the metaphysical sciences in understanding the energetic nature of our universe.
However the power of the human intellect to fully grasp the principles of universal magnetism is limited as we are still very close to the darkest point in the great galactic cycle. The polarity of maximum light lies approximately 11,000 years in the distant future. Apart from people living in isolated indigenous cultures around the planet, the human way of life in today’s world is heavily influenced by the patriarchal concepts of greed, self-interest and exploitation which rose to power during the Capricorn subage within the age of Cancer around 6500 B.C.E., and coincides with the demise of matriarchal culture. There is no other creature on this planet which kills for greed, power, religion nor any reason other than immediate survival needs such as food, territory and protection of their young.
With humans, however, most of our wars have been fought to implement the agendas of greedy or fanatical men in power whose heart centers have been shut down by the repression of their emotional bodies. The patriarchies of modern societies have embraced religions which worship the sky gods and esteem mental and spiritual qualities, while suppressing the physical, emotional and sexual dimensions of the previous earth-based goddesses and religions. This repression of the senses has led to the development of an undefined sense of guilt and shame in the psyche of modern human beings rooted in the inherent nature of these emotions and sexual desires. This unnatural, conditioned guilt is expressed through either a pattern of atonement through unnecessary suffering, or through behaviors of hurting and punishing others out of the same sense of guilt and repression. Both of these patterns can be closely linked to religious thinking and principles of original sin, punishment and atonement.
The Blue Light of Neptune
The planet Neptune and its corresponding sign Pisces symbolize idealism, perfection and as mentioned earlier, our spiritual impulse to be one with the Source. Since the Source in our polarized universe contains both the principles of light and dark, this suggests that the origin of life itself (the Source) is “imperfect,” always evolving. Nothing is perfect within our manifest universe. This concept is foreign, not to mention sacrilegious, from the viewpoint of modern, Piscean religions. However, through observation of the natural forces and cycles it becomes clear that perfection is a human invention serving to elevate some qualities and degrade others. The need for perfection can be viewed as the fear of insecurity and an artificial way of controlling life. It is not possible to embrace life without darkness. Jesus himself said: "May the one who is free from sin cast the first stone."
Neptune symbolizes the idealism in thinking that there is a perfect way to do and have things. Herein lies the attitude of self-righteousness and disrespect for those whose ways differ, as well as the contemptuous exploiting attitude that nature is here to serve us. This is the result of our limited view of the Source. The real challenge is to make an effort to collaborate with the true Source and evolve towards the light and all that is compassionate and benevolent.
The search for a better way of living together is an honorable cause. Evolution is the metamorphosis of limitations and the collaboration of our human effort with the creative universe. From a natural point of view there is no hierarchy and all things are coordinated equally. This is why seeing life within natural rhythms and interrelated patterns is the way to heal the scars of this predicament of idealism and perfection. Awareness of the great galactic cycle may help us to accept the darkness that seems to have overcome this planet on a global level. It may give us a sense of trust that divine manifestation is indeed at work. Instead of blaming the world’s global ills on others, we can become helpful and work toward creating a better world in a step by step process ourselves. Practical, everyday forgiveness and tolerance become the vehicle to transcending our own and other people’s shortcomings, rather than critical judgement, guilt and blame. Here is where Neptune, the planetary spiritual powerhouse, taps the depths of human experience to make deep and lasting impressions on the evolution of the human race.
Katharina Wehrli is a practicing and teaching evolutionary astrologer, body worker and yoga teacher. She can be reached at 508.651.2648 or through her website at www.earthlit.com. Katharina is the contact person for a course with the internationally known evolutionary astrologer and teacher Maurice Fernandez entitled “Neptune and the Archetype of Pisces” June 19-22 in the Boston area.
