Astrology Day 2011 SF

Despite the pouring rain, the early hour and the fact that I still had a cold hanging on...I made it to the 2011 Astrology Day event in San Francisco. Thankfully, I had made arrangements to get a ride, so I didn't even have to drive and sharing expenses 3 ways, bringing my lunch and the fact that they had no books for sale (ha! ha!) made it even better.
My favorite talk was the keynote address by Steven Forrest titled: "Bring on the Human Future" He covered Uranus square Pluto, Jupiter opposing Saturn, the Cardinal Cross and as usual, did not pull any punches. Said it straight, but as also usual, with humor and humanity. Forrest is a master of saying even the hardest stuff in a way that makes it palatable, even funny.

He said that with all the hard astrological challenges, its easy to forget Neptune, which will go into its own sign, Pisces on April 4. Neptune is one of the BIG PLAYERS in the astrological game too! But Neptune's message is so different from all the rest that is happening.

Neptune's cycle is 165 years long, so Neptune remains in a sign for 13/14 years. Forrest said that during this transit, "escapism will be raised to an art form" and that "virtual reality will provide an easy escape from a
worsening reality". On the other hand he said, "there will be a massive leap in consciousness", and that "the angels will notice that even the most hard-hearted people will have moments when they are gazing at a rose
in wonder." We will be in the "collective well of magic", and that we will all have greater metaphysical experiences," no matter who we are. This sound great to me!

He went on to give a brief history of Neptune in Pisces in human culture, saying that typically during Neptune in Aquarius, "the magic drained out of the metaphor" and the old systems were dry and empty. Because the people were starving, the ground was fertile  for a new message. The Qur'an speaks of this in the same way. "We sent a messenger from among you..."

When Neptune went into Pisces, what often happened was that there was "a visitation of energy" and a new "(spiritual) teacher appeared with the juice bringing in magic and transformation". He equates this to returning
"back to the Well of Life". But he also quoted someone as having said: "Religion makes good people better and bad people worse." So there you are.

According to the Dalai Lama, "the world is drunk on anger", and Forrest says there is one thing on which ALL people of the world including Sara Palin (not sure if it's spelled right and I don't really care) and any terrorist would agree: "everything sucks and it cannot continue like this!" ha! ha! so true....I love Steven Forrest!!

We can certainly see that we are at a log jam, everything seems to be falling apart and most of us feel a loss of meaning in life. Forrest says that at times like these, the Universe will answer and there will be a spiritual renewal.

He says that this past year when the movie, Avatar came out, correlated to when Jupiter made a short ingress into Pisces before going retrograde back into Aquarius. It reminded people of the time when we were connected to Nature and to each other on a deep psychic level. It touched that memory within us. Forrest mentioned an article in Psychology Today, January 2010, (which I have yet to read, but will look for) that says there was a high incidence of suicidal thought reported in the population as people realized what they had lost and thought gone forever.

This was a taste of what is coming. Forrest said that Neptune's ingress into Pisces on April 4 for four months, before it turns retrograde then direct again, will give us a preview of what we will be experiencing for the next 14 years.

I think we will go through a period of deep grieving - which has already begun - for the death and destruction that has been wrought by our human greed, ignorance, jealousy, possessiveness and insensitivity. We need to
do this. We need to mourn the dead. We need to cry out in anguish. We cannot stuff it and cover it up with drugs, alcohol or any other pain-killer. We need to feel this pain so that we will know we are still human
beings with hearts. As the Sufis say...."the Sufi is the one with a broken heart". Only when we have admitted what we have done, will this thing be over and we can begin to heal and change. This is the basis of all therapy, AA groups, confession etc. We have to take responsibility for the pain we have caused others.

Another presenter at Astrology Day, Ralfee Finn, got us all in tears when she showed the picture of that little dog who stayed with his dog friend until he could get help. She labeled the picture "The Hero", showing us
the model of what we need to aspire to - love, service, - whatever it takes to help our fellow beings in need. Here's link to that video. Not sure if will work, but you can try.

Neptune's 'power' on the collective and on the personal level is most potent when it is in it's own sign. If you have Pisces in the your 12th house, lucky you! You will get the maximum benefit of Neptune in Pisces!

In general, Neptune dissolves whatever it touches.... often leading to confusion and a sense of being lost.
Neptune deals with the realm of the invisibles and connects us to the Infinite, the Source of being. It is the planet of mystics and artists, musicians, poets, dreamers. It rules the imagination, the dream world.
For those who love this part of life, it is delightful. For those who fear it, it is strange, uncomfortable and unreal.

It is amazing to me how this corresponds to the end date of the Mayan Long Count calendar period of 5,125 years. In the Popol Vuh, the Creation myth of the Maya, the world has been created and destroyed by the Gods, who originally created beings so that they could be praised. Each creation failed to do so, partly because in the form they were in, they could not. It can be viewed as a set up because they were destroyed due to something they were incapable of doing: could not praise because they could not talk for example.

However, our form has the ability to praise and yet it does not, because it 'forgets' or 'looses interest', 'gets
distracted by life', whatever. So...we could be destroyed. Perhaps we, too, are not capable of praising God.

By the way, the Aztec stories say this creation ends by 'movement' that is, earthquake.

If what has been going on in the world has not gotten your attention, you are indeed beyond the pale. How many people have prayed lately who have not ever prayed in their lives? How many have cried at the sight of dead people, whales, birds, dogs, children? God/Gods are doing whatever they can to wake us up to the spiritual side of life, which actually lies at the base of everything.

Another interesting thing in the Mayan story is that Creation comes from the 'watery world below' which is seen at the night sky when the worlds are reversed - and is often depicted as the sea and its creatures. This
corresponds to the first presentation entitled "2011 and Beyond: A Brave New World Emerging from the Sea", by Dale O'Brien.

Last, but not least, the one text we have which speaks directly about the up coming completion of 13 baktuns (12/21/2012) says that the nine gods (the nine lords of the night) will descend (from the night sky - read watery world - read ocean) to the place of transformation (a type of sweat house). The rest of the text is either missing or destroyed.

My guess is that we will have a visitation from beyond that will assist us in our evolution to the next level.  As Ralfee Finn said, "not everyone succeeds on the hero's journey. Some don't survive the descent. Some are
dismembered."

My feeling is that ultimately, we will all make the hero's journey, survive it and come back with our gift. Maybe not in this lifetime, but eventually, just because we were created. That is the proof. There are
those who don't want to do the inner work this time. That's okay. This is where FREE WILL comes in.

For more on 2012 go see my Maya blog

For more on the conference and healing go see my herb blog.

A great explanation of Neptune Transits through the houses can be found at Cafe Astrology