| | Life's Greatest Adventure!
| | | | | | Hi Friend,
This month we continue looking at the planets in their role as 'spaceholders', by looking at how Neptune contributes to the conditions that allow for the arising of illumination.
You can read more about the planets and their role as 'spaceholders' in chapter 5 of my book "Soul Astrology" ... enjoy! |
| | Paintings of Christ, Buddha, saints and yogis, often depict them with halos around their heads, and/or emanating light from their bodies. In the above painting we can see rays of light emanating from the buddhas and deities. Source and copyright: Tibetan Mongolian Museum Society
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| Neptune and The Emergence of Illumination
As we continue our series on the planets and their role in the evolution of consciousness we arrive at the stage of illumination. Remember that as we evolve through the levels of instinct > intellect > intuition > illumination and emptiness, each stage is necessary. It's not that we 'lose' our instinct, intellect and intuition, as we move into illumination, but rather that each stage is a vital foundation for what comes next. So by the time we reach the level of the wisdom realising emptiness, we also realise that we are also all of it. We are everything that has gone before. We don't 'transcend' instinct by 'getting rid of it' but rather it becomes integrated into our whole being.
Illumination in the modern sense can often mean explaining something in terms of giving more information or knowledge to "shed light" on a subject, but when we use the word illumination in this sense we are speaking figuratively. We are not literally shining actual light on a subject as though we had a flashlight! In the sense of the evolution of consciousness, when the Tibetan spoke of the illumination stage, he was speaking literally. He was speaking of the stage of spiritual enlightenment when our body, mind, and spirit, becomes filled with actual light that we experience and perceive.
The planet Neptune is the planetary spaceholder for this stage of human evolution. Jampa Shaneman, author of "Buddhist Astrology" has described Neptune as the "spiritualizing" pole. Neptune spiritualises what it touches, because Neptune dissolves everything into the ocean of conscious light. The Universe is of the nature of conscious light, and everything in the known (and unknown) Universe: you, me, Mother Earth and all her vast forests, landscapes, oceans, deserts, and creatures, have emerged from this conscious light and will return to this conscious light.
Neptune was discovered in 1846 by Urbain Le Verrier and Johann Gottfried Galle. We could say the spiritual enlightenment of humanity started in 1846, yet if this is the case, how can it be that there is still so much turmoil, unrest, violence and war on the planet? Neptune is a slow moving planet and actually takes about 165 years to complete one orbit around the Sun, or one complete cycle through each of the twelve zodiac signs. According to the tropical zodiac Neptune was at 25º Aquarius when it was discovered, and completed one cycle by February 10th 2010.
It is important to understand how Neptune 'spiritualises' through a three-step process of illusion, disillusion, and finally illumination. Before we arrive at the exalted state of spiritual illumination and bliss, we have to navigate a long unfolding process of illusion and disillusion. Collectively Humanity experienced a great deal of Neptunian crises in the 165 years between 1846 and 2010 leading to confusion, illusion, deception, the emergence and expansion of chemical and drug use and abuse (both commercially and illicitly).
We may not yet be spiritually enlightened, but collectively we are becoming increasingly aware of deception as we have become aware of fraudulent schemes and 'scams'. We have access to more information, and are both more street-wise and cynical than people of the 1840's. We also have access to more 'tools' of fantasy, addiction, and escapism: drugs, sex, movies, internet, computer games, fantasy games etc. Our capacity to become lost in our own imaginations and delude ourselves, becoming even more detached from reality, has also increased.
It seems that this first cycle of Neptune has led us from illusion into the necessary 'disillusionment' with our leaders, our religions, our societal and governmental structures, so that we will wake up and question what is the real point of our being here at all. Although it might seem far from our spiritual journey, the experiences that Neptune brings are actually an inherent part of it.
Illusion
Before we can experience spiritual bliss, nirvana, and enlightenment, we need to wake up to the reality of our own mind and see what keeps us from it. It is through our own attachments and addictions that we keep ourselves 'locked' into repeating habits of behavior that block our ability to receive and perceive spiritual light. In the early stages of our Neptune experience, Neptune shines a light on how we delude ourselves and block our ability to access the highest vibrations of Neptune: great compassion, unconditional love, and Divine bliss.
One of the most notable examples of our capacity for self-delusion happened exactly at the time of Neptune's discovery in 1846. The Great Famine in Ireland was notable because of the indifference and lack of help on the part of those in power. The worst winter was 1846-1847 (Neptune was discovered in September 1846). Measures that could have been taken weren't, as the British Prime Minister of the time, Sir Robert Peel, deluded himself in a very Neptunian way that this was "Divine" intervention, and that the Irish were "exaggerating". This illustrates our great capacity to delude ourselves that we are doing "God's work" while ignoring the suffering of our human family.
The lower expressions of Neptune - delusion and false belief (illusion) - prevented access to the highest expressions of Neptune: compassion, love, and spiritual nourishment. The great nourishing capacity of spiritual love and compassion is why Neptune is exalted in Cancer. Approximately 1 million lives were lost because those in power were unable to access simple human compassion. Whereas previous famines in history could be conveniently forgotten about, the rise in technology meant that news could spread: so the Irish famine, and the prevailing attitude of the government at the time, has been 'illuminated' - brought to light, and future generations can see the circumstances and brutish attitudes that made a bad situation disastrous. This leads to disillusionment with those to whom we have given power.
Disillusionment
The next stage in the Neptune three-stage process is disillusionment: a necessary disillusionment whereby we lose our 'illusions'. Although disillusionment is uncomfortable for our ego, it is a necessary stage on our spiritual journey. We have to divest ourselves of false beliefs and illusions so that we can begin to recognise spiritual truth. Truth in this sense doesn't mean whether a mental concept or idea is 'true' or 'false' but rather the truth of our reality as spiritual beings and our connectedness as one human family. This means being able to recognise and perceive our inner light.
Illumination
Finally Neptune illuminates. We are already beings of light, and as we divest ourselves of limiting mental concepts our light magnifies to the point where it may even become visible to the naked eye. This is an advanced stage of spiritual development and it is why great saints and yogis are often depicted with halos, because people have witnessed actual light emanating from their bodies. These are not one-off occurrences that only happened hundreds of years ago. Although rare, this advanced stage of spiritual development is still possible today for those who devote themselves to the spiritual path.
A recent example was documented by Catholic priest, Father Francis Tiso, of actual light emanating from Buddhist practitioner Lama A Chö:
"He showed us two photographs taken of him in the dark, and in these photographs his body radiated rays of light."
Scientists have recently been able to photograph people in a dark room, using special cameras that can operate in very low light levels, and even ordinary people have been shown to be emanating some light. See the photographs in this article, "Humans Glow Visible Light"
We are light, and it is under the Neptune stage of our spiritual development that our light magnifies and grows even stronger. Our bodies become filled with light, and eventually become light. Along with this process can come a feeling of great bliss or Divine Rapture. Spiritual masters often caution against getting 'lost' in the bliss. Remember it is possible to get 'stuck' at any stage of our spiritual development, and we can easily become attached to bliss, and not progress to the next stage of our development. Indeed it is attachment to bliss that can keep us stuck at the lower level of our Neptune experience, if we continually chase after alcohol, drugs and other addictions purely for the experience of bliss itself. (There is a distinction between chemically-induced states of bliss and true spiritual experience, which is described beautifully in Steve Taylor's book: "Waking from Sleep").
Bliss is not the end result. It is merely a side-effect of illumination, as our body fills with light and prepares us for the next stage of our spiritual development: emptiness. So we can see that throughout humanity, the conditions for human advancement into illumination and light are held in place by the activities of Neptune: the spaceholder for the illumination level of our development. |
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That's all for now! Next month we will conclude this series by looking at the role of Pluto, the spaceholder for the emptiness stage of human evolution... In the meantime... happy exploring!
Best Wishes,
Ruth
PS You can read more about the role of Neptune in Chapter 5 "The Planetary Spaceholders" in my book " Soul Astrology"... | | Soul Astrology How Your Rising Sign Reveals Your Soul Path and Life Purpose
by Ruth Hadikin
“Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” are the biggest questions that you will ever ask yourself as you walk though this journey of life. The answers are hiding in plain sight and can be revealed through your birth chart. You just need to know how to look, and this book is about to tell you...
Drawing upon Esoteric Astrology, the Greek myth of Hercules, and ancient principles from spiritual masters, the author describes the journey of your Soul through the twelve signs of the Zodiac. This book offers a way of using your birth chart to answer life's big questions by recognizing the energy that you were born with and how it is wanting to be expressed in this lifetime.
For lovers of astrology, Soul Astrology is a powerful addition to your toolbox for your ongoing journey of spiritual awakening.
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| | | | Ruth Hadikin, B.Sc. specializes
in the science of Soul Astrology, as applied to living our Soul Path
and Life Purpose. She is dedicated to supporting people to live from the
Soul in 'Life's Greatest Adventure'. |
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