99. good day to die

You are here, at the precipice of years of fire. You are here, boots on the ground, called to a new initiation. 
You are here, witnessing as Neptune and Saturn move into Aries, in a dance unlike anything that has happened in our lifetime, in the first 3 degrees of cardinal fire, a configuration that has not been since 556 BCE. 

The cosmos is speaking, sending you a reminder that while you are part of the Allness of Being, the Oneness that pervades everything, you are not only the ocean - you are the vital drop of water that can quench the thirst of your soul, and perhaps, in a way, the only drop you can find to drink in a vast desert wasteland. It sounds hopeless, but here's the magic catch: once you discover yourself to be the water, you will never go thirsty again.

Boots on the ground for Life, the stars say, because what you do as an individual matters. If you want a positive new beginning or a paradigm shift, you will have to create it yourself.

Greetings to you, member of the spiritually gifted and talented program, you who are reading this solely because you are living an engaged and examined life.

Welcome to you, who are not content to accept prescribed or predictive spirituality, on the contrary, you are consciously aware of the co-creative nature of perception, and through it, your own responsibility to shape ‘reality’ as you know it.

Salutations to you, who are only here reading this because of your own deep, passionate, relentless interest in your own souls evolution.

Let us speak of what's to come in the 13 years ahead, but first, let's look back.

What has been your spiritual journey since Neptune arrived in Pisces in 2012? What was that chapter for you? 

In what way was it a story of delusion and illusion, deception and realization, becoming the divine hotline of intuition, recognizing your interconnectedness with all beings, seeing the face of God in yourself and others, and experiencing an ego dissolution?

In what way was it a story of fantasy and glamour, of waking up to the universality of suffering and the importance of compassion, whilst also getting a fucking wake up call about boundaries, escapism, addiction and self-harm? Did you meet yourself as God and find yourself an infinitesimal speck all at once? Did you float in an ocean of grief, directionless and drifting, until you learned to navigate by feel or second sight?

The world of our five senses is not the totality of being. This intelligence is the awareness afforded to us by Neptune when we speak of it as ruler of spirituality. It reminds us that there are far more possibilities, probabilities, actualities and factualities in existence than we can grasp in our hands. It speaks of subtle realms, multiplicity of truths and perspectives, alternate realities, different dimensions, and an expansive, boundless, shape shifting quality of consciousness that is accessed in dreams, visions, and the imagination. 

Neptune is the planetary archetype which blurs fantasy and reality, and in blurring them softens the membrane between worlds so that divine creativity can slip through and make art which builds new worlds.

So now we know this intimately, more of the way in which we are weaving the fabric of reality through our own perception, imagination and projection. 

Knowing this, we stand upon a new threshold - Neptune in Aries, for the next 13 years.

What is open with Neptune in Aries is a new spiritual path forward. It is not for the faint of heart, but rather the path of the warrior. To be a warrior implies that we are preparing, training, practicing and yes, perhaps even engaging in warfare.

With what or whom depends on each of us, but to come face to face with Neptune in Aries means we face the spiritual aspect of ourselves - and existence - which is willing to stand up, to face adversity, to fight for survival, for creation, for Life.

In the years ahead, those of fire and air, what we all called to stand watch for, remain vigilant towards, or attend mindfully to, is the way in which many people will become lost in a Neptunian haze to fear and panic. 

Phobos and Deimos are the two moons of Aries’ planetary ruler Mars, and the two moods of the shadow of Neptunes transit here.

Phobos - fear.

What is fear when we transmute it - when we see it, feel it, and act anyway? Courage. 

Deimos - panic.

What is panic when we alchemize it? When we sense it, name it, and move it differently? Decisive action.

See, these are Neptunian processes too - transmutation and alchemy. Those ways of energetic shapeshifitng which dissolve one thing into goo, and from it, birth another thing closer to a divine ideal (or so we think).

For every spiritual warrior, the ultimate battle is with fear itself. “Fear is the mind killer.” Fear has intelligence, which is to help us observe threats, to assess for safety and ultimately aim to keep us alive. But fear, in trying to help us avoid suffering, discomfort, or the unknown, also pulls us out of the present moment, destroys mindfulness (being fully with what is), and may rob us of the opportunity to practice presence and grow beyond our perceived limitations.

Yet without fear, we cannot - rather, it is impossible to become more brave. In a sense, as the soul evolves and becomes more courageous, more willing to look at its own wholeness, scary stuff becomes a necessity.

How can we meet our shadow without facing fear in the face?
How can we become whole without meeting our shadow?

The years ahead are an invitation to put on the armor of your divine strength, to embrace courage and decisive action as a philosophy, ideal, and perhaps even religion. 

Neptune in Aries says: I am willing to feel the fear. I am willing to face the shadow. I am willing to act. I am willing to decide. I am willing to die for this. I am willing to LIVE. 

I AM WILLING.

What would you die for? This is a question asked by Neptune in Aries. What are the causes for which you would be willing to offer your life? What do you believe in that is bigger than yourself? What would you stand for, even at the risk of your own extinction?

Do you have something in your life - a belief, cause, or love - for which you would willingly die? This does not mean twisting this into the shadow of the blood myth which sheds your life for a dollar, for a nation, for a particular politic.

But imagine for a moment the emptiness of saying no - no, there is nothing on Earth, nothing in life, nothing in existence I would die for.

Do you want to live in a world in which you - this body, persona, ego, is the be-all and end-all of what you’ll live for?

Maybe I do. Maybe you do. 

No right answer, that’s up to you.

Somewhere between dying for the cause and having something so beautiful it’s worth living for is the essence and wisdom of Neptune in Aries.

Feel that for a moment.

We are moving towards spiritual breakthroughs which require courage.

We are moving towards real, embodied, living and breathing shadow work. If we don’t face the things inside of ourselves we are afraid of, we will project them out into the world and attack them.

Speak up. Stand up. Take action. Walk the walk. Keep one foot in the world. Call out harm when you see it. Protect and defend those less protected than yourself. Be willing to fight for what is right, as you see it with your second sight.

We will be called to protect something that matters to us. It will be scary to do so. The awareness cultivated during the water years will now move into the world through righteous action. We will be asked to DO SOMETHING with the spiritual gifts we hold.

There is a paradox here: Be a warrior, but do not be attached the outcome of war. Take a stand on righteous anger but do not hold onto your anger or your belief in your own righteousness.

We must watch for being consumed by fury, especially at a broad swath of people who represent something we swear does not exist within ourselves.

We must watch for allowing fear and futility to turn fury inwards and fester into suicidal ideation or paralyzing self-loathing.

We are invited to learn what it means to us to live the adage: It’s a good day to die.

Realizing you could die today, how will you live today?