As it reaches the end of its ride through Sagittarius, the Sun forms an overcoming square to Neptune in Pisces this week. The aspect perfects on Dec 18 at 6:28AM PT at 27° of the respective signs.
As the final sign of autumn, Sagittarius season falls during the days of deepest darkness, when the chaotic energy of night reaches its zenith. Into surging shadow gallops a lone rider with a torch aflame and a quiver of arrows. Kindling a light to spite the void, Sagittarius is the determination of the human spirit to summit any obstacle, complete any quest, and achieve the highest potential no matter the cost. This is the ardent energy carried by the Sun as its lambent rays strike the mists of Neptune.
To explain the diffuse and enigmatic nature of Neptune, we resort to metaphors of liquidity, describing it as an ocean or fog because like water it is difficult to grasp. Being the archetypal planet of the sublime, the spiritual, the transcendent, and imaginative, Neptune is definitionally mysterious. Strange forms dart through its mists, defying distinction. Language fails to encompass Neptune’s nature just as the slippery nature of symbols makes them impossible to fully explain using linear, discursive speech. Dreams can be recounted, but are rarely satisfactorily explained.
Under Sun-Neptune aspects, the solar spotlight is shone upon the story-based substrate underlying reality. From an archetypal perspective, stories and their larger-than-life characters are more ontologically real than ordinary people. For instance, consider how many people know who Frodo Baggins then consider how many people know who you are. Stories and potent characters can achieve a state of immortality and meta-relevance that is impossible for the average person.
Moreover, it is the potency of stories that animate our day-to-day lives. We are often unaware of the stories we are enacting, but each of us in our daily decisions demonstrate which metanarrative we are participating in. Divination, properly understood, is an attempt to get clear on those narratives. What are the themes running through your life? What are the recurring motifs? Which archetypes are at play?
In this way, the dreamworlds of Neptune are not so distant. Our investment in stories is affirmed every time we experience resonance with a particular character and feel that our experience is re-presented to us. We engage the Imaginal whenever we daydream, casting our mind towards various potentials lying further down the timeline. We fish for possibilities, feeling into reality as it unfolds. But the illusory nature of Neptune ensures this process contains some danger. All too easily we can become wrapped up in falsehoods, half-truths, pseudo-religions, and delusions of grandeur. Is your reality tunnel based on what you wish is true or what is actually true?
Notably, this square is occurring across the Jupiterian signs of Sagittarius and Pisces. In the traditional domicile rulership scheme, the domiciles of the Greater Benefic bound those of the Greater Malefic. Saturn’s domiciles of Capricorn and Aquarius are sandwiched between Jupiter’s. In this way, the paths into and out of Saturnland belong to Jove. And Jupiter, above all, desires to provide coherence and integration.
The Winter Solstice is imminent. As we prepare to enter the cold and dry territory of Saturn, I’m thinking of the stories, songs, and rites that mark this time of year. In this season, a wide variety of traditions and cultures all celebrate festivals of light because when it is dark we must make our own light. With winter coming, ask yourself which stories and rituals give you strength to make it through the coldest season. What are the narratives that illumine and inspire you?
Today’s musical inspiration is “Into the Mist” by Windfaerer out of Elizabeth, NJ. Playing a form of blackened folk metal that somehow balances aggression with sheer beauty, Windfaerer occupies a particular musical sweet spot for me personally. Thematically, black metal often focuses on history, worship of the natural world, and a nostalgia for times long past. But few artists can sonically convey the pathos of that nostalgia. Somehow Windfaerer does just that. Today’s track comes from their 2021 album Breaths of Elder Dawns, a record stacked with gorgeous instrumental textures. The foregrounding of strings laid down by violinist Benjamin Karas are particularly compelling, stirring the heart for the entire hour-long runtime. If you like anguish and atmosphere, be sure to check ‘em out and support their work!