The Big “Let Go.”

On February 4th Neptune leaves Aquarius and enters Pisces ---i.e. the watery planet enters the watery sign it rules. And it will stay there for 16 years.

If you’re feeling a little spacier, blame it on Neptune going into Pisces. If you want to spend too many hours a day at the computer or on Facebook or just hanging out or watching television or staring at the wall, blame Neptune in Pisces. On the other hand, if you find yourself (surprisingly) ready to let go of something – a person, a behavior, a serious issue – something in your life that was driving you nuts until now, thank Neptune in Pisces. If you’re finding new love in your life – or an old one is changing to something that’s still “love” but different – that’s a Neptune gift. And if you are more incensed at what’s wrong with the world and KNOW you need to work toward changing it right now -- you can give some of the credit to the higher consciousness that goes with Neptune in Pisces (the rest of the credit goes to Uranus in fiery Aries).

With a major shift like this you may be going through shifts yourself around (1) your important relationships (2) your career (3) your environment – and likely you had some hints that this was happening back last spring when Neptune began this move.

But doesn’t this sound too familiar? Haven’t our lives been changing drastically for a while now? ` Since we’ve had not one, not two but three major planet shifts in three years (Pluto moved into Capricorn in November 2008, Uranus into Aries March of 2011 and now Neptune into Pisces) the answer is yes, so don’t be surprised if you’re a little shell shocked and wondering whether there’s more to come. The good news is -- no more “major” planet changes until 2018! The other news is that until then – the combination of these three planets in three potent fire, earth and water signs can mean anything goes -- change (either way), unexpected eruptions, continued economic challenges – but that will be on a global level. And while life may stay complicated in the coming years, at least Neptune moving into Pisces may help to lower our anxiety level around it.

If you’re letting go of something you love – but you know has to go, will you get something back? Yes. With this transit it may be as simple as more peace in your life, or greater acceptance, or the energy to follow a new vision or opportunity in your life.

But...What should I DO?

But shouldn’t you “do” something? Not necessarily – or at least not right away. Because Neptune is moving into the sign it rules – and they’re both about water -- “letting go” here follows the go-with-the-flow model and the Taoist principal applies. Let go, do nothing (in an aware fashion), stay centered, allow yourself to be in transition, and eventually everything that needs to be done will become apparent. In Taoist theory, perfect action flows from perfect acceptance. ( And if it’s an action you’re meant to take...the energy will be fueled by Uranus in Aries.)

All of the above is about the magnified “water” traits of Neptune in Pisces on a personal level – traits like being spacey or avoidant, letting go of things more easily, or like Taoists, “removing” obstacles simply by allowing ourselves to float down the stream and around the rock…instead of into it.

The Real Revolution Is….

A second “trait” of Neptune is that it’s the “higher consciousness” version of Venus. Everyone knows that Venus is the planet of love. When we fall in love with Joe or Jane, it’s Venus working on a one-on-one “in love” basis. Neptune is about the higher plane of love -- the love of mankind, unconditional love of all – all those “loves” that we work toward on the spiritual path. As Neptune enters Pisces –you can also think of it as the planet of unconditional love entering the sign of unconditional love, instead of where we’ve been for the past 14 years – with Neptune working its way through Aquarius -- the sign of enlightenment by insight.

The last decade and a half has been mental and insight driven when it came to spiritual learning. The next decade and half will be about internalizing all those things you learned, bringing them to heart level, and -- well, to put it bluntly -- executing the idea of opening your heart without all the thought process.

You’ve been sitting at the feet of Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, the Dalai Lama, and a whole list of other teachers for years now. What have you learned? Go ahead and keep taking courses if you like – but it’s also time to get out of the classroom and see how much you’ve internalized and how it works if you just live your life as opposed to studying it. Who do you love? How do you love? And how do bring your vision of love into the world? .

Everybody knows that learning to love everyone unconditionally (and that includes people you don’t like) isn’t something that happens easily or overnight -- it can take lifetimes (which would be one good reason to hope that reincarnation exists) and the people who can really put that into practice now are highly evolved beings – not the majority. Since we’re collectively an unevolved species, on a global level, most of humankind’s past transits of Neptune through Pisces have been spent do heartwork toward that point of universal love and acceptance – as a species and culture (a point which is most likely still far in the future.)

In each Neptune-Pisces transit we work at whatever level we are. Since this transit happens once every 150 years or so, we have a long stretch of learning other lessons before we return to this particular classroom. And since this is the last “classroom” (house) it’s the end of the cycle – it’s where every other lesson we’ve learned over the past 150 years is applied. So yes, in the end, it really is all about love.

We've Been Here Before?

To understand how this works, the last time Neptune passed through Pisces was 160 years ago -- from 1847 to 1861. And yes, we were working on unconditional love. In the United States we were living through a pretty tense time – arguing about the pros and cons of slavery that led up to the Civil War. At first glance, how can you say this was about unconditional love? But it was! A whole group working toward unconditional love now demanded that we treat slaves like humans – with rights no less! That was a huge step toward universal love and acceptance.

The whole thing might have been left at the “nice idea” point and floated along without anything happening, but Uranus in Aries was in the mix then -- as it is now. And that fire energy drove us forward to actually do something about those highest spiritual beliefs. So the “light” (anti-slavery) movement took on the “dark” side that opposed spiritual evolution. This was a rare war – although it was in part an economic war it also had strong roots in the fight for justice. And the light side eventually won.

This gives you some idea as to where we were collectively on the path. But did those “light” people have the ability to love all people unconditionally? Ex-slaves included? Maybe there were a few people then at the point of truly considering “colored people” equals and showering them with unconditional love – but it was certainly not the majority. But still – all of the work around abolishing slavery was about moving toward a greater ability of mankind to love itself.

160 years later – much of the world calls slavery barbaric and immoral, so we’ve come a long way on that issue in this cycle. But, really, how much closer are we to true unconditional love of each other? Take a look around and it’s obvious, we’re still in kindergarten. But look at what’s “suddenly” happening! As we move into Neptune in Pisces, this time around, instead of fighting slavery there’s a global movement called “Occupy Wall Street” trying to change the unequal distribution of resources. It’s about treating people fairly and giving everyone a chance to have enough resources to eat, work and have a decent life. And if that isn’t working toward universal love, what is?

So we are getting there. The point is not whether it happens in this lifetime or a thousand years – the point is to keep working on it -- on both a personal level and global one -- own your issues, work on them, try to understand the other, reduce conflict on a personal level, and if you’re so moved, join whatever local or global cause you feel will help change the world so we are better able to “love” in a global sense. (Note that on a global level conflicts like the Civil War that support our spiritual evolution may be inevitable for quite a long time – especially in the Aquarian Age.)

We Learned This A While Ago...

2000 years ago a well known avatar said: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” And he meant in every way. Give him the shirt off your back, he said, the food off your table, and don’t freak out when he disses you. Treat him/her the way you want to be treated. 2000 years later and how much progress have we made on this point? Not as much as we might like, but quite a bit. For one thing when somebody does something wrong we no longer draw and quarter them and put their heads on pikes to display them outside the town walls. And that is evolution.

Look at the big picture with astrology and it’s easy to see we’ve come a long way and still have a long way to go toward “enlightenment.” Most of us have the ability to love some people unconditionally to some degree, and some are even expert in their ability to practice unconditional love for just about everyone – including their enemies. All of us “working on it” affect the present and future in a “quantum” fashion. You affect two friends, who affect two more friends, or as many friends as you can (and you affect them most just by having unconditional love for them.) Think Dalai Lama. We really can make a difference by working on it…even if we can’t see it.

In a while (that could be in a couple of weeks, or in a decade or half a century) we’re sure to go through another period of chaos and war. But even through that, the ripple effect of those who work on expanding their ability to accept and love – past and present - remains and carries that energy forward. And the next time Neptune goes into Pisces – somewhere around 2180? Maybe our future selves will shake our heads at the “barbaric” behavior of “those people” (us) who thought it was okay to hoard money and resources (called “wealth” in 2012) just as we shake our heads at the thought that slavery was considered okay in 1847.

Astrology is great for gaining not just perspective but some patience about our spiritual evolution. Things. Take. Time. A long time. Centuries. Sometimes eons. Giving new meaning to the Sufi saying “You are not responsible for the fruits of your labor. You are only responsible for the labor.” So go ahead. For our future selves – personal and planetary – go out there and do your job. It’s as simple as love.

(Thanks to Kim Rome for her idea/thought/energy and slogan “The Real Revolution Will Be Love.”)