Astrology: No Thing is For Ever

A post by Jane Lewis

In the coming weeks there will be four planets in Pisces, starting with a triple conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Neptune which will morph into a Mars-Neptune conjunction. Venus, ruler of Taurus, is in exaltation and will enjoy merging with the vibration of Jupiter and Neptune, making an extremely watery combination.  

One way or another, humanity will be swept on a tidal wave of emotion and would do well to hold fast to the knowledge that, however wonderful or dreadful, all transits are by their very nature transitory and do not last for ever.  

As such, they offer windows of opportunity when we can learn from experience and take conscious action that is directed by Love -Wisdom which has the potential to awaken souls to the peace that passeth all understanding. 

Being the last zodiac sign, Pisces contains all things and encompasses the very best and very worst, the highs and the lows, joy and suffering.  

Traditionally, Neptune was said to signify the Saint and the Sinner, and the associated twelfth house used to be called the house of self-undoing, referencing the fact that rebirth into spirit is preceded by physical and psychological breakdown, a death of sorts.  

The same symbolism is celebrated at Easter time in the crucifixion, death and resurrection story of Jesus.

Whenever major conjunctions form in the skies astrologers look back in history to see what events took place at previous occurrences in order to glean insights into the meaning of the present.  

Curiously, the last time when Venus, Jupiter and Neptune were together in Pisces was in 1856 at the signing of the Treaty of Paris which ended the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire.  

The war was a humiliating defeat for Russia and put an end to the Tsar’s expansionist dreams by forcing the re-opening of Black Sea ports to international trade.

Back in 2018 at the time of the Uranus ingress into Taurus, astrologers widely predicted crises in farming and agriculture, and we are now facing the prospect of famine and serious threats to global  food security as a consequence of restricted grain exports from Russia and Ukraine.  

The solar eclipse on 30^th April this year in the 11^thdegree of Taurus conjoins Uranus.  Uranus was in this same degree at the start of the Crimean War in October 1853 and again at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24^th February this year. 

Venus, Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces is symbolic of boundless blessings pouring down from heaven, so amidst the terror and turmoil on the ground humanity can nevertheless be understood as going through a major spiritual initiation. God works in mysterious ways.  

With Neptune in the mix, human comprehension is likely to be shrouded in mists of confusion arising from the fundamental duality of earth life.  Duality consciousness sees things in terms of polarity, either/or way of thinking in terms of mutual exclusivity.  

An important truth to realise is that Truth is Double. Mankind has a dual nature, being part man and part god, mortal and yet divine, everyone on the same journey, like Jesus, towards raising consciousness to the point of realisation that I and my Father are One.

The outworking of God’s Will on earth, by which is meant the rigorous outworking of Cosmic Laws in, serves the evolution of all life forms over eons of time up from the lowest to the highest kingdoms.  

Consciousness is raised up in a chain, or ladder, each level having responsibility for lifting up that of the one immediately beneath its feet through acts of spiritual service which bless the crown of the one below and in turn raises its understanding a little higher.  

This is the meaning of Pisces’ ruling the feet, which is our under-standing because the sign loops back next to Aries, the head and Crown.

The ancients understood there to be a chain of evolution up through the mineral, vegetable, animal, human and angelic kingdoms, each realm raising the one below and offering itself as food to the one above in an act of self-sacrifice.  

As a product of evolution, humanity contains the lower kingdoms for we are flesh, blood and bone, and are evolving the lower, animal side of our nature by aspiring to spiritualise our physical composition.

Everything feeds off lower life forms which effectively become a meal for the one above.  We are both consumers of lower life forms and at the same time we are also being consumed as food-offerings for the gods! 

This is why great religious festivals are celebrated with feasts as well as rituals. 

Spiritual astrology is founded on the understanding that the earth element, meaning physical Sense, is raised and purified by the water of Emotion; that water is raised and purified by the air of Mind, and that air is raised and purified by the fire of Spirit.  

Duality is reflected in the planets themselves: Venus and Mars comprising a kind of pair, as do Jupiter and Saturn, each of which rules two signs, one masculine and one feminine.  

While Venus has a very close link with the earth through her rulership of Taurus and is exalted in Pisces, another feminine sign, she also rules the air sign Libra which represents Mind.  

Renaissance artists conveyed secret neo-Platonic teachings in paintings in order to keep these teachings alive whilst avoiding persecution by the established church, hiding ancient mysteries in art forms in which they could be read by those who knew the symbolic language that had come down from ancient Egypt via the classical world of ancient Greece.

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli depicts her rising from the foaming ocean on a sea-shell.  

As sea foam is water mixed with air, allegorically speaking, the painting is telling us that Love is born in that stage of the evolutionary process when the air of Mind is introduced into the lower field of animal passion and impulse, thus raising the animal to the next level of the human.  

Linguistically, man comes from the Sanskrit word for mind: manas.  Venus’ exaltation in watery Pisces means that we should be compassionate but wise too, like the Buddha.  

However, we need to rise above the cold-heartedness of the lower mind of earth by warming ourselves on the fire of spiritual aspiration, whereby we rise above our animal nature altogether and become transformed and later transfigured.