The battle royal brewing between Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces affects us all both personally and through the collective. This showdown, the result of a frictional square aspect between these two planets in the sky, became exact on November 26. It will be exact again on both June 17 & September 10, 2016.

Ergo, this energy dominates both the personal and collective realms between now and at least September 2016.

IS YOUR TRUTH REALLY TRUE?

On the personal level, I view Saturn transiting through the sign of Sagittarius (until December 19, 2017) as the ability to make manifest one’s dreams–i.e., to bring down from the sky grand and glorious IDEAS and make them REAL…(see https://karmicevolution.com/saturn-into-sagittarius-oh-happy-day/)

However, Saturn’s propensity for foundations, borders, and boundaries can resist Sagittarius’s desire to expand one’s ability to learn more about oneself through greater connection with other ways of thinking and being…

So, Saturn transiting Sagittarius may play out in two distinctly separate ways, as Saturn likes to contract & protect while Sagittarius favors expansion through higher learning & its connection to the divine realm:

• The expansion of consciousness around one’s realistic & grounded belief system
• The narrowing/stunting of one’s belief system into a rigid philosophy of life that–in the end–impedes growth in consciousness

WHEN SATURN & SAG DON’T PLAY NICE

When there exists a rigid mentality of the sort harbored by one who is righteously inflexible about his or her IDEA or philosophy, the desire to ground this idea become absolute.

In such a case, the actual attempt to manifest a dream encapsulated in such absolute rigidity becomes the mechanism by which the seeds of destruction are sown. And those hell-bent on sowing such seeds will likely find—at some point at least—that that which does not bend will break…

Throw a little FIXED Uranian/Aquarian ideology into the mix (Uranus in Aries anyone?) and the worst possible scenario becomes anarchy on the level of the collective. Recent suicide bombings and the massacre of innocents in Paris, Beirut, Mali, Syria, and other locations worldwide in the name of BELIEF illustrate what this worst case scenario can look like when individuals band together in the name of such rigidly held beliefs…

Those bound and determined to overthrow whatever structure is in place in the name of their beliefs—rather than to work toward their ends through diplomacy, negotiation, & compromise—illustrate the more negative, fear-based, knee-jerk, self-protective energy of Saturn combined with a “change at all costs” Uranian thrust.

However, when one’s Sagittarian dream (or vision) is lassoed and brought down to earth by Saturn, one may look at it in the cold hard light of day, check its vital signs, assess its actual proportions, and begin to tweak it and work with it realistically.

When nurtured and well-paced through Saturn’s penchant for cautionary boundaries, Sag’s all-inclusive & tolerant philosophy becomes the lens through which the dream of peace may truly manifest. In short, through Saturn’s patience and regard for slow growth, some truly amazing positive expansion can be born!

Yes, well, ok, maybe that is a bit pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking—but at least we’d be a whole helluva lot closer to it than now, no?

BOUNDARY OR BOUNDARY-LESS?

Onward now to Neptune…in Pisces…long story short:

Negative side of this archetype=addiction, escapism, confused &/or deluded thinking, misguided spirituality or spirituality without faith, lack of personal boundaries (where do you end and I begin?), & uber-sensitivity to self.

Positive side=faith, creativity, spirituality, understanding that “no man is an island” because we are all one–all part of humankind (the collective), compassion, & empathy.

Once again, as with Saturn, we have an issue concerning “boundaries.”

Saturn likes to pull the wagons into a tight little circle, keep out intruders, lock the doors and windows at night, and hide the guns in the safe (thinking he’ll get to them before any thief or murderer has the chance to pull their weapon first…)

Neptune (the modern ruler of Pisces) is water that wears down even rock over time, gas that seeps under the doors and through the windows, & energy that in general lacks the kind of boundaries that Saturn stakes its life on…and to top it off, Neptune/Piscean energy is intangibly metaphysical…meaning just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there…

“If it’s never our fault, we can’t take responsibility for it. If we can’t take responsibility for it, we’ll always be its victim.” ~ Richard Bach

Neptunian energy provides us with the capability to empathize and feel compassion. Admittedly, an over-abundance of such energy may allow one to feel empathy and compassion ONLY for ONESELF…

This is the shadow side of Neptune, the “woe is me” & “why me?” victimization story, or the “I did it for love of my man/woman/country/God” martyr complex.

Just as Saturn in Sag allows us two alternatives–expanding our consciousness OR rigidly limiting our beliefs to an “us or them” mentality—Neptune in Pisces grants us several choices as well…

But, while Saturn’s choices are juxtapositions or opposites, Neptune’s are actually three: victim, martyr, or one who relinquishes both stances and attempts to provide for oneself unconditional love.

This means one does not have to play the victim in order to seek love from another, or play the martyr who ultimately harbors a hidden ego-boosting agenda, a he or she “will love me if I sacrifice for them” mentality.

Victim and martyr are actually two sides of the same coin in that both tilt the scale toward a “it’s really all about me, you know” mindset. The key is whether or not one is conscious of which role one plays.

The opposite of victim or martyr is one who neither ALWAYS passively REACTS rather than ACTS, nor one who takes on others’ troubles & thereby seeks to save them. While loving oneself unconditionally is a tall order, it’s a must for those of us who seek peace, both internally & externally.

SO HOW CAN SATURN & NEPTUNE RECONCILE THEIR DIFFERENCES?

As the Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces plays out energetically over the next year or so it asks us all to pose to ourselves the following questions:

• Where am I–down to my toes, feel it in my bones–absolutely SURE that what I believe is synonymous with what is RIGHT?
• What is MY TRUTH?
• How do my beliefs impact my sense of compassion for others (or lack thereof?)
• How can I have (& protect) my boundaries without becoming too self-protected & morally rigid, yet maintain my sense of faith in the world around me & not give myself away?

Charity begins at home, they say…allowing oneself the ability to fearlessly expand one’s horizons rather than limit them is key. Knowing that what’s best for oneself is not necessarily good for another is also a step in the right direction.

Applying the concept of unconditional love–not for the sake of saving others or for moaning and groaning about your lot in life, but rather to stoke the internal fires of self-love so that such love is ultimately reflected back to us–is the key…

Saturn’s greatest achievement in our lives is through the process of maturation. Saturn in Sagittarius helps us grow into our dreams, ideas and philosophies, not become limited or atrophied by them.

Neptune’s greatest lesson is that having faith in ourselves is possible if and when we believe we deserve to love ourselves first and others second. If not, Neptune’s energies disperse, flow, drift, and disappear silently downstream never to be seen or heard from again…

Saturn gives our Sagittarian philosophies structure, while its square to Neptune in Pisces allows faith in ourselves to grow at a sure, steady, reliable pace. This, in turn, sets the foundation for a world where our internal love for self is manifested out in the world and reflected back to us all as part of the collective…

Namaste…