Transcript of Radio Show: The New Year – Neptune and US History
(If you wish to listen to the show instead, here is the link on BlogTalk or Apple Podcasts)
As we say goodbye to 2020 and look ahead to what may unfold in 2021, I thought I would continue to examine the importance of Neptune’s influence for the USA and look at how this might be understood with regards to our present condition and historical antecedents.
Neptune
As I noted in my show on December 6th, (which you can read the transcript for here), the importance of Neptune generally, and more especially in the USA chart is quite telling. Neptune, one of the three Avatars of the Divine Triad of Spirit, holds the truth of the Energy-Form behind the whole of Creation. That Energy-Form is the Love of the One in every Monad; it is the "One in one and all" and it is most purely experienced by us as Unconditional Love.
Of course, nothing can be or exist without interrelationship, and for Neptune that means we can only understand its meanings for us by framing our experience with Uranus and Pluto as well. Looking at this Triad we find that Pluto as the Avatar of Divine Will creates and forms the Space or Container for any being; Neptune as the Avatar of Unconditional Love shapes the awareness of any being towards ever greater Communality; and Uranus as the Avatar of Freer Mind shapes the awareness of any being towards every greater Individuality.
Neptune as the Avatar of Unconditional Love holds for us our Intuitional nature, our capacity to know and encompass another as ourself; it is the fountain-source for our empathy, compassion and sacrifice for one another as all of these (and other noble traits) are founded by our true nature (when awakened), which is quite simply that we are made by and for one another in unconditional love.
Neptune and Astrological Chart of the USA
As I have noted before, the placement of Neptune in the chart of the USA is quite prominent. It is at the top of the chart (along with Saturn), located in the 9th house of Understanding. Neptune holds the dream of a nation and part of the founding myth of the United States is its sense of being exceptional. We declare in our national seal that we are a “New Order for the Ages”. We came to form a new human covenant, where we by holding together disparate peoples from around the world, all of whom are seeking to live a freer life, we would be a shining example of Freedom, Tolerance and Community. The USA would be a new society, formed by a belief in one another’s self-fulfillment as being made possible through one another, and by our self-government, wherein we would care for one another; we declared that “We Mutually Pledge To Each Other Our Lives, Our Fortunes, And Our Sacred Honor”, and so strive to create a space of freedom and justice for one and for all.
As I noted in my earlier shows, Neptune, the holder of dreams and myths, of illuminations and delusions, has returned now to the position it held as the United States faced its greatest existential and spiritual crisis formed by the division into two visions or myths of America, whether to be Slave or Free, in the Civil War. The question then and seemingly now is, “will the fundamental spiritual truth, that all humans are created equal, be made our reality or not”?
Democratic and Republican Charts
It is quite interesting, and certainly no accident, that in the charts of the Democratic and Republican parties Neptune is also featured quite prominently. It is also quite interesting, and again no accident I would think, that these two charts are so interrelated with one another.
Though there was an earlier version of the Democratic Party, the generally accepted date of the party is January 8, 1828 in Portsmouth, NH. That makes it a Capricorn, and for our purposes today, it is noteworthy that it is born with a Sun/Neptune Conjunction. The Republican Party was founded on the wreckage of the Whig Party and its date of incorporation is July 6, 1854 in Jackson, WI. That makes it a Cancer, and it has its Neptune in Pisces which is Trining the Sun in Cancer.
The two charts have their Sun in opposition to one another, which makes perfect sense given the oppositional nature of the two party’s positions throughout US history. Spiritually, it is by oppositions or opposite qualities and natures that we truly find our way. That Way or path is found by holding each together as part of the answer, and by finding the third way, we follow the integral path of Spirit.
Because of this opposition , it is very instructive to examine the series of alignments to their respective Suns, by Saturn or Uranus, and by Neptune and Pluto, as these have often indicated the meaning behind as well as the timing of shifts in those who held power. With regards to the party in control of the Presidency, the Republican Party from the Civil War to the Great Depression held the White House, with only Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson being the exceptions. Then from FDR to LBJ the democrats held power, except for the two terms of Dwight David Eisenhower.
Neptune and the Democratic/Republican Charts
For today, I want to focus upon the role of Neptune with regards to the two parties and their historical shifts. Both parties are strongly influenced by the planet Neptune, which is the planet of dreams, myths, and ideologies. It is the principal shaper of the visions and dreams of a person, group, or nation. Really, along with the planet Uranus, I see Neptune shaping the consciousness of whatever entity one may be examining. But just like an individual, or cultural group or party or nation, those dreams and myths are protean in nature, as they transform and blend, rise and fall, eventually becoming broken, or reformed or reborn over time. Though in its highest form Neptune, as the planet of Unconditional Love, will inspire empathy and inclusiveness, wherever fear takes hold, it will then manifest as the shadow side of Neptune, evidenced by separations and exclusive divisions, becoming subject to fantasies, delusions, and conspiratorial manias.
There are not a few historians and other social observers who have watch the arc of the Republican party from its founding as the party of Lincoln and Emancipation, seemingly devolve in the past 50 years or so into a party whose self-interest seems to be dependent upon various schemes to deny the right to vote to people of color. This process of exclusion instead of inclusion, (very much a reflection of a negative fear-based shifting of Neptunian dreams and myths), was not an accident. It was a reaction or fear fed by the extension of civil rights in 1964 and 1965. As a result of this attempt of greater inclusiveness, the control by the Democratic Party shifted to the Republican Party in the former states of the Confederacy as well in some Western States and rural areas.
1960’s Shift
This redefining of the myth of the Republican party began in the late 1960’s and was accompanied Astrologically by the waning Trine of Neptune to Neptune in its chart. It is interesting that we can note that the same aspect of the waning Trine in the Democratic chart happened in the mid-1930’s when it shifted to a more activist form of governance, in the attempt to deal with the calamity of the Great Depression and the existential crisis of World War II. That redefining of the party and its electoral makeup, led to the Democrats holding power (except for the Eisenhower years), from 1932 to the late 1960’s.
It is quite interesting that for the Democratic party, the waning of Neptune to Neptune in the response to the devastation of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, led to the expansion of government and to the inclusion of more people in the body politic over time; whereas for the Republican party in the late 1960’s the waning trine led to consistent attempts to roll back the communal space for the right to self-determination, in attempts to limit and ultimately hobble Federal services, and by varied and numerous actions to narrow the electorate and deny rights to legitimate US citizens.
Neptune 2021
For our current period, Neptune has returned to its natal position in the Republican party’s chart, the same place it was at the threshold of the Civil War. Like a “New Moon”, the return would imply a release of a new energy-form that will slowly but surely make itself evident over the next many years. What this might mean after the last four years remains to be seen. But it is certainly a fundamental question among pundits and historians right now: What is the dream and myth of the Republican party now; what does it “stand for” after four years of Donald Trump?
The Neptune return in the Democratic chart occurred in 1991, when after the 12 years of Republican rule under Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Democrats determined that they should attempt to expand their electoral base by moving towards a more conservative economic position during the Clinton presidency. Many have argued that this attempt to secure wider support by moving to “the center” only served to reinforce the economically unsustainable neo-liberal policies of the Reagan and Bush years, as it removed the last safeguards and oversight that had been instituted after the Great Depression. The lessons of the 1920’s and 1930’s had been forgotten by both parties, and this, along with other developments in the nature of the financial markets and broader economy, brought about the Second Great Depression under George W. Bush.
That mortgage crisis and financial meltdown of 2007 and 2008, led to the Democratic party nominating Barack Obama, who would become the first black president of the United States. Saddled with the worse economic conditions since the 1930’s, he attempted to restore the economic order while also extending one of the most basic protections of a civil (or better put, humane) society by addressing the broken healthcare system of the US in the Affordable Care Act.
Trump and Republican Party
The last four years have seen the Trump agenda being for the most part an attempt to reverse all the gains in equity and fairness during the Obama years. The Republican party, as embodied by its leader, appears to have no guiding belief or meaning, as it has devolved into a cult of personality for a selfish and cruel narcissist. There was no meaning or love guiding policies and actions, no plans for the greater good, just fear-filled demands for attention or revenge. It has led many now, to break their sacred oath for all who serve in government, that they will “protect and defend the Constitution”. The repeated attempts to bring charges of electoral fraud have failed in the courts because there is no credible evidence of fraud, just spurious allegations meant to disenfranchise minority districts.
What will the Republican party become now? The party founded on compassion for those suffering under slavery has turned into a party of grievance whose lamentations and woe are rooted in a Neptunian delusion of their inherent right to power, and their claim that others are not entitled to vote. In all but one of their challenges regarding the 2020 Presidential election brought before the courts, and three of those to the Supreme Court, all have been found to be without evidence and dismissed. The very votes they seek to throw out were overseen and certified by representatives from both parties, and in most of the states the officers overseeing the elections are from the Republican Party.
The planets do not make what happens down here; they provide a context of meaning and the timing for the events in our journey of Spirit. What happens, what actions we take and what reality we make, that is on us; it is by this that we, the makers of our reality, reveal our awareness or lack of understanding. It is upon each of us to act with integrity, honor, and love. If we listen to the Winds of the Spirit in our heart, we will be guided and centered in each and every moment by our everlasting faith and love, and not by fear. The message of Spirit now, held by Neptune, is that we must always turn away from fear and hate and remember that we are here to love one another.
2021 – A Reckoning
2021 is a year of reckoning. In the chart of the USA, Neptune is once again opposite to its natal or birth position. Just like in 1858, we are being asked to look at ourselves, and to look at one another, and see in one another our own true self. We formed a covenant, and in that sacred contract we pledged to create a space for self-fulfillment that is founded upon and circumscribed by our Love for one another. That is why we must strive to create the freest conditions possible to realize each member’s potential, while equally sacrificing more selfish interests for the greater good of the community. We must find the middle way, the path of integration and love for one another.
It starts right here, as you listen with your heart you must reason with your mind. As you hold together your feelings and thoughts through the blessings of your higher, Intuitional Self, it is then that you will be guided to be ever kinder to yourself and to one another too.
The Law of Karma is perfect and Just; the Answer is always the same.
Love one another as you love are loved by your Higher Self.
This is the way of the Lonely Ones, the way of the Masters of the Light.
Follow the path of gentleness, compassion, and sacrifice.
Follow the Way of Light and Truth and Love.
