Categorie: The Zeitgeist

40. (Eng.) Saturn and Uranus in 2022

~ Maj Ridder ~ Plaats een reactie

There is war in Ukraine. This gives a perspective on everything we think, do or fail to do. Ordinary life goes on, and yet it is different. It began on February 24, 2022. In my immediate environment, several health issues were added, accompanied by considerable uncertainties.

That is why I want to cover the fleeting of time (Saturn), while anything can change at once (Uranus). Present time forces us to take each day as it comes. The planets Saturn and Uranus represent yet other characteristics, that are poorly compatible or even mutually exclusive.

Saturn represents: time, regulations, formation, past, tradition.
Uranus represents: change, freedom, fusion, future, upheaval.

For a long time now, the positions of Saturn and Uranus have been triggering the tensions and polarities, which Earth’s inhabitants currently have to deal with. Planets in general, and Saturn and Uranus in particular, help determine the zeitgeist.

Saturn and Uranus act on each other’s energetic radiation. What does the Saturn-Uranus cycle look like according to astrology?

Both planets make their orbits around the sun: Saturn in about 28 years and Uranus in about 84 years. There is a reason for this substantial difference: Uranus moves at a far greater distance from the sun than Saturn. Therefore, Uranus moves apparently three times slower than Saturn.

Seen from the earth, Saturn at some point catches up with Uranus. There, the planets form a conjunction: they are at the same degree of the zodiac in the sky.

One cycle covers the time between two conjunctions, which is about 44 years. The last conjunctions of Saturn and Uranus were in 1942 and in 1988. The next one will be in 2032.

In the meantime, however, Saturn and Uranus make aspects with each other, i.e., they interact because of certain connections. Such aspects can either be harmonious or create tension. Tension is caused when Saturn moves at about 90° from Uranus in the firmament (called a square aspect). This has been the case since spring 2020.

During the year 2021, Saturn and Uranus made an exact 90° aspect three times and in 2022 they are still in interaction. Still another square aspect will take place almost exactly in October. The reason the same aspect occurs several times in a row is that planets sometimes move “retrograde”: seen from the earth in an apparently retrograde direction. When they start going direct again, according to their course along the zodiac, the aspect shows up again.

Painting Wim Ridder

This led to a prolonged impact on Earth of the tension aspect between Saturn and Uranus. The Corona conditions were not over yet , when we had to deal with the consequences of a seemingly sudden military conflict. What else will we experience? The tension aspect will not really become clear until March 2023.

The Dutch astrologer Hans Planje discusses the Saturn-Uranus aspect of 90° in detail over time. See his blog: https://www.hansplanje.nl/index.php/blog/155-het-saturnus-uranus-vierlant-van-2021. He describes what the impact of the colliding Saturn and Uranus forces has been in the past decades, on the basis of crises and conflicts worldwide. This way, you get a picture of the meaning of the aspect for what is happening on a global scale.

At the same time, such an aspect has significance on an individual level. Its suppressed tension has a subtle influence on each of us. It takes effort to feel relaxed.

What kind of feelings might you be dealing with? Everything is different to how it has been (Uranus). You are trying to regain control (Saturn). By making a new plan (Uranus). To do this, you have to take into account rules (Saturn), which don’t fit your new idea (Uranus). You become angry or irritated, or disappointed at least.

You might blame something or someone for the uneasiness you feel. However, if you examine yourself deeply, you may become aware that such an action makes no sense. Because everyone else also has to deal with this general unease.

Finally: during such a cycle of two planets there are also harmonic aspects (of 60° and 120°). In such cases, the combined energies of Saturn and Uranus may lead to quite good results.

Apart from Saturn and Uranus, there are still other planets engaged in an endless play of energies with the Earth. Next time I may cover the recent conjunction of Jupiter-Neptune.

35. (Eng.) The Future is Now

~ Maj Ridder ~ Plaats een reactie

This time it’s about our way of dealing with the future. Let’s stop thinking that a new future is something that will arrive later one, when all things related to Corona have passed. No! I say the future begins now, with all its possibilities!

‘Back to normal’ is no longer an option. Things will definitely be different and new norms will evolve. A big change is at hand, with an uncertain outcome, in an uncertain period of time.

I note this from an astrological point of view. At the moment, planetary positions are still occurring that enhance chaos, polarization and an unyielding atmosphere, while there are also planetary constellations that make people vulnerable, (over)sensitive and dreamy. You may have noticed that life today feels quite different from how it used to feel. This is not only because of the corona crisis, but also because it is ‘in the air’. (See also blogs 31 and 32 in English.)

As I have mentioned in some of my earlier posts, astrologer Heather Ensworth emphasizes that we are living a time of transition and transformation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqtelqAl_Zs&feature=youtu.be). Several other spiritual teachers are also of the same opinion.
They argue that we are currently exposed to a profound transformation, that leads to a rising in consciousnesses. So, let’s start getting rid of the old. We can only experience and embrace the new when we are able to say goodbye to many things we once took for granted.

Some of these things in the realm of consciousness coincide with the transition into the Aquarian Age. One thing you hear and read very often these days is that it is time to live more from the heart, from love and from trust. While this can be quite a challenge, it is worth taking on. It implies that it is not enough just to apply your intellect — you must also make use of your subtle feelings and intuition in everything you do.

This can also be explained from the perspective from the brain. We have grown used to using our left-brain hemisphere more than our right one. The left half of the brain is the seat of rationality, thinking, speaking and language, while the right half involves intuition, musicality, sensing all kinds of things, etc. The aim is to give the right hemisphere its rightful place and to seek a balance in the functioning of both hemispheres.

Photo by Wim

It is also said that in the inner lives of men and women – and in society –, we need to move from an emphasis on masculine qualities to an emphasis on feminine qualities. Less hardness, more softness. Less aggression, more empathy. Less analysis, more synthesis. Less calculation, more flexibility. Less arrogance, more compassion.

If we do this, we may anticipate much less fear and much more joy among the inhabitants of our planet. However, at the moment there still is so much anxiety, anger and polarization, that it is often difficult to take the step forward to grasp those shifts. Therefore, we would be wiser to first take a step back, in order to observe what is happening in the world, and what is going on in our subconscious.

Inevitably, old issues will rise from our subconscious to the surface. These need to be resolved in order to create space in our soul. Unexpected problems pop up, from unexpected angles. Although it makes us insecure, as said earlier, it is in the air. What does not help is to blame others for matters that may arise from our own unprocessed depths.

We should instead investigate where our unrest comes from. Such causes need to be cleared, to make room for the new things coming to us. Stay aware of your discomforts and uncertainties, get to know them and surrender to a process of clarification.

If you wish to explore the mental and emotional details of this process, you might choose to read the book “From Trauma to Freedom : One Woman’s Journey and a Holistic Guide for Healing,” by Kristina Lea and Heather Ensworth, published March 2020, and presented April 29, 2021. (https://transformingtraumatofreedom.com/)

Every pain point you pierce allows your energy to flow better. Now is the time to take the path of purification, and simultaneously, expand your consciousness. You will enjoy new facets and possibilities in your life and contribute to the general shift ‘from head to heart’!

33. (Eng.) Being aware of Oneness

~ Maj Ridder ~ Plaats een reactie

As I wrote in my latest blogs, we are living in dark times, where the trick is to ‘keep your head cool and your heart warm’. Opening yourself to unity consciousness can help. When you succeed, you can stand more firmly on your feet. You won’t be blown away by any threatening breeze.

For me, it is also more difficult now to think clearly, to feel lucid and to find words for my insights. That is, in this second half of 2020, because of the heaviness in the atmosphere. No one can escape it. An astrological interpretation I could offer for this:

Currently, Saturn, Pluto and Mars are still giving space to unimaginably distressing energies that are influencing mankind and the developments on Earth. Considering the positions of these planets, it is advisable to be (even) more conscious in life than in the past (See blog 31 and 32).

Let’s try to imagine what will come next, when 2021 begins. Saturn and Jupiter will (finally) have left the sign of Capricorn and entered the sign of Aquarius. This will make it easier to respect each other and be open to new, positive developments.

Try this by turning inwards – and not giving in to negative trends in mass consciousness. In this way you can keep (or get) in touch with the deeper layers of your personal existence. I concluded the previous blog with a reference to the planet Neptune which can help with this.

Neptune has been travelling through its own sign of Pisces since 2012 and this will continue until 2026. This is a long period of time, during which it will be easier to make contact with that large field of consciousness for which many names exist. Names that vary from those for a personified God to very abstract names. But what is most important here is not the name of this field, but the experience of it. Your eyes cannot see the oneness, but you can ‘perceive’ or ‘experience’ it.

Picture Wim

There are two ways to look at ‘unity consciousness’.
In the first place, I think of mystics and others who once had a spiritual peak experience – so profound that it fundamentally changed their lives.

Secondly, it could be a space of consciousness for you, an experience of oneness to reach out to. Even if you are not that far yet, it is more than worthwhile to consider it as your foreland, a level to align with.

Another way to familiarize yourself with unity consciousness is to use your imagination to create a platform that you experience as ‘your oneness consciousness’. Do it in such a way that you experience joy and compassion for many others … from that platform you can look with more distance at what is happening on Earth, and thus also at what is happening in your environment.

This is especially effective when – in meditation or in prayer – you become aware of that field of unity. As soon as you enter there and sense what you are perceiving, you’ve taken the first step needed to experience that specific energy. It can take you further along your path. Your mind becomes calmer and feelings of love, gratitude and joy present themselves – and let’s not forget the added benefit of strengthening your immune system!

You may happen to make contact with the oneness consciousness – even if only a hint of it – and to experience which panoramas open up on what the future might bring. At the same time, you could tap into sources that provide you with the insights and energy that prepare you for that new world, so that you may undertake actions that resonate with your personal energy.

There is something that fills me with hope, namely that this is already happening: after this year’s events, so many people have been ‘waking up’. Large numbers of men and women are making different choices to reshape their lives — or they create something, an initiative, that is completely novel. While this may seem to occur independently, there are always personal processes underpinning these projects.

In everyday practice, unity consciousness turns out to be a point of reference. Over and over again, you realize that all people are essentially connected at the level of the quantum field, or of the ‘psychic internet’. The fact that Neptune is travelling through its own sign for a longer period of time certainly provides support in this matter.

32. (Eng.) Astrological Perspective II

~ Maj Ridder ~ Plaats een reactie

Sometimes, in this day and age, you might think: how ‘strange’ and disturbed I feel, perhaps even unhappy. This is not only because of ‘Corona’, but also because we are on our way to unsuspected horizons. Astrological interpretations point the way.

The planetary positions of Pluto and Mars show an urgent call from the cosmos to live (even) more consciously. Let’s seize the opportunities that arise on Earth in these last few months of 2020. At the same time, let us be prepared for the enormous unrest we can expect, individually and collectively.

Astrologers are studying how the current constellations are affecting what is happening on our planet. They see tendencies that can develop for better or for worse. And they offer consciously-living people the tools with which they can anticipate what is to come, in order to better cope with it.

Heather Ensworth is such an astrologer. She also has an eye for the spiritual domain. I am borrowing my blog-theme from her video posted at the end of June, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWGE_ezCFCE&feature=youtu.be, in which she remarks a.o. the following.

Mars, the planet of readiness for action and use of force, runs from the end of June to the beginning of January 2021 (extremely long) through its own sign of Aries. This fact reinforces the manifestation of Mars characteristics, in the world and among people themselves.
Furthermore, from August 1 to January 6, 2021, Mars makes a square aspect with the planet Pluto. A square aspect (90°) stands for challenge and tension. This means that Pluto and Mars intensify each other’s action in this period.

Spiritually, Pluto is ‘the higher octave of Mars’. Pluto is the planet that stands for transformation, regeneration and reversal of values. Mars stands for ‘crisis in action’. Together they incite consciously-living people to reflect and introspect, to let go of old themes and structures, and to actually seize opportunities for renewal and transformation.

A positive effect of Mars in the sign of Aries is a willingness to take risks. However, negative effects become visible when people give in to impulsivity, reactivity, anger and -in the worst case- to aggression and violence. We’ll get to see the full spectrum of all these possible manifestations.

Picture Wim

Those who consciously deal with the effects of Pluto and Mars energies are the observers involved. They have an eye for the deceptiveness of the apparent and for the serious tendencies that take place underneath. They do this for the Earth and for society, because it is high time to change course. And also for themselves, so as not to become even gloomier about the situation, but to grow through it instead.

I notice that I myself am in the middle of this process. Even if I see with my mind what may be going on, it is a challenge to feel the depth of what is happening. As long as you are still in the process, you cannot imagine what the outcome will be. However, as soon as I realized that a completely new frame of experience could present itself – one which puts everything in a new light – I grew very happy.

One cannot help but accept what is happening. By accepting – and perhaps fathoming – quantum-thinking, we assume that all matter is ultimately energy. That is why it makes sense to contribute to generating a more positive energy field.

An increase of the frequencies, and of the coherence of the energies in ‘the quantum-field’, makes it possible for more compassion and harmony to be experienced and passed on. (See also Blog 26, Mind over Matter).
When you focus on love, compassion and harmony in your meditations or prayers, you contribute to raising those frequencies!

What is helpful at this time (2012-2026) is that the planet Neptune is running through its own sign of Pisces. Heather Ensworth devoted a video to this fact at the end of August: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y5pNlbEJq0&feature=youtu.be. If we are open to it, Neptune makes us aware of the field of oneness and gives us perspective on deep wisdom and unconditional love.

And, says Heather Ensworth, make sure to handle it well! Don’t allow yourself to be tempted to escape and wander off, instead put your deeper wisdom into practice on the path you are taking at this moment and in this period. There is always another challenge awaiting you.

Reservation 1: astrologically there is of course much more to tell about the present time.

Reservation 2: it depends on your birth chart how and to what extent the aspects mentioned affect you personally.

Remark 3: if you are watching one of the Heather Ensworth videos, click on the square, the leftmost icon at the bottom right, to simultaneously see the spoken words on the screen.