The Planets

Post by Jane Lewis

With Neptune in Aries warfare is less direct and in the coming months we can expect to see wars of attrition and gradual, undermining attacks. In human interactions, Neptune in Aries is passive aggression.  A resurgence in religious evangelism or crusading martyrdom are also on the cards. 

As The Bringer of War, Mars sounds the clarion call to take up arms within our own being and courageously confront our inner enemies.  Like St George and the Dragon, it challenges us to slay those internal opponents which lie imprisoned in the murky depths of our unconscious psyche, waiting to be awoken, then put to death in order to be resurrected into a higher form.

Esoteric teachings state that human consciousness will expand greatly as the Aquarian Age unfolds.  Human beings are on a projectory to become fully self-realised individuals who understand that, despite our uniqueness, we all One.  Neptune in Aries can also be interpreted as the battle for Oneness.  This process is unfolding through the agency of planetary influences within us.  As the human soul grows, we will come less under the influence of the Moon and more capable of tuning into the higher vibrations of Neptune.  Similarly, we are to respond more to the energies of Uranus in place of the Sun.  This long and arduous process is being overseen by Saturn, who is our Tester, Teacher, and Gatekeeper into the Higher Mysteries.

The co-rulers of Aquarius, Saturn and Uranus, work together to bring forth the Light.  White Eagle has given a number of addresses on the subject of Saturn, or Satan, who is actually Lucifer and paradoxically the Bearer of Light.  Orthodox Christianity is full of bloodshed, and to use an oft-quoted passage from Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is supposed to have said that he hadn’t come to bring peace to earth but a sword. Even if we can’t fully understand what Neptune in Aries means, the coming years will be a good time to reflect on these paradoxes and conundrums.  We can say with more certainty, though, that the planets play a central role in this evolutionary journey.

Neptune in Aries can be happily expressed through music.  Gustav Holst, composer of The Planets Suite, being a good example.  In his horoscope Neptune squares his Moon and trines Mars.  The co-rulers of Aquarius are very strong, Saturn especially so as it sits on his Aquarius ascendant in opposition to Uranus, and his Moon rises in Aquarius in the 12^th house.

The suite starts with Mars the Bringer of War, its insistent repetitive beats announcing the unstoppable conflict that marches towards the listener.  Holst conceived the idea in 1913 as transiting Uranus was applying to conjunct his ascendant.  He wrote Mars in 1914  as the First World War was starting and when his progressed Mars was conjunct his natal Sun.  The other pieces followed in 1915. 

For Holst, the world of philosophical ideas had been greatly expanded in 1895 when he first became interested in Hindu philosophy and started to compose pieces such as an opera called Sita which is based on the Indian epic The Ramayana.  A friend introduced him to astrology in 1912 and even after he’d finished composing The Planets his interest continued and he would go on to cast horoscopes for his friends, referring to astrology as his ‘pet vice’! 

Listening toThe Bringer of War can help us to tune into the dynamism of Mars and its full-frontal insistence and forwards-thrusting momentum.  It is plain, honest and blunt.  Take it or leave it, what you see is what you get.  Mars through Aries inspires the qualities of courage, action and drive.  It’s then up to us how we choose to use them, whether for war or peace.

Image by Herbert Lambert - National Portrait Gallery, PD-US, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/ind...