After 165 years, Neptune, the planet of dreams and imagination, begins again in Aries. This ingress began on March 30 of this year, and the planet of the mysterious sea will voyage ahead in Aries until 2038.
The last time Neptune was in Aries (1861-1875), we had the Civil War with the abolition of slavery. It was a time of redefinition of national and cultural identities.
Aries is an identity by means of movement, like a hero in a story. It is the idea of a self that moves forward, as time does. In the words of philosopher F.W.J. Schelling, “Time is not something that flows independently from the self; the self is time conceived of in activity.” This kind of identity is one’s ikigai (a Japanese term for a reason to get out of bed each day). It is purpose that makes the machine.
Aries as identity can represent an intended identity for a nation and, of course, for an individual. In fact, the health of the individual’s grasp of this kind of identity is the health of the nation, as expressed so well in the democratic system where every vote counts. The movement of many individuals becomes the movement of a nation.
It is interesting to note that the invention of the kineograph (the first moving picture) also came about at this time, as well as the impressionist movement.
The concept of cinema can also capture an identity that is forward-moving. What is the cinema of your life? Does it flow with some building sense of purpose or intent, like a good film? Is there texture, flavor, drama, and music?
As far as cultural and individual identity, how do the times you live in help create the time you emit, in ikigai and in individual identity?
“I would like to paint the way a bird sings,” said Claude Monet, widely known as the “father of impressionism.” Impressionism is characterized by its focus on capturing the fleeting effects of light, atmosphere, and everyday life through visible, loose brushstrokes and bright, unblended colors.
The impressionist movement favored everyday scenery over mythic portrayal, emphasizing the dramatic life that can present in normal moments, as if to say, wake up!
Neptune begins again in Aries right at the turn of spring. Our nation finds itself divided like Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Can we look within ourselves and find, at least, our own path forward? Can we be the hero, the divided one who seeks a good path forward with hope and good will? Can we sense the times within our own time, a.k.a. our ikigai, or our reason for getting out of bed each day?
What does this new cycle mean for you?
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