SHAPING THE DREAM   Do we shape our dreams, or do they shape us? If so, who is it who is dreaming them? Between August 2006 and June 2007, Saturn and Neptune make three exact oppositions. ‘Awareness through chaos’ could summarise this process. Saturn, Lord of Form and Manifestation, is in Leo (1) while Neptune, the Great Dissolver, lies opposite, in the sign of Aquarius. This is the half-way point, or the high water mark of a process which began in 1989, when they were last in conjunction. Those born between 1952-1954 were born during the previous conjunction, and so may resonate especially strongly with these energies.   Let’s explore …..   Water, water everywhere   Neptune, invisible to the naked eye, signifies processes bigger than our personal egos and individual lives. King of the Sea in the Roman pantheon, Neptune signals change by stealth, dissolution, weakening, melting, softening, crumbling, and diluting. Either inwardly in the soul or literally in the external world, Neptune accompanies fogginess, chaos, confusion, deception, concealment, hiding, gaseous or liquid states, invisible substances, formlessness, emotional or imaginal states of longing, vulnerability and sensitivity. Neptune seeks to return all separate forms to the underlying unity beneath, thus evoking the longings of the mystical path. Psychologically, however, this wave washes up our regressive wishes, our resistance to growing up, and our desire to be dependent on others.   Seeking something solid In contrast, Saturn is the pragmatist, seeking security, definiteness, order and predictability. He is Lord of Time and season, boundaries and limits, associated with structure on every level; he is the conserving and protecting function, representing what is has been already laid down before. Saturn is the skin (border of the physical body), the skeleton (the fundamental structure), the ‘authorities’ (the function of social control and protection), and so on.   Two opposing realms meet   Saturn is the island, Neptune the sea. With Saturn in the Kingly sign of Leo, and Neptune as King of the Sea, the ego struggles against the imaginal and feeling realm, the watery depths of soul. Reason and spurious authority battle with the delicacy of spacious soul-feeling. The Lion faces the Water-Bearer of Aquarius. Neither king can win, but we, partaking of both, are challenged to stand on the Middle Ground of our humanity. We are gently nudged, or dramatically pulled into the alchemical processes of coagulatio (formation) and dissolutio (dissolution). This helps us see through illusions, including self-deception, and to neither hold ourselves rigidly ‘against’ things we find unpleasant , nor get swept away by desire, our own or that of others.   The opportunity   The cooling waters of Aquarius are like the spacious quality of Mind which sees clearly without judgement, and which bears witness to all within its field of awareness. Compassion arises when the coolness of this Aquarian intelligence blends with the warmth of Leo, which rules the heart, astrologically. There is another manifestation of their combination, however, one less beneficent. The Collective Nightmare and Individual Responsibility Aquarius is associated with the group, the ‘body-politik’, and the background ideas which form government policies. Today the individual is subject to a deluge of mis-information, lies, deception and false promises from the ‘authorities’, who create nightmares both real and imagined. It is ‘rule by chaos’ in most parts of the world, whether this chaos be obvious and external or hidden and insidious. It is not always clear who or what has caused the chaos, and whether or not it is deliberate. However, as individuals we need not feed our own negativity on the nightmares fed to us by the media or by our own imagination. Instead, we could align ourselves with our own ‘kingly’ nature. Thus we can help, heal and comfort as we are called.   The juxtaposition of the individual and the collective is a powerful theme within the axis of Leo and Aquarius. It reminds us not to take anything for granted about our respective governments and how they behave towards their own citizens and those of other countries. As in the story of the Grail King, the King is sick, and there is no vital and inspiring successor to be seen. But the Lion, here the sick old lion, faces the Water-Bearer of Aquarius. The ‘power of the people’ can be instrumental in his overthrowing, and the power of the truth is considerable. (2) Small acts of civil disobedience have the power to change history when enough people participate.   The fiery roar of the immature ego who wishes to be the King, to be in control, but cares only about himself, is silenced as the Water-Bearer’s jar pours forth. Our internal rigidity is dissolved. This could take the form of a flood of insight, or an experience of plans going awry. Whatever the outer form of this tidal change, the inner opportunity presented is to let go, listen and let ourselves be carried ashore, conscious of the timing, and mindful of the flow of unplanned events. The dream shapes itself   Whenever Saturn is in contact with Neptune, and turns direct, the form or container (Saturn) of our future wishes and intentions surfaces from the deeper levels of soul, purified by the process of the previous year. Then the watery process of Neptune can inspire, uplift and motivate us to our highest. At this time there may surface the welcome sight of dry land, after the somewhat 'shipwrecked' feeling that many people will have experienced over the last year or so. And so the dream shapes itself .... and we are but midwives to the process .... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------   ENDNOTES (1) See article on this website ‘The Lion King’. (2) See www.thelastoutpost.com for a major collection of controversial documentary videos. Be prepared to be challenged. (3) Events which become headline news around the dates listed will express the symbolism described. Both Tony Blair and President Bush have Saturn/Neptune activating their individual horoscopes, and their relationship dominated the world stage during these oppositions.