There’s a pile up of planets in Pisces this week, when the waning gibbous Moon sweeps over Neptune early Wednesday morning, just a few degrees above Saturn. Neptune isn’t visible to the naked eye, but the Moon and Saturn are, so if you’re interested in seeing this, the best time to look is about two hours before sunrise Wednesday, July 16th.
When I see a gathering like this, especially of those far away planets that rarely align so precisely with one another, I begin to wonder what can I do to participate in it, what does it mean? It’s Saturn, ancient god of time, deeply connected to cosmic memory; and Neptune, which was only discovered in the 1800s and named for the Roman god of waters, but often associated with spiritual awakening or its opposite, illusion, delusion, confusion.
Then the Moon sweeps into the scene, bringing opportunity for ceremony, for uncovering the secret formula for engagement. It’ll be two hours before dawn, so in the time of night when the world is unillumined by the light of day-wake consciousness. This is a time when we must rely on the strength of our own, inner light.
In the story of Parzival from the early 13th century, there’s a moment when Parzival encounters his cousin Sigune a second time. In their first encounter, she is the one who tells him his name ~ so you could say, his encounter with Sigune awakens him to his destiny path. This second encounter occurs after he’s been to the Grail Castle, but the problem is, he didn’t fully realize it. While he was there he received the Grail Sword from the King, but he is naïve about its powers. In this second scene with Sigune, she tells him the secret formula for unlocking the strength of the sword, which isn’t about going into battle physically, but about the inner struggle we encounter when striving to attain true self-knowledge.
As in the tale of Parzival, this way of knowing oneself takes time, and time is the domain of Saturn. It also requires insight, which can be related to Neptune, though it’s not always easy, being able to discern truth from error.
Then let’s add the waning gibbous Moon to the mix ~ it’s like a window of opportunity opens. And that’s what’s happening this week, overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, and especially around 4 am, when the Moon grazes Neptune just above Saturn. Pay attention to your dreams, and to the quality of your sleep, and if you’re awake, go out to see. And if you’re really feeling it, bear in mind these words of Sigune to Parzival from Book V of the medieval narrative:
You are wearing (the Grail King’s) sword girded about you, and if you know its magic charm, you can engage in combat without fear. Its edges run exactly parallel to each other. It was wrought by Trebuchet of noble race. Near Karnant there flows a spring, and from it King Lac derives his name. The sword will withstand the first blow unscathed; at the second it will shatter. If you then take it back to the spring, it will become whole again from the flow of the water. You must have the water at the source, beneath the rock, before the light of day has shone upon it ~ the name of this spring is Lac. If the pieces are not lost and you fit them together properly, as soon as the spring water wets them, the sword will become whole again, the joinings and edges stronger than before, and the signs engraved on the blade will not lose their shine.
The mystery wisdom in this passage is deep, and doesn’t require the power of intellect to have effect, referred to here as the time “before the light of day shines.”
After this Piscean pile up Wednesday morning, two days pass, and the planet Mercury begins its customary retrograde motion ~ as if to say “listen, the true self is calling.”
