Neptunes Return and Beyond :
The Big Waves and Undercurrents in a changing World. Part 1 of 4 -
Agent 12 - Julija Simas - April 2010
Adapted from a lecture presented to the VAA (Victorian Astrologers Association) in April 2010 as an adjunct to showing the C*I*A’s 30 minute documentary movie, Neptune’s Return. This article will be presented in four parts over the next few months.
PART 1 A- Neptune’s Return 2009-2010 - The global atmosphere surrounding Neptune’s Return, financial meltdown, climate change, earth changes and the changing hierarchies in our solar system, the indicators of the great shift taking place in global consciousness and the other things we didn’t put in the Movie.
Neptune's Return - June 2009
A mini YOU TUBE documentary about Neptune, celebrating the planets return to its' discovery degree during 2009 - 2010 at 25 degrees Aquarius. A longer version will be released later in the Year. A film by Nick Owens - A37 and Julija Simas A12-
We Can Be Heroes- Agent12
15th August 2009
During August 2009, Melbourne hosts it's yearly International Film Festival (MIFF). Many documentaries shown at the festival reflect a direct correlation to the current Jupiter, Neptune, Chiron conjunction, they depict how brave warriors, truth seekers and imaginative pranksters are activating change around the globe. Agent 12 writes about the movies she has seen and how they inspire us to also to play our part in the great changes necessary around the planet.
Samson and Delilah -Agent 12
An important film depicting young Indigenous Australians in the outback has an even stronger message for Australia when considering the Astrology of it's release date.. Winner of the Camera d'Or in Cannes this movie was released as Mars and Venus were journeying together through Aries and Mercury stationed retrograde at 1 degree Gemini. We see in this story a reflection of the planets as the film is a very realistic story of a young voiceless couple's adventure of survival in Central Australia and their innocent and awkward need for each other.Agent 12 explores.
A Mystery Chart - Agent12
When we look at a “mystery chart” of a person we don’t know, how much do we assume and how much can we really tell about a person without knowing anything about them. A group of well seasoned astrologers show how. Through the language that is our own, signs, planets, aspects, angles they lead the way to a very close character identification of this famous person. See how you go. Who could it be?
Astrology and Dreams - Coming Soon
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We can be Heroes
During a cold, wet and wintry August 2009, I watched many great documentaries during the controversial Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). The controversy involved the showing of a film The 10 Conditions of Love by documentary maker Jeff Daniels, about Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, whom the Chinese government call a liar and a terrorist. The Chinese embassy demanded the film be pulled from the festival, but when Richard Moore, the festivals director decided to screen the film and even move it to a 1500-seat showing at the Melbourne Town Hall, he showed China that it has no right to dictate what we see here in Australia. As a protest by the Chinese, the MIFF website was hacked and replaced with a waving Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans.
Subsequently the controversy has sparked great interest in the film around the world.In addition to this, during this time there were protesters campaigning outside MIFF movie theatres against the partnership of MIFF with the Israeli film industry, sparking more controversy and attracting attention to the festival. With a gay rights march passing by the Victorian State Parliament, campaigning in support of gay marriage, there definitely seemed to be something in the air. As we find ourselves between another Saturn (rules, restrictions, status quo) / Uranus (change, rebellion, revolution) opposition and with the current astrological line-up of Neptune (film, imagination, the collective unconscious, water, divine connections), Chiron (the asteroid associated with the maverick healer) and Jupiter (the seeker of truth, meaning and justice) – all part of the planetary signature of 2009 and 2010 – these protests and the documentaries I watched are a great example of the archetypal energies in effect at the moment
Movies I watched included The Cove, The Yes Men - Fix the World and Food Inc., all very informative documentaries dealing with the depletion and deteriorating quality of our air, our water, our land and the spirit of the people around the globe and already these films have motivated and activated many people’s imaginations with respect to these issues. These documentaries reflect the Saturn/Uranus opposition, people taking action, acting from their own sense of authority, not waiting for a green light or a nod from bureaucracy in order to be allowed to expose, film or speak the truth, but just getting on and doing it. Saturn and Uranus denote the concept of the old and the new, stagnation and renewal, control and freedom.
The triple conjunction of planets Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune is in Aquarius, the sign of the commons, the community and the future. As we collectively look to the future and our personal role in its unfolding, Jupiter reminds us to speak and seek truth, Chiron reminds us of the painful mess (and its self-inflicted nature), and Neptune gives us hope, bringing with it a strong idealistic urge for selfless action and self-sacrifice. Together we search for truth behind deception, cover-ups, the lies and corruption that lurk behind the motivations for greed, money and power in every country around the world at the moment. There is a sense of there being no hope for the future if we all don’t take serious action and do something about it.
If you’re not doing something yet to be part of the great changes that need to take place, then these movies are bound to inspire you into some kind of action, or at the least make you question why you’re not playing your part. It is through the tribes we are building on the internet, online communities who share the same goals and values, that differences are being made today. It is through movies, like these documentaries, that we are also making progress, reaching audiences through the universal language of film, activating and motivating people to join a cause. These planets in Aquarius – together with Uranus currently in Pisces – bring hope and possibilities within the collective to understand our universal cause, to share our common goals and visions which can lead us to at least some of the changes necessary in this world.
Neptune and film have a strong connection. Neptune and photography materialized in consciousness at the same time. Like photography, Neptune reflects the moving zeitgeist of our culture through fashion, music, celebrities, imagery and art. It is the essence of Neptune which carries us off, enchanted, to different realms and ways of experience. Movies, for an hour or two, put us under their spell and lose us in romance, illusions, fantasy and drama, and through this they manipulate our emotions. A movie can make you feel bad, angry or elated; it can make you weep, make you laugh or make you want to turn a blind eye. Watching a movie has the ability to stir up all sorts of emotional experiences. The music, the images, real or imagined, are all part of Neptune’s realm.
The first compelling documentary I watched was The Cove, a film that delves into the deception and cover-up behind the slaughter of dolphins in a cove behind the picturesque town of Taiji in Japan. The filmmaker, Louie Psihoyos, and a brave troop of activists and free divers together take on a mission, using covert surveillance tactics to penetrate the hidden operations at this secret cove, successfully bringing this information to the world. The filmmaker said “we didn’t need filmmakers” to make this film, “we needed pirates.” This story in particular has an incredible correlation with the Jupiter /Chiron / Neptune configuration, as it is about the mistreatment of one of the most beloved creatures on this planet, the dolphin, the wild creature of Neptune’s marine realm and the deception, the lies and the illusions of this whole cover-up.
The film documents the passion behind the man Ric O’Barry, the trainer of the dolphin “Flipper.” This series started in 1964, during which time Ric lived with the dolphins in an idyllic setting in a bay in the Bahamas where the star dolphins roamed freely during the duration of the series and became Ric’s great loves. Ric’s love of dolphins and later the death of his beloved dolphin Kate, led to his passion and the mission to relentlessly try and stop what happens to dolphins in captivity around the world. After the series finished and Kate was returned to captivity, where she died in his arms, Ric explains that this was suicide. Dolphins and captivity don’t mix, they have the ability to stop breathing at will and do so all the time in the back pools of Seaworld and other such places around the globe. Ric explains that every breath of a dolphin is a completely conscious decision, and they can choose to just not take the next breath, if so inclined. The constant smile a dolphin wears, whether in captivity or not, is as Ric says, one of the biggest illusions of life. A dolphin will appear to be constantly happy, but in captivity they are miserable and because of this they commit suicide constantly, unbeknownst to well-paying tourists watching the show from the grandstand. The suicide of Kate transformed Ric to campaign and continue to free dolphins in captivity and in any sort of trouble around the world, leading him to Taiji in Japan.
Taiji is a lovely tourist village full of cutesy boats in shapes of whales and dolphins taking tourists out to see whales and dolphins roaming free in the nearby waters, where just behind the next hill, around the next cove, dolphins are being herded into coves by fishing boats. Using metal rods that they tap on, the fishermen disturb and disorient the dolphins into the cove exactly where they want them, net them off, and trap them ready for slaughter the next morning. The dolphins’ most acute sense is their hearing, so disturbing the sound of the oceans leads them straight into this trap. Here they slaughter 2500 dolphins every season which starts in September and lasts until March, keeping some alive to trade to the Seaworlds of the world and then selling the rest as dolphin meat to an unsuspecting Japanese public.
Dolphin meat is highly toxic, full of mercury. Dolphins exist at the top of the food chain in the oceans with sharks, marlin, swordfish and tuna and should be eaten minimally. The toxicity of our oceans due to growing pollution levels in our waters, causes diseases such as Minamata disease, mercury poisoning causing severe neurological problems. High levels of mercury and lead can be found in our air too, due to the highly toxic output associated with coal burning, petrol fumes and industry. During the film we are also alerted to the complete ineffectiveness of bureaucratic governing bodies like the International Whaling Commission, heavily influenced and controlled by Japanese magnates, holding all the power who couldn’t care less about the dwindling numbers of whales in our oceans. It makes you want to scream, because nothing is changing and it is all so corrupt.
When Neptune was in Scorpio during the 1960’s, anti-whaling demonstrations started with fervour around the globe, this was due mainly to the fact that during this time we heard the first whale sounds, alerting man to the sound of the oceans and these incredible beings.* Currently in the last 10 degrees of Aquarius, Neptune squares its previous position in Scorpio and dredges up some issues of the past that still haven’t been resolved. Although Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd have been active trying to protect our oceans for a long time now, not for many years has there been so much attention placed onto whaling and the rights of the Japanese to kill them as we have seen during 2009. The plight of the great cetaceans in our oceans, the state of our oceanic realm and quality of our water will become even more desperate as Neptune moves into Pisces during 2011.
The power of the moving image to show it how it really is, is unprecedented. The brave warriors that came together to secretly film and organize getting their cameras into restricted zones, setting them up underwater, to get this out to the world, have done an incredible job to save these dolphins. The Yes Men too, accomplish brave feats to tell their story, unravel the truth and activate change. By impersonating high profile CEO’s from companies such as Dow Chemicals, the Yes Men manage to expose the truth very effectively to an unsuspecting public, but also completely aggravate and expose the true motivations behind some of these large corporations, ultimately motivated by profits only, with no regard for human life and suffering. In places like Bhopal, India, where 20 years ago a huge chemical explosion happened, due to Dow Chemical, then known as Union Carbide, the victims are still waiting for compensation, as this company continues to make billions of dollars in profits year in year out. It’s a joy to see what these brave warriors in film get away with and even more so, what they accomplish.
Food Inc. moves us into the world of food production, the mistreatment of animals to gain greater yields, the under compensating of farmers by powerful corporations, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, as the food industry gets mightier and stronger with not much hope for the little guy. Our supermarkets are full of food owned by a handful of companies; if you can afford it it is better to shop at farmers’ markets, support them, they need it more, but as the movie shows us, the big guys undercut the small guys by amounts that matter a great deal to people who just can’t afford a bunch of broccoli, but can still afford a crappy hamburger. This movie wakes you up to the harsh reality of what we consume, what we eat, where it comes from, and it’s frightening. The message, buy what’s in season and start a veggie patch or even think of starting a communal one. Think globally, buy locally.
In a world where Big Brother may be watching us all, satellites that can film you in your back yard, CCTV on nearly every corner, it is these brave and courageous people, these heroes, who by making these documentaries and bringing them to the world, are creating activism and stirring up controversy, showing us all what we can do to compensate, watch back and expose all. This is a Pluto in Capricorn signature that comes together with the previously mentioned alignments, exposing what’s lurking underneath, what the powerful and greedy are doing to accumulate wealth and our global resources, to the detriment of the masses involved. All of these movies involved hidden cameras, agendas, impersonations and people willing to tell the truth to get these stories our there. Not all of us can or will ever be so daring, but we can all most certainly join a cause, via the net, join a tribe and by working together, something can be done.
It may be hard to watch The Cove. As I watched in horror, knowing that many more unjust, corrupt, inhumane occurrences are happening everywhere around this planet, I felt a strong admiration for these brave warriors and others like them, that are getting on with the quest, doing what they can to promote effective change around the globe. I held back tears many times throughout this film, but when the titles began rolling at the end of the film, I cried and cried and cried when I heard my all time favourite very Neptunian song……………………………..
I - I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins - like dolphins can swim
Though nothing - nothing will keep us together
We can beat them - for ever and ever
Oh we can be Heroes - just for one day
I - I will be king
And you - you will be Queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be Heroes - just for one day
We can beat them - just for one day
I - I can remember
Standing - by the wall
And the guns - shot above our heads
And we kissed - as though nothing could fall
And the shame - fell on the other side
Oh we can beat them - forever and ever
Then we could be heroes - just for one day
You - you can be me
And I - I’ll drink all the time
Cause we’re lovers and that is the fact
Yes we’re lovers and that is that
Oh nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them forever and ever
Yeah we can be Heroes - just for one day
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We're nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay
But we could be safer, just for one day
Oh, oh, oh, ohhh-oh, oh, oh, ohhh, just for one day
Oh, just for one day
Heroes - David Bowie, 1977
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keoJMgD5QZQ
Julija Simas - Agent 12 July 2009
* the first recordings were only released for sale in 1970’s when Neptune was in Sagittarius by Roger Payne and Scott McVay
http://www.thecovemovie.com/ When the Dolphin slaughter was due commence in Taiji in Sept 2009, because of the publicity associated with the movie, the media flocked to Taiji, and still up until today 10/9/09 nothing has started in Taiji, let's hope this ceasation continues, if so a great outcome for this type of collective activism.
http://www.seashepherd.org/ The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - a non-profit organization, protecting marine species and environments. It operates a fleet of vessels it calls Neptune's Navy.
www.theyesmen.org - www.theyesmenfixtheworld.com - Lots of great ideas to rock the boat.
http://www.theyesmen.org/blog/become-a-tabloid-writer - keep an eye on what they are up to something planned in New York for 21st September 2009.
http://www.foodincmovie.com/
Find our where your food comes from, who owns it all and what they do to keep control of this massive industry of food production in the USA.
Samson and Delilah
VENUS and MARS in the Outback
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A powerful new Australian film released to the general public on 7th May 2009 has some very interesting correlations to Australia’s Landing Chart of 1788, when the British Empire first staked a claim on this distant land. This day is Australia Day and some believe it should be renamed Invasion Day and another day chosen to celebrate the Australian nation.
Samson and Delilah was released as Mars and Venus were journeying together through Aries, Mercury stationed retrograde at 1 degree Gemini . The film is a very realistic story of a young voiceless couple's adventure of survival in central Australia and their innocent and awkward need for each other. The Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune conjunction in Aquarius reflect the wounded community they live in, the dependency of petrol sniffers and in the background the neglect and ignorance toward our indigenous people.
Mercury transits the landing charts 4th house and squares the Venus Saturn conjunction in late Aquarius, the simple yet powerful message portrayed in this film digs deeper when we see that the Black Moon Lilith returns to haunt the 12th house and oppose Mars, with transiting Mars squaring both. Mars being an activator here accentuates the timely release of this story. True to Neptune’s rulership of film and movies, the transiting Moon transits Neptune in the 9th house and reminds many of something so easy to forget , out of sight, so therefore out of mind. Film has a language of it’s own that can never be translated into words or text and can reach a much wider far reaching audience.
Warwick Thornton’s first full feature film, Samson and Delilah is shot in a real Aboriginal community near and in Alice Springs, where we are given an unflinching look at the problems facing remote Aboriginal communities right now, still. Violence, substance abuse and extreme poverty. Samson and Delilah has been described as "the best love story ” seen in years and also won the Camera d'Or prize at the Cannes Film festival on 24th May 2009. The Camera d’Or prize is given to a first time director of a feature film and to be selected is an honour in itself . This accolade, helps to bring this important yet simple story out into the public eye, real life issues that lurk in the outback that not too many tourists see when visiting the lucky country.
The Director manages to show us a remarkably simple yet complex story, with no reference to government intervention into aboriginal affairs, no reference to black or white, right or wrong, there is no blame cast or moral preaching displayed. About the film, Thornton says “ Everything in this film I have seen growing up in Alice Springs. It is reality”.* The realities of petrol sniffing and the cruelties of family, the aloneness of growing up. The film is marked by long silences, what little is spoken is mostly in the central Australian language Warlpiri. When at one point in the film young Samson tries to speak we are astounded by his inability to express himself. The Aboriginal actors Rowan McNamara and Marisa Gibson, 14 at the time of filming, are perfectly cast as Mars and Venus growing up, fending for themselves, learning to care for each other in their horrific circumstances. When left alone through a right of passage and mourning to adulthood they slice off their hair, as the biblical myth of Samson and Delilah suggests in the films title.
When we add the transiting planetary make up of the realease date of the film( time unknown) to the Landing Chart of Australia we pick up a deeper and more important story and the impact of this story upon the Australian national psyche. The sunrise chart with 6 degrees Aquarius rising, reflects a nation spawned from travels to far away lands, an identification with a free new land, full of hopes and dreams , Aquarian. Samson and Delilah's release as the North Node crosses the ascendant seems to indicate how important this film really is and what else it brings to the fore. As the next 19 year cycle of Australian development continues, we are reminded of our brotherhood and equality, other Aquarian themes. We are also reminded of the shadow side of Aquarian ideals, that of controlling the masses and making things work the same for everyone. Indigenous cultures don’t ask or necessarily need the same things we do, we just expect this to be so. At the moment the government is trying to push policy through incentives to be able to govern indigenous communities in larger more economically based hubs , as opposed to many smaller remote stations. The elders insist that this is not a good idea and do not wish to be assimilated into the mainstream. It is time to listen and take note of what the elders wish for their people. The triple conjunction of Neptune, Chiron, Jupiter reflects this as they move closer to the Venus /Saturn conjunction of the landing chart. How much wrong has been inflicted on our brothers, assuming we have done right, crushing identity and purpose. The Sun on this day also squares Pluto in the 1st house and as a nation we are reminded of the ghosts of the past, in forging our identity to this land. Maybe it would be better to ditch the crown and forge on ahead embracing our own unique people.
Mars squares Mars exactly and Black Moon Lilith haunts us from the 12th house. The Black Moon is not a planet but the shadow point of the Moon and is quite fitting to perhaps describe our indigenous people. Lilith in the 12th house, the illusions and delusions and falsity of how overpowering we have been in damaging and expiring a culture. They are our black people, in the background, forgotten , out the back, outback. As Saturn transits the 8th house and conjuncts this charts 8th house Virgo Moon and exactly inconjuncts Pluto, we can see the effect of the GFC the and the recession on all Australians. We would do best to remember our forgotten tribes and as this Moon is in Virgo, embrace their skills, their unique qualities, learn from them , learn their skills of finding water, food, fire control, the ways of their ancestors, their Dreaming and their oneness with the land. Neptune in Libra in the 9th perhaps explains more about this and why we don’t do this. It’s because we are the preachers, we have a better way, a better God, and of course we do it in a nicer way. We purport to welcome all creeds and beliefs in our multicultural nation, but we neglect our own, and impose our beliefs of what’s right for them .
Well we did say Sorry, but I’m not convinced it was enough as the transit of this film to the Sorry Day chart suggests. Of course it was good that we said sorry, but what's even better now, is that astrologers have an astrological chart to use to follow these sorry blurbs. Neptune conjuncts the North Node and the North Node highlights the rx Mercury of Sorry Day, Uranus squares Mars exactly and Neptune conjuncts NN. Something had to be done with all the aspects highlighting the grand gesture, but really it wasn’t enough. The Black Moon Lilith which resides in the 9th of the (sorry day) chart in Scorpio, highlights how we have enforced our beliefs of what is right onto our indigenous peoples. The Black Moon Lilith now haunts Jupiter in the 10th , the brotherhood in this Aquarian land is not equal and there is a long way to go.
Samson & Delilah is the most confronting, powerful, honest and important film about indigenous culture yet made in this country. The astrological reflection in the charts shown above weave together the story that they are a unique and yes, separate people that should be allowed to thrive. We have to come to understand that before it’s too late . Learn from them, integrate more with them, not expect them only to integrate with us. Imagine if our high school year 8 or 9 students as part of their curriculum were to go to Indigenous school for a semester, they would learn things that most teenagers otherwise never would. They would learn about their land, their dreaming, bush survival, craft and nature and as the generation grows they would perhaps be better equipped to understand and learn this cultures needs for a change. White Australians instead of just helping financially with products and services and employment opportunities could very well learn from this unique culture and their aspirations. This film and our Aquarian heritage brings to the fore our lack of understanding for the "other" as an equal human being. That is at the root of our racism and makes this film such a necessary voice in Australian culture. Go and see it!
Julija Simas - Agent 12
*The Age May 8th 2009 EG Guide
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Charts used
Landing Day Chart - 5:23 am Sydney- Australia- 26 January 1788
Samson and Delilah Release Date - Time unknown- 7 May 2009
Sorry Day - 13 Feb 2008 - 9:00 am Canberra
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