We Are Also Here to Die! Mars Squaring Neptune

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology, and today we are going to be taking a look at Mars's upcoming square to Neptune. Mars is in the sign of Gemini. It is slowing down and will be turning retrograde by the end of this month. And as it does so, it's making a square to Neptune, and then after it retrogrades, it will go back through a square to Neptune and then eventually, after returns, directed to go back through the square to Neptune. So a big part of the upcoming Mars Retrograde has to do with the square Mars is making to Neptune. For that reason, we want to take a look at it today and give you some of the broad archetypal themes that you may notice. Not only now, this week, but throughout the whole month and throughout the autumn season, really, and I'll go over some of those dates, and we'll probably actually revisit this square after the retrograde as well. So that is our agenda for today.

Before we get into it, don't forget to share a comment in the comment section today. I'd love to hear from you guys, especially if you have a story. Like and Subscribe, obviously, helps the channel to grow. If you do have a story, use #grabbed or email grabbed@nightlightastrology.com.
I aggregate all of your stories and occasionally do storytelling episodes. And it's really great to see how these transits land with with with everyone out there. I learned a ton from it. Develop my astrological, diviners, almanac, or encyclopedia in my head by hearing so many stories. And that's good for everyone else who's out there studying astrology as well to listen to those storytelling episodes; you'll learn a ton about the transits that way.

Anyway, I appreciate you guys sharing those stories; I'm going to take you over to my website right now, nightlightastrology.com, where I am actively promoting my upcoming class. Enrollment starts every six months. The next enrollment period is here for my first-year class called Ancient Astrology for the Modern Mystic; I was thinking about the best way to summarize what this course is about; of course, it's a one-year immersion into Hellenistic ancient astrology, which prepares you to read charts for people if you want to, or just develops your craft as an astrologer to the point where you just get better at it. If it's your hobby, you develop a much deeper grasp and understanding of it. And that's helpful because reading your own chart is something that is beneficial for your whole lifetime and being able to do so at a much deeper level. So, you know, it's like having your own GPS system.

But I was thinking, Well, what really kept it, you know, captures the essence of this course. And that wasn't one of the things that I really emphasized from start to finish throughout this course, is that we're, we're learning all of the history and philosophy. We're emphasizing the spiritual roots of ancient astrology, and we're learning all these techniques. But it's really the last third of the program when I have live clients come in, and we talk about what makes a divinatory moment, what makes a moment that, you know, suddenly you're reading for someone, and suddenly all of the craft that you've learned and the technique, you artfully in intuitively know how and where to apply it. It's not just a gift of counseling that leads to that. It's about recognizing how to generate something called the Divinity moment, which is that moment where suddenly everything feels a little electrical. It's like lightning strikes. And suddenly, the whole chart lights up, and you know where to go. Because certain symbols are just standing out, we spend a lot of time talking about how to create that connection with a client in the context of a live reading, which goes beyond preparation and technique, and theory and history and all of that stuff and right into, you know, how do I make this?

How do I speak? How do I allow spirit to speak through the context of this reading, we spent a lot of time talking about that toward the end of this program, and you learn a lot. You can hear what alumni have had to say about its 30 courses on the year 12 guest lectures and interactive forum discussion staffed by tutors. We have tutors that helped you during breakout study sessions in between classes. So if we might spend, you know, 10-15 hours on a topic, and then you get a couple of hours of a breakout study session to review that set of that topic and ask questions. So it's just packed full of opportunities for learning. And people also find that this course is deeply transformational. And I think that's one of the best reasons to study astrology. You can learn to read charts with people, but it's also how does it change you as a soul. Astrology has been changing my life regularly. And when you have some deeper understanding of how to read charts, you also can move along with the transits in your life at a deeper level. And that's how transformation occurs. I mean, that's how I made changes in my own life in the past week or two here. It was through daily attention to the astrology as a spiritual practice.

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Alright, let's take a look at the real-time clock. And we're going to get into Mars and Neptune now. So here is Mars. And we're talking about this is Tuesday. But look at this proximity Mars at 21 degrees Neptune at 23. Really super, super close. Let's advance the chart a little bit now. And you're going to see that this is slowly, slowly approaching. I mean, Mars doesn't get through until about October 12, that it actually squares Neptune, that's next Wednesday, that's within three degrees for a whole week. See, when Mars is slowing down to station, that square lasts a long time, go all the way to the end of October; it's still just two degrees away from Neptune in a square. And by the time it turns retrograde around Halloween, it's still just three degrees away from the square. Now, ancient astrologers considered a three-degree engagement window to be the most profound space within which the symbols show their meanings that they manifest. And so Mars turns retrograde, and we're going to see Mars going back down, staying within that three-degree range into the square with Neptune all the way through late November, right, and it doesn't fully get out of the three-degree range of the square to Neptune until like, the end of November, beginning of December. I mean, that's crazy. Right?

So you've got, you know, effectively, a Mars square to Neptune in effect for like a month and a half, which is, you know, pretty unbelievable like that. That's, that is a really long time to be dealing with one transit. So I feel like we should take some time today and say, well, like, what is this all about? So on October 12, Mars and Gemini are square Neptune in Pisces for the first time; it's a little bit of a ways away yet; we're just here, you know, as we're doing this today, it's just October 4. So we still have, you know, over a week to go before this hits the square for the first time, but you will be feeling it all the way through next week. So it felt like, you know, let's get out ahead of this, especially let's preview this because of the long-standing square through the retrograde that's coming. So given that I have three themes that I want to talk about today, there are three things to watch for that to me get right into the archetypal essence and the psychological meaning of this transit.

One. This is a little heavy, but I hope it I think you'll enjoy it. I think you'll enjoy dying. We are also here to die. I recently had a reading with a woman who is dealing with something that very well could turn out to be terminal; in her time of passage, out of her body could be close. It's unknown, but it could be close at hand. And we talked a lot. And one of the things that she said that I found really insightful and echoes some of the things that one of my favorite authors, James Hillman, wrote about was that we're not just here to live. We're also here to die.

It seems like we're here to live. And by all accounts, I'm not someone who sits around thinking about death all the time, or, you know, fixates on death with or is like morose or something like that. But we have to remember that our souls are immortal and eternal. According to these ancient mystics who practiced astrology, you know, whether you believe that or not, you know, it's up to you. But it's something that's a part of my own belief system, that we are all eternal souls. And so from the standpoint of an eternal soul, an eternal soul comes into a lifetime to experience, to experience things, all kinds of experiences, those experiences, it's not just to obtain something, or to get something or to reach some level of something. The soul comes here to experience people and things and, you know, sensual reality. The soul comes here to experience all kinds of things. And the soul comes here to experience a very particular type of death as particular as all of the rest of the particulars, and as valuable to the soul as anything else, that we come here to die in a specific way.

You know, it again sounds kind of morbid, but it's, it's true. It's like, you know, one of the things that this woman said that I found very meaningful, as she was contemplating her own death which she said, a lot of my friends want me to remain heroically confident that I will overcome this illness. What I've been trying to communicate, and oftentimes it feels like it's falling on deaf ears, is that I am also here in my lifetime potentially to do this, to go through an illness, and to learn to let go of my body and to die well, you know, that may be, that's what I'm here to do. And it's not about manifesting a cure. It's not about thinking positively and overcoming the illness; I'm starting to realize that I'm a soul and that my soul is also here to experience the letting go. And that that, from the standpoint of, of an eternal being, it's just another experience. And one that perhaps the soul doesn't value anymore or less than all of the other experiences that we would classify as living. So what's the distinction between living and dying for an eternal being? Do you know what I mean?

The reason that this makes so much sense and I thought it was interesting that she, we were having this conversation with a Mars Neptune signature perfecting in the sky within a couple of degrees is that so much of our, especially our modern life, I think death, it was probably looked at differently. You know, 1000s of years ago, when death was a little bit more apparent, you'd see dead bodies a lot more in your lifetime, for example. But in our world today, death is, you know, it's not something we see or witness a lot. It takes place, often very privately separately, and we don't dwell on it. There's sometimes, you know, in-depth, the casket is open, and we see the body take a moment, you know, but it's not like we're exposed to death a lot. Maybe in the news, we hear news of death, tragic death, but it's usually presented not so much as a natural occurrence as much as it is a tragedy, something to be afraid of, something shocking, something that ruins the reins on the parade. Do you know what I mean? So, Mars, and Neptune, Mars is heroism, the will, the will to live and the will to dominate and the will to compete, and the will to rise up and conquer. And that conquering could be something simple, like, I'm going to learn a skill, you know, or I'm going to become good at something, I'm going to try to become masterful. It's an art or a craft or an ability. I'm going to develop my intelligence. You know, we're here to do things. We're obsessed, our whole culture obsessed with the hero's journey. And, you know, Joseph Campbell, if you guys have ever read that book, The Hero with 1000 Faces, Joseph Campbell talks very famously about the hero's journey and how compelling a myth it is for all of us. And it's a beautiful myth. But it's also not the myth that most people live; if we're honest, there might be moments of heroism. And there might be the allure of living a heroic life where we rise up facing challenges, you know, Herculean tasks, gain trophies, and so forth.

But there are seasons of heroism in our lives, you know, there are, that myth appears like a perennial flower in the garden of many different myths in our lives. But one of the things that we really hesitate to talk about is what happens when we fail, right? When we are weak, not strong, when muscles atrophy rather than develop, when our posture starts bending over as we age, or when, you know, naturally, energy declines or libido dies down. You know, bank accounts dwindle, but these are natural things, just like autumn and winter come around. So when Mars faces Neptune in a square, one of the things that can happen is we can feel this sense of weakness and impotency. I lack the will; I lack the courage, I lack the care, I lack the concern to do, and naturally, one of the things that we face with Mars Neptune is what does what is what does my soul have to learn from periods or seasons of weakness or failure or ineptitude or impotency creatively sexually anything.

So the statement we are also here to die just broadly speaks to the fact that failure and weakness are an absolutely vital part of the show. Like that, we're here for we're here to watch the show of life. Every single show will eventually involve the laying down of the sword. And it will eventually or falling on the sword or the inability to wield it. Everyone loses that at some point. There will be a last breath that we all take. And so, how do we deal with weakness? You know? And ineptitude? And also, can we make room for the fact that we're not just here to live and achieve, but we're also here to die well? What does it mean to die well? It looks different for everyone. And die well can be something that we practice for the big die for the big death later, you know, for the dying can happen in small moments. How do I let go of my will in the situation is a practice for how do I let go of my body later in life. And it's as though the soul wants the entire performance to be as beautiful as possible. And that includes how we act, method act, the moments of failure, weakness, ineptitude, etc. We're also here to die.

Number two is sacrifice, weakness, and failure. I've talked a little bit about weakness and failure just now. Let's add into the mix sacrifice. The other thing is that Mars and Neptune when they come together, are often about sacrifice. There's a sense of the martyr; martyr comes from the same root word as Mars. And so the idea of laying down your life and sacrificial service, that it's very the crucifixion. You know, the image of the crucifixion is a very Mars Neptune kind of thing. A soldier is going off to war and dying valiantly for, you know, on the beach at Normandy or something like that very Mars Neptune. So the idea of, you know, it could be the idea of putting all of your efforts into something transcendental.

Mars, Neptune has the sense of the collective will or my will, serving the collective. Have you ever noticed that some people, including myself, who was born with the Mars Neptune opposition, often use the word we; not so much me but we, but they'll still it'll almost be like the We is me, you know? How are we feeling? It's this sense of, you know, identifying your own will and energy and efforts with something bigger or more collective.

Now, on the other hand, the individual, in order to be a part of something greater, often has to sacrifice something of their own will or self-interest. And so, the sacrificial nature of Mars Neptune reflects the need for Mars, who often represents individuals and individualism, to be sacrificed into the oceanic collective somehow. Not my will, but there is the spiritual motif of Mars square Neptune also.

Let's go to number three, which is the romantic Mars now. The romantic Mars takes all Mars things and just puts them on steroids. In fact, Mars square Neptune can be about steroids, or it can be about falling in love with the images of Mars, you know. Mars square Neptune can be like, you know, some of those in the summertime we went out to eat one time and we were on this main strip out by the lake here; Lake Minnetonka, and there were muscle cars like classic muscle cars driving by hot pink some of them like all you know, so I just and I just had this you know, this feeling like this has got to be like a Mars Neptune kind of thing, you know, the or just the glorification of Mars really, Mars Neptune can be like the glamour of Marsy things, the glamour of a muscle magazine, the glamour of a bodybuilding contest. It can be the desire to, you know, angle the camera in the right way to make yourself look really muscular.

So anything that's that falls in love with Mars, that the romantic Mars is like, inflation, romantic idealization of Mars, like things, like sometimes people will, you know like you'll maybe you see a show on the History Channel exploring the development of, you know, weapons of war over 1000 years or something like that. And there are people I went, you know, at one point in my life, I went to the, in when we were living in Maryland, I went to the Renaissance Festival. We just did that again here. And they had this whole store that was like just blades. It was all of these different kinds of blades and swords. And I couldn't believe people were actually buying them was like, what do you do with one of those? You know? Can you put it up over the fireplace in case of intruders? It was like, No, there are still people who like collect these, and they make these beautiful blades still. And I could feel it in there, that there's just there's this imaginative connection to, and that's one of the reasons that weapons aren't going anywhere. Right? You know, for maybe some people, that might feel like a very unfortunate thing, but it's because people are in love with them. It's because people find them to be it's, you know, it's like the knight in shining armor, the sun glinting off, you know, the armor of the night, and the colors and the banners and so anytime that there's a romantic idealization of athletes or sports or warfare Gladiators, it's very Mars Neptune.

I'm someone, for example, who tends to see, you know, the beloved Godhead in the sports arena; I have always been completely intoxicated by, you know, the last-minute type basketball game in the Final Four or, you know, I follow my Minnesota Vikings. There's something about that, you know, or the arena of sports where for some reason, the gods are just very shiny for me in that place. So I was born with Mars opposite Neptune. I was a kid; I was really good at competitive swimming all the way up until high school, when I quit because I started getting into pot, started smoking, and I left high school and went off to college early. But we had this program in Minnesota where you could go you could go enroll in a college or junior and senior year, so I went and did that; dropped out of sports was study starting to study philosophy and smoking a little, a little weed.

But the point is, I guess that I, and maybe that's Mars Neptune too, I don't know. But that, well, you know, it is because the other thing that's very Mars Neptune, in addition to like something like competitive swimming, is the drive toward oblivion. The oblivion drive is like a kamikaze pilot or the person who will rush into battle, and they just they're just willing to completely obliterate themselves. So Mars Neptune can be like the primal scream of battle and the way that it fully envelops and draws someone into ecstatic union with the Divine. I mean, there's a long history of people who have found that Mars is ecstatic somehow. Mars, you know, is with Mars with Neptune is a bit like, you know, the rager at the party who's like, really fun but you know, completely destroying themselves with drink or something like that, you know, you have to be careful too. Because Mars Neptune is often associated with violence, and suicide, like the desire to completely obliterate yourself.

So the romantic Mars can come in and be associated with a tragedy like people who have some kind of romantic, tragic nature. We're going to be talking about that more, by the way, when we preview Saturn into Pisces because Saturn into Pisces is associated with, you know, singer-songwriters who like Jeff Buckley, or Kurt Cobain, for example. But anyway, more on that later.

But the same thing is basically applicable, which is that the Mars Neptune combination can be about sort of, you know, sort of tragic romantic themes. And usually with an aura of like, sacred destructiveness or something like that.

So these are the kinds of things that I would start watching for just starting to notice. There's not it's not good or bad, you know, it's just about taking note of these themes. And when you the more that you take note of them, the more, if you if you're able to recognize the themes, then usually you can avoid the extremes becoming overly sacrificial, becoming overly aggrandizing or idealizing of something Mars-like. the oblivion drive, you know, how healthy is that? Are you being self-destructive? You start because once you notice those themes coming in, it's harder for them to just completely sweep you away. And yet they will anyway, you know, and that's part of what the soul is here to experience, you know, getting swept up in things every experience is a teacher in that sense. And the more we say yes to those experiences, you know, the more we learned from them, but staying aware of them, having reflective symbolic awareness is also going to give you the room to navigate the experience, you know, intelligently and sensitively.

Well that's our work. I mean, that's our work, and that's our joy. We're also here to die. Happy Tuesday. So, I hope you guys are having a great day today. Drop a comment and tell me what you think about this one. Do you have Mars Neptune in your natal chart? I'd love to hear from you guys can find a transcript of any of my daily talks on the website if you ever want to read what I've said today. And then don't forget the new class, Ancient Astrology for the Modern Mystic starts on November 12. Come. Be mystical with me. All right. Take it easy, everyone. Bye