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Ahh April. Nature herself puts on quite a show during this period of transition. You can almost feel the energy as the birds returning from afar, dancing in the skies in their mating rituals. The weather as changeable as the moods of a toddler. In the northeast, it marks less snow, more sun, and vibrant colors. Make no mistake, there is immense magic to be sure. This year however, the magic is not isolated to that which you can see on your daily travels. In the heavens, there is one of the most momentous and magical astrological moments of the year coming up very soon!
On April 12, Neptune and Jupiter, arguably the two most magical planets will come together in their ruling sign of Pisces. This is especially interesting because this has not happened since March 17, 1856.
1856 you say? That is a real long time ago.
These two magic planets get together every 13 or so years, but not in their ruling sign (which is Pisces for the record). When a planet is in its ruling sign it is happiest and has extra oomph if you will. Like the birds returning home from a winter away, they are glad to be back on home turf if you will. When any two planets come together, there is a synergy. This is not unlike real life when people combine their energy on a shared goal; there is always amplification of the individual energies. Two heads are always better than one!
Jupiter is also the brightest most luminary planet and no matter what it touches, it amplifies the energy. Jupiter is jolly, pioneering, generous and bestows blessings wherever it goes.
Neptune is idealistic, spiritual, sensitive, rules imagination and dreams but can also create confusion and fogginess. Neptune also has a way of washing away and dissolving things.
Pisces, where they are hanging out, is a sign of depth, intuition, emotion, love and great sensitivity. It is also the last sign of the zodiac and therefore rules endings.
Throw all this together and it sounds like it has the makings of a crazy dream sequence don’t you think? (Did I mention Neptune rules dreams?)
As a lifelong seeker, I am here for all that April 12 has to bring. No matter where this point is in your birth chart, we can all expect a boost of magical or spiritual energy from this conjunction.
And, since I am an observer of cycles and connection, I wanted to look back in history to see what happened the last time this occurred since it feels so auspicious today.
What I found was noteworthy and not at all what I expected. On March 30, 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed. This was due to Russia encroaching on its neighbors in a little thing called the Crimean War.
Around the same time, there were factions of pro-slavery groups fighting anti-slavery groups in the US. Some states even went so far as to pass laws to stop those attempting to help anti-slavery efforts.
Before the next meeting of these two planets in 1869, the US had experienced the Civil War resulting in the technical end of slavery, Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated and seances had been conducted in the White House. The séance thing was more what I expected by the way
Things started to change in that period alright but also; things aren’t really all that different today either. When I started this mini-investigation, I was expecting to learn of the growth in spiritualism in the US after the Civil War, which was in fact the case. Some speculate it was due to the massive loss of life in the Civil War which as best I can tell totaled over 750,000 souls. I did not expect to discover the parallels to some of the perils in our society today including war in the Ukraine or continued issues around race and inequality in our society.
Because Pisces rules endings, I am hoping that just like in 1856, maybe this is the beginning of the end of some ugly stuff. Maybe this is the final chapter to what started way back then, to truly see all people as equal and for Russia to quit needing so much.
My great hope is that we can end some of the darkness that exists in today’s world without any more fighting or loss of lives. Perhaps this next Neptune Jupiter Pisces cycle can work to amplify love, peace and magic and dissolve ugliness, division and hate. Perhaps we can learn from the last such cycle to move a little easier in our communities and world. Let this conjunction be the doorway into a time of great peace and love.
“Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future time.” --Abraham Lincoln, 1863