Sophia's Children

Odyssey
noun od·ys·sey \ˈä-də-sē\

: a long journey full of adventures

: a series of experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone

1:  a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune

2:  an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest (Merriam-Websters Dictionary)

Sounds like life, doesn’t it — the long journey full of adventures, changing fortunes, new understandings, and gravitas-creating wisdom?

Or so we would hope, in any case.

We’re each on our very own Odyssey, and we’re on a collective Odyssey, too, in these wild and wily transformative times.

The mythic-astrology language for the archetypal Energies of Now includes:

• Neptune in Pisces,

• Uranus in Aries,

• Pluto in Capricorn — and their epic ‘square’, waning but still in effect, and

• Chiron in Pisces.

And we can’t leave out the astro-headliners of this year, Saturn in Sagittarius doing the tango with Neptune (and Chiron) in Pisces.

If that’s not enough excitement and energy alchemy, the upcoming Mars Retrograde is right on the near horizon.

Mars Retrograde is when Mars, a.k.a. our ‘lifeforce’ and passion, draws inward and goes on a bit of a “How am I using my energy and Lifeforce?” vision quest.

Unlike many planets, Mars doesn’t retrograde every year, so it’s a key element in the archetypal energy mix for this year, affecting everyone … and some of us more than others.

Never a dull moment, as the saying goes, though Lifeforce — energy — is always dynamic.

It’s a heavenly and energetic-psychic party … and As Above, So Below; As ‘Out There’, So It Is Within.

But with maps and clues and fresh insights, we can lean into the greater potentials and possibilities, orient into a sense of greater purpose, and maybe even have a wee bit of fun while we’re at it.

And there’s this: It’s a bit more confidence-boosting to have a clue vs. being, well, clueless, yes?

Seeing it as our personal & collective Vision Quest … or Odyssey.

As all of us Journeyers know, these mythic lenses and maps are a great help as we orient ourselves along these byways where the old ways of navigation, the current-paradigm maps, no longer work as easily … or at all.

In the myth of the Odyssey, Odysseus sets forth to return home after the Trojan War, only to find that it takes him 10 years with many setbacks, wrong turns, losses, and unexpected travails, all gratis the obstructions created by the formidable Roman god of the Seas, Neptune (or Poseidon, to the Greeks).

Some of you may be more familiar with Neptune — knowingly or not.

If you’ve had what in mythic and archetypal astrology is known as the Neptune Transit, during which you have a bit more of an up close and personal encounter with the archetypal energy of Neptune.

Neptune transits — conjunctions, squares, oppositions — are known to accompany experiences of heightened sensitivity, dissolution, depression, heart-openings, reclaimed imagination, and visionary breakthroughs, to name just a few.

Sound familiar?

I’ve written about it before, having navigated Neptunian seas for a good bit of time, like Odysseus, so you’ll find links to a few of those posts within this one.

And I revisited a particularly apt bit of wisdom from Mythic Astrology: Archetypal Powers in the Horoscope and wanted to share it with you:

I know that more than a few of you are in the midst of Neptune (and Pals) transits as we speak, and my fellow Generation X ‘Sixties Babies’ cohorts are in the Neptune Pisces opposition to our Uranus-Pluto-Virgo conjunctions, and in the major milestone Chiron Return zone, among other possible activations and aspects.

(More in this S.C. post about Mid-60s-born Gen-X Phoenixing underway now.)

Yes, that means you’re still getting lit up, a.k.a. initiated! (Email me — info ‘at’ sophias-children ‘dot’ com — for an astro-reading to see where you are in this unfolding.)

As for the Neptune energy-archetype, in Mythic Astrology, authors Ariel Guttman and Kenneth Johnson speak of how “many people feel that they can’t see where they are going while under a transit of Neptune.”

This is true. In addition to the immensely heightened sensitivity, it feels like one’s clarity, vision, structure has suddenly dissolved, or is immersed in a thick fog.

In the words of a dream I had as Neptune conjoined my Sun and Saturn (and opposed and squared various other planetary pals), I had to “learn to see with my other eyes.”

Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

It was pretty challenging, actually, because I’d been thoroughly conditioned away from my Neptunian-Piscean ‘self parts’ and conditioned towards my more Saturnian-Capricornian self-facets.

So the good long Neptune & Pals transits dissolved, shook, stirred all of that conditioning to bits.

Ultimately, with a fair bit of that in hindsight now, I can honestly say that it’s been a very rich journey of remembering and reclamation of buried treasure.

In Mythic Astrology, Guttman and Johnson continue,

“This is what people are so fearful about when Neptune transits occur — they no longer seem to function in the rational, linear world the way they once did.

Their way of outer adaptation no longer works. Everything beings to crumble; nothing makes sense anymore.

The ego has to dissolve or step aside for awhile while Neptune throws its net over our charted course, thereby forcing us to learn by other means, i.e. by trusting our intuitive faculties or by learning to develop them if they don’t already exist.” (p. 169)

“Thus one of Neptune’s jobs may be to encourage the opening of the third eye, to develop trust and reliance on faith and a higher power that comes when an individual no longer is able to control his or her own course.” (p.168)

In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his crew are welcomed by the adept magia, wise woman, and goddess Circe.

Circe, from one reading of the story, is both initiating Priestess-Goddess to Odysseus, and ultimately one who tells him how to find his way home despite the remaining challenges they will face on their voyage.

That’s one clue to navigating Neptune’s initiations along the Way, and Guttman and Johnson expand on that hint in the excerpt I’ve shared — learning to see with our other eyes, and navigate our way by intuition and other medial, oracle-Feminine ways of seeing.

The adventure — or our unique Odyssey — continues to flow, evolve, unfold and initiate us into the transformation catalysts we are.

Transformative/Intuitive Astro Readings & VisionQuest Pathfinding …

If you’re being Neptuned, or Chiron-Returned, ready to Vision Quest on ‘Right Use’ of your energy and Lifeforce, or otherwise in a transformative Zap Zone Awakening Cycle, send along an email (info at sophias-children dot com).

Or check out the Current Specials for Now – good deals on readings, consults, and programs.

Having a map, some clues, and a ‘Believing Mirror’ navigation-partner can make a huge difference as we find our way through key cycles and ‘lean into our purpose’.

Big Love,

Jamie