“The crisis is in our consciousness, not in the world.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
“It is no longer possible to deny our thoughts and desires might influence our environment. The most recent cosmologies all include consciousness as an active participating factor in reality. The new explanations of how the world works are strangely like the old beliefs of non-literate people everywhere.” Lyall Watson
I had a poetic Irish father and when someone at a party got very caught up in the revelry and imbibed too much alcohol, my father would say they were “reclining in the arms of Bacchus.” Bacchus was the Roman god of wine and Dionysus was his Greek counterpart.
Dionysus had some followers – a group of nymphs who had nursed him when he was young. As he grew they became fierce protectors of Dionysus, preparing his wine and using it to attain a state of ecstacy in combination with ecstatic dance. Sometimes in paintings the Maenads are depicted as holding swords as they whirl in ecstatic dancing.
This Jupiter/Neptune aspect is about our dreams and it is a good time to look at your dreams now – both sleeping and waking -to see what your soul’s yearnings are and what former dreams need to be severed to create room for new growth.
The Sufis also use ecstatic dance as a way to attain a higher consciousness or to contact the Divine. In ritual many indigenous traditions use psychoactive preparations to attain a higher state of consciousness and have visions.
Perhaps it is true that throughout time there has been a use and abuse issue with alcohol and these kinds of substances, but we certainly see it now in a widespread way in our time.
Sometimes alcoholism is defined as a “derailed spiritual journey” and this is very much the territory we are in now with the boundless, boundry- less energy of this alignment.
It is wise to use this time to grow spiritually and to commit to taking the high road – not only in thought but in action.
Under this influence there may be ecstatic highs and shattering disillusionments and a sense of chaos or lack of order. But it’s wise to remember that the forces of illusion are very strong now too and it can be difficult to understand and integrate what is going on at the time. Best to commit to keeping an even keel while allowing more downtime for the sorting through and integration of information.
Take your time with any information that surfaces now.
One of the Sabian symbols for this time is,” A sword once used in many battles is now in a museum.”