SOS Save our Souls!
We think a lot about our physical health. And these days we are encouraged to focus on our mental health. But when does anyone ever speak about the health and nurture of our Soul? What even is the Soul? How and where would we find it? When we talk about evil people we refer to them as being ‘soul-less’ or devoid of soul. It follows, therefore, that the soul, expressed well, must have something to do with empathy, compassion, caring and living with moral purpose. How do we know how to express our own individual soul well? The only roadmap I know for this would be our own personal astrological blueprint.
What is the Soul? Genesis 2:7 says that "life" is the divine "breath of life" that God gives to man formed from dust. This infusion transforms the man, who before was just a body, into a "living soul". Before God gave the life-giving breath, there was no Adam. He only became an individual (a soul) when body and breath came together. The Soul, therefore, is the unique, animate self. It is the individual mind, will, emotions, and desires that give life and vitality to the body and connect the individual to the world. According to Thomas Aquinas, the Soul is contained within every cell of every single part of the human body. Descartes considered the seat of the soul to be in the pineal gland, as I wrote earlier https://www.joycelambertastrology.com/blog/the-seat-of-the-soul.
While the Soul is the individual expression of self, the Spirit is more the essence that connects the Soul to something greater, such as the divine or the conscious life force of the Universe. In this way the Spirit drives the Soul, just as with the Greek idea of the ‘daimon’. Think of the Spirit as your power animal, helping you to find your dharma - the meaning and purpose of the Soul.
On Sunday 21st September, just one day before the equinox, we experienced the final solar eclipse of the year, falling at 29 degrees of Virgo and sitting with the South Node. This positioning clearly symbolised endings and this was highlighted even more by its opposition to the historic Saturn/Neptune conjunction, which in itself symbolises an ending of some type. But, courtesy of this opposition, the eclipse also became an integral part of an opportunistic planetary ‘kite’ formation as well as the triangular aspect of the outer planets indicating some type of new paradigm for us all. So, in summary, we have an eclipse with the South Node at the 29-degree marker, opposing the potent Saturn/Neptune conjunction, all of which screams endings. Also, because the conjunction will perfect at 0 Aries and form part of a kite formation of all the outer planets, we have a planetary consciousness that connects the ending of things or events that have happened already to a new beginning of a new paradigm or civilisation type that is yet to happen.
With the Sun moving just one day after the eclipse into 0 Libra, the Autumn equinox, we hardly have time to draw breath. We ‘throttle up’ and move straight into whatever the new beginnings will be, as we go from an Earth sign straight into an Air sign. What has so far built up slowly, slowly - what has crept upon many without them even realising - may well suddenly begin to leapfrog as changes move upon us or are moved upon us very quickly; that’s the difference between signs moving through the heavier element of Earth and the fast-moving signs in Air.
We are clearly at some kind of pivotal transformation point. Not only did Pluto, the planet of transformation, form part of the kite aspect, he was also on the Midheaven of the solar eclipse chart set for London. Additionally, he was the focal point of a very potent T-square, squaring Mars at the anaretic degree of 29 Libra on the one side and Chiron and Eris on the other. This strikes me as a potentially abusive, highly reactive aspect. With Uranus also on the Ascendant of the London chart, we should definitely expect both sudden change (Uranus) and more extended transformational change (Pluto) for the UK as a whole, courtesy of the government (Midheaven). Some of these changes may well be uncomfortable for us to take on board.
To add to this complex, thought provoking chart, we now have not just one solar object, but two unrelated solar objects, both converging on the Sun at similar times in October. One is the interstellar object ATLAS/3i that I have already spoken about, and the other is called C/2025 R2 (SWAN), described as a ‘long-period comet’ with a ‘greenish coma and tail’. ATLAS/3i will have been in the constellation of Libra during September, whilst at the beginning of October C/2025 R2 (SWAN) will pass near the Fixed Star Zuben Elgenubi, also in the constellation of Libra. Zuben Elgenubi is linked with social reform and social justice, whilst Libra is symbolised by the scales of justice. Both ATLAS and SWAN will reach their closest points to the Sun in late October.
Saturn/Neptune articulates our Souls (Neptune) in terms of how the Soul adapts its defined purposes according to the life chosen within the physical realities (Saturn) of those lives. In order to look at the Soul’s path for meaning in this life, we have to take note of and listen to the subtle nuances (Neptune). But how does the Soul deal with the realities of the life (Saturn)? And what drives the Soul? Just as the idea of the daimon in Greek literature drives the actions of the Soul, how do we help our Souls so that they are able to act according to their intention? The only way I know is through the astrological blueprint we received at birth. It’s vital that we honour our Soul and our dharma for the individual to feel fulfilled.
My friend and colleague, William Stickevers in the USA, recently sent me an article he wrote on Jung’s views on how we are influenced by the planetary archetypal meanings. Jung observed that the collective unconscious (indicated mainly by the outer planets) does not only influence individuals, but can overwhelm entire groups, nations or civilisations. When societies are under stress, such as political instability, rapid technological change or cultural stress, the repressed contents of the unconscious break through. In this state, instead of individuals taking their own personal responsibility, they become conduits for archetypal forces via a kind of groupthink. They then begin to think, feel and act as though they have been psychically infected. The individual ego becomes eclipsed, and the archetype possesses the masses. Stickevers points out that we saw this in one of its clearest forms with Nazi Germany.
Jung’s warning was that without self-awareness and symbolic understanding societies risk being driven into catastrophe by archetypal forces they do not consciously recognise. And to do that requires conscious awareness, critical thinking, taking time to go within, all of which is being harmed by the stresses of 21st century 24/7 living. Crucially it also needs the initial element of curiosity; curiosity to do our research and take our own responsibility to really understand where current events are taking our lives forward (Saturn). And that seems very hard for people to do. Perhaps that is one reason why we are suffering so much mental unhappiness – so many unexpressed Souls who have been diverted into a life of superficial pleasure, but bound to a life that has no meaning, no drive and no purpose.
How can we even attempt self-awareness without curiosity, both in terms of the world and who we want to be? This is particularly important at times that augur great change for us all. The last Saturn/Neptune conjunction brought with it the fall of the Berlin Wall and the break-up of the Soviet Union. Huge impactful events, but I would say that a conjunction at 0 Aries suggests something much greater than even this for our civilisation.
For the UK what might this augur? The eclipse fell in the UK’s 12th house – things that are hidden from public view and that includes our level of consciousness. It was also conjunct the UK Uranus, so we may well see things that shock us. We are indeed a society under stress. We have at the moment one of the most unpopular governments, having had four Prime Ministers since 2020, when we should have had only one. Do the people feel that they are being governed in a way that will keep them safe and secure? I think not. We also have cultural stress in terms of the migrant situation, together with technological stress, as the advancement of AI affects society in terms of future potential job losses, rapid technological change, increased surveillance, increased data collection and the eventual threat that digital identity will pose. The eclipse occurred in the sign of Virgo which connects to the notion of service in terms of daily life, daily rituals. It is a sign that is concerned with health and the need to be useful.
So what memorable events occurred on or around the solar eclipse?
· In the week before the eclipse Donald Trump made his second state visit to London where he was royally entertained.
· He and Starmer announced the Tech Prosperity Deal. The two were seen sporting the three-word logo – Tech Prosperity Deal - on their rostrums, reminiscent of the mind-influencing technique used in the pandemic period. This deal appears to particularly benefit Blackstone, a US private equity firm that manages assets in excess of $1 trillion. It is perhaps the poorer sibling of BlackRock which controls in excess of $10 trillion. In a communist, totalitarian country the government rules. In a democratic country corporations are allowed to become so wealthy that they can influence government and call the shots. We seem to have a perfect Marxist melding of big business money and government, echoing Mussolini’s definition of fascism and ‘jobs for the boys’.
· Two days before the eclipse the Assisted Dying Bill had its second debate in the House of Lords.
· The Charlie Kirk memorial was held exactly on the eclipse. One comment at the memorial stood out: ‘The tyrant dies, and his rule is over. The martyr dies and his rule has just begun’. Statement or threat?
· Ongoing cyberattacks continue with one at Heathrow Airport. This follows from Jaguar Land Rover, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op.
· Operation Pegasus – an ongoing preparedness exercise Pandemic Response Plan will take place by November.
· The UK alongside France, Australia and Canada, recognised the future state of Palestine.
· Donald Trump at the U.N. announced that climate change was the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world. He said, “If you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail”.
I was waiting until after the eclipse to finish this blog and now Starmer has announced in the run up to the Labour Party Conference this weekend exactly what I was expecting – the roll out of digital identity. Tony Blair first tried to deliver this in 2002. This is exactly an invisible (Neptune) control (Saturn) that potentially marks the end of democracy and a greater move towards a totalitarian/Marxist/Communist rule. As I said earlier, first slowly slowly, but then very quickly, changes will be thrown at us from all sides so that society is not only completely confused but also lacks the time to organise its response. Although as I write this there are definite signs of revolution (eclipse on the UK Uranus), with an online petition standing at over 2 million.
The Saturn/Neptune conjunction could well be demonstrating how much our Souls (Neptune) have been restricted/controlled/changed (Saturn) by our way of life, by our environment and by technology. If we lose the connection to our Soul’s purpose and, therefore, how we bring purpose, meaning and a sense of moral compass to our lives, humanity will be changed forever. As I said, we need the element of curiosity to stimulate our powers of critical thinking and conscious awareness but, whilst it is important that we ensure we are aware, it is also vital that we resist the urge to be in fear or dwell on every little detail. Rather, how do we continue our own individual sense of our Soul purpose whilst being aware of the limitations (Saturn) and the ideologies (Neptune) that are thrown in our way? We need to be aware but ensure that we are not ‘ruled’ by that awareness.
We could help our Souls a lot if we re-connected with the natural, circadian rhythms of the Sun, daylight and the living conscious wisdom contained within the Universe; if we allowed ourselves the time to ground and prepare our minds and our bodies before the day starts. The solar eclipse itself in Virgo highlighted the need for rituals such as journaling, meditation and tapping into the ‘right time’ for natural creativity because we are being sucked in by ‘blue screens’ and the 24/7 culture of chaos and constant noise that disrupts these natural rhythms. There is a kind of ‘modern malady or sickness’ where we have low mood, low energy and other negative conditions that links with not allowing ourselves the luxury of having a period of adjustment to and preparation for the day ahead. Instead we launch into a full-on day ‘on the hamster wheel’, exacerbated by late eating and an evening/night-time ‘slob’ in front of a screen. We find ourselves always ‘doing’ and never just ‘being’. Our bodies and our Souls require nurture, and we are failing them. This is where the ancient practices of astrology, Ayurveda/Indian medicine and Chinese medicine – all thousands of years old – can help us hugely. If we are in tune with the essence of our Souls, we are much more likely to be able to protect our souls from threats and live a fulfilled life according to our Soul purpose.
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