MARS AND NEPTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE: AN ALTERNATE WAY OF BRINGING PEACE, HAPPINESS AND A NEW LIFE. © Copyright to Hilary Bond PhD. All Rights Reserved.

MARS AND NEPTUNE IN THE 12TH HOUSE: AN ALTERNATE WAY OF BRINGING PEACE, HAPPINESS AND A NEW LIFE. © Copyright to Hilary Bond PhD. All Rights Reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Can we change our ancestral fate? Can we turn fear into love? Can we overcome childhood abuse? Can we establish a new positive neural pattern after prolonged brainwashing? I believe we can! Think of how much creative and productive energy becomes available to you when you are freed from old programs ( and reactions) of fear and anger. So let’s look at the really positive side of Mars aspecting Neptune and Mars and Neptune in the 12th house.

THE PURE ARCHETYPE OF MARS

With Mars we go outwards from our home, habits, security, safety and away from the past (Moon) in order to connect with the wider social world of challenges, adventures and fresh horizons. As the warrior and pioneer, we manage conflict and exercise positive self-control over ourselves. We act, set intentions, goals; we manifest, ground ourselves and are creatively self-expressive. We make our mark on life, relate, compete, express ourselves and be recognised. We fulfil the functions of the Sun, Venus and Mercury and act as a protector for life on our Earth-Moon system. We express our basic sense of core vitality and identity (Sun) and as the henchman of the Sun we serve our individual solar purpose for this lifetime. We also communicate our attitudes, beliefs and what we want to say (Mercury.) We also honour our values and honour who and what we seek to draw to us and we act to what is vital to us (Venus.)

In terms of our aura Mars is associated with our solar plexus chakra which relates developmentally to our stage of puberty between 9 and 13 years old. The solar plexus supports the development of our solar sign, our primary energy and vitality and our rational discriminating mind and our capacity to stand our ground. This is why Mars is in its dignity in Aries and exaltation of Capricorn. At this age we learn about personal empowerment, confidence, flourishing and Mars as a protector.

In that middle chakra have our adrenal fight our flight responses and our kidneys. Later in this article I will talk about restoring our kidney and Mars energy if we still have unresolved past experiences and have been invaded by other’s energies. I also look at cleansing the solar plexus and healing your energy body. We continually have an inner struggle (Mars) to be “back on track” or on our individual path as Mars can be grabbed by other planetary energies.

NEPTUNE AS AN ARCHETYPE

Neptune can “grab” Mar’s energy, unless we are totally aware. So, let us examine the positive side of Neptune first. Many famous people including successful businessmen, inventors and scientists have had dominant Neptune in their chart. Neptune is where you seek the ideal and where you use your hunches and creativity. Neptune rules maritime matters, liquid, music, movies, the stage, television, glamour. It governs fog, mist and gases, petroleum, anaesthetics, intangibles, perfumes, poetry, dancing, second sight, spirituality and colour. It has jurisdiction over dreams, trances and hypnosis. Although in matriarchal times horses were sacred to Demeter (Da Mater: the Great Mother) and all aspects of the Moon in patriachal times horses were taken over by Poseidon (Neptune.)

The negative side of Neptune comes from Poseidon’s (the Greek Neptune) surly quarrelsome nature, as he perceived that he did not have as much power as a deity of the oceans, as his brother Zeus (Jupiter) who ruled the earth. Like Zues he was constantly unfaithful. There is an escapist side to Neptune who constantly thinks the grass is greener on the other side and he goes off looking for someone or something better than what he already has (which is generally stability and normality.) Neptune rules delusions and illusions; mystique and glamour; and what we take for granted in life without questioning, which is so very dangerous, because we can be taken in here by confidence men and women and the vampires and sociopaths of this world. Neptune also has jurisdiction over drugs, alcohol and addictions of all kinds, hypochrondria, immateriality and abnormality. Neptune’s action is subtle, gradual and sometimes insidious. Neptune’s position is where we can be deceived by others and where we deceive ourself; therefore it rules gullibility.

Where Mars is virility, strength, tone and energy Neptune is the opposite. Neptune indicates weakness, lethargy, laziness, with flabby muscles, sluggishness and Neptune has low thresholds of physical, emotional and mental pain. Neptune is hazy, bewildering, charlatanic, camouflaging, secretive and hidden (Eileen Nauman, 1982, Medical Astrology, p. 10.) In the medical areas of your body Neptune moves around; it is everywhere, but nowhere and almost impossible to pin down when medical doctors, natuopaths and any kind of holistic practitioner go looking. Neptune is the headache or pain that doctors can never locate and the dis-ease or affliction that medical practitioners cannot locate. However, a good medical or psychological astrologer can see where Neptune is operating. Typical of Neptunian problems are chronic fatigue syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, fibromyalgia, Epstein Barr Virus, Ross River fever, low immune systems and rheumatic fever. It has been suggested that the symptoms of ME are similar to combat stress reaction, PTSD and ME has even been confused with neurasthenia. (Any myalgic problems are to do with muscular function which is a Mars function.) My experience as a shamanic practitioner is that these Neptunian afflictions can be dealt with can be dealt with by an holistic approach. Vitamin, mineral and naturopathic therapy, plus a change in lifestyle which gives hope and joy; plus ancestral and past life healings regression and soul retrieval and depossession and curse unravelling as negative Neptune placements are notorious for allowing the aura to be porous and easily invaded. I am not a qualified medical practitioner so this is only my belief.

In medical astrology Neptune rules pantothenic acid (B5), which is vital for Mars bodily functions and is most easily found in Brewers Yeast. It is foul tasting, but vital for people with Mars-Neptune aspects, Mars in Pisces or Mars in the twelfth house. For Neptune-Mars people angelica root, basil, ginger, vervain, can help as can the flower remedies centaury, clematis, gentian, larch, olive, wild oat. Aromatherapy oils that will help Neptune-Mars people are basil, black pepper cinnamon, frankincense, ginger, rosemary. Colours are red, orange, green and turquoise.

MARS CONJUNCT NEPTUNE: THE POSSIBILITIES

Those who have a natal Mars- Neptune conjunction or even Mars-Neptune aspects may have had childhoods rich with fantasy. Many Mars-Neptune people are escapists. Some love dancing. Most have a magnetic personality with idealistic expectations and great sex appeal. Liz Greene quotes famous astrologer Isabel Hickey as seeing a Mars-Neptune person as “the practical idealist.” She further suggests both planets work together enabling the realisation of dreams, ideals, healing power and creative inspiration, but she also maintains that these people need to look at service to mankind as a goal which transcend’s the ego’s awareness. I have seen this with great men and women who serve their country rather than the personal “I.” Three great men who have the Neptune-Mars aspect who have served their country and helped others rather than their own ego, have been Scottish (British) Labor leader Ramsay MacDonald; Australian financier Stanley Colman and British (Canadian ) Governor General and war-time leader Arthur of Connaught. Both Ramsay MacDonald and Arthur of Connaught were denied university and military honours through illness and being blocked. As Liz Greene states (p. 247) when they try to assert them“selves” they run into circumstances which abort their efforts and they may feel victimised by life. However I have found that in the grand scheme these men were honoured for their greatness.

Mars conjunct Neptune is such an interesting combination, because Mars as an archetype or symbol literally means our inherent ability, energy and initiatives to fight our way through life knocking all obstacles flying, but Neptune as a negative archetype represents an obstacle or block in some form. Neptune as a negative archetype is pure self-deception and any insidious undermining forces. Neptune can be used positively by photographers, dancers, maritime matters, artists, the glamour world, asylum workers, makers of perfumes and scientists working with gases, petroleum, and medications and even business people if they use their intuition and the highest forms of spirituality.

However, Neptune will cause blockages in one’s willpower, assertion and the ability to reach one’s goals. What can be so treacherous about Neptune in its power to frustrate our raw energy or fighting force is that Neptune is an unconscious planet and if we are not totally aware all sorts of unconscious negative goodies will stop us in our tracks. Neptune actually undermines our endurance.

MARS CONJUNCT NEPTUNE IN SCORPIO IN THE 12TH HOUSE

However, what I focus on in this article is about people who have Mars conjunct Neptune in Scorpio in the 12th house. Not only is there a double dose of Neptune here because the 12th house is ruled by Neptune ( as well as Jupiter.) If we look at the Mars Neptune conjunct in Scorpio we see it is ruled not only by Mars, but we have the interesting addition of Pluto, the new ruler of Scorpio. Pluto as the ruler of Scorpio as an extra part of the Mars-Neptune-12th house equation gives the possibilities of transformation, but also of destruction, a death of something, fusion, obsessions and phobias, coercion, isolation, crime, complexity and destruction. So if we look at Mars as Uruz (OO_ROOSE) in Norse archetypes, then Pluto becomes Isa (EE-SAW. ) Neptune as a negative archetype is deception and in the Norse archetypes Flærdgstafr means “stave of deception.” The flærdgstafr runes are Hagalaz (HOR_GOR_LORS) , Nauthiz (NOR-THEEZ), and Thoriaz (THOR_EE_AZ.)

In the ancient Greek and Scandinavian mythological world this archetype of death was known as fate or the fates. Many astrologers say that astrological charts are pure fate and that are lives are destined to be played out by the three ancient sisters who carelessly roll the dice of our lives. I am so glad you disagree, because I know this idea is not true. It a belief of slavery and a cruel belief of some ancient myths, (the Greek and Germanic) which were religions in ancient times. As astrologer Liz Greene states in her book The Astrology of Fate, “Fate was called Moira, by the Greeks and was from earliest times a daimon [spirit] of doom and death, a great power, older than the oldest gods.” (Greene, Liz (1984.) The Astrology of Fate. Weiser: Boston, Massachusetts, USA.) In ancient Germanic-Viking myths Thoriaz represented the shadow or an out of control “inner child.” When one has taught studies in “brainwashing and cults” one finds these fearful beliefs are a way of keeping the masses in control. In a way the belief in fate is akin to a phobia, brainwashing or evil spell or curse.

Many people believe that our soul chooses our family and our karmic inheritance so that we can inherit both the gifts and the challenges needed for our highest soul growth. Many astrologers believe that the synchronistic moment of birth is the key element in the life story, because it gives us a genetic, or karmic blueprint of the soul; a map of the psyche. By looking at our family members charts, we can decipher emotional patterns that have been playing out for generations. The planet Pluto is the major character in this generational story. The names of both Hades and Pluto appear also in the Greek Magical Papyri and curse tablets.

Astrologer Elizabeth Spring suggests that ,“Karmic patterns are not in themselves innate curses or blessings, for our will, intention, and grace are always operative. But anything can behave erratically if wilfully suppressed for generations.” She also states that, “Jung wrote about the personal as well as the collective unconscious, saying that both talents and troubles are to be found in the subconscious. He didn’t say how the unconscious works its way through the family lineage, but he did claim that there was gold in the “shadow” of the personal and collective unconscious.”

Can we stop the belief in fate? Can we break the effects of brainwashing and curses and spells? I say we can. I invite you to come on a journey of hope with me to find peace, happiness and a new life for people, who have been burdened by a belief in fate or some nasty curse that has bound them to fate or their so called karmic inheritance.

WHAT DOES THE TWELFTH HOUSE AND NEPTUNE DO TO MARS?

It is said that Mars in the 12th house has trouble going after what it wants? So are Mars’ goals and willpower, even energy dissolved here? We might turn the archetype of Mars in the 12th or Mars- Neptune into a fairy tale that goes like this:

“Once upon a time a handsome and energetic knight on a mission somehow missed his path and ended up in the magical forest of a dark, festering witch who loved to frighten, deceive and disillusion all who came there. Cobwebs hung from every tree in festoons. Vile billowing, greasy mists swirled in every hollow and all sorts of animals and birds that were brain-dead and listless sort of flew and sort of crawled around until they slipped into the quicksand. The knight’s horse became lame. His armour rusted mysteriously and he fell off his horse. A vampire-like lamia lady began to kiss him and sucked most of his energy out. He developed a bad migraine. His bright skin became greenish.
Fortunately, with a Saturn-Jupiter transit a really excellent shamanic practitioner- psychotherapist was driving by. Because she had all her soul pieces intact and all her life span stages were hunky dory, so she immune to all the spells and ghastliness. She restored harmony and balance to the forest ( and all the forest creatures), horse and the knight by removing the spells and curses of the rotten, festering witch and the vampirish lamia. She also removed the past life spells on the witch and lamia that made them so poisonous and they jumped for joy and became nice people. She bought her juicer and some fresh food and gave the knight a fresh juice of garlic, ginger, apple, carrot, and celery and some oats for the horse. The horse reared up with renewed energy and the knight came to his senses immediately. The knight put his horse in the therapist’s horse trailer and they drove off to her clinic where she trained him to restore balance wherever he went in the abundant land of Mother Mary and Archangel Michael.”

The astrological twelfth house is known as the house of self-sabotage as it is a house ruled by Neptune; the planet of abnormality, deception, (subconscious) frustrations and all that is insidious. It does not bode well to have Mars here, as this action oriented planet is supposed to be our energy and drive in life. (However, you will see later, mysteriously when Mars is conjunct the ascendant and in the 12th house it is a busy bee full of energy.) To waste Mars energy endlessly trying to fight the isolation, sorrows, hidden dangers, endless secrets and underminings from hidden enemies seems a life-consuming exercise , but we certainly can happily use this energy in the role of artist, therapist, writer, researcher and all the other Mars-Neptune archetypal roles I have suggested in this article. All the Mars- Neptune roles where you enjoy isolation such as university or jail counsellor or forest ranger or a writer in a deep, dark wood would be just right here. What if a person also had Mars conjunct Neptune in the twelfth house?

Even if we study basic, introductory astrology we find that the twelfth house is known as a house of the subconscious and a house we hide things from others. “It is often called the closet or dustbin of the horoscope because it is here we sweep away or hide problems which are too painful to face or difficulties which we refuse to acknowledge.” (March & McEvers, 1981, p. 34.)

In mundane astrology, the study of cities, groups and nations, the twelfth house is the significator of prisons, reformatories, criminals, spies, secret enemies of the country at home or abroad. Planets in the twelfth house reveal hospitals, asylums, institutions for those who are weak, infirm, or in need of charity in a group’s chart. The welfare state and possibly secret societies and occult religions are also indicated here. Thus ancestors who have been criminals, spies, substance abusers, in asylums or poor houses may be invasive to the person with planets in the twelfth house.

Psychological astrology considers the twelfth house, as with all water houses, as our psychic inheritance and unfinished business we have inherited from past lives, parents and ancestors. Jung considered that our psychic processes are made up to a large extent of reflections, doubts, experiments, all of which are almost completely foreign to the unconscious instinctive mind of primitive man. It is the growth of consciousness which we must thank for the existence of problems. Jung saw that it was man’s turning away from instinct, his opposing himself to instinct, that creates consciousness and thus problems with our psychic world.” (Jung, “The Stages of Life,” in The Portable Jung, ed. by Joseph Campbell (1976), pp.4-5.)

Clare Martin in her book Mapping the Psyche: An Introduction to Psychological Astrology. Volume 2, maintains that the 12th house does not belong to any space-time reality because it has no boundaries. Pp.64-65. Thus people with a 12th house inhabited by planets are easily invaded by angry ancestors, unfinished past lives, curses, spells and all many of spirit beings. They also may be susceptible to self-destructive behaviour in all manners of ways.

In ancient Germanic-Viking myths Thoriaz represented “the shadow in the unconscious, the repressed and unacknowledged collection of garbage collected in life or foisted on us by the environment and its social conditions. (Aswyn, F. pp.17-18.”)

As a psychological-archetypal astrologer who uses astrology as a door for shamanic and energy healing I see the 12th house from as different light to those astrologers who are not actively interventionist. I find the idea of being merely a “reader” like a tealeaf reader or a psychic who foist their horrible prophecies of gloom and doom as unethical and in fact verging on criminal, as many of the clients take these silly prophecies as “gospel” truth. As I have qualifications and experience in counselling and sociology and I am a qualified and experienced teacher with a background of teaching children who have parents in jail; children who are products of endless custody battles, extreme cults, violence, poverty and endless sadness, so I take a dim view of such “readers.” My clients mostly have very, very difficult lives where they need help and mostly they tell me of their fears and anxieties from such problems as curses, spells, extreme trauma, bullying, workplace trauma, impossible relationships, severe illness, grief, unrequited love, substance abuse and depression. Often they have run the gamut of many therapists and are still not any better.

Why? What is blocking them from living productive, joyful lives? As Caroline Myss PhD hypothesises in her book: “Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can” one has to “find the right path through the chaos of healing” and she insists that fear interferes with the mindful use of your power and that to decrease your susceptibility to fear, your spiritual life requires nurturing. ” (p. 123-124.) She also writes that, “When illness is a part of your spiritual journey, no medical intervention can heal you until your spirit has begun to make the changes the illness was designed to inspire. p. 125.”

Spiritual healing in the form of energy healing or shamanic healing is not for everyone, but it does work for Neptunian people. Mostly, I find people find their way to me as a last resort when nothing else seems to work. It may not be your solution, but since I have followed the path of energy healing and shamanic healing I have found my life has improved remarkably. It certainly has improved the life of some of my friends.

I call my technique Spirit Well Being therapy. It is not learned easily or for the faint hearted and much of what I see as the channel or medium for the healing is “highly unpleasant” and this is euphemistic. It specialises in unblocking all sorts of blockages in one’s spiritual, soulful, mental, creative and physical life. These include blockages by ancestors, past lives, present life trauma, spells, curses, unconscious beliefs and outside and inner sabotage without revealing my secrets. We in this modern, technological age tend to see mankind as all powerful and all knowing, more powerful than nature or the animal, bird and plant kingdom. They also include blockages and all sorts of inhibiting forces in our unconscious.

What is this Unconscious? Our unconscious is the part of the mind which is inaccessible to the conscious mind but which affects behaviour and emotions and effects the hippocampus and amygdala in our brain. If we are subject to emotions which are too horrific and traumatic we can develop Alzheimer’s disease or Post Traumatic stress. If this happens during our foetal and /or childhood stages of life we can develop all sorts of psychopathological conditions were mostly we become compartmentalised in our personality (personalities) or dissociated because we simply cannot cope. (See van der Hart, Nijenhuis & Steele.)

THE SHADOW AND WOUNDED INNER CHILD AS A CHALLENGED MARS.

Our inner child can also sabotage us, if this inner child is unhappy or has become disturbed in a certain stage of lifespan development. Mars is the instrument of our Sun’s life force. Therefore a challenged Mars (or Sun) can be a wounded inner child.

Basically, Erikson’s psychosocial stages (Hoffnung et al, 2010, pp. 38-41) begin at age birth to 18 months where we develop trust versus mistrust and lack of hope. Cathryn Taylor suggests that if, “we fear abandonment, rejection and abuse, the feelings of loss of hope and mistrust in the inner child most likely began at this age.” (Taylor, 1991, p. 38. ) If from birth to age one (stage one in lifespan development) we are not comforted and cared for adequately we will be gullible and susceptible to betrayal.

If from age 18 months to age three (stage 2: autonomy versus shame and doubt) we are not encouraged we will not be independent, therefore we are will feel inadequate and will easily be swayed by Neptunian brainwashing. Remember what happens at this toddler stage? Yes, tantrums. A toddler screams, “NO!” There must be some sort of balance and self-discipline taught here, but if he child is silenced by severe physical (and /or sexual) or mental abuse which creates fear and a need for safety (the Moon) and the child is too afraid and humiliated to say, “NO! NO! NO!” the child has no separate existence. The child’s needs and desires will still be bonded to the caretaker. There will be no autonomy. There will be no Mars. They /you will always need a protector. They will be stuck in the lunar stage of safety and security and they will never risk taking a stand or being powerful, ever, until a kindly holistic therapist or shamanic practitioner comes along to jolt their Mars into existence or maybe later in life martial arts, or yoga or tai chi or some sort of spiritual discipline can bond Mars and Neptune in a creative way so Mars comes alive. Otherwise submerged Mars may have to find someone to worship; or the Mars person becomes a victim, a martyr to a cause or /and an addict or a door-mat or a pushover to vampires, sociopaths or confidence men (tricksters.) So the ideal is that, whatever age we gain our Mars power; our autonomy and our courage, we will never be manipulated again.

He next stage is an echo of the toddler stage. From age three to age six (stage three: thinking for ourself and self-assertion versus guilt) we need to become independent or else we could be one of those dependent people who prostitute themselves for the sake of security and do not walk their own soul path.

At age 6-12; competence versus inferiority [lack of confidence] and fifth, age 12-19 a coherent self –identity versus role confusion or not knowing who “I” am. At age 19-25 we focus on an intimate relationship and career or we are isolated. At age 25 to 50 we focus on creative productivity or stagnate. Mahler also has psychodynamic stages which I don’t include here. We may be able to recognise the stage that the inner child develops as our shadow or becomes blocked by these stages.

If you read this carefully you will note that Mars (in the Mars-Neptune aspect) is about willpower and strength and each stage needs a strong will to master. Secondly, if you look at each stage carefully the goal of each stage has been undermined or dissolved (Neptune) by a lack of ignorance in parenting (the Moon or Cancer or the 4th house) or bad teaching at school, or being orphaned; being ill in hospital; in fact so many things can cause this. Consequently, if we do not reach the goals of each stage we have a weakness in character and no boundaries, which is exactly Neptune personified: no boundaries. Thirdly, another part of the Neptune-Mars in Scorpio in the 12th house equation is the 12th house is Pluto/Scorpio which creates an unconscious part of the personality which is solidly unconscious and in automatic mode without lot of hard work to be aware. And if a person is not conscious; ie a sheep, that is part of a herd mentality, how do they know they are not aware? Then there is the last part of the equation: the 12th house which is also subconscious. The twelfth houses includes inner strengths and weaknesses, frustrations, limitations, seclusions, secrets, institutions (jails, hospitals, mental assylums, universities) exiles, self-sabotage and things we hide from others. The great part of the twelfth house is that it includes restorative solitude, and talent for research, subjective sustainment, public welfare, inner consciousness, music, writing, acting or dancing. My, my, what a large archetype full of possibilities.

Of course, we must ascertain how strong this Neptune-Mars in the 12th house in Scorpio archetype is?
• Is Neptune or Mars the ruler of the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven or a Moon’s Node?
• Are there any other planets in the 12th house or Scorpio?
• Are these planets conjunct the Mars-Neptune conjunction?
• If the Neptune-Mars conjunction an important ruler is it aspecting other planets?
• Have you worked out what stage in the mother’s pregnancy the aspect was triggered?
• Have you asked the client what actually happened?
• HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THE INDIVIDUAL (JUNGIAN) ARCHETYPES THAT THE CLIENT REVEALS BECAUSE OF THIS ASTROLOGICAL ARCHETYPE?
• Is there an addict archetype?
• Is there an alchemist or wizard archetype?
• Is there an artist (musician, author, poet, artisan) archetype?
• Is there a priest or nun archetype (even if it’s still seeping out of a past life)?
• Is there a nature child archetype?
• Is there a damsel in distress, femme fatale or Don Juan archetype?
• Is there a shaman or exorcist ; healer, caregiver, therapist, analyst or counsellor archetype?
• Is there a mystic archetype?
• Is there a victim, vampire or saboteur archetype?
• Is there a rescuer archetype? (While people think of the counselling triangle diagram with the bully, victim and rescuer all swapping positions I have just finished reading about a famous WWII and Vietnam colonel who loved rescuing soldiers who had been made prisoners of war. He had a Pisces Moon inconjunct his Mars and Neptune. I found this so interesting. Michel Guaquelin in his statistical research of soldiers and athletes found that most had Mars in their 12th house conjunct the ascendant. I have also find mechanics are frequently rescuers, helping people who cars have broken down in isolated places, especially the Neptune in Scorpio generation.)

So, what makes us susceptible to physical and mental illness; susceptible to confidence tricksters (fraudulent people); cult leaders; vampires; toxic relationships and toxic families; sexual predators and violence; psychic attack; unpleasant peers and addictions (to non-medical drugs, medications, alcohol, methylated spirits, aerosol sprays, coffee or escapism of some kind )?

According to Carl Jung, what prevents people from becoming autonomous, fulfilled and ultimately happy is their refusal to open themselves to experiences that are new and unfamiliar, and thus potentially threatening to their sense of a whole self. When we have passed from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, nature abandons us to the world of consciousness, or life in our culture. We are thus forced to say “goodbye to childlike unconsciousness and trust in nature.” The question then arises, “What kind of person shall I then become in this strange new world?” Each of us must confront it. Put not all of us do. If our inner child decides to block this confrontation to a brave new world we may suffer illness, job loss, humiliating circumstances; you name it. It depends on the age the inner child was at the age of the inner decision to block. The inner child then creates lots of negative, self-sabotaging behaviours and occurrences which seem to come from other people. This then becomes our shadow and if we work hard enough we will eventually meet our shadow and our damaged inner child. It sounds so easy.

OVERCOMING THE SPIRITUAL DANGERS OF MARS CONJUNCT NEPTUNE WITH KNOWLEDGE.

It isn’t just a Moon in challenging aspect to Neptune that creates an enmeshed family environment; a natal Mars-Neptune aspect can also create this octopus-like hold by a mother or toxic family. Lyn Koiner in her article “The Psychological Vampire Astrologically Viewed” maintains that the Mars –Neptune aspect makes one vulnerable to vampires. The Mars- Neptune aspect describes a parent or a family member who, like a vampire, who did not want you to grow up or grow away. They did this by siphoning off your energy and destroying your initiative to move on with your own life. If you have this aspect you may be part of a family who compare you to your siblings, bought out your report card every term and consistently degrade you. You may also have been expected to have to look after an ailing mother so you had no life of your own and of course Mars-Neptune in Scorpio or the 8th house is notorious for sexual abuse or incest. Whether we call it vampiring, brainwashing, abuse, neglect, toxic parenting or emotional plague it means that a child who grows up with this behaviour will become one of these symptoms at least: afraid of confrontation, numb, ill, dissociated, addicted to substances, fearful or chronically angry.

It is essential that you activate your Mars and learn to act on your own behalf. Vampires teach you to self-sabotage. They talk you out of this, discourage you in ways that make it seem “better” or easier not do act. Vampires suffocate others, making people often feel that they cannot breathe. They use flattery. And, while many of us see compassion as a positive trait, the Vampire sees this as a weakness, a weakness that can benefit them in a major way. Vampires often ask a lot of personal questions. They want to get to know you better for a reason. Knowledge, to them, is power. They reveal little of the truth about themselves to others, but they are always interrogating their victim. The information they acquire will be used against you later on, to manipulate you or to tear you down. Never give the Vampire personal information. Respond to their questions with your own questions about them. Remember, the cross examination is to acquire information that will be used later on to control you. To the vampire, knowledge is power.

Since the increased use of the Internet, vampires can now attack you through chat rooms and e-Lists. They drain your energies through acquiring information and solicit your help in solving their problems. They are not seeking solutions, only your energy! Remember, the Vampire is never concerned about your life, only what they can take from you. The vampire is only concerned with their personal survival.

If we are a super confident person with no chinks in our aura or psychological armour these hints on psychological vampires will bounce off. Remember that. And don’t forget these people may not even realise they are vampirish or toxic in their behaviour. They may belong to a family with a long ancestry of being toxic and not even realise that there are other ways of behaving. I am not saying be sympathetic or empathic. I am just saying that many of these people are unaware and unconscious which is also very negative astrological 12th house and Neptunian in behaviour. Vampires can be in their behaviour:

1.the narcissistic, self-absorbed victim.
2.the charismatic, high-energy individual.
3.the argumentative bully who absorbed energy through initiating discord.
4.the controlling salesperson who is more interested in taking your energy than really selling anything.
5. Those who enter our psyches by instilling fears, doubts and attempts to alienate us from our friends and family, people whom we would normally trust.
6.“The World Is About To End” cult speakers who excite our fears to absorb our energies.
7.“The Great Love” who manipulates our emotions to siphon off your energies.

HOW TO THWART A VAMPIRE:
1. Develop healthy boundaries for yourself.
2. Never give them personal information. Answer respond to their questions with your own questions. Notice a lot of army people and lawyers do this.
3. Keep yourself focused upon your own positive creativity. Idle hands are the vampires workshop.
4. Never be friendly with these people. Remain aloof.
5. “Cut off their head” – since they live in their heads, having no heart connection, this is the source of their power. Make sure to question their intelligence. When they get angry the psychic link is broken.
6. Stay conscious! These people are stopped in their tracks by the Light of consciousness. Show them what they are. Respond that you are feeling drained by them.
7. Go for the heart! Example: When you feel drained by a person, a class or a speaker, just get up and walk away. This is staying conscious.
People who have no knowledge of this are susceptible?

OVERCOMING BLOCKS

Below is a quick list of 12 different types of obstacles you may face in life, along with how you need to respond to overcome them.
• Bars help you stretch and become more flexible, just like the way a dancer uses a barre.
•Blocks make it necessary to reposition yourself for a new start, in the same way that runners use blocks before they start a race.
•Challenges help you grow your knowledge, skills, experience and resources.
• Checks make you to rethink your options and actions, in the same way a check in the game of Chess does.
• Dampers help you slow down and cool off, just like a fireplace damper.
•Hurdles require you to gain momentum so you can leap over them.
•Impassable Obstacles force you to find another way around them.
•Impediments help you slow down and exercise caution in choosing your next steps.
•Knots make you stop, look carefully at the way things are connected, and then work patiently to loosen or cut through the binds within yourself or your environment.
•Turnstiles make you bid your time until things change.
•Vices put the pressure on and test whether we are strong enough to handle the consequences.
•Walls make you look around for a ladder or an overhanging tree you can climb. Or they can inspire you to build an earthen ramp so everyone can climb over them.
Knowing the nature of what is holding you back and the means by which it does that, is critical to choosing the right strategy to deal with it. But what also helps is understanding how to overcome the obstacles in your life and how they help you.

TURNING YOUR LIFE INTO JOY

• In stage one of your life, you must be able to define [or redefine if you have hit a dead end] who you are and who you are not.
• Stage 2, learning your calling often defines or redefines your self concept, life’s work, and key relationships.
• What drives Life Stage 3 (Focusing stage) is a quest to find your passion, your bliss, what makes you unique. Questions about life, who you are and who you can become lead to more questions and a sorting through to find the ideas, lifestyles, values and career choices that fit best. At the heart of Stage Three is delving deeper into the mysteries of who you are and who you are meant to become. Clues that you are in the Focusing stage include researching and experimenting with different life styles, spending time on developing skills in the activities you love to do, playing with new ideas of how to be in the world and testing what you value in life.
• Life stage 4 : The Working Stage begins when you are ready to start working or you run out of time and money. For most students, this happens in the early 20s when you start your first full time or adult job. As you undertake the adult responsibilities of supporting yourself and your family you work out the realities of who you are in a world where bills need to be paid, bosses set deadlines and people call in sick. Values and ideals, discussed and explored in school, are now road tested and either embraced, revised or abandoned. Dreams and ambitions are matched against reality and the prevailing culture establishes a strong pull for the spending of your income and time. This phase of learning your craft on-the-job starts with learning the ropes at your first job. It may last an entire lifetime if your major emphasis becomes increasing the size of your paycheck, benefits and responsibility. Transitioning to the next phase requires a major shift of emphasis.
• In Life Stage 5: Excelling in Life your emphasis shifts from being good at your job or relationships to excelling at what you do. In the area of work, your attention moves from earning paychecks and promotions to achieving great results in your day-to-day work. In the area of love, you start expressing your love in unexpected, exquisite and heartfelt ways making the ones you love feel, as well as know, they are truly and deeply loved. In the area of life, you focus on improving or perfecting the way you live and experience your life.
• Life stage 6 is mastery.

UNIVERSAL LIFE THEMES

Below are life themes listed as keywords which reflect the 28 universal values seen in every human culture, age and generation. By reading over these brief descriptions, you can start to see which ones appeal most to you. Once you know the keywords or themes that really speak to you, you can start to put into your own words your personal theme of life. Crafting a theme of life statement can truly change the way you see the world and think about who you are and why you are here.
1. Life & Death: Do you focus on the life and death of it all? Are beginnings and ends a theme that run through your life? If so, take this Way for a test run and see how well it describes you.
2. Peace, Strife & Trade : Some of us focus on the themes of war and peace. They are the backdrop for our favourite stories and find their way into our most meaningful conversations. If the ideas of war and peace haunt your dreams, come explore the Way of Peace.
3. Wisdom: Wisdom is the pearl beyond price for sages and they have sought it since time began. If the siren call of wisdom and its opposite foolishness and ignorance speak to you, come learn more.
4. Creation & Destruction: How often are you thinking about how something is created or destroyed? Do you love to watch films where everything gets blown up or new worlds are created? Does the genesis of new ideas speak to you?
5. Sacred Enigmas & Mysteries: Do you love to solve mysteries, understand enigmas, or unveil sacred truths and mysteries? Many are tempted to open a window and peer into the Universe beyond. Are you one of them?
6. Love VERSUS Indifference : If you seek to love and be loved, this may be your Way in life.
7. Word & Image :Words and images tickle our minds and our imagination.
8. Energy:If you like to work with energy, in any of its forms, or feel like you do not have enough you may be called to the Way of Energy.
9. Potential :Do you key into the potential of a thing or place, and seek to realize it?
10. Mastery : Master the Why of anything and you are halfway home if you follow the Way of Mastery.
11. Justice : If you love seeing justice served, this might be the way for you.
12. Perspective: Like an angel dancing on the head of a pin, it is all about what and how you see things.
13. Change, Growth & Learning: Change is more than just the stuff that rattles around loose in your pocket (book). Growth and learning are what makes fish into schools.
14. Balance & Experiments: Finding your balance in life is an experiment, one that aligns you with the forces at work in the Universe and planet Earth.
15. Renewal & Laughter: Ever wonder about the renewing and healing power of laughter? Do you love to help things rejuvenate?
16. Truth & Lies: Do you focus on the truth and falsehoods around you?
17. Nature & Alchemists : Are you drawn to the ways and forms of Nature?
18. Form & Content: Do you look at the form and embodiment of ideas, forces and concepts?
19. Higher Consciousness : Are you pulled towards a search for higher consciousness?
20. Evolution : Are you curious and intrigued by the idea of evolution and what things are becoming?
21. Beauty & Harmony : Does beauty and harmony draw you nearer to it?
22. Play: Are you always in play or work mode, delighted by the things you do?
23. Understanding : Are you always seeking to understand what is going on and what things mean?
24. Order & Chaos : Are you drawn to order and chaos?
25. Unity :Does unity light up your world?
26. Freedom & Liberty : Are freedom and liberty two words you could not live without?
27. Happiness : Is happiness a way of life for you, the happy ending you strive for?
28. Soul : Are you on a soul quest, where the soulful things in life bring meaning to you?

SALUTATIONS

I hope you have enjoyed this article. I hope you have learned a few ideas so that, whatever age you gain your Mars power; your autonomy, your personal direction in life, your physical strength and your courage, so you are never manipulated, ever and you can say, “Push off!” and “NO!” when need be. I hope you will be swimming or doing yoga or tai chi today to use your Mars-Neptune energy.

Never forget that Jupiter also rules the 12th house and Jupiter is the planet of good fortune. So anybody with planets in the 12th can and has the ability to turn themselves around and get lucky. And don’t forget “Grace” and miracles. They do exist.

So good luck to you from Starcounsell.

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