Nearly every thinking adult is aware of the spiritual crisis now confronting us, and its profound effect on behavioral patterns in America. The bloody disorders in ghettos and city streets are perhaps symptomatic of a larger problem than mere economics: the frustration which besets man when he feels impotent to chart his own destiny. Government has become so big, and the powers of destruction so engulfing, that we seem to be losing our sense of individuality, our Oneness with God. Now that giant computers can spew out the sum total of our working lives when fed our Social Security numbers, even our names seem stripped of significance, and we begin to feel like faceless cogs in an impersonally grinding wheel.

This was written in 1968 by Ruth Montgomery in a chapter entitled To Know Ourselves in the book Here and Hereafter.

This could have been written today although “giant computers” would be replaced some other term that represents the digital takeover of daily living.

Later in this chapter, Montgomery writes:

The need for self-identification is acute, for when a man fears that he is losing his personal identity with the society in which he must work and live, it is not surprising that he feels tempted to hurl bricks through plate-glass windows and join in violent uprisings. It is a way of attracting attention to the “self” that he seems to have lost.

She continues this paragraph on 1968 hippie identity-forming trends including growing one’s hair long and scorning working for a living. That has passed.

Is this so resonant today because we’ve having a repetitive pattern or because the 1960s began a type of social crack – for the US and other countries – that never re-sealed?

Dissolving personality

Neptune will move into Aries in March 2025. Neptune spiritualizes, idealizes and glamorizes so we’ll see some glamorization of all that is Aries: self-assertion, self-defense, and self-definition. In addition to the “halo” effect of Neptune, we can also have the dissolving effect – the fade out of self, of individuality, of what we believe makes us unique.

During these times of technological takeover, the very qualities we believe make us individually unique and worthy are being replaced by digital representations of our individuality fed by the information that we provide.

Who are we then? What is our role as individuals?

The Aries self never goes down without a fight which is why if unacknowledged it will . . . you know, fight.

Astrologers are now writing about the last transit of Neptune in Aries (1861-1876-ish) which occurred at the very start of the American Civil War. Yes, Aries fights. But there is always fighting, right?

There is always Aries and the other 11 signs of the zodiac. For war to occur, it takes more than Aries. It takes the energy and input of the entire zodiac: Taurus needs to fund it, Gemini to communicate it, Cancer to produce male children, Leo to lead it, Virgo to do the domestic work while others are fighting, Libra for diplomacy, Scorpio for covert operations, Sagittarius to oppose it and present the enemy’s perspective, Capricorn to organize it, Aquarius to plan a better society, and Pisces to sacrifice something for it – home, family, beliefs and even one’s life.

Spiritual no-self

In a spiritual sense – and Neptune is nothing if not spiritual – the loss of self is a freedom from the limits of what we call personality. Aries has been described as the “me” sign of the zodiac, being the first sign and centered on self.

The signs of the zodiac represent stages of life and an infant born into this world is helpless and dependent. At about the age of two (a Mars cycle – Mars rules Aries), children become individuals and fight back. The “terrible twos” are when a child knows it is “me” and not “you.”

And through the zodiac represents our human development from undifferentiated infant to individual, to partner, to member of society and to . . .  death. Death is Pisces, the last sign. It’s the inevitable end to the self.

Fear of death is fear of losing self which may be why there is fear of the “world ending” in the religious spheres. What world? When we die, there is no world. There is no “self.”

For Buddhists, losing the self without dying is freedom.

From Lion’s Roar

The Pali word anatta (in Sanskrit, anatman) is most often translated “no self” or “no soul.” Anatta is one of the Buddha’s most difficult teachings, but it also is a cornerstone of Buddhism. Understanding the concept of no self is critical to understanding everything else the Buddha taught.

We assume there is a permanent essence of “me” that inhabits our bodies throughout our lives. And we may believe that at death this essence continues to exist in some form, either in an afterlife or by transmigrating to a new body to live another life. But the Buddha taught that there is no such permanent essence.

Further, the belief in a permanent essence of self or soul is the primordial ignorance that leads to suffering. We spend life in pursuit of what will please this self, protect it, or even glorify it somehow. Maybe sometimes we get what we pursue, but it never lasts, and we are dissatisfied again. We lie, cheat, scam, assault, and do various other damaging things to other people ultimately because we are trying to protect or gratify the self.

Permanent is the key word here. The Buddha denied a permanent essence of self, but he also denied non-existence. So what are you? Realizing the true nature of the self is what’s called enlightenment, which is not something that can be conveyed in words. But here is a guide to some key Buddhist teachings on the nature of self.

The Western world is so against the idea of reincarnation because of the strong belief in personal freedom which relates to personal identity. How can the “me” I so carefully crafted become some other “me” that I wouldn’t recognize? It would be like some “other” person out there. I’m a good “me,” how could I be a “bad” me?

Dissolving Self

As Neptune can both glamorize and dissolve the self, we may see much self-assertion during this 15-year transit as some become exalted and others dissolve into oblivion, the statistics of natural disasters, illnesses and wars.

Neptune in Aries may glorify war which enhances some selves and destroys many other selves. War has been persistent on this planet so Neptune in Aries won’t create anything new; it will simply have a new image, a new theme, new branding.

This current and soon-to-pass transit of Neptune in Pisces seems to have dissolved shared reality. Who knows, maybe some of the folks we see in news and media feeds aren’t even here anymore.

With Neptune, you never really know.