The Other Berlin Wall

It exists in computer code, and in your mind. A tribute to Saturn in Aries.

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Block Island. Photo by Eric Francis.

Dear Friend and Reader:

If not for astrology, I might not be so obsessed with history. The question comes up: what happened in society last time this aspect happened? If you do this for a while, the charts collect and the patterns come out.

I’ve been working on tomorrow’s Saturn-Neptune conjunction for a couple of years. (The conjunction begins Friday when Saturn enters Aries.) Last week, though, I had the dim memory that the last Saturn-Neptune conjunction was synchronous with the disappearance of the Berlin Wall. In fact, the events aligned within four days.

What can you say to that? The Berlin Wall was the symbol of all that was wrong with the world: the division of the totalitarian East and supposedly free West; the very sigil and physical expression of the “Iron Curtain.”

Removing the Berlin Wall did not solve everything, though it was a good start. If nothing else, families were reunited, travel was opened, and generally people felt better. The nuclear bombs were still there, but the tension broke. There seemed to be less reason to use them.

The impressive bit, though, was how impossible it seemed that this thing would go away, or that any ideas about it would change.

Photo by Eric Francis.

The New, Invisible Berlin Wall

We are now on the eve of the next Saturn-Neptune conjunction. And I’ve been considering what, today, is reminiscent of the Berlin Wall. Well, it’s now become this thing that surrounds nearly everyone.

It’s a silo that’s been built by code writers that blocks people into a limited set of facts and a limited point of view. It’s an invisible wall, sometimes called an algorithm, that creates the illusion that there are no possibilities other than what one already thinks and believes. The wall is invisible, especially to those who live within it.

Then, what exists in the realm of code is recreated in the realm of mind. Not only is there little or no real discussion of issues among people; individuals don’t usually have the ingredients to make a reasoned decision about anything of any importance. The hardness of these preconceptions is impressive. It’s like nothing else exists, and if it does, it’s just simply wrong, fake or stupid.

This wall includes almost total certainty and no dialog with other viewpoints; it’s as isolated as East Berlin and West Berlin; what was once a world-class city in the early 20th century became two “halves” that never made a whole. This further divided Europe, and put a block between Asia and the Western world.

Paris. Photo by Eric Francis.

My Vision for Saturn-Neptune 2026

For this conjunction, I envision that these conceptual walls fall. I know it seems impossible; it could never happen. Yet the wall that once seemed impenetrable and an object of political and religious veneration was gone overnight, on nearly no notice. The fact that the wall was both a structure and an idea are significant.

The wall we live with today is constantly being built and reinforced. The data centers holding up those algorithms are being built so fast they are supposedly holding up the whole economy. Trillions of dollars are going into this project and it exists everywhere, not just in one place or along one border.

Many people are so stuffed tightly inside of their little personal slice of their private Berlin that they get advice from algorithms, have relationships with them, and take them as companions, without any chance of escape. To my perception these compartments seem as impenetrable as a 13-foot high, four-foot wide wall. But more than the wall was held together by brick and mortar, it was supported by belief and preconception.

And, it’s gone. Historically, the thing that made it gone was the belief that it would be: a mistaken statement was made at a press conference and taken seriously.

Photo by Eric Francis.

The Accelerant of Self-Emergence

In the current aspect pattern, as existed in 1989, there are astrological accelerants. In 1989, speed-demon Uranus was in Capricorn along with Saturn and Neptune. Jupiter was in the pattern, amplifying and enlarging the effects.

Today we have different accelerators. One is the Aries Point. This brings the individual and the public realms much closer together. You could say it increases public power, but I would say that it makes each of us more influential. Public power is extremely influential in almost all instances; the variable is the role of the individual.

Another accelerant is the Chiron-Eris conjunction. This is what you could call the “deeper awakening” going on. The century-long journey of Eris through Aries represents the blurring of individuality and humanity being converted into a pseudo tribal being. This makes it much easier to believe something because others do.

Chiron focuses individuality. It’s not rebellious; it’s not contrarian; Chiron drives self-awareness and has a compelling way of ensuring that you have little room to deny who you are or who you’re becoming.

This is not always comfortable. It’s often difficult and inconvenient.

The Mini Berlin Wall! Photo by Eric Francis.

The Healing Crisis

Chiron represents healing — the whole process. It will also how you where the injury is, and the first result will often be a healing crisis. I think that Eris represents an invisible healing crisis of its own, which rarely rises above the surface. Much of that invisible crisis is people’s nervous systems being interconnected and viewpoints seeming to overlay.

Chiron disrupts all of that. The feeling of Chiron plus Eris is suddenly becoming aware within the system or the machine. It’s like waking up within the dream and realizing that you’re dreaming. From there, the rest of waking up is up to you.

There are reasons people resist this. It’s inconvenient; addressing the truth of anything always seems to be. Recognizing that one has been living a certain way and needs to change requires effort. And there are going to be moments of seeing the potential for healing and also seeing how ugly things have become.

This is not about “enlightenment” in some theoretical sense. It’s about withstanding either the shock of awareness, or allowing it to happen gently and responding in gradual, meaningful steps.

Chiron transits involve a process of something trying to get your attention. Your response is always voluntary. Yet if you don’t respond, or begin to take action in some way, the calls for attention will get more intense, until whatever system is involved starts to break down. That’s about where we are today.

Design by Eric Francis.

What This Looks Like

In practical terms, the nature of the computing environment is automation — especially the automation of thought. So the awakening I’m describing means coming out of an automatic state of mind, into self-awareness and then going into manual mode. It’s like taking your car off of cruise control when you get into traffic.

The action process can be subtle and involve things that nobody notices. To turn off cruise control, you tap the brakes gently, and you’ve taken over control of your vehicle. This can apply to any life situation, whether it’s a conversation or what to eat. Do I cook something, go out, or open up my convenient FoodSmashInstantPlasticSaltySlop app?

Then you would go through the process of figuring out what to eat one step at a time.

If you’re traveling somewhere, think of how you’re going to go, rather than going the same old way. Explore new routes. These are metaphors for the thought process in your mind. It won’t take long before small choices enlarge their influence to bigger ones. Awareness means that everything is a conscious decision.

If someone tells you that you’re different from someone else, ask yourself if that’s true. If you notice that you’re certain about something, ask how you know.

Photo by Eric Francis.

The Point of Resistance

This will take some effort. For most people, nearly all the time, this is the point of resistance. However, “tell me what to do” is no refuge. It’s not working for you or for anyone. So you have to spot when decisions are being made for you.

That would get replaced with knowing your priorities and choosing among them. And that, I reckon, is the meaning of freedom here on the Cosmic Physical Plane.

Right now, small moves count for a lot. Everything is magnified, including how you feel, your fears, your expectations, your sense of need and yeah, this has been a long row to hoe and everyone is tired. It’s time to perk up. The energy is moving. Tap into it. That’s what the astrology says. So use your awareness and your will and catch a ride on the inevitable vortex of progress.

Faithfully,

They’re all supposed to be enemies.