The world has gone mad.

In Europe, record low temperatures are freezing the canals of Venice, causing the closure of ancient monuments like the Colosseum and causing death and havoc across the continent.

Here in Oz, Sydneysiders have been reaching for doonas and ugg boots during what is normally our hottest month of the year. Oh and next doors’ pumpkin continues its’ march down our path and is now joined by an escapee cherry tomato plant.

Is it coincidental that this all occurred during the last days of Neptune in Aquarius? One last little piece of rebellion before the God of the Seas moved home to Pisces?

Now, I am not going to make any predictions on a mundane (that is a fancy Astro technical word for world stuff) level. There are plenty of much better astrologers than I that have written pieces on that- just google it. And, to be brutally and perfectly honest, I am more concerned about what it means for me.

One thing you can be sure of is that something big and important will be dissolved over the next 13 years. The other thing you can be sure of is that it will probably not be anything like it is predicted to be.

Looking back through history (and I have got these references from about 10,000 different websites, so apologies if I don’t reference any in particular- they all pretty well said the same thing) dissolution of boundaries and delusion has been a marker for Neptune in Pisces and, as a triple Pisces, trust me when I say that there is very little that Neptune likes less than a boundary…except perhaps, reality.

So peeps, settle back for a very brief history lesson- and if the dates are slightly off, please don’t write to me…:

1356-1370 The Black Death or Bubonic plague was prevalent and resulted in the indiscriminate death of millions of people- crossing borders and class boundaries to do so. Rich or poor, Duke or peasant- there is no difference- dead is dead. The borders of Europe were changed as the Ottomans expanded their empire. The hundred years war lasted a lot longer than 100 years and would forever delude students into getting that particular answer wrong in history lessons- as it did my nearly 14 year old at the dinner table tonight.

1520- 1534 Magellan sailed around the world, new lands were discovered and previous limitations were swept away. Henry VIII dissolved the power and wealth of the Catholic Church in England- all for the love of a woman. Given the way that one turned out, it sounds very much to me as if old Henry was having a Neptune/Venus transit of his own at the time. As gold was shipped back from the new lands, the resultant over supply destroyed the European economy.

1684-1697 It was Russia’s turn to expand past its’ boundaries and the Ottomans’ to be dissolved at the hands of the Catholic Church. For political reasons, power in England moved to the moneyed classes and James II was kicked off the throne in order to bring in new blood from the Netherlands- William of Orange- also responsible for the confusion of history students hundreds of years later. The Salem witch trials took place over this period of time. Many of these poor women are now thought to be the victim of bad rye which has a similar effect on the system as LSD. I read all about that in a Kerry Greenwood novel (Trick or Treat) when Corinna Chapman thought she might have accidentally poisoned the unsuspecting folks of Melbourne.

1847-1862 More dissolution of power as the peasants across Europe rose up against the moneyed classes and gentry who had deluded themselves into thinking that they were somehow more entitled than anyone else to eat cake. Who would have thought? In the US a Civil War was fought essentially for a similar reason- when the moneyed classes in the South thought they had a right to keep other human beings as slaves. Unfortunately some corporations even today are deluded into the same belief. An upstart by the name of Charles Darwin turned the theory of evolution on its’ head and the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the Americas meant that anyone who was prepared to have a go could actually make a crapload of money from changes in working conditions and the advent of railroads and mechanisation. Closer to home, gold rushes in Australia and California produced the ultimate in Neptunian illusion- Gold Fever.

2012- 2025 Rampant pumpkin plants march through suburban Sydney as summer becomes winter prompting fears that The Day of the Triffids is not a fantasy.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but does give a teeny idea. Ultimately though, Neptune is foggy, mystical, illusional, delusional and inspirational- both in terms of inspiring creativity and inspiring compassion.

The influence of Neptune can make sane people do insane things. It can prompt benevolent rulers to wage war on another under justifications that are flawed, delusional or based on misguided principles- usually in the name of religion, but often because some sort of illusory wealth is at stake. It can dissolve boundaries, currencies, religious power and political power.  It creates glamour where there is none, escape where there shouldn’t be one, and mysticism where there are just addictions.

Neptune rules anything that flows- intuition, dreams, imagination, psychic ability and alcohol. It is also the king of wishful thinking, deceit, poisons and mind altering substances.

Neptune is, however, at home in Pisces- a sign as deep and vast with more pretty coloured fishes, shades of blue and distraction than the Pacific Ocean. What lies beneath? We are limited only by our imagination.