Bridging Worlds: Liberation and Manifestation

This post is an excerpt from Elements & Evolution: The Spiritual Landscape of Astrology.

There is a focus on liberation in most spiritual models, and rightfully so. Shouldn’t we learn how to move beyond the ego and reach greater soul realization? On the other hand, there are those who advocate living in the “real world” of our most immediate sur­roundings as the best way to truly be “spiritual.” These two approaches are aligned respectively with the yang (air, fire) and yin (earth, water) elements. Depending on our particular attunement to the elements, there is often a preference for either liberation or manifestation. These two different approaches can easily polarize, but progressing to the fire level and consciously bringing that aware­ness into the parameters of everyday life is to bridge worlds. Being in the world but not of it is the ideal being championed in this book (Elements & Evolution: The Spiritual Landscape of Astrology). This integration is the true masterwork.

Almost everyone currently alive has Neptune sextile Pluto in the natal chart. (Note that Pluto is transpersonal, though it concerns the interface of the transpersonal with the psychology and emotional status of the separate self). The Neptune/Pluto sextile concerns the integration of the transcendent (Neptune) with the psychological (Pluto) and gives us a context to learn how to balance the two channels. Ancient wisdom traditions rooted in mystical ex­perience (Neptune, liberation) long predate the opening of psycho­logical insight which has flourished in recent decades, especially since the Uranus/Pluto conjunction of the 1960s. Indeed, spiritual practices which include the emotional and psychological realms (manifestation) are becoming more widespread. Now at the Ura­nus/Pluto square, our task is to further this integrative process and honor all levels of reality simultaneously.

It is indeed true that we are developing upwards, not downwards. We move from the personal to the transpersonal and increasingly broaden our awareness. At the same time, the manifesting channel is just as relevant, as Spirit is continually emerging through us. In fact, an overemphasis on liberation results in what has been termed the “spiritual bypass” in which painful experience is denied or glossed over in favor of emotional suppression and glib opti­mism.

Ascending (air, fire) spirituality is attractive for those who, consciously or not, may want to evade the unpleasantness of painful experiences. Joining with lofty spiritual teachings and having peak experiences can be truly affirming and exalting. Many spiritual paths, however, do not adequately address the psychological, emotional, and somatic (water, earth) realms. This oversight is a common criticism of the New Age movement, though this ten­dency for bypass can be found in many paths.

We are just as involved with the manifesting channel as we are the liberating. Although less immediate than our everyday real­ity, transpersonal realms inform our experience while also envelop­ing us. Inspiration and creativity come from Spirit for us to deliver into the world. Spirit is continually whispering to us in the guises of synchronicities, spirit guides, or our dreams. Ignorance of such guidance does not diminish its reality or relevance. Fixation on the yin elements to the exclusion of meta­phys­ical exploration is also quite common, as this stance aligns with our mainstream paradigm of reality. Modern psychology and many body-centered modalities rightfully address water and earth but neglect the spiritual dimension.

Though most charts carry a particular elemental emphasis (by way of the planetary placements), we all have all four of them in our charts, just as we all have bodies, hearts, minds, and souls. Sometimes we make excuses by claiming that since an element is weak in our chart, we are “off the hook” concerning that element’s function. This attitude is misguided and a recipe for imbalance and the resulting consequences. If there is an element with less empha­sis, it may actually require more effort and focus to properly inte­grate it. The key is to engage with all four elements no matter what our inherent attunement is.

Eric Meyers, M.A.
Astrological Counselor, Author, and Teacher
www.SoulVisionConsulting.com