Beyond Saturn's Gate
How the Discovery of Uranus and Neptune shaped the 18th and 19th centuries
In the ancient wisdom of Hermeticism, Saturn was revered as the “gate of chaos”. This chaos wasn't the disorder one might instinctively imagine but rather the profound state that existed before creation—the primordial, undifferentiated vastness. Saturn, standing as the sentinel at the cosmos's edge, delineated the boundary between the known and the mysterious beyond.
However, the late 18th century marked a cosmic milestone. In 1781, the discovery of Uranus challenged Saturn’s status, symbolically opening this “gate of chaos”.
What flooded in was emblematic of Uranus itself—a tidal wave of societal upheaval and transformation. The 1700s, now under Uranus’s watchful gaze, became an epoch of revolutionary fervor, where Enlightenment ideals took root and technological marvels began reshaping civilization.
Philosophers like Voltaire and Kant questioned the old, championing reason and science. Societies were stirred by the American and French Revolutions, both testaments to a yearning for freedom and equality.
The calls to end the inhuman transatlantic slave trade echoed the Uranian desire to rebel, to transform.
The discovery of Uranus in the late 18th century also coincided with the world pivoting towards industry and modernity. The inherent Uranian themes of rebellion and innovation were palpable as colonies sought independence and thinkers challenged established norms.
Then, in 1846, Neptune emerged, pushing the cosmic boundary even further. If Uranus had swung open the gate, Neptune invited humanity into the mysteries that lay beyond.
The 19th century, imbued with Neptunian essence, became a period where dreams, mysticism, and the intangible were explored with vigor.
The arts ventured into the abstract and surreal, and societal movements sought to dissolve the chains of oppression, embodying the fluidity and introspection Neptune symbolized.
Significant moments from this era capture this Neptunian spirit: the rise of photography, freezing ethereal moments in time; the dawn of motion pictures, blending reality and dream; and the surge in spiritualist practices, reflecting a fascination with realms unseen.
As the century drew to a close, figures like Freud and Jung delved deeper, exploring the enigmatic recesses of the human psyche, further resonating with Neptune's allure.
These celestial discoveries seemed more than mere coincidence. As Uranus and Neptune came into humanity’s view, there was a simultaneous unveiling of the depths of our collective psyche.
New pathways in the collective unconscious of mankind were opened up, and more light from the roots of the deep mind became available.
As our understanding of the cosmos expands, so too does our understanding of ourselves.
Fascinating perspective. This connected some dots for me. It helped me make sense of some contemplations that I hadnt yet put together.
There is more to be explored on this topic. As we advance technologically, we as humanity also progress spiritually. As we become more and more interconnected, we see more and more of the light in other beings. Those who were our enemies on the other side of the world are revealed to have been our neighbors all along. There is a future in which humanity will look back and think how silly it was that the people on one side of the world fought and hated the people on the other side of this little globe we all share. And once that is seen and fully realized in the collective consciousness of humanity, it can never be unseen. I wonder where that takes us, and how we all get there from here?