Given that we live too short to comprehend the global events in the context of the history we tend to view every crisis as the biggest, insurmountable and never seen before. It is presumable that we are developing similar attitude towards the rising prices of petroleum and its products and we are “sure” that something like this has never happened before. In the old days, when there were no wells and refineries, we think there could be nothing like this.
Fortunately, history teaches us differently and because of some unclear reasons everything overlaps with Neptune cycles and its slow movement through the Zodiac which takes about 164 years. Too long for a mere mortal to live and see it and long enough for a dust and oblivion to settle on pages of history.
On the subject of oil crisis I began to write in the text of Neptune, whales and oil, but there I was just writing about the time of the last stay of Neptune in Pisces in the mid 19th century, which coincided with the development of the petroleum industry. It would be interesting to see what happened during the last couple of Neptune transits through this Zodiac sign.
Neptune was located in Pisces between:
12th March 1520 and 8th March 1534
4th March 1684 and 2nd March 1698
Further in history there is currently no need to go. Neptune is the planet of globalization, merging of humanity into one great whole and only with the beginning of the great travels and connection of the continents could its impact on society be clearly visible. It’s worth mentioning the fact that the first recorded travel around the world, from the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan, started several months before Neptune entered Pisces, in the summer 1519.
Neptune in Pisces brings much needed crisis so that we could step over the seemingly insurmountable obstacles and completely change the previous approach to certain areas of life and, with entering into Aries, gradually become aware, at the global level, the new direction of development.
In the early 16th century Europe, especially Great Britain, was in a crisis of shortage of wood. Historical documents from that period write about an increasing need for wood as a raw material and energy source. Sea travel (Pisces) ware becoming more intense and revolution in the “art of war” between the 1494 and 1529 required large amounts of wood for metal processing. Winters ware long and cold, the population was gradually increasing and the first nucleus of future megalopolis arose (another symbol of Neptune) – London. In such densely populated areas trees ware intensively cut down to the extent that they had to be imported from Scandinavia or the new colonies in North America. Similar as today, “developed” countries of Western Europe found themselves in the energy crisis. Forests were scarce and wood prices were rising. Neptune in Pisces was saying that it was time for the changes which got its clear form at the beginning of a new cycle when Neptune entered Aries at the end of winter 1534. Time of coal utilization begun.
Until economic interests and a growing population did not lead society to a degree of wood shortages usage of coal was associated with something evil and offensive to nature. Digging deep beneath the earth had some symbolic sign of “rape” and an aggressive assault on the land. Regardless that people in Europe occasionally used “black stone” since of 12/13 century (1192-1207 Neptune in Pisces), its mass exploitation began in the mid 16th century. As a result of new sources of energy forests ware renewed and in the last four decades of 17th century timber prices have ceased to grow and which made it possible to be used for construction and shipbuilding industry, while coal spurred numerous innovations in metallurgy, glass manufacturing, etc.
With the influx of such abundance new energy grew the need for labor, one man was no longer sufficient to perform a specific task. Neptune reentered the Pisces in 1684 and at the end of his stay in this sign in 1698 Thomas Savery designed the first steam engine. Its purpose was pumping water from coal mines while mining at greater depths. The hands of humans were no more enough. This invention was the spark at the start of a new cycle, which was later perfected by James Watt who “gave life” to upcoming industrial revolution.
Today we are again at the similar position. Oil is more and more expensive, fatalist warn us that stocks are depleted, there is less “firewood”, we encourage global warming as never before, destroying our planet … Is it really so? Mankind has already been in similar situations, and Neptune in Pisces will surely inspire some individuals or groups of people to come up with new energy solutions.
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