Feeling Like Things Are Strange? Many People Are Having A Hard Time Staying Focused

by Robert Wilkinson

I have heard from countless people that there seems to be a very strange atmosphere right now, where some are learning how to navigate and move through the fog while others are crashing and burning. Welcome to the Neptune zone.

I wrote about this back when Neptune entered Pisces. Right now we're all getting a front end experience of a collective strangeness we all share that we've never known before.

That doesn't mean we're all having the same experience of that weirdness. Some are crashing against their own "not knowing" at the same time that others are awakening. Some are in fear at wondering what it all means and what we all are about to confront, while others are learning to cultivate skills to help them navigate through the "field of weirdness." To put it another way (all credits to the movie) "If they build it will it really exist?" Or perhaps "Despite the appearance of being built, does it really exist?"

Neptune, besides being collective consciousness and subconsciousness, is also the great dream machine, more than Hollyweird ever imagined. Neptune is where every ghost, every illusion, every hope, every ideal that ever existed resides. It is where we are all one in a vast fluid field of pure feeling, individual and together.

Neptune rules the pit of humanity's despair, and the outer reaches of its universal imagination. It is the depth of human dread, and the repository of our dreams.

Neptune is the ruler of the mystery where we all came from and go to. It is the deepest part of the ocean and the primordial vastness of space, as well as the ideals we dream of only in the compassionate connection of our Oneness.

Neptune rules Pisces on the spiritual dimension of existence. Now that it has re-entered Pisces, Neptune has "come home" for the first time in 150 years, and we all get to enjoy the homecoming whether we want to or not.

That's why many are feeling a sense of "coming home," despite not knowing where that is or how we came to be here. Simultaneously, it is also producing freakish illusions and a sense of vague dread in those who haven't walked the talk, or been living a delusion of separateness up to now.

That doesn't necessarily mean there's anything to fear, even though all of us are at present swimming in the ocean of every feeling ever felt by any one who has lived on Earth. It's that sense of moving through "all-feeling" that makes the experience feel so generically weird.

We're all feeling all there is to feel, and that can be unsettling to the rational mind accustomed to having everything its linear way. Even for those who are living their spiritual practice, it's still a challenge to navigate a strange dreamscape where little if anything seems "real." But make no mistake; the feelings are real, and showing us the way beyond our separateness.

We're all confronting illusions, whether our own or those of another, whether illusions from the distant past or the present, without space-time distinctions giving us a convenient frame of reference. At this point it doesn't matter what we think or feel about the illusions; it's enough to know they are facets of those greater eternal illusions present in a shape-shifting material field.

This is the time when we are learning to navigate through the mists and fogs of experience without clear outer space-time reference points. This challenges our ability to reference our inner point of equilibrium, where we can access the creative Spirit from a point of equipoise.

While it may seem very strange, it's also a great skill to cultivate. Besides, there's really nothing else to do. During Neptune in Pisces, nothing except an internal reference to Spirit, where we merge into forms of unity rather than feeling separate, will help us feel anything other than vague feelings of "not knowing."

This is the time to be clear about expunging the sources of fear. Kill out the root of fear and you will prevent a thousand problems from ever arising. Kill out the root of fear and you will find a power and clarity that will never desert you. There's no other time but now to expunge the patterns that lead you to allow fear to arise.

Humanity is truly at a point of "a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis." This is the cusp of the Great Age, where the past gives way to the future, where the dilemmas of belief versus doubt are giving way to a unified field of vision for those who are cultivating that way of perceiving "reality." If there's a sense of drifting, reorient toward a clearer vision of what you're here to do in the larger scheme of things.

Don't sweat "not knowing." Learn to feel which way your Divine Feeling Nature is being pulled, and swim in that direction. You have nothing to lose but your fear and uncertainty.

© Copyright 2011 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Sudha]

Many thanks, Robert, for this. I've been in one blue funk that seems to have no bottom. No matter how I think positive, affirm, pray, call on angels, that strange churning in the gut returns. And I feel so 'want to go home' and sad for my self, it hurts. Having to shift to a new house at this point feels like the last straw. Many times, I seem barely conscious to the noise around me or it grates so much it is draining. Just learning to feel the way ahead and as you had said in an earlier message, trying to keep moving even if one doesn't understand anything. Thank you again!

[Robert]

Hi Sudha - That's why I wrote this. I've heard many are going through facets of what you describe, and so it's a collective experience. I also feel a sense of it, but choose not to yield to it. Many affirmations still work, but in different and sometimes strange ways, and at a different pace than at other times. If we're pointed in the right direction, the angels are always there to assist, whether we see it or feel it or don't.

The sadness seems universal and very deep. I believe that the collective knows that our "reality" seems to have gone off the rails due to the willful machinations of some very powerful selfish and self-centered egos. Many suffer where they didn't just a few hundred days ago. That collective disorientation creates its own fog, and when added to the apparent reality that we are all caught in patterns we didn't create and are not empowering or comforting, it creates a sense we all share like "it's the last straw" that keeps on coming over and over like a bad dream.

That's why finding a sense of courage, perseverance, peace with the process, and indifference to the mind's "not knowing" while staying on spiritual focus are useful tools with which to navigate this great feeling field. Also cultivating a sense of detachment from the transitory, a sense of discrimination about what matters and what doesn't, and an ability to shift pattern immediately from that which generates suffering to those patterns that give a sense of inner strength and integrity of Illuminated behavior.

Eventually this strangeness will pass, and the trick is to be able to keep moving in positive directions where you're integrating personality so your Higher Self can achieve and demonstrate Soul qualities. This is the time to apply all we've realized about our Higher Spiritual Self in forms that keep us on track with Higher Wisdom, our Way of Truth, and our connectedness with Community.

[Valerie]

Hi Robert, i'm going through these things too. i don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but here goes. i have two vampires hounding me from different directions through phone and email. they both want my attention and they are giving me the creeps. one is a very needy lady and the other is a married guy i just met. I'm getting ready to fire back and fend them off... any suggestions?

[donna]

As I was waking up today, I had the feeling I knew how everything felt -- I would think of some action I had never done before and instantly knew how it would feel to do that. Hmm.

[gale]

yes...waking elemental dream for months now, (Neptune is conjunct Sun in my natal chart) personal fire paralleling the fire in 'my' mountains...I was supposed to be at my summer camp site near the fire in AZ last month, but another strange waking dream took me off my normal track to follow a possibility in NM that dissipated. On retreat today and tomorrow but so glad I read this post, I needed it. Does feel like butterfly struggling out of the cocoon, but evidently it is smokey/misty out there and I can't see, can't seem to locate the deeper source of the fear. I feel the forest and its inhabitants in utter sadness and know that the weirdness goes for the WHOLE PLANET, not just the humans. Is there hope in Pisces a water sign and Neptune the ruler of water? Oh my gosh does this desert dweller need water! But my water retreat is on fire...confusing dream this is...

[Mamta]

wow...sharing it with the world :)Thank you...have read your posts in the past,arrived here after a year and glad I did :)

[Valerie]

Gale- very cool dreams. Neptune rules smoke/mist/fog. I guess it means you should move forward into the mist in faith even if you can't see what's out there. I had a dream the other night I was going through a snow storm looking for something and couldn't see a thing. same idea. Namaste :)

[Elizabeth]

Amazing Robert, thank you.

“Humanity is truly at a point of ‘a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.’"

A few weeks ago, I woke in the morning from a very vivid dream (and I rarely recall my dreams) in which I was a baby or foetus trying to shed a shiny, metallic brownish shell encasing me which I later realized was a chrysalis. (I recognized the baby was me from its eyes peeking through the protective covering.) "I" was definitely a little wary about what was happening, as bits and pieces of the shell kept breaking up and falling away, but somehow "I" kept wriggling to get free because I seemed to realize something good was happening to me.

One of the best phrases I've ever heard dealing with the Neptune issue comes from Seattle astrologer Jim Buss who likes to say that Neptune gives total confusion if you are focused materially and total clarity if you are focused spiritually. That has really helped as transiting Neptune is currently activating almost my entire chart, with most of my natal planets on the cusp of signs.

[Adamsirius]

- in the true sense of the word - awesome article, thank you

[Valerie]

wow Elizabeth- what a concept- from Jim Buss. that is way cool. Robert pay attention. :)

[Morvah]

Thanks Robert and all of you for this timely post. You are all describing so well how I am feeling too. Nice to know we are not alone in the sad fog. Whistling in the dark,
Shanti

[magenta]

Wow, Valerie ..."Robert pay attention. " ... ???

Smiley face or not, Valerie, I suggest you show some respect, not to mention some emotional intelligence if you have any at your disposal. We aren't reading YOUR expert posts year after year so we certainly don't need your opinion on what Robert should or should not pay attention to... and I imagine Robert doesn't either. Not a "way cool" way to
express yourself in a public forum, in my humble opinion.

[gaye]

hı Robert

Great post....fındıng thıs an amazıng tıme of ınner equılıbrıum -of ınner growth, of attemptıng to welcome all that ıs whıle watchıng the İ try to wrangle an angle moment to moment... enjoyıng the end of my stay ın Turkey.

[Adamsirius]

I have been studying Astrology for 23 years or so - Robert, your articles and archive are some of the finest pieces I have read on the subject, and I am learning so much from the insights and perspectives you share - and all that this Gem of a site acts as a catalyst for ..

More power to you, fellow traveller - kudos for your work, wit and wisdom

long may aquariuspapers continue !

[Mary Pillay]

Om Gam Ganapatayei Namah

Om shreem hreem shreem kamalay kamalalayei Praseed praseed
Om shreem hreem shreem Mahalakshmiyei namah

Thank you Robert. I started learning Sanskrit this year and
the mantras above are seeing me through!!!!!!

Peace and love

[Valerie]

Magenta- thou dost protest too loudly. i have the utmost respect for Robert's wisdom. excuse me.

[Sudha]

Thanks from the heart, dear Robert, for your reply. It brought so much comfort. I still keep feeling overwhelmed and vulnerable, but am, as you've advised, trying to detach, go with the flow and find a spiritual centering in all the chaos. I think I am going to carry your reply with me and draw sustenance from it to see me through. Thanks again. And God bless you for just being out there on the net and healing through your words. Om Namah Shivaya.

[Anjali]

Like Gale, I also have Neptune conjunct my natal sun and I feel like I'm having the opposite experience that you describe. Life is making more sense now than ever before. I have more clarity. The world is beginning to reflect my reality in more and more ways. Nothing is 'real' in the conventional sense, but it never has been, which is why I have been so confused for so long. Now we all know it (or are waking up to it) and I'm not the only one watching in bewildered incomprehension.

[Verea]

I have been totally submerged in a retreat center and there I gained much clarity on my life...the direction I was going in before the retreat was not an authentic one and I was dying inside...but now I have to deal with my life and because it was going in the wrong direction it is still here waiting for me...its been 2 weeks of being back and I have just been enjoying being in limbo. This makes sense to know about Neptune in Pisces-when I had my breakdown a month ago-5 planets were in my 12th house...the house of self-undoing...maybe we are all faced with some undoing...I know I have big time...I am feeling all spaced out about going forward in my life now and can only think about my new pasttime sailing...there will be many opportunities to go on sailing trips for me instead of working and I just want to sail away...hmmm what would you do?

[caliban]

Hi Anjali, thanks for pointing that sun neptune conjunction out. My progressed sun and neptune are conjunct. Could be my natal neptune in the 12th finally feels at home. Can't say for sure because I feel like I really don't know anything for sure. Robert's comment that "besides there is nothing else to do" made me peel with laughter. I must have surrendered somewhere along the way to here. I've gone from fearing the "fog" to fearing it's lift hurling me back into all that other stuff. I don't want to lose this wave.

[Sherry]

What relief, of know what feels most real is not knowing anything at all.
Well, this is what I'm gaining from your words here.
I guess I'd be stretching to what you counsel against, being reassured in my rational mind that logically, I have the idea of not knowing.
Now I must float into this, without knowing how tell if I'm living it right.
As long as I'm not all in my head, I will assume,yes.

[Robert]

Hi all - About to be on the road for a few days, so won't be answering comments, though I will check in to delete spam.

Hi Valerie - Best solution to vampires is much distance between the two of you. What doesn't engage us energetically can be seen from a distance. Needy ladies are not as bad as creepy married men. make the inner break, show your indifference to their neediness, and be willing not to take the bait. In fact, thanks for not taking the bait. I'm sure you know what to do.

Hi donna - Feeling things that lead to knowing is one of the better manifestations of Neptune in Pisces. This is the calm that allows us to flow into what's true for us and avoid what's not true for us.

Hi gale - Welcome to the waking dream all of humanity will be doing for the next 15 years! Neptune on the Sun forces us to prove what role we're playing, and not yield to dread, uncertainty, or giving up our will to others. Some illusions are more real than others, and we usually don't know what is what until we pursue them. The fear is generic and ancient. Nothing to do but expunge it at the root of our nature. Sadness is appropriate, but suffering isn't.

Hi mamta - Welcome to the Cosmic Cantina! Glad you made it here. We're usually a pretty gentle and good natured community with much to offer each other.

Hi Elizabeth - You're most welcome. Yes, the shell doesn't usually completely fracture all at once. We chip away until we see daylight, and then work from that point out until we can fly into our evolved nature. It's all good, if sometimes a bit intimidating to fly free of old chains and limitations that have no real place in our evolution. Jim Buss is spot on! Of course, clarity may have little to do with being able to see and everything with being able to feel.;-)

Hi Adamsirius - You're also most welcome. Thanks for the praise of the work. I figure since we're all in this together...... and of course, all of us are more aware than any one of us. Glad my articles call to you.

Hi Morvah - While often it seems we're going through things we cannot explain to others, this is a time when we're all going through the same experience, but there are infinite ways to describe it. It's all leading us to remember we're not separate from anyone or anything except temporarily and within perceptual boundaries.

Hi magenta - Valerie meant no disrespect. As for the trolls and spammers who seem to be turning up, I'm banning them as fast as I can.;-) ( I just wish they'd find their way to a political site that allows for such rudeness and leave this community alone.....)

Hi gaye - The inner equilibrium is a way to demonstrate a positive Saturn response, important since it's the nozzle of the ongoing Bucket pattern. Saturn is the key to all "right functioning" at present.

Hi Mary Pillay - Great mantra. I looked it up and found this site with an excellent translation of that mantra - http://shaktisadhana.50megs.com/Newhomepage/shakti/kamala.html - for those who want to know what it invokes.

Hi Sudha - You're most welcome. Glad I can be a gentle reminder that you're not alone, you're not incompetent, and this too will pass. We all get by "with a little help from our friends...." Om Namah Shivaya!

Hi Anjali - Neptune can bring a sense of deep peace and connectedness if we're playing the role we're supposed to play, and are on track with our ability to merge and flow and float and become more aware of "All-That-Is." Glad you're having your metaphysical experiences validated during this time of great weirdness and uncertainty in the collective consciousness.

Hi Verea - I believe that learning how to surf the waves, knowing when to swim out and when to ride in, is of paramount importance. We always need to know when to get back on our path to a higher truth, even though it may seem to lead us away from the known and familiar. There's a good article in the archives about the 12th house. Use the site google box to find it. As for me, I'm just doing my Dharma and meditating as fast as I can!;-)

Hi caliban - Glad my words can bring you laughter. Definitely a cure for many ills!! Surrendering to the Divine Flow is better than pushing the river. "Onward through the fog" was a great rallying cry for those progressives in 1968-69 Austin who were determined to create a viable counterculture, and succeeded to a great degree for about a dozen years. Ride that wave, surfer!!

Hi Sherry - Part of what this site and community is about is through sharing our stories we know we're not alone, and that together we can figure out what to do and what not to do. It's not so much that we don't know, but that "not knowing" isn't necessarily a negative state of being. Often we don't know we've "done it right" until we reach the other shore, and when we do, who's counting?

Hi all again - And so I'm off to enjoy the Kerrville Folk Festival, old and new friends, great Tex-Mex, and some muy delicioso Stonewall peaches! In the meantime, I composed three articles about the coming Lunar Eclipse that will begin to autopost soon. See you next week!!

[ull]

I wrote a long piece just now about Neptune and I lost it..Ok again.
Had 2 "big" psychic experiences this 2 months..And the last weeks I felt like I had no skin..I have been working really hard to grow my skin on - and now I´m feeling "normal" again. Well to function in this world you have to shut down a lot of yourself..Neptune wants us to open up I can understand that - but it doesn´t really work being so open here. This is not a fairytale-world I´m afraid. I like Neptune though. I like the mist and the poetry, the longing and I don´t mind the crying. I saw the film Melancholia by Trier - it was really good. (No he is not a nazi - he is often afraid and depressed).

Thank you Caliban for words about family - I haven´t replied got lost in the mist.

[Gayle McClellan Powell]

Brilliant article and sorely needed to help people understand what this energy is asking of us!
Blessing Robert! I miss you!

[Valerie]

Hi Robert, thank you very much for straightening my steering wheel so to speak. I do know what to do. I've run into vampires before but not two at once. This has been a very Neptunian and strange time for me and I have felt a little paranoid. I know many people are clamoring for your attention and I appreciate you took a moment for me. Hope you enjoy your folk festival and have a great week! Namaste... :)

[Valerie]

ps- really like your response to Sherry. sometimes it's okay to not know... :)

[Mary Hu]

Wow.Just about two weeks ago is when I started to feel like I'd lost my "protective coating" too. I was visiting family in Missouri about 100 miles north of Joplin, and assumed that my shakiness was just PTSD. I chuckled when I read Robert's "the straw that breaks the back" analogy, because I have been saying that to myself for the past couple of weeks...and then in true Capricornian fashion, telling myself, "So just make your back stronger, silly camel." Ifeel much less alone after reading everyone's reflections...sites like these are one of the best legacies of Neptune's transit through Aquarius. Peace and light to you all!

[Monica]

Thank you for this article!

[Cindy D]

Thanks!! I needed this as well! Makes sooo much sense!. I am in Florida and we are on fire. Lots of smoke and haze. Lots of rain but not where we need it. Sink holes also. Very confusing time for the state.

[sharon]

Dear Robert,
I just love reading your articles and found this one the best.Your articles are always relevant,timely, the delivery of the subject reads like poetry.It is a pleasure just reading them.
Hi Robert,i am Sharon.Pleased to make your acquiantance.
Personally,I cant tell you how crazy it has been for me the last few months,last few years.
I am a Pisces Sun,with Gemini Rising and moon in Gemini.
So glad that i am not alone and that its just the weather pattern up in the Cosmos, why all this is happening..