Northwest Passages

"The fog cleared, and we enjoyed the delightful prospect of the ocean; that ocean, the object of all our labours, the reward of all our anxieties. This cheering view exhilarated the spirits of the party, who were still more delighted on hearing the distant roar of the breakers. We went on with great cheerfulness under the high mountainous country" (from The Journals of Lewis and Clark).

From a dockside restaurant in Fort Steilacoom's historic port, I looked at sailboats on Puget Sound -- and a state prison on McNeil Island. From the Mentally Ill Offender ward at Western State Hospital, I looked through steel bars for a Northwest Passage from a world I was imprisoned in.

From the chaplains' dormitory windows, I wondered at Mount Rainier -- Mt. Tahoma, "snowy mountain," according to Native Americans -- where Shirley MacLaine was writing books in a mountain retreat. Another actress, Linda Evans, moved to a lakeside home near Western State Hospital with Yanni, New Age musician. MacLaine and Evans were friends of their Mt. Rainier neighbor, J.Z. Knight -- who channels Ramtha, an ancient Egyptian.

In those coastal mountains, there is a breathtaking freedom for Gemini (myself), Libra and Aquarius air signs. One could hike in the Cascades or Olympic Peninsula, take a ferry boat ride to a Puget Sound island or a two hour automobile trip to Oregon or British Columbia. One could enjoy nude beaches and smoke marijuana among free-thinking weirdos.

Uranus (which rules Aquarius) in Sagittarius (1981-1988) expanded the planetary understanding of religion, philosophy and education (see Marilyn Ferguson's The Aquarian Conspiracy). In the Pacific Northwest, that includes The Far Side's Gary Larson and Microsoft's Bill Gates.

Uranus rules computers and nurtures the individual Self and humanitarian ideals. In 1996, Gates donated a million dollars in software to the Chicago Public Library. At that time, he spoke about "empowering" the country's have-nots with today's computer technology "to do what we can to bring free and equal access to that information."

The Far East meets the West along the Pacific Coast with a large Japanese, Korean, Chinese (and Buddhist) populace. Native Americans are a powerful political influence because of substantial land holdings. Sun Bear (Buffalo Hearts) led seminars on his home reservation near Spokane, Washington. Boeing Aircraft has an annual psychic fair.

In the 1980s, Richard Bach (a Cancer) bought a house with his soulmate on Orcas Island. "I looked [from his biplane] down the slope past the meadow, out over the water to the islands floating on the horizon. `This is a pretty place, isn't it?' `Paradise!'" she answered (A Bridge Across Forever).

Bach is a Cancer. The arts and spirituality flourish where the mountains meet the ocean, where the mind (air signs) meets the emotions (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces water signs). Loretta Lynn found her Inner voice in a journey from the Appalachians to the Cascades with her "Moonshine" husband. Ray Charles began his career in Seattle. The film industry (ruled by Neptune) thrives here. As do computers and airplanes (ruled by Uranus) -- and new age spirituality.

Since the 1960s, people interested in holistic counseling and Eastern religions have migrated to the West Coast. At Western State Hospital, they included many psychologists who were practicing their new age spiritual beliefs despite the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education regulations.

In that rarefied atmosphere, I explored East-West spiritual resources, the reason for moving there. A psychologist and two nurses introduced me to the Tacoma branch of the Berkeley (California) Psychic Institute, which led to a clairvoyant training program

The psychic institute, organized as a church, was related to Eastern religions and served as a Self help accessing of Inner information for a career change. It was also a transition from authoritarian and co-dependent religious structures -- a reason for Unity Church's growth in the 1980s.

Neptune rules psychic, artistic and spiritual change. During my 1985-1988 stay in the Pacific Northwest, Neptune was opposing my Moon, sextiling Mars, trining my ascendant and moving to the 5th house. It dissolved old religious structures and opened up a creative dream.

Neptune in the 5th House (1985) nurtures "artistic creativity. If you have artistic ability, your imagination will be very much improved, and you will be able to come up with new ideas for your art work in any field or medium" (Planets in Transit by Robert Hand).

Neptune was removing limitations to a writing career through a Seattle-area new age newspaper. The editor was a former Roman Catholic nun who gathered ex-Christian clergy in her home for sharing about our journey to another world. That group and the Tacoma Tribune looking for a columnist for local new age activities led to my own newspaper column and book submissions.

Everyone has air and water signs (and the planets which rule them) in their natal horoscope and by transit. In the 1980s, Neptune was dissolving national, religious and other barriers while Uranus was ley lining electronic communication. Their transits often lead us toward seminars or vacations in the mountains or by the ocean.

The Uranus/Neptune conjunction in the 1990s accelerated spiritual unity and freedom on the planet. In 1995, Uranus began a seven year transit of its own sign, Aquarius. Neptune's fourteen-year transit of Aquarius, beginning in 1997, will continue advancing a universal spirituality.

A major Neptune or Uranus transit removes illusory limitations to independent thought, creative art, original expression and Self empowerment. They remove karmic barriers which imprison and isolate our Selves from Self fulfillment and humanity. Although Lewis and Clark did not discover a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, they did discover an Inner passage to a spiritual vastness that awaits our exploration.

Watch for Part III - St. Helen's Volcano.

Brock Elk Horn does clairvoyant readings, astrology and holistic counseling that facilitates healing of mind, body and spirit. Telephone: (773) 338-3329. For more information, see the Chicago Pulse - Practitioners in this issue of TMA.