Love, Liberation & Don't Dream It's Over New Zealand
- anicox1
- Apr 23
- 6 min read
In my previous post Going Underground; Emigration, Earthquakes and the Power of Shadow in the Collective Psyche, I explored symbolic themes in the "birth" chart of New Zealand and related these to the chart for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake before setting them against the backdrop of historic waves of European emigration.
In this post I want to look beyond shadow in its unconscious destructive form to explore what else might be lying hidden there that has no less equal power for regeneration.
Here's a reminder of the NZ 'birth chart'.
Uranus, representing liberation, sudden and shocking, freedom from the status quo, innovation and radical change in this chart is in the 12th house, the house of the subconscious mind, the collective unconscious, dreams, intuition and secrets, everything that is hidden or mysterious. Uranus is deep in the psyche dreaming the dream of a New World. There's a Kiwi saying"living the dream" that characterises just this; a lifestyle of greater freedom, a strong connection to nature and is often associated with leaving a regular job or life to pursue a more unconventional path.
With Uranus in the 12th, there is also a suggestion of a need to integrate one's unique individuality with the larger world, a dynamic struggle between expressing one's authentic individuality and fitting in to comply with the needs of the collective. This struggle is accentuated by Uranus being in the sign of Capricorn where innovation (Uranus) and the status quo (Capricorn) collide. These are not easy bedfellows. In New Zealand there's an interesting and very real dichotomy between"no. 8 wire" thinking (ingenuity and resourcefulness) and the need to be both agreeable and consensus-oriented. Tall Poppy syndrome critcises and undermines those who dare raise their head above the cultural firing line and yet this is the country that produced Edmund Hilary, one of the world's tallest ever poppies scaling the dizzy heights of 8,849m!
There is an ongoing tension and push/pull between these two forces, not least because in Capricorn, Uranus does not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There's a need to retain ties with some elements of tradition that are still strong and have stood the test of the time. It is fascinating how NZ as a nation has been increasingly embracing Te Reo Māori and the tikanga of Māori culture in recent decades.
The dream of freedom and the drive to seek, is of course nothing new. According to Michael Bond in Wayfinding; The Art and Science of how we lose our way, whatever it is we have been seeking, we have been doing it an awful long time. Stretching back many millenia, homo sapiens have"...developed an appetite for exploration and a wayfinding spirit that set us apart from other human species". By contrast, Neanderthals, though originally emigrating from Africa some two millions years prior, did not share this hunger to explore. Largely sheltering in place they subsequently died out. Homo sapiens, "...instead of hunkering down when they reached a mountain range or stretch of water, either carried on walking or built a boat". Clearly there is some form of evolutionary drive at work but to what end?
Bond goes on to say that evolutionary biologists suggest that Homo sapiens were driven to explore further afield in order to create social networks. "In prehistoric times, when people lived in small family units and spent much of their time looking for food and shelter, being able to share information with other groups about the whereabouts of resources and the movements of predators would have given us an evolutionary edge".
In many of the Sabian symbols* for the NZ birth chart co operation and the sharing of knowledge is a strong theme. Take Mars for instance at 20 Capricorn. The Sabian symbol for this is "A Relay Race" and is described thus;
Working together in a cooperative venture, to know when to go and when to stop, when to take the baton and when to pass it on, and how to pace yourself so you can stay in the “Relay Race”. Each person has to contribute as best they can; some run fast, some have their own talents, some trip you up and cause you to falter. Working together, you can figure out who will help win the race and who wont.
Venus at 4 Libra is "A man teaching the true inner knowledge of the new world to his students" This symbol evokes wisdom being passed on whether it be conventional teaching or more modern concepts. Venus as the planet of relationships and relating, is acting as a guiding light or teacher for the New World. This reminds me a little of the Hermit holding up a lantern in the tarot and I'm writing this in 2025 - the year of the Hermit (2+2+0+5=9).
The Sun is at 1 Libra and the Sabian symbol for this degree is "The light of the sixth race transmuted to the seventh". It imagines a time of new beginnings and the implementation of a brand new order but with a need to respect the value of what is waning, and to take the best qualities of that into the future.
The advent of a seventh root race is a fascinating topic and that it's the Sun on this degree, the light of consciousness is also intriguing. With New Zealand being one of the first places on earth to see the sun rise each day, will we witness the emergence of a new consciousness before other parts of the world?
Attempting to answer these questions is an entire discussion in and of itself. For now, it's enough to hint that this might be touching on far greater Aquarian age matters and the great changes to come. I'd like instead to end this post back where we started, in the dreamtime. What is this dream we are so profoundly seeking that is so embedded in homo sapiens, the human being? And what are we seeking liberation from? On all the many levels this can be understood; social, political, sexual, physical, I'd like to end by suggesting that it may be far simpler than we imagine.
In The Way of the Dream Marie Louise von Franz states, "In our modem world, we have achieved sexual freedom. Now comes the much bigger problem - the liberation of the heart".
The heart is liberated when it is at ease to give and receive love.
Our problem is that after centuries of oppression, slavery, conditioning and misuse of power, EVERY type of human interaction and relationship, even that of relating itself, has become corrupted.
Love comes as a reward for good behaviour or denied as a punishment for being undeserving.
Cliche ridden sentimentality erases all hope of authentic connection replacing it instead with stifling attachments that deny the other any space to develop independently lest they grow apart.
Generation after generation of traumatised children are born subject to rigid, Victorian ideas of authority and obedience on the one hand where the love is strictly rationed if in supply at all. Or in direct response to this profound walling off the heart, children are subject to the confusion of laissez-faire parenting with little or no boundaries instead.
We are confused but happily for us, our misguided mental concepts of what love should be are on the wane.
Deep within, somehow we already know this. We've always known. We're just remembering now that's all. This great game of hide and seek we have been playing.
There is freedom within
There is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
There's a battle ahead
Many battles are lost
But you'll never see the end of the road
While you're travelling with me....
Hey now, hey now
Don't dream it's over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
We know they won't win".
Don't Dream It's Over New Zealand.
*Sabian symbol descriptions are from Lynda Hill at https://sabiansymbols.com/
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