Shadows by Heidi Stanfield

Discoveries made in outer space reflect evolutions in inner space and sometimes revolutions in the political and social spheres. On 2 March 1807, the United States adopted its Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, and on 25 March in the UK, an Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was passed, prohibiting the slave trade in the British Empire. Slavery itself was not abolished until 1833.

In the same month of the same year- March 1807- asteroid Vesta, the second largest and brightest asteroid was discovered in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. At the time of her discovery she was in Virgo and the nodes of the moon – karmic indicators- were on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis- north node 13 Sagittarius 15’ ° and south node 13 Gemini 15’ °.

Today Vesta is in Virgo and on 16 April 2021 the lunar nodes will be at exactly the same degree to the minute on the Gemini/Sagittarius axis as they were in March 1807- only the opposite way round with the south node in Sagittarius and the north node in Gemini. While there have been many nodal returns and nodal oppositions since 1807 and Vesta’s orbit is relatively short- 3.6 years, I cannot help feeling there is something deeply synchronistic at work here that points to awakening consciousness in opposition to patriarchal systems that uphold the tenets of slavery in its myriad forms.

Vesta ruled by Virgo, keeper of the natural law is laying the foundation for the balancing of the scales beyond manmade laws that rarely align with the course of true justice. As humanity breaks free from its limiting shell in its striving toward liberty, the old structures cannot withhold the pressure and must give way to a higher authority.

The Gemini/Sagittarius axis is involved with belief systems, philosophy, communication, intuition, reason, and openness… it resists rigidity and dogma. The possibilities of this axis are in the marrying of left and right brain- masculine and feminine- bringing forth flashes of inspiration in rational ways- ideal for Aquarian values. Gemini defines, Sagittarius expands.

Parallels with the discovery of asteroid Vesta and the emerging feminine voice that was  rising within the socio-political spheres in the early 19^th century speak of a shift in collective consciousness that was no longer willing to tolerate oppression on account of race or gender. We are still seeing these same themes rising in the collective sphere today in the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter campaigns.

The ongoing nature of these issues opens the door to enquiry into the underlying powers at the core of slavery consciousness and the often-subtle ways in which this power is wielded. As we begin to realise the mechanics of slavery operating not only in its most obvious demonstrations but also in the subtle strategies of domination and control, there is a sense of uneasiness in the collective field. This is the territory of Deep Mind where manipulations in the astral realm- below the veil of consciousness- manifests in the conscious world (reality) but are not fully understood because not fully seen. They are accepted because they are presented as normal, and in this way are able to exist without question… until, that is, a shift of consciousness in the collective breaks down the prevailing structures and we glimpse behind the veil.

Abolitionist women played an important role in keeping the anti-slavery movement alive in the 1820s and it was newly formed women’s groups who pushed for total abolition in the British Empire. Seeds that took root in the collective consciousness at that time are now flowering as men and women are aligning with higher social ideals that refuse abusive systems of control.

While the Black Lives Matter gained a great deal of media attention last year, some people are sceptical about the motivations behind the movement. In an article entitled ‘The Black Lives Matter Movement is the Enemy of African Americans’, Leslie Taha, says,

Most people think that Black Lives Matter is a grassroots, black created, black run organization dedicated to fighting racism. It most certainly is not. The Black Lives Matter movement is the creation of a group of a few very wealthy individuals, non-profit corporations, and the corporate media (incidentally, 90% of the U.S. media is controlled by only six corporations and in the UK, it is five).

Whenever an issue receives over-blown media coverage that is highly endorsed by social-techno platforms such as Facebook that encourage people to express allegiance to that cause, I am always curious to know what lies beneath. Another example of a highly sanctioned cause recently was the NHS Heroes campaign… the clapping, the rainbows in the windows, the birth of the modern hero… and the shaming of people who did not comply with social expectations or who questioned the authenticity of the movement.

In 1791, in the lead up to the Abolition Act, Tory government headed by William Pitt The Younger rejected Consumer Action (boycotts of sugar and rum). This led to more than 300,000 people joining the boycott against sugar grown on plantations using slave labour. Women were instrumental in raising the voice of dissent and expressed their allegiance to the cause by wearing objects such as Wedgwood’s cameos featuring the image of a kneeling, chained, black slave. To what extent these gestures were gimmickry is not clear however given that the original cameos were made from ivory and precious gemstones such as mother of pearl afforded only to the classes who benefited the most from the slave trade, the potential for hypocrisy cannot be ignored.

While the Abolition of Slavery was finally passed in 1833 what is less well known is the enormous cost of this decision on the taxpayer- the British government spent £20 million, 40% of its budget, to buy freedom for slaves. That is equivalent to £20bn today… one of the biggest ever government bailouts. It was not slaves who received the money but the slave owners, among whom are the ancestors of former Prime Minister David Cameron, George Orwell, and Graham Greene- in today’s currency each family received £83 million. Payments for this bailout were only ended in 2015- the British taxpayer was footing the bill for almost 100 years.

The rabbit holes that are being unearthed at this time run deep…

This is the shadow side of Aquarius- causes that are presented as ‘for the greater good’ are often engineered by technocratic corporations keen to maintain the prevailing power structures. Concerns that surface in the collective are packaged, hyped, and presented in such a way so as to placate the populace into believing that something is being done… but only a fraction of the issue is ever revealed.

Engineered campaigns that appear to tackle issues are designed to create the illusion of solution-based people power. As most people genuinely want to do good and consider themselves part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem, mostly these campaigns are championed for the right reasons but ultimately lack substance or the necessary elements to make real lasting change and the corruption continues behind an ever-shinier facade of Aquarian ideals.

On the surface, while it appeared that salvery was abolished in the British Emire in 1833, the consciousness of corruption continued until a few years ago in the pay-out given to slave owners to compensate for their loss of earnings… at the tax payers expense.

Today, at the cusp of a new epoch, we are being asked not to be so easily seduced by clever marketing campaigns and dig a little deeper into what lies behind our consensual realities.