January can be a long dark month, the festivities of Christmas are well and truly past and the cold weeks of February lie ahead; but looking from my kitchen window this morning I was reminded that rebirth into the light is not an option but a fact!

Who doesn't love the time of spring? Who doesn't love the spectacular miracle of spring flowers that carpet our gardens and parks? The riot of colours and aroma can furnish us with optimism anew as we witness the unfolding cycles of life.

I enjoy my garden but I must confess that I do not possess green fingers. Over the years I have done deals with the our Faerie friends, suggesting to them that if they wouldn't mind positioning a few choice plants for me I would make sure that our space was kept clear and bright. I have to say that they have always come good! An Iris here, a Gladioli there, Harebells and Bluebells not to mention blooms that I don't even know the name of, in return I have endeavoured to keep my word and indeed the garden has become an extra room, particularly splendid in the summer months.

I am always enthused about life when the Snowdrops appear, as they do at this time of year, little glistering clusters of hope. I love them and so did my Mother. She was a gardener. She had a knack for it and knew what to plant and when, in January in her garden, the rockeries would be full of winter flowers, especially Snowdrops.

My Mother passed to spirit in January 2001. During the intervening years I feel that I have come to know my Mum in a very special way, I believe that relationships continue after physical death and in fact the relationship can deepen and become more loving. Just as well really as I was an independent spirit and moved away to pursue my life when quite young.

Every year, at the end of January, without fail, a solitary clump of snowdrops grow; Placed in an obscure, random fashion in the corner of the lawn. (Or what would be a lawn if there was any grass!)

Just one single bunch of white sacred flowers. They first appeared the first year after my Mum made her transition. I just happened to look from my window one cold, wintery morning and there they were.

Their discovery made all the more poignant by the fact that I, like the flowers was beginning to emerge from a dark period in my life. A time when on several occasions I wanted to reach out...

As soon as I saw them I knew that they were there because of my Mother. A reminder that her essence is always with me. Spirit confirming that life goes on in all its myriad forms. I am often amazed at how ingenious Spirit can be in an attempt to show how rich life can be, there is no death, we just have to listen and look and be aware.

So, there they are again. One single clump of Snowdrops in the corner of my garden, perfectly positioned so I can see them from my window. Every time I look at them I marvel at the wonders of spirit, the beauty of life, that something so small can be so immense and most importantly of all, the reminder that love never dies.

The planet Neptune rules the sign Pisces, and enters this sign, returning to its source, on February 4th after its 160-180 year cycle of the Zodiac. It will remain here for about 14 years. An interesting point of synchronicity is that as Neptune enters Pisces so too we begin the Chinese year of the Water Dragon, which characteristics also resemble the sign Pisces.

Neptune symbolises the subtle realm of feelings, dream, fantasy, illusion, imagery, imagination and psychic connection. The mystic, the artist and the healer are connected with the sign Pisces. Characteristics of Pisces are devotion, compassion, formlessness, a sense of at-one-ment – the ability to lose oneself in something and become one with it. Both Pisces and Neptune are associated with the Ocean, with the source, the wholeness or completeness of all life.

When Neptune enters an area of our life, we may first experience a sense of confusion and disillusionment, we may feel completely overwhelmed, especially by dreams and our imagination which may cause havoc to our psyche. It may feel like things are falling apart, dissolving, and there can be a loss of focus, and a sense of dissatisfaction. Things and structures in our life that we felt certain, secure about may begin to change shape or literally disappear. There is, however, a subtle and psychic energy associated with Neptune – something in us needs healing, refining and re-imagining. Neptune can be associated with distillation, an alchemical refining process.

Something has to be broken down, become formless, melt away and then shift shape in order to emerge into another form. There can be a dream like quality to this. This flowing movement, from one thing to another, can also be seen in the symbol for Pisces. Two fishes swimming in opposite directions although connected by their tails with a snaking umbilical cord. When drawing this symbol myself, I was surprised to find how it resembles the Chinese Yin Yang symbol!

If we approach this alchemical process with fear – fear of loss or chaos perhaps – and cling like limpets to an old, outworn form or way of being, then we may suffer. It can cause discomfort, pain and may even be toxic. This is a delicate, subtle process and we need guidance. The artist, the mystic, the healer are more attuned to this process of shift, of change and of formlessness because it is part of the creative process and of 'creation' itself.

So we need to enter the Neptunian and Piscean realm with a quiet, still and contemplative approach. We must find both inner and outer space and give appropriate time to clearing out what is no longer essential and become empty. It may be appropriate to even divest ourselves, for a while, of material concerns and illusions. It is not for nothing that both Neptune and Pisces require reverence, compassion and a sense of devotion.

If we have been focusing on something too hard, trying too hard, then we may be required to let go, let be. Neptune helps us to overcome a problem, by shifting our focus, by not concentrating or straining, and then it may just dissolve – simply melt away – or we may discover, much to our surprise, that it just wasn't a problem after all. We were just looking at it in the wrong way, or for it in the wrong place! So Neptune requires that we 'step back', give things space and Pisces requires – like the two fishes swimming in opposite directions – that we turn around and look in the opposite direction! On a worldly scale this can perhaps be seen in the shift of focus, of power, from West to East!

Neptune in Pisces requires us to reconnect to our feelings, which are not the same as emotions. Feelings are far more sensitive and subtle, and extremely hard to describe because of this. Feelings require us to tune in with our whole body, to become aware and this is intelligence! Aware and awake to our feelings, so that we can become intelligent human beings and have reverence for others, for our environment and for all life as this is the foundation of Compassion.

So the refining process, the alchemy and tests, we are put through with Neptune especially in the sign of Pisces is to raise our consciousness. But it is a process that needs time, space and a different dream! And to build a new dream we have to use our imagination, re-image, and devote ourselves to it, but it requires a different foundation, according to Neptune - one that is more spiritual and less material.

Colour, music and some kinds of art can help connect to the feeling realm.

An exercise to begin to tune into the feeling realm – (you will need some music without words and colouring equipment)

Find a quiet space when you can be alone. Make yourself comfortable – preferably lying down – and put the music on. Close your eyes and allow the music to play through your body. Simply feel and be aware how and where your body responds to the sounds. Let it wash through you.

When you have done this, sit up and gather your colouring pens or paints and paper. Quieten your mind, be still, so that you are in a contemplative frame of mind. Play the music again and express the feelings running through you with the colours on the paper.

There is no thought, no analysis, no judgement, just simply let go and let it all flow through and out of you. Try doing this with different kinds of music and you can also try this with different places in nature.

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