(chicagopd.fandom.com)

“You know what Moses had before he parted the Red Sea? Permission from his supervisor.”

Sergeant Trudy Platt (played by Amy Morton) in Chicago P.D, Season 3, Episode 12 “Start Digging”

March 15, 2025 (buzzfeed.com)

“He eventually muttered, ‘You’re right, everyone’s always been right. I can’t believe I got to this point’ and kept bawling his eyes out. Then he said something that I’m still thinking about: ‘I traded my life for a lie; I don’t even know who I am anymore.'”

by Siena Giljum

BuzzFeed Staff

Full coverage and conversation on Politics

Remember QAnon? I wish I didn’t.

If you also haven’t heard that name since way back when (well, 2020), let me refresh you. It’s a conspiracy theory alleging that President Donald Trump is waging a secret war against the “deep state,” or “a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles” that controls the world.

It’s called QAnon because an anonymous poster known as “Q” began spewing nonsense about the deep state and “the Storm,” aka the day of reckoning that will one day come for the pedophilic, omnipotent cabal, on the imageboard website 4chan in 2017.

Although it’s somewhat faded out of mainstream conversation, QAnon is still very much alive. One of the most infamous January 6 Capitol rioters was known as “QAnon Shaman.”

Hot Topic

Let’s chat about all things Politics

See our Politics Discussions

There’s an entire subreddit devoted to people whose lives have been affected by a loved one falling into QAnon, both trying to support those individuals and help them bring their loved ones back to reality. It’s aptly called r/QAnonCasualties, and today, I wanted to share several stories from people who actually managed to get out:

1. “My uncle, who is my dad’s brother-in-law, was raised in a very Christian conservative environment but was generally very cool, calm, and collected, and a great role model for what an uncle/husband/father should be. But when Trump came around in 2016, it’s like that whole positive demeanor he had flipped on a dime. I genuinely don’t know what exactly sparked the change, but over time, he just started spouting crazier and crazier things. Anti-vax, JFK and JFK Jr. resurrection, Pizzagate, election fraud, the deep state, Democrats sacrificing children in satanic rituals, you name it. And he also believed literally anything Trump said on TV and would defend it like his life depended on it.”

“…Fast forward to about a week ago, I got a message from him on Facebook. My crazy, Trump-loving, conspiracy-theorizing Q-Uncle, who’s estranged from his whole family, sent me a random message at 8 p.m. He said he was looking through some old scrapbooks and family photo albums and found old pictures of me as a baby that he thought I might want to have, and asked if he could come over to give them to me. I agreed because I hadn’t seen him in several years, and against my better judgment, I wanted to have a conversation with him about his behavior.”

“So he shows up late at night with a small box of photos and comes inside. I set the box down, open it, and start looking at all the photos. It’s a bunch of pictures from around the time of my birth, and what caught my eye was how happy his family and mine looked and how full of life he looked. Looking at him standing in my kitchen now, he looked so different. Before his divorce, he was very well-kept. Clean cut and in very good shape. Looking at him now, he’s gotten visibly skinnier, lost muscle mass and looks dirty and disheveled. I said thank you for the photos, and he said something to the tune of ‘You’re welcome, my lib ex-wife probably has the rest, but she’s too convinced I’m crazy. I just wish she wasn’t blind, she’ll see the truth soon enough…'”

“…And I basically lost it but didn’t lash out. I started ranting about his behavior, explaining how it’s torn the family apart, especially his family. His own children either hate him or don’t know what’s wrong with him, and the woman he was married to for 30 years wants nothing to do with him anymore. How the rest of the family is embarrassed by him, and he threw it all away for Donald fucking Trump. Who, unlike us, does not know who he is and does not care if he lives or dies. All of this didn’t really seem to phase him, which I was half expecting.”

“…Throughout that little rant, his expression slowly changed from a smug look of annoyance to a fearful look of regret. His eyes widened slowly, and after I mentioned the man in front of me being different than the man in the photos, his eyes started darting back and forth between the photos on the table and me. And by the time I got done speaking, he was breathing very shallow and fast, hyperventilating. And then his eyes were just darting all over the room, almost like he was replaying his life, and he was covering his mouth and eyes and mumbling stuff like ‘fuck,’ ‘oh my god,’ and ‘no no no.'”

“I genuinely wasn’t expecting this reaction and asked if he was okay, and he just started shaking his head and covering his eyes with his hands. After doing this for about a minute, I could hear him start to groan like he was in pain, and then he let out this raw, guttural scream. I swear it shook my house; I’ve never heard anything like it. He was hitting himself on the forehead with the base of his hand and then collapsed to the floor. He took his hands off his eyes and his face was bright red, and he had tears streaming down his face. It was the most emotion and clarity I’ve seen from him in years. He tried to talk but he was still choking up on his words and his voice kept cracking. He eventually muttered, ‘You’re right, everyone’s always been so goddamn right. I can’t believe I got to this point’ and kept bawling his eyes out…”

“…Then he said something that I’m still thinking about: ‘I traded my life for a lie; I don’t even know who I am anymore.’ And he kept crying on the floor. This man was completely broken and realized the consequences of his behavior far too late, and all he could do was cry. So I let him. It went on for about 15 minutes. Eventually, he looked up at me, and I helped him stand up. And I ended up just giving him a big hug. Despite all the pain he’s caused for the family, I still loved him deep down, and I know everyone else does, too. After he pulled away from the hug, all he said was ‘thank you… I don’t know if I’m past the point of fixing things, but I’m going to try,’ and then he turned around and walked out my door.”

2. “So, I was having a convo with my FIL, and he was pissed and feeling himself after the Trump victory. He was saying all sorts of crazy Q tangent-type stuff, and I calmly said, ‘None of that happened.’ He screamed, ‘I saw it!’ I asked where he gets his news from, and he said it was from all the sources. I said no, you don’t, you never saw that on CNN or a trusted news source. He later admitted, when he calmed down, that he saw it on YouTube or X, which I said wasn’t news.”

3. “I used to be a conspiracy theorist who held many beliefs that I now realize are spread by QAnon believers. Eventually, I had to get the COVID-19 vaccine for work, and nothing happened. This led to me starting to question my other beliefs, and I realized I had been tricked. I didn’t die of any horrible side effects like people were saying. I met a classmate who was trans, and he was really cool. That made me see that the narrative I was fed was untrue since he clearly wasn’t a horrible person like the right-wing media portrays. I also got involved with TikTok (mostly for the funny videos lol), but that led to me seeing a lot of diverse people and beliefs I hadn’t heard of before.”

“I was a teenager when this happened, so I understand how I fell for the ploy so easily. I was socially isolated during COVID-19 and became wrapped up in the wrong crowd. Since then, a few years have passed, and I’ve continued to learn about politics and the dangers of conspiracy theories and extremist ideas; I’ve become much better at forming my own ideas rather than just listening to whatever I hear online…”

“…What I struggle to understand is how my dad, who is much older and in many ways wiser than me, fell for it, too. Not only that, but he is falling deeper and deeper into this group, and all of my efforts to talk to him have failed. This change happened over a period of time when I was living with my mom. All of a sudden, he started talking about Trump and how great his policies were. He ended up voting for Trump that year, but I would say his level of enthusiasm was still in the normal range at the time. He just wanted more jobs in America and for the middle class to prosper. 2020 was when things really started to go downhill, starting with all the COVID theories that were floating around. He fully believed them, and so did I.”

4. “Part of the QAnon story my dad believed was that the USD had to be removed and replaced by a new currency because the dollar is the currency of the deep state. Some hours or days ago, I can’t remember, Trump said that he would preserve the USD at all costs, and if BRICS tried to develop a currency to battle the USD, he would establish a 100% tariff on BRICS members (something along those lines). My father was heavily disappointed, so I exploited the doubt momentum my father was stuck in, and I told him, ‘Remember what I told you days ago? This is what I mean, Trump is not the hero they portrayed.'”

5. “They ended up in rehab and started to think more like a normal human after that.”

—laffnlemming

6. “My whole life has always been just me and my mom. My father died before I was born, so it was just us girls up against the world. Mom clawed her way up from food stamps and Section 8 to a six-figure research-based job. I am so proud of her. She did seem oddly against me getting ‘optional’ vaccines like HPV and meningitis, but whatever. I didn’t think much of it.”

“…She has no real answers to any of these questions and I thought this was the end of it. She had a theory, we talked about it rationally, nothing in her theory made any sense, and now we could move on with our lives. I am not exaggerating when I say I thought she was going to disown me when I got my COVID vaccine. This woman is a research scientist, y’all! What is happening!? She descended deeper and deeper into anti-vaxx conspiracy theories and fringe religious practices and… I honestly still don’t understand the Bill Gates thing. I didn’t even know this person anymore. This person who witnessed my first breath. The first heartbeat I ever knew. Ugh, I’m getting teary just thinking about this now.”

“I got pregnant shortly after my second Moderna shot. I didn’t tell her for six whole months. It was hard, and the whole world felt dark. I didn’t tell her any of this. Just that I was pregnant, my due date was SOON, and that if she wanted to see the baby, she would need to be FULLY vaccinated. Two shots, plus the efficacy time. There was protest and #Q-logic, but I just could not care at all. We didn’t talk again, not a real talk based in reality, until she called to tell me the fire department had to come to the CVS since she was hyperventilating in the pharmacy area waiting for her shot. They still gave her the shot. She was one round in and half the way to seeing my baby be born. I felt this odd twinge of an emotion I wasn’t sure I would ever see again. Pride…”

“…I was so proud of her for facing her fears for my kid. She didn’t do this for me, her kid, but somehow, my kid was worth it. I’ll take it! She got her second shot on a delayed schedule. Ok, fine, whatever. This delay made it so that she wasn’t going to be considered fully vaccinated until after my due date, but I held firm, even though that meant that I was realistically facing being in the delivery room alone. This was such a scary time of my life, and I had no one to hug me. In the end, my kid decided to come late. Very late. So late that my mom could be in the hospital with me.”

“…I feel SO LUCKY because I know this could have been so so so so so so so much worse. I have a reasonable approximation of my mom back with just one really dark year that I try to never think about. I credit her recovery primarily to my son and, more specifically, that I got pregnant so quickly after COVID-19 vaccines came out. She didn’t have time to really steep in the Q-ness because the ultimatum came relatively quickly.

—petitbunnyfroufrou

7. “My two successes were with people who were not 100% full Q yet. They were at the point where they thought Alex Jones was a gift from God. So, pretty far in. I got them out with challenging conversations and consistency. Sometimes, I would be more empathetic and not try to act like they were crazy for their beliefs and just try to gently ask, ‘Oh, I get how you see that; have you ever thought about (thing) though?’ Other times, I was more direct and would try to make them feel dumb/embarrassed. Consistency was a huge part.”

“…I definitely don’t have the magic solution, even if you put in the 500 hours of prep/research you would need. I’ve been successful twice but failed three other times so far. Being with someone daily gives you a huge advantage in being able to frame information they are getting every day in a different, more sane way. Most people don’t really have a thought on any topic until their chosen demagogue tells them how to feel later online. If you can start to change how they think about something before they get programmed, it can help a lot.”

—SuperMadBro

8. And finally, from r/skeptic: “I am an ex-QAnon and conspiracy nut, and one strange phrase helped me get out. I left the conspiracy world five years ago after heavy involvement for 10 years. I got out of QAnon around the end of Trump’s [first] presidency. One very strange phrase was common among the believers, and it gave me a lot of internal conflict at the time: ‘Even if Q turns out to be fake, I still value my time in QAnon because it taught me to pay attention and how to think.'”

“This sort of speech was very common among adherents and really bothered me bc it was so self-insulating and protective. Basically, claiming that even if I find out I’ve been a rube believing in batshit conspiracy, I still can’t allow myself to think of myself as wrong, so I’ll spin it as learning to be a ‘critical thinker’ rather than realizing I was conned and I’m ignorant. As for me? I got out and realized I was wrong.”

—diceblue

What do you think? Have you or a loved one ever fallen down the conspiracy pipeline, and how did you fare? Let me know in the comments.

Responses have been edited for length/clarity.

Go to: https://www.buzzfeed.com/sienaegiljum/qanon-survivors?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bfsharenativeandroid

(Contributed by Gwyllm LLwydd)

COLLEGIUM VOCALE

 SAVE THE DATE

Our next performance: Platinum Jubilee Concert,

celebrating our 70th anniversary

with a performance of Puccini’s

Messa di Gloria with orchestra.

Saturday, March 29, 2025  8:00 PM

Reception to follow

Glenn Memorial Auditorium Emory University 1651 North Decatur Road  Atlanta GA 30312

Click here to purchase tickets!

Note from Ned Henry, H.W.:

I’m sending this to family and friends to tell you that I will be singing in a concert with the choir I’ve been singing with for some 23 years now.  This concert is Saturday night MARCH 29 at 8 PM EDT (5 PM PDT).   It will be Live-streamed and of course my job is to SELL tickets which you can buy at this link – https://cvchorus.org/  Since my job is selling tickets, this is a pretty wide distribution.  

We are singing a Gloria Mass written by Puccini, the opera composer.   The music is glorious and we will sing with an orchestra.  We only get to sing with an orchestra about every three years.  Some of you know I started singing opera some 50 years ago in Alaska.  So I love this dramatic music.  This however may be my last concert with his group.  Not sure I have the chops for this director anymore.  And singing the Credo this time made me think about the words – words that I have been singing since I was a choir boy.  And I’m thinking maybe I need to express myself musically in a different way.    

Finally for those of you with limited financial resources, the concert will be posted on our YouTube page after the concert is over.  But If you can afford it, buy a LiveSteam.  We need to pay for this orchestra.

/www.youtube.com/results?search_query=collegium+vocale+atlanta

I know classical music isn’t for everyone.  For those who are local, the concert is at Glenn Memorial on the Emory campus.  And there will be a nice reception afterwards.  Live Streams won’t get the good food.  

Hope to see some of you and since this is going to some family and friends far away, I’ll probably have some sort of party for my 75th birthday this July.  I had a guest room built which I’ll probably rent out to a student in the Fall but until then, I have an extra room if anyone wants to come to Atlanta in July.  

I hope to see you Saturday evening either in person or livestream.

I appreciate all of you,

Ned

Adjustment This card was traditionally called Justice, but in more modern decks is now named Adjustment. This change reflects one of the deeper aspects of meaning that the card covers – the requirement for constant assessment and balancing which opens us to spiritual expansion.Life is a flowing river of energy – and when it is blocked for any length of time it behaves exactly as water does..it stagnates. When we fail to consistently assess our position and attitudes in relation to life – in general, and on a personal level – we too begin to stagnate.So on a day ruled by Adjustment, we need to take stock of ourselves. Have a look at habitual or routine behaviour, and decide whether it is appropriate to your current state of mind, and position. Sometimes a thing becomes outdated, and loses its value as we change and alter. If you find anything like this decide to let go of it, to clear the way for new more appropriate actions.Think about the ways in which you approach life – do you feel you’re getting the most out of it, and putting as much as you can into it? If not, think about why. For some of the fortunate people among us, happiness and contentment come as a result of simply deciding that these things are in our lives now, and then living each day reminding ourselves of that fact. So consider if you are one of those fortunate people who can simply choose to be happy, fulfilled and contented… and then do it.If you are one of those people who cannot, at this time, decide to be happy, because of surrounding circumstance, try for today, to find something to be happy about – a little ray of sunshine cutting through the darkness. It will make a difference to the imbalance you might be experiencing – and go some way toward adjusting your situation. Affirmation: “I move towards balance and harmony.”

(Angelpaths.com)

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”

― George Orwell, In Front of Your Nose: 1945-1950

The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters #4

In Front of Your Nose: 1945-1950

George Orwell, Sonia Orwell (Editor), Ian Angus (Editor)

In Front of Your Nose features Orwell’s final writings, including extracts from his manuscript notebook, as well as details of his remarriage and adoption of a son, notes on the writing and publication of Nineteen Eighty-four, as well as reviews of books by Jean-Paul Sartre and Graham Greene, an examination of politics and literature in Gulliver’s Travels, and the hidden meanings of “nonsense poetry.”

—From the 2000 edition.

About the author

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both authoritarian communism and fascism), and support of democratic socialism.

Orwell is best known for his allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), although his works also encompass literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. His non-fiction works, including The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), documenting his experience of working-class life in the industrial north of England, and Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences soldiering for the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), are as critically respected as his essays on politics, literature, language and culture.

Orwell’s work remains influential in popular culture and in political culture, and the adjective “Orwellian”—describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices—is part of the English language, like many of his neologisms, such as “Big Brother”, “Thought Police”, “Room 101”, “Newspeak”, “memory hole”, “doublethink”, and “thoughtcrime”. In 2008, The Times named Orwell the second-greatest British writer since 1945.

(Goodreads.com)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the White House ghost, see Lincoln’s ghost.

The Ghost of Abraham Lincoln is a photograph taken by the American photographer William Mumler in 1872. It appears to depict a faint white figure, interpreted as the ghost of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, standing over his seated widow, Mary Todd Lincoln.^[1] The photograph is assumed to be a hoax, although it is still unclear how exactly it was created.^[2]

The photograph is currently the property of the Ian Rolland Center for Lincoln Research. It’s part of the Friends of the Lincoln at Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana.^[3]

Background

Mumler began taking spirit photographs in 1862. He invited the renowned photographer J. W. Black to examine the process he used, but Black was unable to tell how “ghosts” appeared in Mumler’s photographs.^[4] Throughout the 1860s, Mumler’s career took hold, and many spiritualists came to him for photographs. One of the reasons for a surge in demand was the American Civil War, which caused more than 600,000 deaths.^[5] He was repeatedly accused of fraud and was brought to trial in May 1869.^[6] The prosecution brought a list of possible methods Mumler could have used to fake the photographs, but none of them could be proven without a reasonable doubt. He was acquitted of the charges, and his career in photography continued.^[7][8]

In February 1872, Mary Lincoln was still mourning the loss of her husband, Abraham Lincoln, after his assassination nearly seven years earlier.^[9] In her later years, Lincoln was institutionalized after a trial in 1875, though was later released into the custody of her sister Elizabeth.^[10]

Legacy

The photograph is one of the most famous hoaxes of the 19th century. While the method Mumler used may have been double exposure, it has not been proven.^[11] The process is made more complicated by the fact that Abraham’s arms appear to be on Mary’s shoulders.^[12] In 2022, photographic process historian Mark Osterman demonstrated a possible technique using two negatives, printed simultaneously with sleight of hand.^[8]

More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_of_Abraham_Lincoln_(photograph)

The Astrology Podcast • Mar 25, 2025 Discussing what happened in the past when the planets Saturn and Neptune form conjunctions every 36 years, and how these alignments often coincide with important turning points in history, with astrologers Chris Brennan and Nick Dagan Best. We spend the first three quarters of the episode going through the seven most recent Saturn-Neptune conjunctions in history in detail, starting with the 1989 conjunction and then going backwards in 36 years increments to 1952/3, 1917, 1882, 1846, 1809, 1773. In the last part of the episode we highlight recurring themes that have come up across multiple conjunctions, and extending our study all the way back to the year 500 BCE. By looking at conjunctions from the past we hope to get a better idea of what the current Saturn-Neptune conjunction means, which is forming in the sky now in 2025 and 2026. This is episode 483 of The Astrology Podcast:

(Astrobutterfly.com)

On March 30th, 2025, history is made – Neptune enters Aries. Neptune’s shift into a new sign marks the beginning of an epic chapter in our life.

Neptune stays about 14 years in a sign, so we only get to experience a few Neptune ingresses during a lifespan. This is BIG. 

Not only does Neptune change signs –  it moves from Pisces, the last sign of the zodiac, to enter Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. 

0° Aries is a very potent and important point in the zodiac, as it marks the beginning of everything. 0 degrees of Aries is arguably the most important of all 360 degrees. For Neptune, it marks the beginning of a new 165-year cycle around the Sun.

Neptune is one of the 3 outer planets – the others are Uranus and Pluto. When outer planets change signs, we’re talking about big, fundamental shifts.

When we look at outer planetary transits, we look at collective turning points that impact all the aspects of our lives. In this context, Pluto is not just ‘power,’ Neptune is not just ‘spirituality’  –  outer planets’ movements through signs represent generational trends that affect pretty much every area of our life. 

Of course, the outer planet will express the themes of the sign it’s in in its own archetypal way.

With Neptune in Pisces, we’ve seen an emphasis on Piscean themes like interconnectivity, spiritual unity, and the idea that we are all one – a vast, boundless melting pot of dreams, ideals, and illusions. 

And how does this Piscean emphasis show up in a Neptune way? By dissolving borders. 

If we were to think of one important theme that aligned with Neptune’s stay in Pisces – in the past 14 years – that theme is globalization. Pisces is the ocean – limitless, boundless, no borders – so Neptune in Pisces amplified the feeling of no boundaries.

Here are the key themes that emerged during Neptune’s transit through Pisces:

• Neptune dissolves borders. We saw more emphasis on acceptance, open borders, increased migration, and multicultural integration.
• The internet, social media, and e-commerce exploded, creating a borderless digital world where anyone could connect, share, and sell globally.
• The rise of remote work, the gig economy, and digital nomadism lead to breaking traditional job structures and national work identities.
• Streaming platforms (Netflix, Spotify, YouTube) erased boundaries of media consumption. People from different countries began consuming the same content, blurring cultural lines.

Neptune In Aries 2025-2039 – From Globalization to Sovereignty 

So how will these Neptunian themes evolve when Neptune leaves Pisces and enters Aries?

If Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, associated with dissolution, surrender, and the collective, Aries is the 1st sign –  the individual, the spark of life. 

Aries is where we emerge into this world and take our first breath. Here, the focus is to assert ourselves, define who we are, find our identity, and survive. If Pisces is the energy that dissolves boundaries – the ocean, “we’re all in this together” – Aries is the “this is me” energy: I’m a unique individual, and I’m going to find what makes me different from you.

On a personal level, our focus will shift from seeking connection with something greater (Pisces) to a focus on selfhood – reshaping our identity, discovering our purpose, and stepping into a more active role in our lives.

What does that mean? 

• Less watching, receiving, drifting (Pisces) – more doing, asserting, creating (Aries)
  Less blind faith (Pisces) – more about becoming the hero of our own journey (Aries)

At a global level, Neptune in Aries marks a potential shift from globalization (Pisces) to autonomy and sovereignty (Aries). 

Institutions, people, and nations will begin to (re)discover their unique identity, which can result in new political positioning, redrawn borders, and a redefinition of national and personal purpose.

The approach will be less about global connectivity – such as operating through an open-borders or one-world framework – and more about establishing or reclaiming what sets us apart. This can lead to nationalist movements, local-first economies, and missions driven by personal or cultural authenticity.

This new emphasis can also bring a resurgence of traditions – not necessarily in a nostalgic, Cancerian “return to the past” sense, but more from an Aries place of fierce pride and individuation  “This is my DNA. This is me, beyond blurring lines hyperconnectivity”. 

In terms of trends, we may see more boutique, identity-driven expressions in music, cinema, and culture. Less formulaic, “one size fits all” blockbusters or mass-market entertainment – and more raw, bold, personal, and niche content. Creators may care less about global relatability and more about authentic self-expression.

Aries is also about discovery – and in a Neptune sense, this could point to exploration of new dimensions of reality, including space travel, deep sea exploration, and new frontiers in consciousness. These could become hallmark themes of Neptune in Aries.

Another likely trend: “going off-grid” – not just for homes, but for people.
Personal finances, resources, healthcare, education – many will feel called to opt out of systems they no longer trust, and build self-sufficiency. 

“I’m on my own” won’t feel isolating – it will feel empowering. With Neptune in Aries, trust in institutions erodes. DIY culture, decentralized tech, and sovereign communities rise.

Aries is also the sign of warfare. War – metaphorically or literally – is often how borders are maintained or redefined. Anything that threatens the sense of individuality or freedom can trigger Aries’s instinct to push back.

Does Neptune in Aries mean more war? Not necessarily – though conflict, protest, and resistance may become more common as people and nations fight to reclaim or define their sovereignty.

But this desire to reclaim autonomy doesn’t have to be violent. It can take creative, conscious forms. 

A promising signature of this transit is that Neptune will form a harmonious minor triangle with Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini – a rare configuration that suggests that Neptune in Aries could channel its energy into visionary, constructive innovation.

Like with any major ingress, there will be a period of adjustment. Almost all outer planetary ingresses come with a sense of initial chaos or disorientation – but we’ll start to see the true flavor of Neptune in Aries fairly quickly when Saturn joins Neptune in Aries in May 2025.

To recap: The transit of Neptune in Aries will likely lead to a paradigm shift – from the Piscean age of connectivity and globalization to an Aries age of localism, sovereignty, and decentralized power. 

We’re already seeing this in the de-globalization of supply chains, the rise of identity-based politics, and the fragmentation of mass systems into smaller, more personal networks.

In the broader context of other outer planetary shifts – like Pluto in Aquarius – we can see that the old corporate, institutional model is breaking down. 

More people are turning to independent work, online businesses, and personal brands. Self-sovereignty and financial independence are becoming the new aspirational goals.

Neptune In Aries – Don’t Make False Idols

Neptune carries the tendency to idealize, and ultimately, to polarize.

We may idealize a leader, a romantic partner, or a friend to the point where we follow them blindly → example Charles Manson. 

The more we idealize someone, the more our suppressed – often negative – qualities get dumped and projected onto someone else, who then becomes the villain in our story. They become the “bad” character – the one to be feared, hated, or punished.

And this is a dangerous predicament, because it creates good vs. bad, light vs. dark, hero vs. villain scenarios where people act according to a black-and-white, us-vs-them dichotomy, rather than dealing with the messy, nuanced reality of human nature.

As the Neptunian fog lifts, we begin to see that there’s no such thing as someone who is purely good – and no such thing as someone who is purely bad, either.

Idealizing someone – following everything they say, think, or do without discernment – is how we fall into the trap of false idols. 

The Second Commandment in the Bible (“You shall not make for yourself an idol” – Exodus 20:4) can be understood psychologically as a warning against misplaced attachment, external validation, and the illusion of permanence in a constantly changing world.

This commandment is not just about religious idols. It speaks to a universal human tendency: the urge to assign meaning, identity, and security to external people, objects, or ideologies – at the expense of inner truth and spiritual autonomy.

When we are under Neptune’s spell, we’re often blind. We don’t see people, missions, or projects for what they truly are – we see them as we want them to be. In Neptune’s fantasy, an idol is not just admired – they’re sanctified. They’re perfect. They cannot have flaws, they cannot make mistakes.

Refusing to see the – absolutely normal and human – less desirable side of someone means that even when the idol says things that don’t align with our values, or does things that seem off, we reframe them, we rationalize, we justify – because, of course, the idol must be perfect. This is cognitive dissonance at work.

When they do something obviously wrong or hurtful, we twist the story to say: “It must be someone else’s fault.”

In this scenario, not only is everything the idol does justified — but all the negative traits we don’t want to see in them have to go somewhere. And so, someone else becomes the epitome of evil. The scapegoat.

We see this in movies – but we also see it in real life: in sports, when we idealize our team and demonize the opponent; in celebrity culture and politics. The ‘idol’ gets into conflict, and suddenly, the audience splits. Under Neptune’s haze, there’s the good guy – the hero – and the bad guy – the villain.

But is that reality? Or are we caught in our own Neptunian false idol trap?

What’s really going on here?

Neptune – Escapism And Outsourced Moral Compass

At its core, making false idols is an escapist mechanism (very Pisces) – a way to avoid confronting the duality within ourselves. 

Like any human being, we have both what society calls “positive” and “negative” traits. The spiritual ideal is to integrate those parts into wholeness and express the best possible version of ourselves – without denying or rejecting the rest.

But the process of individuation is hard. So instead of doing the inner work, we play it out externally – we split off parts of ourselves and project them onto others. We idolize those who reflect our light – and demonize those who reflect our shadow.

The false idol – the person we blindly admire and follow – is actually a mirror of our highest potential. Those idealized qualities aren’t bad; they’re clues about who we could become. 

But the idol is “false” because it’s built on the illusion that the ‘bad’ can be stripped away, that perfection is attainable.

Perfection doesn’t exist – at least not in this 3D, flesh-and-bones reality. And that can be a hard pill to swallow, especially since there’s a part of us that does remember something divine – something beyond all this – and longs for it.

But if we truly want to evolve, we must stop looking outside, and instead, start within.

With Neptune in Aries, we’re invited to become our own source of spiritual authority and reclaim spiritual autonomy. When we realize that we alone are responsible for our beliefs, ideals, and aspirations, we are no longer easily deceived, disappointed, or disillusioned by others – because we understand that our projections create the good vs. bad, hero vs. villain dynamic.

The world is what it is – too complex and layered to fully understand. It’s our rose-colored (or fear-tinted) glasses that filter what we perceive. Not reality itself.

Neptune is the higher octave of Venus. While Venus is about our personal values, Neptune attempts to universalize those values – it filters the world through a spiritual, moral, or idealistic lens. But that same lens can become a veil.

Neptune – Compassion For Our Imperfect Humanity

When Neptune moves from Pisces to Aries, we are being asked to own our Neptune. To stop outsourcing belief, meaning, and truth – and find it within ourselves.

We will look less outside for leaders, idols, and saviors – and more within, where it all begins. We will become our own “personal Jesus.”

That’s not to say Neptune in Aries means the end of leadership or admiration. The world will still have presidents, icons, heroes, and commanders-in-chief. But maybe we’ll stop treating them as gods – or as devils – and start seeing them for what they are: humans, with gifts and flaws.

And maybe we’ll also start doing the same for ourselves – accepting, and finding compassion for, our imperfect humanity.

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
— John Steinbeck, East of Eden

Neptune in Aries 2025-2039 – The Transits 

Just before it emerges in the raw fire of Aries, Neptune conjuncts Mercury at 29°59’ Pisces. 

What are the odds of having a conjunction at the very last degree, very last minute of the zodiac? Very, very small. 

Yet, this is happening – so chances are, we will receive a very important message. Something that seals the outcome of a very important chapter in our lives.

Mercury has already been in Aries, infused with the energy of this new beginning Neptune is about to step into – but due to its retrograde, it slides back into Pisces. And literally within minutes of re-entering Pisces – at 29°59’ – Mercury meets Neptune, which is just about to leave the sign. 

It’s like a passing of the torch moment. But what’s being passed down?

An important insight, message, or piece of spiritual intelligence that might change everything. Something we didn’t necessarily see coming – or if we did, we didn’t believe it could actually manifest. And then, after this sacred meeting with Mercury, Neptune makes its way into Aries – with a completely new tone, mission, and momentum.

Sounds cinematic? That’s just the beginning.

Neptune’s entrance into Aries is truly spectacular because, especially in the early phase of its transit, it becomes involved in some rare and powerful planetary configurations.

Neptune enters Aries on March 30th, 2025 and stays in Aries until October 22, 2025, when it briefly retrogrades back into Pisces for one final goodbye. It then returns to Aries on January 26, 2026, and remains there until March 2039.

Soon after its initial ingress into Aries, Saturn also enters Aries. However, the two planets don’t actually conjunct in 2025, because Saturn goes retrograde at 1° Aries, slipping back into Pisces just before Neptune does.

But Saturn and Neptune do eventually meet – and form the much-anticipated conjunction at 0° Aries on February 20, 2026.

Before, we talked about the odds of having Mercury and Neptune conjunct at the very last minute of Pisces – the end of the zodiac. 

Now, again: what are the odds of 2 slow-moving planets meeting at the very first degree of the zodiac – 0° Aries, the cosmic “reset” button?

This is starting to look like a finely orchestrated cosmic handover. We are witnessing a MAJOR new beginning. A closure. A reset. The world is about to shift in ways we can’t even imagine yet.

In the first years of Neptune’s transit through Aries – 2025 to roughly 2029 – Neptune is part of a supportive configuration called a minor triangle, alongside Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius. 

This is significant because Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are the heavyweight changemakers. When these 3 outer planets form a harmonious aspect, we know we’re in good cosmic hands. 

So having all three in cooperative dialogue is definitely encouraging. More on this important minor triangle in a dedicated write-up.

Neptune will continue its sextile to Pluto all the way through 2032 – an aspect that only happens about once every 100 years. This long-lasting sextile helps maintain spiritual regeneration and visionary reform as core themes of this era.

Other Notable Neptune Transits While in Aries:

• 2033–2034: Neptune square Saturn in Cancer (19–22° Aries/Cancer)
  → Themes of internal tension between individual identity (Aries) and emotional security/family structures (Cancer). Could manifest as clashes between personal freedom and social expectations.
• 2036–2037: Neptune trine Saturn in Leo (26–28° Aries/Leo)
  → A more constructive period, where vision (Neptune) and discipline (Saturn) come together to support creative leadership, inspired structure, and heart-driven purpose.
• 2039: Neptune trine Jupiter in Leo at 29° Aries/Leo
  → A beautiful send-off: visionary optimism, spiritual expansion, and the potential to embrace our unique heroic journey – individually and collectively.

Neptune In Aries – The Outer Context 

While we will have a dedicated write-up for the Neptune–Pluto–Uranus minor triangle, let’s talk a bit about Neptune in Aries in the broader context of all the outer planets changing signs.

Understanding that Neptune in Aries is not a shift of its own, but a puzzle piece in a larger planetary choreography, will help us understand its mandate in a more nuanced way.

On a day-to-day basis, we might pay attention to New and Full Moons or Mercury retrogrades – the everyday currents in life. 

However, it’s the outer planets – Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto – that act as transformative forces shaping collective evolution. The outer planets are the ‘puppeteers’ behind the scenes. 

If we want to know how we feel today, we look at the Moon or Venus. But if we want to understand what era we are living in, and what deep changes are underway, we look at Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

What’s absolutely extraordinary – and statistically quite astonishing – is that all 3 outer planets change signs within a very short timeframe. 

Pluto entered Aquarius in 2024. Neptune follows, entering Aries in March 2025. And Uranus enters Gemini in July 2025. Saturn also enters Aries that same year, further emphasizing the Neptune in Aries mandate of restructuring identity, will, and responsibility.

To understand the interplay between Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, we need to consider the outer planets’ “hierarchy of influence.” 

The premise here is that the farther away a planet is from the Sun, the slower it moves, the longer it spends in a sign, and the deeper and more foundational its influence becomes.

Following this framework:

• Pluto is the farthest of the 3, spending roughly 20 years in each sign – it sets the evolutionary tone
• Neptune follows, spending about 14 years in a sign – it defines the vision or spiritual climate
• Uranus, the fastest of the 3, spends about 7 years in each sign – it manifests change through disruption, innovation, and awakening

In this archetypal flow, Pluto sets the scene – the deeper “why.” Neptune infuses the vision – the “what.” Uranus delivers the tools and technology – the “how.”

We could think of Pluto as WHY, Neptune as WHAT, and Uranus as HOW.

WHY – Pluto in Aquarius (2024–2044):

The overarching agenda of this new era is a shift from top-down, centralized systems to bottom-up, decentralized empowerment. 

Pluto in Aquarius is dismantling hierarchical power structures – breaking apart outdated institutions and ideologies. The goal? A world where power is distributed, where networks, communities, and individuals become the new engines of change. The next two decades will be focused on empowering people, not just systems.

WHAT – Neptune in Aries (2025–2039):

To support this revolution, Neptune in Aries awakens the sovereign self. It encourages us to reclaim agency, rediscover our identity, and take spiritual ownership of our path. 

Neptune in Aries shifts us from passive absorption (Pisces) to active participation. This is the call to become the hero of our own story, to find truth not in dogma, but in direct experience. The dream is no longer abstract – it’s embodied.

HOW – Uranus in Gemini (2025–2033):

Uranus now steps in as the technological facilitator. As people awaken and reclaim their power, Uranus in Gemini revolutionizes communication, learning, and movement. 

New technologies will reshape how we connect, learn, and collaborate. Uranus in Gemini will likely bring us decentralized, peer-to-peer systems, AI-generated learning, and borderless collaboration. 

Uranus in Gemini will redefine mobility, media, and education – not through traditional infrastructure, but through light-speed connectivity, immersive knowledge-sharing, and agile, decentralized communities. The very way we perceive “distance,” “authority,” and “information” will change.

To recap:

Pluto sets the agenda.
Neptune infuses it with meaning.
Uranus brings it to life.

In this symphony of planetary shifts, the future is no longer dictated from above. It emerges from the ground up – built by individuals who are empowered, informed, and interconnected in radically new ways.

As Neptune begins its journey through Aries, it’s not just ushering in a new chapter – it’s joining forces with other outer planets to rewrite the script entirely. The universe will press the RESET button. 

https://content.leadquizzes.com/lp/G57HA7gFog?embed=1

Neptune In Aries – Crossing The Threshold – The Sabian Symbols

What better tool to help us reflect on this transit than the mysterious, imaginative, and Neptunian-like Sabian Symbols?

Let’s turn to the symbolic messages of the last degree of Pisces and the first degree of Aries to gather further clues about this monumental shift.

The cusp between Pisces and Aries – one of the most significant thresholds in the zodiac – is the alpha and the omega, the end and the beginning of the entire zodiac cycle. 

30° Pisces – “A Majestic Rock Formation Resembling A Face Is Idealized By A Boy Who Takes It As His Ideal Of Greatness, And As He Grows Up, Begins To Look Like It”

This symbol speaks to the power of ideals and visions. It suggests that what we admire, project onto, or worship can slowly shape us over time. Our longings and aspirations don’t just live in our minds – they sculpt who we become. 

After we’ve traveled all the way through the zodiac and reached the very end of our soul’s journey, we’ve accumulated insight, myth, belief, and archetypal longing. And now, we are faced with the question: what do we carry forward?

Of course, the final degree of Pisces is not merely “the end” – but a threshold, a final merging of form and formlessness before we step into a new incarnation of self. This is where the old dissolves, but also where the seed of the new takes shape.

1° Aries – “A Woman Has Risen Out Of The Ocean, A Seal Is Embracing Her”

This is a powerful birth image – the emergence of individual consciousness from the collective unconscious. 

A spark of identity is being born out of the vast Piscean ocean of unity, dreams, and spirit. It’s primal, raw, instinctive, and infused with vital life force. 

The woman rising represents the first flicker of “I AM” – the soul taking form. The seal, a creature of both land and sea, reminds us that even in our becoming, we remain connected to where we’ve come from.

We do not enter Aries empty – we emerge from the ocean of Pisces transformed, still wet from the waters of what was, but ready to define who we are.

To work with these Sabian symbols, close your eyes and visualize the 2 Sabian Symbols: first, the majestic rock formation, and woman rising from the ocean, embraced by the seal. 

Let these images speak, and simply observe any thoughts, feelings, or subtle insights that arise – these messages carry your own Neptune, as you prepare to cross this powerful threshold.

Neptune in Aries – Natal Chart Influence

At an individual level, this is an incredibly significant shift. Neptune moves out of a house or area of life that has been in focus for the past 14 years and enters a completely new terrain. What once felt like the dominant theme in your life will begin to fade, and a new area of life will gently come into focus.

Neptune is where we are asked to reinvent, surrender, and allow the current of life to carry us to new places. 

Neptune is where change happens – not always through dramatic events like Pluto or Uranus might bring, but through a subtle, ongoing rewiring of how we perceive, value, and engage with that area of life. 

Neptune slowly transforms us from within, so we find deeper alignment with what we truly value, even if we can’t put it into words.

For example, if Neptune in Pisces has been transiting your 10th house, your ideas around career, public image, and success may have subtly morphed. 

Back in 2011, when Neptune first entered Pisces and your 10th house, you might have defined success in more conventional or image-driven terms: holding a prestigious job title, being known as “the entertainer of the group,” “the perfect mom,” or “the respected lawyer.” 

But by the end of this Neptune transit, you may discover that what brings you true fulfillment looks and feels completely different.

If you look back, perhaps there was no single, defining moment when your values shifted. It was more like a series of gentle waves, reshaping your shoreline little by little. 

That’s how Neptune works. It seduces you into evolution, often without you even realizing it – until one day, you’re standing on different ground.

Now that Neptune enters a new whole sign house in your chart, the same process will begin – only in a new area of life. 

For example, if it’s your 11th house, the focus may turn to your social networks, communities, hopes, and ideals for the future. This will be a long, dreamlike unfolding. 

And while Neptune never gives us a clear map, we can still set an intention and ask the universe:

• How can I remain open to a spiritual reimagining of this part of my life?
• What are my ideal visions in this domain?
• What truly matters to me here – and how might that change?

The sign change from Pisces to Aries is also crucial. If in the past 14 years our Neptunian process was more receptive – allowing insight to flow in through dreams, surrender, or stillness – Neptune in Aries now calls for engagement. 

Aries wants to act, initiate, and carve its own path. So in this next chapter, the transformation will come through participation. Through doing. Through being willing to step into the unknown with courage.

The house Neptune is transiting in your chart will play a central role, because that’s where this inner reorientation will unfold over time. 

And the aspects Neptune makes to your natal planets during this journey will offer additional layers – highlighting moments of confusion, revelation, release, or inspiration. Pay attention to those moments. They’re not random. They’re part of a divine arc.

As Neptune prepares to cross the threshold and begin a new 165-year cycle around the zodiac, ask yourself:

• Where in my life do I need to press the “RESET” button?
• Where am I ready to let go of old illusions, and make space for a truer dream to take form?
• In the midst of the chaos – and the mist of Neptune’s ocean – what new chapter is silently emerging?

Let your inner compass guide you toward that answer. While Neptune never gives clear directions, it always leaves clues for those who listen with the heart.

Cover: Life magazine, Dec 15, 1967
The first human-to-human heart transplant happened on Dec 3, 1967

A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg

fleshment

PRONUNCIATION:

(FLESH-muhnt) 

MEANING:

noun: Excitement resulting from a first success at something.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English flǣsc (flesh). Earliest documented use: 1616.

NOTES:

The verb to flesh historically referred to the practice of rewarding hunting animals, such as a hound or a hawk, with flesh, thereby instilling a desire to hunt. This connection highlights the concept of initial, visceral excitement associated with both a successful hunt and a first achievement.

Sexual passion is “the strongest and…the noblest of the human passions,” the basis of “the best joys of our existence,” and “the best source of human happiness.”

–Frances Wright

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frances Wright
Portrait by Henry Inman, 1824
Born	September 6, 1795 Dundee, Scotland
Died	December 13, 1852 (aged 57) Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Other names	Fanny Wright
Citizenship	United KingdomUnited States (from 1825)
Occupations	Writerlecturerabolitionistsocial reformer
Known for	Feminismfree thinkingutopian community founder
Spouse	Guillaume Phiquepal D’Arusmont​​(m.1831)​
Children	1

Frances Wright (September 6, 1795 – December 13, 1852), widely known as Fanny Wright, was a Scottish-born lecturer, writer, freethinker, feminist, utopian socialist, abolitionist, social reformer, and Epicurean philosopher, who became a US citizen in 1825. The same year, she founded the Nashoba Commune in Tennessee as a utopian community to demonstrate how to prepare slaves for eventual emancipation, but the project lasted only five years.

In the late 1820s, Wright was among the first women in America to speak publicly about politics and social reform before gatherings of both men and women.^[1] She advocated universal education, the emancipation of slaves, birth control, equal rights, sexual freedom, legal rights for married women, and liberal divorce laws. Wright was also vocal in her opposition to organized religion and capital punishment. The clergy and the press harshly criticized Wright’s radical views. Her public lectures in the United States led to the establishment of Fanny Wright societies. Her association with the Working Men’s Party, organized in New York City in 1829, became so intense that its opponents called the party’s slate of candidates the Fanny Wright ticket.

Wright was also a writer. Her Views of Society and Manners in America (1821), a travel memoir that included observations on the political and social institutions of the United States, was very successful. She also authored A Plan for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in the United States Without Danger of Loss to the Citizens of the South (1825). In addition, Wright co-edited The New Harmony and Nashoba Gazette with Robert Dale Owen in New Harmony, Indiana, as well as other periodicals.

Early life and education

Frances “Fanny” Wright was born at 136 Nethergate in Dundee, Scotland, on September 6, 1795, to Camilla Campbell and her husband James Wright.^[1][2] Their house was then a newly built house by the town architect, Samuel Bell on the recently widened Nethergate, close to Dundee harbour.^[3]

Her father was a wealthy linen manufacturer,^[4] a designer of Dundee trade tokens, and a political radical. He corresponded with Adam Smith and was sympathetic to the American patriots and French republicans,^[5] including Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and Thomas Paine. Frances, or “Fanny” as she was called since childhood, was the second eldest of the family’s three children. Her siblings included an older brother, who died when Frances was still young, and a sister named Camilla.^[6][7][8] Wright’s mother also died young, and her father died in 1798, when Frances was about the age of two. With support from a substantial inheritance, the orphaned Wright sisters were raised in England by members of the Campbell family, who were their mother’s relatives.^[2][9]

A maternal aunt became Wright’s guardian and taught her ideas founded on the philosophy of the French materialists.^[10] In 1813, when Wright was sixteen, she returned to Scotland to live with her great-uncle, James Mylne, a philosophy professor at Glasgow College.^[6] Wright was interested in the works of Greek philosophers, especially Epicurus, who was the subject of her first book, A Few Days in Athens (1822), which she had written by the age of eighteen. Wright also studied history and became interested in the United States’ democratic form of government.^[2]

First visits to the United States and France

Twenty-three-year-old Wright and her younger sister Camilla made their first trip to the United States in 1818. The sisters toured the country for two years before returning to England. While Wright was visiting New York City, Altorf, her play about the struggle for Swiss independence from Austria, was anonymously produced and performed beginning on February 19, 1819. However, it closed after three performances.^[11][12] For its Philadelphia premiere on January 5, 1820, an advertisement noted that it was “performed in New York last season with distinguished success.”^[13]

Soon after her return to England in 1820, Wright published Views of Society and Manners in America (1821).^[1][12] The book’s publication was a major turning point in her life. It brought her an invitation from Jeremy Bentham to join his circle of acquaintances, which included economist James Mill, politician Francis Plore, and author George Grote, among others. The group’s opposition to religious clergy influenced Wright’s own emerging philosophy.^[9][14][15]

In 1821, Wright traveled to France at the invitation of the Marquis de Lafayette and met with him in Paris. Despite the differences in their ages, the two became friends. At one point, Wright encouraged him to adopt her and her sister. Wright’s request strained the relationship with General Lafayette’s family, and no adoption occurred. Wright’s friendship with the general continued after relations with his family were repaired. She also returned to Lafayette’s home in France for a six-month visit in 1827 to work on a biography of him.^[6][15]

Second visit to the United States

In 1824, Wright and her sister returned to the United States^[9] to follow the Marquis de Lafayette and his entourage during much of his farewell tour of the United States.^[6] Wright joined Lafayette for a two-week stay at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson‘s plantation in Virginia.^[16] In addition to Jefferson, Lafayette also introduced Wright to Presidents James Madison and John Quincy Adams, as well as General Andrew Jackson.^[17]

In February 1825, when Lafayette headed south, Wright traveled northwest to visit Harmonie, George Rapp’s utopian community in Butler County, Pennsylvania. She also visited the Rappite colony established in Indiana, which was also named Harmonie. At that time, the Indiana community was in a period of transition. It had recently been sold to Welsh industrialist and social reformer Robert Owen, who renamed his utopian community New Harmony.^[17][18][19] Wright’s visits to these utopian communities inspired her to form an experimental community, which she established in Tennessee.^[17] After leaving Indiana, she traveled along the Mississippi River with her new friend Emily Ronalds to rejoin Lafayette’s group in New Orleans in April 1825. When Lafayette returned to France, Wright decided to remain in the United States, where she continued her work as a social reformer. It was also in 1825 that Wright became a U.S. citizen.^[6][16][20]

Views

Wright believed in many foundational tenets of feminism, including equality in education between the sexes.^[19] She opposed organized religion, marriage, and capitalism.^[6] Educational opportunities were a particular interest. Along with Robert Owen, Wright demanded that the government offer free public education for all children after the age of twelve or eighteen months of age^{[further explanation needed]} in federal government-supported boarding schools.^[21]

Wright was a vocal advocate of birth control, equal rights, sexual freedom, legal rights for married women, liberal divorce laws, the emancipation of slaves, and the controversial idea of interracial marriages.^[1][22] She tried to demonstrate through her experiment project in Tennessee what the utopian socialist Charles Fourier had said in France, “that the progress of civilization depended on the progress of women.”^[23] Wright’s opposition to slavery contrasted with the views of many other Democrats of the era, especially those of the South. Her activism on behalf of working men also distanced her from the leading abolitionists of the day.^[24]

Career

Early career

Wright’s early writing career included her book, Few Days in Athens (1822), which was a defense of the philosophy of Epicurus, written before the age of eighteen.^[2][6][10] Wright’s Views of Society and Manners in America (1821), a memoir of her first visit to the United States, enthusiastically supported the country’s democratic institutions.^[10][1][9] This book provides early descriptions of American life that preceded later works such as Alexis De Tocqueville‘s Democracy in America (1835 and 1840) and Harriet Martineau‘s Society in America (1837).^[17] Wright’s book is also an example of an early nineteenth-century humanitarian perspective of the new democratic world.^[14] Historian Helen Elliott also pointed out that Wright’s travelogue was “translated into several languages and widely read by liberals and reformers” in Great Britain, the United States, and Europe.^[15]

Nashoba experiment

Main article: Nashoba Commune

In early 1825, after spending time at former President Jefferson’s home in Virginia and Robert Owen’s utopian settlement at New Harmony, Wright began developing her plans for an experimental farming community. By the summer of 1825, she sought advice from Lafayette and Jefferson, among others, to implement her ideas.^[25] Owen and Lafayette later became members of her project’s board of trustees; however, Jefferson declined to participate.^[6] Wright also published A Plan for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in the United States Without Danger of Loss to the Citizens of the South (1825),^[1] a tract that she hoped would persuade the U.S. Congress to set aside federal land for promoting emancipation. To demonstrate how enslaved people could be emancipated without their owners losing money, Wright established a model farming community in Tennessee where enslaved people could work to earn money to purchase their own freedom and receive an education.^[26]

Taking inspiration from the New Harmony community in Indiana, Wright traveled to Tennessee in the fall of 1825 and bought about 320 acres (130 hectares) of land along Wolf River about thirteen miles from Memphis. Wright founded a community at this wilderness site, which she named Nashoba.^[27][28] Emily Ronalds contributed £300 to the scheme.^[29] To demonstrate that her idea was a viable way to abolish slavery, Wright purchased about thirty enslaved people, nearly half of them children, to live in the experimental community. Her plan was for the enslaved people to acquire their freedom through labor on the property gradually. Wright also planned to eventually colonize the newly emancipated slaves to areas outside the United States.^[30][31][32]

In addition to building cabins and farm buildings, Wright planned to establish a school for black students. However, many abolitionists criticized her idea of gradual emancipation and educational training for formerly enslaved people. Wright joined in the early efforts to clear land and build log cabins for its inhabitants, which included blacks and whites. Nashoba was, however, plagued with difficulties from the start. It was built on mosquito-infested land conducive to malaria and failed to produce good harvests. Wright contracted malaria in the summer of 1826 and had to leave the property to recover her health in New Harmony, Indiana, and visits to France and England. While she was absent from Nashoba, the community declined. Its interim managers began instituting a policy of harsher punishments toward the black workers. A scandal also erupted over the community’s tolerance of “free love” amid publicized accounts of an interracial relationship between James Richardson, a white supervisor of the community, and Josephone Lalotte, the mulatto daughter of a freed African American woman slave who had brought her family to live at Nashoba. Wright returned to Nashoba in 1828 with her friend, Frances Trollope, who spent ten days in the community and found it in disarray and on the verge of financial collapse.^[33][34] Trollope’s published descriptions of the area criticized its poor weather, lack of scenic beauty, and Nashoba’s remoteness and desolation.^[35]

In 1828, when Nashoba was rapidly declining, the New-Harmony Gazette published Wright’s explanation and defense of the commune and her views on the principles of “human liberty and equality.”^[36] In January 1830, Wright chartered a ship and accompanied the community’s thirty slaves to Haiti, which had achieved independence in 1804,^[37] so they could live as free men and women.^[38] The failed experiment cost Wright about US$16,000.^[39] Germantown, Tennessee, a present-day suburb of Memphis, was established on the land where Nashoba once stood.^[40]

Newspaper editor

After Wright’s failure at Nashoba in the late 1820s, she returned to New Harmony, Indiana, where she became the coeditor of The New Harmony and Nashoba Gazette (later renamed the Free Enquirer) with Robert Dale Owen, the eldest son of Robert Owen, the Owenite community’s founder. In 1829, Wright and Robert Dale Owen moved to New York City, where they continued to edit and publish the Free Enquirer.^[17][19][41] Wright was also editor of The Sentinel (later titled New York Sentinel and Working Man’s Advocate).^[14]

Political and social activist

Beginning in the late 1820s and early 1830s, Wright spoke publicly in favor of abolition and lectured to support women’s suffrage. She also campaigned for reforms to marriage and property laws. While residing in New York City, she purchased a former church in the Bowery area and converted it into a “Hall of Science” as a lecture hall.^[42] From 1833 to 1836, her lectures on slavery and other social institutions attracted large and enthusiastic audiences of men and women in the eastern United States and the Midwest, leading to the establishment of what were called Fanny Wright societies. Although her lecture tours extended to the principal cities of the United States, the enunciation of her views and publication of a collection of her speeches in her book, Course of Popular Lectures (1829 and 1836), met with opposition.^[6][10][2]

The clergy and the press were critical of Wright and her opinions on religion and social reform.^[19] The New York American, for example, called Wright “a female monster” because of her controversial views, but she was undeterred.^[43] As Wright’s philosophy became even more radical, she left the Democratic Party to join the Working Men’s Party, organized in New York City in 1829.^[19][44] Her influence on the Working Men’s Party was so strong that its opponents called its slate of candidates the Fanny Wright ticket.^[6] Wright was also an activist in the American Popular Health Movement in the 1830s and advocated for women being involved in health and medicine.^[19]

Personal life

Wright married French physician Guillaume D’Arusmont in Paris, France, on July 22, 1831. Wright met him at New Harmony, Indiana, where he was once a teacher. D’Arusmont accompanied her to Haiti in 1830, serving as her business manager.^[45][19][46] Wright’s and D’Arusmont’s daughter, Francès-Sylva Phiquepal D’Arusmont, was born on April 14, 1832.^[46][47][48]

Later years

Wright, her husband, and their daughter traveled to the United States in 1835 and made several subsequent trips between the United States and Europe. Wright eventually settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she bought a home in 1844 and attempted to resume her career as a lecturer. Wright continued to travel the lecture circuit, but her appearances and views on social reform issues were not always welcome.^[47] She also became a supporter of President Andrew Jackson.^[6] After the mid-term political campaign of 1838, Wright suffered from various health problems.^[49] She published her final book, England, the Civilizer in 1848.^[6]

Wright divorced D’Arusmont in 1850. She also fought a lengthy legal battle to retain custody of their daughter and control of her own personal wealth. The legal proceedings remained unsettled at the time of Wright’s death.^[19][50] Wright spent her last years in quiet retirement at Cincinnati, estranged from her daughter, Francès-Sylva D’Arusmont.^[49][51]

Death and legacy

Wright died on December 13, 1852, in Cincinnati, Ohio,^[1] from complications of a broken hip after falling on ice outside her home. She is buried at the Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.^[50] Her daughter, Francès-Sylva D’Arusmont, inherited the majority of Wright’s wealth and property.^[51]

Wright, an early women’s rights advocate and a social reformer, was the first woman to deliver public lectures to men and women on political social reform issues in the United States in the late 1820s. Her views on slavery, theology, and women’s rights were considered radical for that time, and attracted harsh criticism from the press and clergy.^[52]

The first volume of History of Woman Suffrage, published in 1881, states, “THESE VOLUMES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED TO THE Memory of Mary Wollstonecraft, Frances Wright, Lucretia Mott, Harriet Martineau, Lydia Maria Child, Margaret Fuller, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, Josephine S. Griffing, Martha C. Wright, Harriot K. Hunt, M.D., Mariana W. Johnson, Alice and Phebe Carey, Ann Preston, M.D., Lydia Mott, Eliza W. Farnham, Lydia F. Fowler, M.D., Paulina Wright Davis, Whose Earnest Lives and Fearless Words, in Demanding Political Rights for Women, have been, in the Preparation of these Pages, a Constant Inspiration TO The Editors”.^[53]

More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Wright