The Astrology of Neptune: Master of Illusion

 For thousands of years, the solar system was thought to end at the planet Saturn. Then in 1781 Uranus was discovered, followed in relatively short order, (on a cosmic time scale) by Neptune and then Pluto. For the longest time, these three were called the “impersonal” planets, since it takes years for these planets to complete an orbit of the Sun. As such,the sojourn for each of these planets in a sign is measured in years instead of weeks, as is the case with personal planets, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. They become to be called as generational planets, since whole groups of people, “generations” were marked by these planets in their charts. For many years the astrology texts, the explanations of these planets were brief, declaring that the effect on the planet is on the generation, not the individual. While there is some truth to it, as noted before, there is nothing impersonal about an impersonal planet when it makes a significant aspect in your chart. 

But Uranus. Neptune and Pluto blazed into our collective psyche for a reason. Their discoveries were a paradigm shift that signaled a new expectation of personal and spiritual growth in the human race.

Uranus is above how we individuate ourselves in society. Pluto talks about what we transform for reasons of personal and spiritual growth. Neptune talks about  our connection to the Divine, to that which greater outside ourselves. Because this is territory that exists outside of our three dimensional perceptions, we have a difficult time discerning its true nature. We  can imagine this realm, but we do not live there. We can construct theories about its existence, but for a few transcendent moments, can not visit. This is place where saints, mystics and psychics go into the well of the collective unconscious to pull out the knowledge there. The knowledge is vast, containing all the secrets of the Universe and the true nature of God. A single human can not delve its depth, a generation can glean but a small portion to disperse in the conscious collective.

Neptune’s knowledge does not fit neatly in our three dimensions. It is subject to distortions of perception by those that receive it.  As such, Neptune has to come to be known as the planet of deception, illusion, dreams, and delusions. Is it Neptune at fault, or the channel? Were Neptune sits in our chart is where we can not see the issues clearly. We have one expectation, but often get a different result. Perhaps we a “just hoping” the situation will work out, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Neptunian energy is potent. It can flood us with thoughts and impressions that come to us in a disordered, irrational fashion. Our intuitive selves can make the leap but our conscious mind struggles to assimilate the information. Often when a person  sets foot on the spiritual path , he or she finds themselves overwrought with incoming perceptions. This is why mystics spend so much time meditating, to make sense of it all. This is not as easy a task as it sounds.  When we try to talk about our Neptunian inspirations, people shy away or dismiss us. “Isn’t she just a little weird?” they say. 

Neptune in our chart dissolves our calcified assumptions about how life works, especially if it is making a hard aspect to a personal planet in our charts. Since Neptune rules the sign of Pisces, the descriptions below applies to the planet in Pisces as well.

Neptune in energetic connection to:

The Sun, is a person who either a mystic or very confused. This the the sinner or the saint that Scorpios are fascinated with. Motivations ran from the narcissistic, (the ends justify the means) to the lacsidasical (it just doesn’t matter, anyway) to the spiritual, (God has all the answers and if you listen to me, I will give them to you.) A daily spiritual practice and perhaps medication is essential to keep these folks functioning members of society.

Moon–Way to psychic for anyone’s good. Like Professor Trawlaney in the Harry Potter series, they are at the mercy of the incoming impressions from Neptune. Often they feel the emotions of other people as if they were their own. They need to learn to consciously recognize when this is happening and how to shut down it down, at will, for their own good.

Venus–Are compassionate souls who would give the shirts off their backs. However,when they stand naked in the street, they can’t understand when people don’t give back to them. They give too much and It tends to damage their faith in other humans. They live for love and will morph into the person their loved one dreams of just to make that person happy.

Mercury–Preacher or con man. There is a fine line, you know. They can tell stories that are so convincing that their own mother believes them even when she knows he or she are lying. Eventually, people lose faith in them. Remember “The boy that cried wolf?”

Mars–Passive aggressive. Every time. When these people attack it is behind your back while they are smiling at you. You hardly know at which angle to knife was plunged into you. They are afraid to take you on directly because they are unsure of their own ability to take care of themselves. When they were growing up, they were either neglected physically or emotionally or didn’t get to see how real people can fight, then kiss and make-up. Sad, yes, but it doesn’t excuse their chronic irresponsibility

Neptune in Aries,  or Neptune in or on the cusp of the first house–Fashion Foot Forward. Cleopatra was said to be not all that beautiful, but she was able to capture the imaginations and the affections of the most powerful men of her time. These people expect others to pay attention to them. To achieve this, they’ll wear the most fashionable clothing, make loud, flashy entrances, or wrap themselves up in a Persian rug and have themselves delivered to you. 

Neptune in Taurus, Neptune in or on the cusp of the Second House–Fool’s Gold– They have a stubborn pigheadedness about what is valuable. Often it is stuff other people consider junk. These people should never be allowed to invest their own money, but try to stop them. They give too much of their money on spiritual causes, then wonder why the head of the spiritual organization is found out to be a crook. To say they are here to learn what is really valuable is a massive understatement.

Neptune in Gemini, in or on the cusp of the Third House–The Boy Who Cried Wolf–eventually the only people who will believe their patter is their mama. To be fair, it is entirely possible that their brothers and sisters did do all those mean things to them. What they aren’t telling  you is the sneaky things they did to their brothers and sisters. The only consolation is that they run in and out of your life so quickly that you don’t have to put up with it all that much. Just don’t leave them alone in the room with your checkbook or your silver.

Neptune in Cancer, in or on the cusp of the Fourth House. Poor Baby- One way or another, these folks are mama’s darling. They have a hard time growing up because they prefer not to. Please don’t listen to their ranting that their mother expects too much of them. Don’t try to protect them from their evil mother. They don’t want protection. They want to whine.  If you pine to be their one true love, you’ll wait forever. You can never take mama’s place.

Neptune in Leo, in or on the cusp of the Fifth house–”All the World’s A Stage” and the person with Neptune in Leo is the lead actor. It really is all about him from his perspective any way. In the age of the “Baby Mama Drama” , these individuals feel the rules do not apply, especially if they want something. Now. These folks will charm you to get what they want, but charm is all it is. Any promises are worth only the paper they are written on, and even then follow through is optional.

Neptune in Virgo, in or on the cusp of the Sixth House–The Devil is in the Details–these folks desire to live a life of service. They’ll take care of you, but there is a price. Eternal gratitude. Yup, these folks don’t come for free and they don’t come for the refreshments. If they move in they move in for good, and they won’t see where they’ve worn out their welcome. The Felix Ungers of the Universe, they will pick you apart, for your own good, of course, They fail to see why this is such a problem. 

Neptune in Libra, Neptune in the Seventh  or Pisces on the cusp of the Seventh–Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places–Their lesson is to sort through the true meaning of partnerships. To do this, they usually pick the wrong one. Either they pine for someone way of their league, or they pick someone who is not worthy of them. When they find the perfect match, they aren’t interested. Don’t waste your time.

Neptune in Scorpio, or Neptune in or Pisces on the Cusp of the Eight House–The Magical Mystery Tour–They want to know the secrets of the Universe, but they want to be the conductor of the tour at the same time. While anything in Scorpio spends more time than its safe for general human consumption in the collective e unconscious, no one is better than these folks at controlling the experience. Like deep sea divers, they will delve Neptunian depths and withstand great pressures. However, they don’t have enough sense to know when enough is enough and can get in over their heads. The usual warnings about not using occult practices regularly apply especially to them, but they almost never listen.

Neptune in  Sagittarius, Neptune in the ninth house, or Pisces on the cusp of the ninth-Truth, Justice and the American Way–They’ve got ideals, which everyone should follow! No other placement in Sagittarius can be this dogmatic. They’re benign tyrants until you come around. It won’t be long. There is only so much whining you can take. And if you don’t, feets won’t fail him. There is always another disciple down the road.

Neptune in Capricorn, Neptune in the tenth, or Pisces on the cusp of the Tenth house–Daddy Will Love Me When . . –These folks have a nebulous concept of their own power. They either crumble under the weight of parental disapproval, or work like hell to earn daddy’s love.  Either way, they have a sneaky way of grabbing power, acting like it is the last thing they want, when it is the first thing they desire. You’ll never know how they really feel about you, because that would give your power over them. Never trust them with your career success. They’ll set you out to the sharks if its feeding time at the corporation.

Neptune in Aquarius, Neptune in the Eleventh, or Pisces on the cusp of the Eleventh House–To Hell and Back–Friendship is this placement’s religion, and they will go to hell and back for their friends. And they will too, because they need to learn a lesson in discernment on who their friends should be. They end up picking a weird assortment of people for friends, many of whom have a shaky idea of what friendship is about and then wonder why no one is around when they need them. Don’t bother going to their parties if you want to avoid wierdness.

Neptune in Pisces, Neptune in the Twelvth, Pisces on the cusp of the Twelfth House.–Serve or Suffer–You would think that Neptune in its natural place would be an easy placement, but you would be wrong. Neptune here demands more of its natives than in any other place. What it demands is service to the collective. If denied, Neptune will make sure its natives suffer until they become wise enough to take up the mantel offered them. 

Tables of Neptune

So far in the past seventy odd years, Neptune has only traversed six of the twelve signs.

Below is a guide as to what sign was in Neptune when you were born.

1929  Feb 19  Leo

           Jul   24  Virgo

1942  Oct 03   Libra

1943  Apr 17  Virgo

           Aug 02  Libra

1955  Dec 24  Scorpio

1956  Mar 12  Libra

            Oct 19  Scorpio

1957  Jun  15  Libra

           Aug 06  Scorpio

1970  Jan  04  Sagittarius

           May 03  Scorpio

           Nov 06  Sagittarius

1984  Jan  19   Capricorn

            Jun  23  Sagittarius

            Nov 21  Capricorn

1998   Jan  29  Aquarius

            Aug 23  Capricorn

            Nov 27  Aquarius

If you would like a question answered on these pages send your birth date, birth place and birth time along with your question to starrynightastro@aol.com. Sorry, time constraints prevent me from doing readings on anything other than a single question.