The transits of the planets

Neptune - Introduction

Neptune is the second of the modern planets to be discovered. Like all the planets found since the 18th century - Uranus, Pluto and a host of other bodies that orbit the Sun, such as dwarf planets, comets and Kuiper Belt objects - Neptune is invisible to the naked eye; a telescope is required to see it. As with Uranus, this invisibility suggests that Neptune represents energies that linger on the fringes of ordinary awareness and social reality, seeming disruptive to normal consciousness. Consequently, Neptune, even more than Uranus in my view, has earned a difficult reputation. Whereas Uranus is considered disruptive, unpredictable, radical and unstable, Neptune’s influence does not burst onto the scene. Instead, it seeps into awareness, at first unnoticed, until it overwhelms consciousness and leaves one adrift in a curious chaos where nothing quite makes sense or can be clearly defined.

However, this is only how Neptune appears to what I call "normal consciousness" - the socially conditioned awareness that passes for understanding in any culture that elevates convention over truth and wisdom. In many respects Neptune is even more alien than Uranus. Uranus has been somewhat "domesticated" because it rules cutting-edge technology, science and other revolutionary ideas we now regard as normal, even though Uranus itself can range far beyond any notion of normality. Neptune, by contrast, never gets its foot in the door as something ordinary before its non-ordinary qualities become apparent. Yet Neptune, like all the so-called "malefic" planets, is difficult but not malevolent. No planetary virtue is intrinsically harmful; it is our inability to handle what the planets represent that makes them appear so. As soon as Neptune’s virtues begin to operate within consensus reality, whoever or whatever is touched by them acquires an aura of strangeness and is pushed outside the collective norm. Consider drinking alcohol, a common Neptunian example: it begins pleasantly for most people but can quickly progress to the point where one loses touch with reality.

We live in a world largely driven by ego-motives. Those considered successful are the ones whose ego-drives have overcome those of others. Most of us feel isolated and separate, sensing an unbridgeable gap between ourselves and everyone else. Even love does not eliminate this gap; it merely makes it more tolerable. We all harbour strong intentions that bring us satisfaction when expressed. When Neptune intrudes into our consciousness, it weakens these drives. The interpersonal gap seems less severe - usually an illusion in everyday Neptunian experience. Neptune does not interfere with essential love, but it can promote love based on illusion. Our ego-drives dissipate under Neptune’s influence, sometimes leading to self-destructive behaviour such as alcoholism, drug addiction or obsessive adherence to an illusory ideology. At first we may still cling to our intentions, but as Neptunian influence grows stronger we often abandon them and drift in a state largely devoid of energy.

How can these qualities possibly be seen as positive or helpful? The answer is this: where Uranus often signals the sudden intrusion of something new that hindsight reveals was implicit all along, Neptune is wholly alien. It is not of this world because, of all the planets, it introduces energies or powers from a higher, typically supra-physical or spiritual level of reality. We simply fail to recognise how different those energies are from the ones that shape ordinary existence.

Qualities of Neptune

As one of the modern planets, Neptune has never been classified in terms of the classical qualities of Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry, yet it is not difficult to do so. First, does it raise or lower energy? In normal physical and psychological terms Neptune lowers energy to an extreme degree, so it partakes of the Cold. Second, does Neptune clarify distinctions or blur them, and does it break connections or establish them? In both cases it is the latter: Neptune blurs distinctions and favours the creation of connections that, while unclear, allow us to relate things we would not normally consider related. An obvious example is the link between planetary virtues and the worldly things they signify, an association that relies heavily on Neptunian insight. In conclusion, Neptune partakes of the Cold and the Wet.

A curious polarity with Uranus arises here. Uranus signifies energies that bring new, cutting-edge and even radical innovations. Neptune, on the other hand, underlies all ancient and modern psychic, "occult" and spiritually based techniques of divination, prophecy and intuitive understanding. Uranus is also related to these practices insofar as they involve extreme or non-normal states of consciousness. Together with the Moon and Mercury, the two planets govern everything connected with these arts.

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Sect

It is not clear that any of the outer planets can be properly assigned to either the diurnal or nocturnal sect. Ignoring that issue for a moment, Neptune’s characteristics are more nocturnal than diurnal.

Ease or Difficulty of Dealing with Neptune

All three modern outer planets (astrologers still include Pluto in this group) are generally regarded as difficult. Many people, however, find Neptune harder to handle than Uranus. Much depends on one’s orientation and state of consciousness. Those who value innovation but also require clarity and precision usually find Neptune the more challenging of the two. Highly intuitive or artistic individuals, who gather information by feeling rather than by conventionally rational means, may find Neptune easier. For people whose lives revolve around personal success, winning games literal or figurative and emerging victorious in every struggle, Neptune is absolute anathema. For those willing to "let go and let God," Neptune can be a friend.

Function in the Natal Chart

Inward Manifestations

Neptune subconsciously connects individuals to one another, whether they realise it or not, and allows subtle energies to enter the psyche. It also links different parts of that psyche in ways that may seem strange or peculiar. This lessens both the sense of isolation we feel from others and the impression that we ourselves are collections of disconnected parts. Yet the same connectedness can make it harder to act or strive on our own behalf.

The term Ego lacks a single, clear definition, but most authors agree it relates to our sense of being distinct and isolated individuals. It enables us to assert ourselves in self-defence, overcome resistance and even act aggressively, and it fuels our desire to win when competing with others. It also gives us a sense of direction and goals. On the level of everyday awareness Neptune counters all these energies. Because Neptune heightens our sensitivity to the environment, we become more susceptible to external influences. On the positive side this can increase compassion and awareness of others’ needs; on the negative side it can make us vulnerable to debilitating energies from outside ourselves.

Neptunian energies also connect us to different orders of being - to other kinds of "reality." Through Neptune we become aware of spiritual realities. None of this is possible, however, if we function solely from the ego. The barriers must be lowered, or Neptune’s energies will feel entirely weakening and debilitating. To this I say, "Good luck!"

Finally, Neptune is unjustly notorious among astrologers for its alleged rulership over illusion and deception. The reality Neptune governs is so different from everyday experience that our first reaction is confusion, and we may make arbitrary decisions about what is true, especially under the influence of someone urging us to believe something. Neptune’s energies are not the cause of illusion; illusion arises when our own or someone else’s ego tries to interpret these experiences using inappropriate categories of reality. Intentional deception and lying are not Neptunian; they involve Mercury’s communicative energies distorted by an egoistic drive to win, a drive more likely signified by Mars or the Sun at their lowest levels than by Neptune.

Outward Manifestations

Most outward manifestations of Neptune involve being confused, deceived or otherwise misled about the nature of reality. Meteorological or psychological fog is a Neptunian state. The most important response when encountering something signified by Neptune is to act slowly and thoughtfully until the fog lifts. Do not try to overcome it by sheer will. Neptune does not reward striving; it rewards letting go and remaining receptive. Any hasty action taken simply to do something - anything - while confused is unlikely to end well.

Neptune signifies social movements that are extremely idealistic. That does not automatically make such movements wrong. Some contain profound truth, while others may be completely detached from reality. Neptune governs religions that rely on belief rather than experience; experiential religions are more connected with Uranus. All religions, however, have Neptunian qualities. When a major religious figure says, "I believe because it is absurd,1" you are hearing Neptune’s lowest aspect. When someone says, "I believe because I have seen it within my soul," that is Neptune’s higher aspect.

On a more mundane level, Neptune signifies poisons, toxins of all kinds and pollution, all of which weaken physical and psychological health. Along with the Moon, Neptune also covers drugs that can be abused to alter consciousness. Drugs described as psychedelic have an additional Uranian component.