What is Neptune in Astrology and its transit in 2020
For thousands of years, astrologers and astronomers believed that Saturn was orbiting on the edge the universe, since it was the furthest planet that is visible to the naked eye. Traditional Astrology only used planets from Sun to Saturn to cast a natal chart. Uranus wasn't discovered until 1781, and 65 years later in 1846, Neptune was finally observed by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle. Looking like a shining sapphire, Neptune is a beautiful blue planet through the astronomical telescope. Neptune’s discovery further validated the truth that the universe is limitless after knowing the existence of Uranus. The “boundary” and “Limit” themed Saturn is no longer the end of our cosmos.
Neptune is so enigmatically blue that it looks like a planet covered with ocean water. The first archytype astrologers created with Neptune is its Greek counterpart Poseidon, the God of ocean and earthquakes. We cannot help picturing the great ocean of the collective unconscious and dreams, which may bring forth psychic tremors and sweep us into the mystical realm of Poseidon. Interestingly in modern astrology, Neptune is the planet that rules the astrological sign Pisces, the two ocean fish swiming in the opposite direction. It is the sign of idealism, dreams and imagination, and it appears strongly in the horoscope of artists, musicians and dancers. Neptune is like the boundless ocean. It dissolves the thousands of years limitation Saturn had set for us into its cosmic water. In Astrology, Neptune is the ultimate symbol of losing oneself in order to merge with the universe. In Astrology, Venus as the love planet rules Libra (the sign of relationships) and is exalted Pisces. There is some logic behind it if we look closer—-Libra is the love between two individuals; Pisces, ruled by Neptune, is the universal love and sacrifice we make with the cosmos. In its positive form, Neptune is also the planet of spirituality, the experience of sacred dimension and the supernatual realm. Two years after Neptune was discovered, a series of spiritualist movements started in the western world, such as transcendentalism, Bahai faith, and the establishment of the influential new age secret society Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Neptune is imaginative, sensitive and compassionate. On an astrological natal chart, whatever planet is forming an important aspect with Neptune, it is “dissolved” and “merged” by it into a spiritual and idealistic realm. Since the Sun symbolises our ego and will, people born with Sun conjunct Neptune may glamorise their role in the world and they dream to be something special. Usually they have an idol in mind that is a hero or a successful person, and they wish to become him/her. I had a male client who was a crossfit athelet. He has Sun conjunct Netptune in his horoscope. He once told me that he has always had a dream in his mind about the future him in 10 years, 20 years...and how he conquers everyone else and becomes the hero he admires (in his situation, he was specifically talking about the world champion of crossfit). Sometimes he would go into a light trance of imaging himself shining on the world stage. This is a very typical Sun-Neptune conjunction expression. Since they are dreamers and idealists, they are encouraged by their dreams to strive for the best, meanwhile they also do sometimes face disappointment with the hardcore reality.
Strong Neptune influenced people also tend to seek out some added dimension (spiritual, artistic, or some kind of quest for higher meaning) in their lives. This could be about their personal growth, relationships or home life. They don’t have to be all spiritual, but there is a feeling in them sensing something is higher up there than a physical and tangible world they live in. An attraction to spiritual and metaphysical subjects is usually characteristic of these people.
In Greek mythology, there is a famous story about the couple Ariadne and Dionysus, who were both identified by many mythologists and astrologers as the second archytype of Neptune. Ariadne, the victimised wife of King Minos was abandoned on the island of Naxos by Theseus after she blindly fell in love and helped him to kill the minotaur. Her passionate mourning and weeping was so intense that it attracted Dionysus, who eventually saved her and married her. In my experience working with clients, I have noticed that people who are born with Venus in conjunction with Neptune are very idealistic and dreamy in love, sometimes to the point that they forget who they are and tend to idolise their love interests. Natives, both men and women who have a strong Neptunian Venus (Venus in strong aspect with Neptune, or Venus in Pisces) often embody such elements of Ariadne myth. They are passionate lovers, and from time to time they blindly dream about the beautiful future and idealise their partner as the perfect one, but later fall victim to romantic illusions. I had a female client in Hong Kong who fell in love with a man living in San Francisco. Later she gave up all her career and friendships in order to move to San Francisco to be with her man, wishing that she would have all she wanted. The relationship ended only less than a year and she was disillusioned by the reality of life in a foreign land and woke up from her love dreams. In the subsequent reading session she told me several times she hid in the bathroom to cry and felt sorry for herself. Like Ariadne on Naxos, we see there is a certain amount of romantic hysteria as well. Neptune brings dreams and idealisms to us, but if we cannot balance it well, it becomes illusions and love hallucinations.
Another historical fact that is also interesting to notice is that around the same time in 1846 when Neptune was discovered , two other major global incidents took place. The first was the widespread use of anaesthesia in medical science. In 1844, Nitrous Oxide was the first anaesthesia officially used in medical treatment. The second important happening was the Opium War between United Kingdom and China in 1842, which symbolised the ending of the 2000 years of feudal era, and the beginning of semi-colonial and semi-feudal era for China. Note that there are some interesting correlations. Both anaesthesia and opium are drugs to make us lose our sensation and awareness. This is a true reflection of Neptune, the planet that was discovered around the same time in human history. Neptune could work just like a drug, transporting us to a realm beyond the ordinary, a true ecstatic state that may indeed be achieved through drugs or alcohol. Interestingly, Dionysus is known as the Greek God of wine and ecstasy, which again brings us back to the Ariadne story, the illusive Neptunian type of love.
Neptune is not all bad, because it also brings us talents and gifts. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I noticed that a lot of famous actors and artists have strong Neptune themes in their natal chart. We know that both Sun and Neptune are related to theatre and drama. The Sun is the identification of the shining ego. It illuminates eveything in the middle of our solar system, just like the leading actor on the centre of the stage; while Neptune dissolves our identity, carrying us into the imaginative narrative of the play. Leslie Cheung, the late famous Hong Kong actor, during his production of “Farewell My Concubine” in 1992 was having a once-a-lifetime Neptune transit (trine natal Sun and Jupiter). The harmonious transit aspect reflects him searching for himself (his Sun) through playing the role Dieyi Cheng (his transiting Neptune). The director of the movie Kaige Chen once said in an interview, “…I understood Leslie must have injected his complete personal sentiment and feeling into that character, thus allowing his performance to reach that boundary. It was precisely from that look of his that told us in full the issues of infatuation and betrayal that we wanted to tell in Farewell To My Concubine."
In 2020, Neptune will be moving back and forth between 16° and 21° of Pisces. This is going to be an important year for those of you who have Sun, Moon or Ascendant sign in between those degrees especially in Pisces, Virgo, Gemini and Sagittarius. Since Moon sign and ascendant sign change very fast and more irregularly, do check them with a professional astrologer. Here I have put the Sun sign interaction with Neptune description below for your reference.
|
Birthday 5th~11th |
March |
September |
June |
December |
July |
November |
May |
|
Sun sign |
Pisces |
Virgo |
Gemini |
Sagittarius |
Cancer |
Scorpio |
Tarus |
|
Aspect |
conjunction (0°) |
opposition (180°) |
square (90°) |
square (90°) |
trine (120°) |
trine (120°) |
sextile (60°) |
The above 8 signs are majorly influenced by this year’s neptune transit. The other 4 signs (Libra, Aries, Taurus, Leo and Aquarius) are not forming major aspects with transit Neptune, so they are less affected unless the native has major Neptune influence in solar return chart or secondary progression chart (We won't delve into these things yet, so don't worry if you don't know what a return chart or a progression chart is.)
For those of you whose birthdays do fall into the above chart, know that whatever aspect Neptune will form with your natal Sun, you may experience a “wandering” into the ethereal realm of the cosmos. Since the Sun symbolises our ego and identity, when it touches Neptune, we might temporarily feel confused with who we are and what we want to be. There could also be hesitation in our general direction since we don’t know where we are heading. In a positive light, especially with trine and sextile aspect, we will feel intuitive, psychic and a heightened six sense. There is a blessing from the universe on them called "the universe has a better plan than our own's, and it will make things work out naturally". A lot of people also develop their interests in astrology, tarot, reiki and other types of spiritual practice during this life time transit. We also become more compassionate and sympathetic towards the people around, and less concerned with our personal gain and benefit. For example, during this transit, if you have Pisces(ruled by Neptune) on the 7th house cusp(rules commitment and partnerships), you could make some important compromises for your loved one this year; if Pisces is on your 5th house(rules children), there might be personal sacrifices for children. Once the transit finishes, you will become more clear and have a better understanding about what you truely need at a much more profound soul level.
Neptune will dissolve everything and make us surrender to the infinite cosmos. The best way to work with Neptune is to trust. Let it take you to the vast Neptunian ocean for a swim. The eternal waves guide you towards your true path.
Letao~the Kingdom Healer
www.thehealingkingdom.com
