Divine Neptune~ a quick guide to help us work with its life time transit

In previous chapters, we briefly talked about what Neptune is in Astrology and how it symbolises our psychology in life. It is the planet that dissolves everything and then merge them into one, just like the astrological sign Pisces, which is the sign of the vast and limitless ocean. The boundary-eroding effect of transiting Neptune can enhance our awareness of the oneness of all lives, meanwhile, it increases our empathy and feeling of connectedness to everything else in existence. Neptune represents that part of us who yearns, in the heart of our being, to dissolve those boundaries and divisions that prevent us experiencing our essential oneness with the rest of life.

During this process, in order to finish this merging, we have to in some degree let go of our ego. When Neptune is having a transit to our important natal planets, we tend to have some spiritual or ethereal experiences in which we temporary transcend our normal “I am me and you are you” concept. We feel everything is universally connected and unbounded. Since Neptune is a very slowly moving planet, the transit of Neptune to our natal Sun can only happen 3~4 times during our life span( this transit could be conjunction, trine, square, opposite and sextile), and they usually symbolises important life changing experiences.

Currently in 2020, Neptune is at roughly 20 degree in Pisces. For the next 2 years 2020~2021, the critical degree of its transit will be around 20~22 degrees in Pisces. Yes, for the entire 2 years it would only move 2~3 degrees (note that Neptune has retrograde as well, which further slows it down). The following birthdates shows the people who will experience the Neptune transit for the coming 12~24 months.

Brithday	Aspect between Transiting and your Natal Sun (2020~2021)	Hard Aspect or Soft Aspect
March 10~14	Conjunction	Hard
September 10~14	Opposition	Hard
July 10~14; November 10~14	Trine	Soft
June 10~14; December 10~14	Square	Hard
January 10~14; May 10~14	Sextile	Soft

The Sun represents the sense we have of ourselves as a separate individual. This is not difficult to understand. As we think of the Sun, it is a shining centre of our solar system. It is the star that takes the centre stage and has everyone else going around it. The Sun symbolises our ego and sense of self in Astrology. When Neptune transits in aspect to the Sun, it dissolves the borders of our ego-identity, and asks us to give up or let go of our existing sense of self in order to make room for something new. The soft aspect transiting usually does this in a gentle way, offering us a new version of ourselves which is more loving, expansive or creative than before.

Transiting Neptune with hard aspect(see above chart) could note a period of some confusion or self-doubt. If we have confidently marched into life and action in the past, during this time we might be more unsure about our power, value or identity. It makes us question ourself that exactly what is it that we yearn for. Especially the hard aspects transit could undermine our confidence, blur clarity and paralyse our old self and our normal ways of being. However, there is no need to worry. At some point, every single human being experiences 3~4 Neptune transits in its life time. Neptune does this for a purpose- in order that we can eventually rebuild ourselves in a new way. Something has to die for something new to be reborn. Understanding this may not alleviate the pain, frustration and disillusion we feel, but looking at these transits in this way can help us find meaning in what we are going through. If we can find meaning in our suffering, we are more likely to find ways to make constructive use of it.

On the positive side, since we are not so rigidly encased in the shell of our own ego, this transit increases our empathy for others and enhances our openness to any environment we are in. We are more susceptible to other people’s feelings and needs. Our heightened empathy could prompt us to take a project, a cause or an activity that involves helping people who are going through difficulties or who are less fortunate than ourselves. Serving or caring for others as a “martyr” can be a positive way to use this transit. This is especially significant if you are having a soft aspect transit. If you are having a hard transit, we do need to be careful with being drained by the demands other people make on us. While Neptune-Sun transit prompts us to be more sympathetic, we need to set our limits and learn to say “no” now and then. No matter what you choose, either proceed with the self sacrifice or not, we must be honest with ourselves in order to avoid falling into our subconscious resentment at a later stage. Because if we are not truthful to ourselves, we could potentially harbour rage and resentment towards the situation or the people involved, and over the years this could turn to bitterness and give rise to problems of a physical or emotional nature.

Let me give an example. I had a counselling session with a client who was having her Neptune hard transit (square) to her natal Sun. She was facing the dilemma of weather she should give up on a career she loves to become a house wife for her husband and become a mother. She didn’t really want to become a housewife and she was also not ready to have a child. But her husband craved a child so badly that it actually made her feel guilty not to give him a baby. Neptune transit, as we mentioned, usually brings some self sacrifice for others to life. In situations like this, what I usually advice the client is that no matter what choice she makes, she must openly acknowledge the part of her which could lead her to the feeling of resentment towards the husband because of what she would have to give up (such as her own needs, freedom or her career). Conscious decision/sacrifices with the clear aim of preserving a family is needed and we must learn how to be responsible for our decisions. At the end, she did decide to quit her career and fully support her husband and become a full time mother. There is neither right or wrong answer in this, but the fact that she herself making the conscious sacrifice without fearing to face her inner struggle is the key.

Another interesting part of a Neptune transit is that the Sun symbolises the masculine principle in us. When the transit happens, we tend to meet a man or be involved with a man who is a Neptunian. He could be having his sun sign or moon sign in Pisces, Ascendant or Midheaven in Pisces, having Neptune conjunct Ascendant, or having South Node in Pisces. Some of those connections, if brought by soft aspects transit, could come into our lives for a very positive life changing purpose. If by hard aspects, it usually gives us a harsh lesson about what we need to learn through our encountering with them, mostly in a romantic way if the Neptune transit is in the 5th house or the 7th house of the native’s natal chart.

The best way to work with Neptune is to focus on how to develop the positive side of Neptune energy within us, meanwhile we must be constantly aware of its negative tendencies. As we mentioned, confusion, illusion and sacrifice of the ego is a common theme for a Neptune transit, but it also coincide with the periods of heightened inspiration of a creative, emotional, or spiritual nature. A lot of us come to realise a higher purpose to life, and our increased imagination and intuition usually play an important role in helping us achieve such divine purposes. I have seen a lot of clients start the habit of meditation, yoga or other types of spiritual practices during the time when they are experiencing Neptune transit. We might also often find ourselves being guided by a mysterious power, and we tend to be in the right place at the right time to meet the right people. Those people brought by Neptune to life usually are helpful to us later in life so in hindsight we tend to have a “aha!” moment.  If you are in the profession related to art or music, this is a great opportunity for you to enhance your talent as you would tune into your imaginative and artistic side more.

Letao~the Kingdom Healer

www.thehealingkingdom.com