I’ve spent the weekend in Canberra. For those outside of Australia, it’s our capital city, a bush capital, and the one of the only major Australian cities where kangaroos really do dwell in and around the suburbs. We were doing the pre- Christmas tour of duty to see Mr T’s mother, who lives there.

Coming home we hit a series of storms. The first wasn’t too far up the highway, and it was heavy enough that we had to pull over for quite a while and watch the hail as it beat down against the car, hazard lights flashing.

Following this we drove (slowly) through a number of others, one after the other. Mr T, with barely a few metres visibility, made the decision to follow a large truck through the murk, deciding that as long as he could see such a large silhouette, he couldn’t go too far wrong.

It struck me that driving through the storms and the rain, with limited visibility, was very much like a Neptune transit.

You can’t really see the road ahead, often you aim for the one thing that you can see and hope that it’s going in the right direction, sometimes you pull off the road entirely and wait it out.

For those of you, like me, with heavy Neptune influences in your chart, you may shrug your shoulders and declare that this is situation normal.

For the rest of you, a Neptune transit can feel a little like we did today.

Neptune transits are the hardest of all to describe- especially if you don’t live daily with a Neptune influence.

Essentially Neptune dissolves things, it conceals things, it can deceive you, it can bring incredible dreams and imagination, it can lead you down the path to amazing romance.

Under its influence you may believe that dreams really can come true. Under its influence you may see glitter or gold where there is usually ordinariness. Under its influence you may believe that which is not true- simply because you need to.

Neptune dissolves your reality, your ego and your sense of duty and responsibility.

You might feel lost, confused, afraid of who knows what, or completely at one with the Universe. In most cases, the effect it has on you will depend on your natal relationship with Neptune.

Having the Sun, Moon, Ascendant in Pisces, the 12^th house or in easy aspect to Neptune will mean that you have a relatively good relationship with Neptune, and may deal with her seductive call more easily than those who have a strong relationship with Saturn.

The thing to do with Neptune transits? Have fun, fall in love if you wish, enjoy the illusion, but don’t expect any of it to be permanent. In fact, if you can, avoid permanent commitments regarding the affairs of the house and planet being transited by Neptune until the transit is over.

As with all outer planet transits, the impact of Neptune will be gradual. Whilst you may feel it 2 degrees each side, the closer the aspect is to being exact, the more you will feel it. If the aspect is a conjunction, square or opposition, you will also feel the impact of Neptune more than if the aspect is a trine or a sextile.

What if the transit you’re having is the opposite way around, ie transiting Venus making contact with Neptune? You’ll have a couple of days under the influence, but nothing to get too worked up about- enjoy it while it lasts…& take care not to handle heavy machinery.

In 2013, Neptune will travel the following ground:

• 1 Pisces 4’ to 5 Pisces 22’ before turning retrograde on 7 June, 2013
• Neptune will turn direct at 2 Pisces 34’ on 12 November 2013 and will finish 2013 at 3 Pisces.

If you have planets or chart points (especially the Ascendant or Midheaven) at 0- 7 degrees of:

• Pisces- Neptune will be conjunct those planets
• Cancer or Scorpio- Neptune will be trine those planets
• Virgo- Neptune will oppose those planets
• Gemini or Sagittarius- Neptune will square those planets
• Taurus or Capricorn- Neptune will sextile those planets

Want more Neptune?

Dumb Things- Navigating Neptune Transits

I Really Want You- Neptune- Venus transits

Ducks Don’t Need Satellites- Neptune in Pisces- the technical faff

King of Wishful Thinking- Neptune in Pisces

Somewhere over the rainbow- Neptunitis and how to recognise the symptoms

“Your ego’s job isn’t to serve you. Its only job is to keep itself in power. And right now, your ego’s scared to death cuz it’s about to get downsized.

You keep up this spiritual path, baby, and that bad boy’s days are numbered. Pretty soon your ego will be out of work, and your heart’ll be making all the decisions. So your ego’s fighting for its life, playing with your mind, trying to assert its authority, trying to keep you cornered off in a holding pen away from the rest of the universe. Don’t listen to it.”

This quote is from Elizabeth Gilberts’ Eat Pray Love and is so appropriate for Neptune transits of the Sun that I could probably end this post right here and now.

We know that Neptune transits are particularly dreamy times, hard to talk about, hard to pin down and hazy from a memory viewpoint. Before writing this post, I went back to the trusty ephemeris to see what was happening in my life the last time that Neptune transited any part or point on my chart. And when I say transited, I’m talking serious stuff, the transits I should have been able to remember, ie the conjunctions, squares and oppositions.

Neptune square Neptune, a typical mid-life transit, was the most recent- at 24/25 Aquarius it was a few years ago. I know exactly the crap that was going down at that point in time, but can I talk about it? Nope.

Other than that, the last Neptune transit of note was in 1998 when she glided into Aquarius, sextiling natal Saturn. All my existing structures and belief systems were dissolved in the most beautiful way. Life was never the same again. I gave birth to my daughter during that transit.

The rest is just too far back to talk about.

According to Steven Forrest in The Changing Sky, Neptunes’ gift is the experience of serenity, inspiration and vision. Nice.

Conversely, her trap is “the temptation to deceive or undo ourselves with glamorous falsehoods and easy self-destructive patterns of escape…eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.”

Hmmm, that one sort of sounds like my attitude to life as a Neptunian…although the first does apply too.

Neptune does come with the most palatable remedy, though…in theory anyway. There are no mountains to climb (Saturn), electrical storms of unexpected ferocity (Uranus) or depths to descend into (Pluto). Neptune expects you to do nothing, just relax into it. Chill out, open yourself to feeling. Dude.

Sound good? As I said, in theory.

Letting it all just flow, Man, is not how we are programmed these days. Can you imagine saying to your boss “sorry Dude, but I’m having, like, this really spacey Neptune transit at the moment and my astrologer told me to just let it flow and open myself up to the beyondness of life. So, I’m heading off to meditate on top of a mountain for the next two years…you’d be cool with that?” Right?

Rather than detaching from our ego, everything that we do every day is exactly the opposite. We are encouraged to use our head rather than our heart, crappy decisions made by profiteering executives are justified as being ok because they are “business decisions”. The work we do doesn’t sing to our soul, but it satisfies our need to put a roof (or the right roof) over our head, clothes (and the right brands) on our back, and a label (or title) on our masthead.

Neptune transits arrive at a time when we need to be reminded that our ego has become too important to itself, too attached to its own sense of rightness and too intent on pursuing a course that has no real feeling or spiritual relevance.

If you don’t embrace the Neptunian influence willingly, ie if you aren’t willing to let go, Neptune will do it for you. If you don’t relax, Neptune will make sure that you have no choice. The number of people who report feeling listless, no energy, and chronically fatigued during a Neptune transit is incredible. Neptune forces them to opt out.

Likewise people who reporting doing things that they normally wouldn’t do, things that they should have known better than to do.  Dumb things. During Neptune transits we fall in love with people we shouldn’t fall in love with, entangle ourselves in things we shouldn’t be entangled in, become addicted to things we shouldn’t be addicted to and escape to places that we would be better off never visiting.

All of these things serve the purpose of bringing us out of our egos, showing us that we are human, and presenting us with another alternative that forces us to feel.

That Neptune square I referred to? I did some real dumb stuff over the period of that transit. Dumb things that I knew from the outset were dumb, but that I also thought were real. I believed people who I knew at the time were lying to me. I willingly laid myself open to be hurt. The outcome of that transit is that it dissolved my idea of who I am, or rather who I thought that I should be.

And, if I’m being honest, the reason that we do dumb things is because they are so fun. Losing yourself can be fun…at the time… The consequences of those decisions and actions, however, often are not- fun, that is. That’s why they are dumb. We know that, but under a Neptune transit we often do them anyway.

… And I get all your good advice

It doesn’t stop me from going through these things twice

I see the knives out, I turn my back

I hear the train coming, I stay right on that track

In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream

I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings

I’ve done all the dumb things

Dumb Things- Lyrics by Paul Kelly. All usual rights.

Neptune in Pisces- The Technical Faff

Neptune is now in Pisces. This is hugely exciting for me as with all of my Pisces I am super Neptunian. This transit will enhance this- both good and bad- and is a once in a lifetime transit for us Pisceans.

For those who are heavily weighted with personal planets or chart points (ie Ascendant, Midheaven) in Virgo, Gemini, and Sagittarius, you might not be quite so excited.

Despite my excitement levels, and my “how hard can it be?” attitude, let me just say this- Neptune transits can be very hard indeed. But, the more Neptune you have in your charts natally, the “easier” it will be given that you already have the influence integrated into your daily life. And I use the term “easier” loosely.

If you want to see just how Neptunian you are now, check out Donna Cunninghams’ planetary tests. Essentially a score between 0-15 means that Neptune has only a slight influence on your chart, 16-25 is moderate, 26-40 is strong and over 40 is off the scale. My score came in at over 60. Boundaries for me simply do not exist and reality is merely an illusion- and that has both its good and bad points. In any case, what it means for me is that I live with Neptune every single day.

Anyway, Neptune essentially dissolves the structures that Saturn has painstakingly and painfully built up. Life becomes confusing and that which is really unreal becomes true. Fantasy becomes reality and ego melts away. This is tough and, especially for people with a strong sense of Saturn (and the responsibilities, commitments and boundaries that go with that) immensely difficult to get your head around. But, it can also be exhilarating.

As Neptune touches whatever personal planet she is throwing her rose coloured gossamer net across, whatever is ruled by that planet will become confused or idealised. When Neptune is transiting this area, commitments are not a great idea, but your dreams may be amazing and the whole hippie dippy at one with the Universe thing may start to have some meaning. You may actually start to understand the lyrics to songs like I am the Walrus and Kate Miller-Heidke’s Ducks Don’t Need Satellites. And all without the assistance of mind altering substances!

In short, whatever planet is being aspected will make that part of you more Piscean in nature. Cool hey? That would sort of be having someone like me in charge of things. Imagine the possibilities…imagine the chaos J.

Before you all start getting excited about what this could possibly mean to you, remember this- Neptune moves slowly…very slowly. I have applied an orb of 2 degrees (both separating and applying), yet, because Neptune is so slow, 1 is probably more appropriate.

What does this mean? Say you have Venus at 2 Pisces. You may begin to feel the flow of Neptune as she approaches (applies) from about the time she enters Pisces- ie 2 degrees before she actually reaches your Venus at 2 Pisces. You will continue to feel her influence for up to 2 degrees after she leaves (separates from) Venus, ie until she reaches about 4 Pisces. The real impact will be while she is between 1-3 Pisces.

This means, that with the retrograde motion, you may have the influence of Neptune hanging around that Venus for a couple of years. Also, because of the retrograde motion, you will have a number of direct hits eg again using that Venus at 2 Pisces as an example:

End of March 2012 (direct)

End of August 2012 (retrograde)

End of January 2013 (direct)

Neptune will have moved just out of range between the end of March 2013 (at 4 Pisces) and mid July 2013(4 Pisces retrograde)- giving you a few months of clarity before the fog slowly descends again.

Neptune reaches 2 Pisces (retrograde) again in October 2013 before turning direct. You will feel the influence again until Neptune reaches 4 Pisces in 2014 and then again briefly by retrograde in October-November 2014.

So, whilst the most important part of the transit will be felt between now and this time next year, you may continue to feel a bit woolly around the edges on and off until November 2014!

Here’s the deal for the first few years:

2012: 0-3 Pisces

Neptune will cover just 3 degrees before turning retrograde at 3 Pisces 09’ on June 5, 2012.

The following points will be impacted.

0-5 Pisces- this will be by conjunction

0-5 Virgo- this will be by opposition

0-5 Gemini or Sagittarius- this will be by square

0-5 Cancer or Scorpio- this will be by trine

0-5 Capricorn or Taurus- this will be by sextile

As an example, my natal Mars is at 3 Scorpio 08’. Yep the station point. This should be pretty significant for me. More on that in the next post, when I cover transits to the personal planets.

2013: 1-5 Pisces

Neptune will start the year at 1 Pisces. The high point will be felt at 5 Pisces 22’ on 6 June 2013 before tracking back to 2 Pisces 34’ and finishing the year at 3 Pisces.

The following points will be impacted.

0-7 Pisces- this will be by conjunction

0-7 Virgo- this will be by opposition

0-7 Gemini or Sagittarius- this will be by square

0-7 Cancer or Scorpio- this will be by trine

0-7 Capricorn or Taurus- this will be by sextile

2014: 3-7 Pisces

Neptune will start the year at 3 Pisces. The high point will be felt at 7 Pisces 35’ on 9 June 2014 before tracking back to 4 Pisces 48’ and finishing the year at 5 Pisces.

The following points will be impacted.

1-9 Pisces- this will be by conjunction

1-9 Virgo- this will be by opposition

1-9 Gemini or Sagittarius- this will be by square

1-9 Cancer or Scorpio- this will be by trine

1-9 Capricorn or Taurus- this will be by sextile

This is the year that my Mercury will be receiving its’ direct hits. I’m already thinking of locking myself away and writing romance or fantasy novels!

Get the idea?

Next time we’ll start looking at the personal planets & what it might mean for you.

© Branislav Ostojic | Dreamstime.com

As I mentioned yesterday, Neptune is retrograde and will be until November.

Being the planet of spiritualism and delusion can be exhausting. All those artists to inspire, all that illusion to create, all that intuition and psychic ability to enhance.

The downside of a Neptune transit, however, can be an increased need to escape, self-doubt and paranoia (very often for no reason) and an absent minded “whatever” attitude.

In love, Neptune casts a fog. Neptune transits of Venus can send the recipients into a romantic haze that can lift as quickly as it descends. There are stories of people who fall madly in love during a Neptune transit only to drink the last bottle and walk away as the transit ends. I have a close friend with Venus at 0 Pisces who I know will be especially susceptible to falling in love with somebody Piscean or Neptunian at this point in time. Whether or not I warn this person is immaterial…it will happen.

Neptune transits are a time of heightened awareness, amazing mini series dreams and an unconscious need for spiritual growth of some description- this may be religious, it may be something else…but it will be true to your soul.

When Neptune turns retrograde, all of this turns inwards and intensifies. What can you do? Your focus is off, your judgement is off, your intuition is heightened and your sense of reality is distorted. as i wrote yesterday:

But what does this mean? Key words we associate with Neptune are intuitive, deceptive, fantasy, dreamy, highly sensitised, escapist and delusional. Yep Pisces characteristics all wrapped up in a single planet.

During the retrograde period, Neptune becomes more Neptunian. Your intuition will be heightened and you may suddenly get insights into something you have been struggling with. Seeing things clearer, you may no longer be able to deny truths that you have been…well, denying- something that I personally do an awful lot of. Sometimes it can be hard to listen to what we need to listen to- and that is where the escapist nature of Neptune may also come into play. During the retrograde period you may be more inclined to run away into whatever is your favourite way of escaping. Not a great idea- you will have to emerge from the self induced alcoholic haze (or is that just me) at some point & see reality for what it is.

The answer? Go with it. But make your lists, identify what is really important and try and stay on game.

Pisceans will be more Piscean now. Anyone with Neptune closely aspecting the Ascendant, Sun or Moon will be more Piscean now. Anyone who has personal planets or chart points at or around 28 Aquarius – 0 Pisces will be particular susceptible to the very special charms of this planet. You are even more at risk if you have planets at either end of this range- the stationing points are the most deliciously dangerous.

Personally speaking, I have made some of the most spectacular mistakes of my life under Neptune transits, but it felt oh so right at the time. As painful as it all was, these were lessons I had to learn and, whilst painful in the aftermath, whilst under the influence I would do it all over again. Neptune can be like a siren call and just as irresistible. I told you so’s are not only unwelcome but irrelevant- under the influence you do what you do.