Olga Rozzell, PhD
Neptune in a horoscope
Neptune is the last known planet in our Solar system. Pluto sometimes goes beyond the Neptune orbit (Pluto’s orbit is extremely elliptical), but it does not stay outside the Neptune orbit all the time, and Pluto has been re-classified and pronounced a dwarf planet, thus making Neptune the farthest planet from the Sun. Neptune is very large and very dense, has 15 moons, and orbits the Sun every ~165 years. Unlike other planets, Neptune’s existence was predicted based on irregularities of the orbit of Uranus, and later, in 1846, it was observed in a telescope. Interestingly, Galileo’s drawing suggested that he did see Neptune in 17th century, but was not sure whether Neptune was a fixed star (far away star that does not move relatively to other far away stars from our point of view) or a planet.
Neptune is the God of the sea in Roman mythology, similar to Poseidon in the Greek myths. The astrological glyph for Neptune is a Poseidon’s trident, and the planet itself in astrology is closely
associated with water, oceans, and seas. It symbolizes anything illusory and deceitful (you see it now, now it is washed away by the ocean waves), anything that we cannot put our finger on, anything that exists in our imagination only, anything that is not what it seems to be. If Neptune appears in the house of your horoscope representing your body, you will appear mystical and difficult to decipher to other people. If it is in your house of money, you relationship with money will be undefined and mysterious (here you have it, here it is gone, have you ever had it?). If it is in your house of disease, you may have mysterious illnesses that come and go and the ones that the best doctors cannot diagnose. In your house of relationships? Your partnerships may be undefined and illusory, you may have no definition to your relationships (“Am I in a committed relationship or not? Are we really together or not? Does this relationship has a future?”) or, alternatively you may be constantly deceived by others or being deceiving your partners yourself.
Neptune is also associated with spirituality and metaphysical world, as well as with intuitive abilities and approaches. It appears in the areas of your horoscope that signify the parts of your life where you are able to dive deep and experience unexplainable feelings and events, transcend the reality, and create an imaginary world of your own. Placed in a right position with the right connections to other planets, it may give you talent for music, dance, or photography – the arts that create an illusory world and transcend our senses.
If Neptune touches a planet in your horoscope (forms an aspect), it may make the planet to lose definition or to rely on intuition. Like with every planet, there are blessings and problems with having a strong, well aspected Neptune. Unfortunately, Neptune is the most illusory influence in our horoscopes and is very difficult to understand or to harness.
Neptune is believed by modern astrologers to rule the sign of Pisces and to bring that energy of relaxation, messiness, deep insight, and strong intuition to the people of this sign.
When in the current moment Neptune touches a planet or a house of your birth horoscope, it washes away the things signified by the house or the planet, just like the ocean wave erases the signs in the sand. Alternatively (or at the same time) it may give you a very deep insight into the matters of the house or a planet, making your intuition go much deeper than usual. When it passes through a house of your birth horoscope, you may have illusions and/or be disillusioned about the matters of the house. When Neptune is gone, you may look back and ask yourself: “Did this really happen or was this just a dream?”, whether the experience was subjectively negative or very happy. This is why an astrologer will not advise you to enter a committed relationship when Neptune is in your house of partnerships or to buy a new house when it is in your house of real estate: when the transit is over, you may not recognize your beloved or your residence and wonder what possessed you to go for it in the first place.
While passing through a horoscope house or touching a planet in a birth horoscope, Neptune may bring spiritual experiences. The matters of the house or a planet may be seen in a very spiritual way, have a special deep transforming meaning. The transits are usually a sign that this is how we need to treat the affected matters: find a spiritual metaphysical meaning in relationships if Neptune is traveling through the house of partnerships, in our studies if it is in the house of learning, in our travel if the house of travel is affected, etc.
Because Neptune is so far away and has such a long time of revolution around the Sun, the transits of Neptune through a house in our birth horoscope or its aspects to our birth planet(s) may last for a very long time and be exhausting. Multiple seemingly unrelated events that are connected by being a part of the Neptune’s energy, may take place. Whether the events are happy or not, the important thing to remember is that, once it is over, one may look back and wonder whether he events were real, and one would not be able to clearly remember why the events seemed so significant and why one was so upset or so excited about them.
Neptune rules chemicals and can signify any effects from chemicals or addictions. It may give insights into battling the alcohol or drug addiction, predict predisposition for developing and addiction, or to indicate the effect of medications and anesthesia in a medical horoscope. Astrologically inclined social workers and psychologists, as well as astrologers practicing medical astrology, use Neptune to identify any potential problems from drugs and chemicals.
Neptune’s energy is strongly associated with cinematography and anything virtual. This is also a planet of dreams and sleep (whether this is a natural nightly sleep or a sleep induced by anesthesia). It’s an energy of illusion, of imagination, of seeing something that does not exist, of believing and making believe in anything that cannot be captured or proved, anything that escapes our five senses and can be known only on a completely different, intuitive level.