Neptune: The Non-Look of the Thing

In the annals of things one shouldn’t say in a given manner, the title of today’s blog probably ranks high. After all, the ‘non-look’ of a thing is rather like saying ‘confused precision’ or ‘demonic goodness’…or one of my fave John Lennon lines of all time about someone getting gradually injured. (That comes from a great Lennon poem called ‘Arimenta Ditch’…which I may have spelled wrong, yes.)

Yet when you talk about Neptune, to say something has a non-look is actually vaguely apt. Neptune is the there/not-there precept which in positive mode represents elation and inspiration, and which in negative mode is delusion, lack of coherence – even deception (of self or others, Neptune doesn’t care!).

And why would all this be? Well to look at this in the science-astronomy light, that could be taken in two ways. For one, Neptune is the last ‘true planet’ out there as you move away from the Sun in our solar system.

Or at least it has been. If you’re up on your science news you know that there was some burbling going around a couple of weeks ago about some giant thing the size (even bigger) than Jupiter lurking out there…. waaaaayyyyy out there in the distant Kuiper Belt region, like maybe beyond Sedna-land.

(And trust me…that’s far. We aren’t going there for a quart of milk, not ever!)

But even if this ‘new giant planet’ thing is an actuality, Neptune still is what it is because Neptune still does what Neptune does – which is to say that it controls a huge swatch of space (including objects in that district) via something called ‘magnetic resonance.’ And among those objects ‘controlled’ by Neptune are Ixion (emotional entitlement), Pluto (emotional transformation) and Orcus (emotional experience of consequence).

Obviously Neptune represents Things Emotional. More precisely, it symbolizes (or is said to 'rule') those moments and experiences where we experience feelings which result from something we’ve done or committed to (Orcus being the former, and Pluto the latter as outcome ruler of Scorpio)....or which drive us to do something which in turn will create emotionally transformative (Pluto) or corrective (Ixion) moments.

And all this happens…why? Well, speaking from the philosophic base of it all, this all results from Neptune as the theoretical time/space marker (e.g., hands on the cosmic clock sort of marker) of things which we can get into on faith…or things which we end up disappointed by.

To put it another way, Neptune produces what you don’t believe can happen, and will often prove to you that the fantasy is far more appealing than the reality, which has ‘you asked for it – you got it!’ dollops of glitchy disappointment (Ixion), consequences (Orcus) and giant emotional challenges (Pluto).

Hopefully you've got all that, as (not to be too infinitely and finitely vague about this here) we’re all in for a seriously imprecise dose of Neptune over these next few weeks. You know – sort of like Things Uranus (change) has been in the air for the past few months?

With Neptune, the ‘operative’ rule is to allow yourself not to know. When Neptune is thus ‘an active imperative,’ you don’t know what will happen and you should try not to drive yourself nuts wanting to know what will happen.

Go with the flow! Practice your Neptuuuuunne….mantra! Allow yourself and your life and your everything to be in flux. Do, be and participate, but don’t try and nail anything down. Aim for the optimal but don’t focus on the reward – and don’t be surprised if goals, schedules, needs, priorities – all that stuff – changes here and there because of this and that.

In other words, be in the moment. Just do the Nike thing and do it. 

Neptune favors altruism. Neptune favors humility, modesty and being surprised at how much you’re appreciated, not the reveling in the limelight.

And yet (here we get into the Neptunian deep water)…Neptune is often – in the chart – and emblem of fame.

Why?

Because fame isn’t anything you control. You can’t bottle it (boy, would I be rich or what…!) ….you can’t even define, control or point to it. Fame is just….there. It’s just a nebulous something out there which is. Notoriously, when you revel in it (focus on it) it disappears…or it eats you alive. About the only thing you can do (successful) is ignore it.

That would be the humility part, capiche?

Charts of the famous often have Neptune in the 10th house – a house often associated with achievement. But such people are fascinated by what they do – not the fame itself. Charts of the rich often have Neptune in the 2nd – the house of resources. These are people who aren’t in it for the money (shocking, right?) but who are trying to do something of value. 

Are you beginning to get the Neptune factor? Neptune is often referred to as the ‘negator of ego’ because when you focus on something, that something is not what Neptune delivers…leading us to Neptune Slogan Number Two: where Neptune is concerned, the thing you want most is likely to fall through while the thing you think least likely will prove to be the truth. 

And this implies yet another important idea – namely that allowing yourself not to know is entirely, even dismally different than not wanting to know! The latter, in Neptunian terms, would seem to be the quintessential invitation to disaster – whether you achieve that aim through avoidance (which is very Neptunian, as avoidance’s cousin evasion)…or through intoxication, inebriation or out-and-out addiction (all three of which are related to the Neptunian concept of abandonment, which can be of a thing, a person, your morals or your mind!)…

…it would even seem highly Neptunian to want just to believe everything will be fine. While optimism is a fine, good and positive thing, there is some need in life to be realistic. And with Neptune, that seems to be part of the ticket: moderation and balance. 

So to go a bit Italian-idiomatic parlance here, what’sa my point? You know I have one – and no, it’s not just on my pencil (yes, I still use pencils).

My point is that come March 5th at 7:45 in the evening (UT/+0) Neptune will move into 29 Aquarius – the final degree of Aquarius, and allegedly where Aquarius should be most intense or at ‘critical mass.’

Except..uh…this is Neptune. Is anything Neptune ever felt to be critical?

Why heck yes! Neptune is not only the unknown and the vague and the ill-define, is it the definitely wonderful and the absolutely sorrowful.

And there is that Neptune association with the verb “to dissolve” to be duly contemplated as well.

A rainbow over Bristol, UK. Rainbows are a quintessentially Neptunian thing - they're there, but you can't touch them. Even try to approach them and you run the risk of having them vanish entirely, leaving you with your dream and the disappointment of its having apparently 'vanished.' The kinds of hopes we assign to rainbows...those are Neptunian dreams which may come to us if we chase after them, may happen to us where we are by just going about our business. And then again, if we get what we dream of, it may not make us all that happy while something we never dreamed possible, probable or even desirable, may make us happiest in the end. The lesson? That we do not know all...that we should allow ourselves not to know.

photo credit: Klafubra 

Society, economics, systems, acceptance, energy, things technological, corporations (not commerce – corporate entities), groups, societies, friendships, ideals and hopes, tyrants and elitists, anarchists and uniters…all such things are really, truly, highly Aquarian.

So as Neptune hits 29 Aquarius, we will propose that a good many of these things on this list will shift into maximal plus, minus or ‘disappeared’ mode. 

Or…they will appear and like some giant toxic boil, swell up and force us to deal with some sort of ick.

Now these things can be very real. Neptune as ‘outcome’ ruler of Pisces points to very real losses – sometimes of a loved one or a much-loved relationship (with someone or some thing). Neptune and Pisces are associated with such things as pensions, annuities, oil and pharmaceuticals…which given that Pisces is a water sign and water signs always imply ‘things fiscal’ could be extended to become a discussion of health plans – insurance and otherwise, though a plan to get healthy is more likely to be Pisces’ polarity sign of Virgo.

Speaking of polarities however, since 29 Aquarius is the polarity of 29 Leo which brings in the whole ‘fixed star Regulus vibe,’ there would seem to be an underlying what you want and what it takes to make that a functional reality which involves NOT “punishing” the other guy (or the Aquarian society or the ‘system’) if your dream appears to go ‘poof!’ now.

Two things to note: one, dreams which disappear now may not actually disappear for all time. Neptune – remember? Two, something which was an unrealistic dream all along may need to have a little encounter with reality now.

In the end what this period may stress for us is that there really is no nirvana. Good times are good times and lovely to look forward to and cherish, but there appears to be nothing more deadly in the human spirit than the thought that we shouldn’t have any responsibilities.

I know – it sounds good. But when you look at the actuarial tables (for instance), people actually seem to thrive on work – a lot of people don’t live well once retired, monetarily or in people terms. Wealth seems to play reasonably well for those who earn it but not so well for those who are born into it unless something along the way becomes their ‘personal imperative.’

Don’t like it? I can’t help that! The idea of responsibility, which is the astrological Saturn. Saturn’s list is daunting: dedication, responsibility, limits, rules, structure, fears, cost, pragmatism, reality, slow-and-lasting growth, durability…and time. 

And that last one is the kicker (all puns intended!) Take our responsibilities away and by astrological definition, we’re out of time.

Saturn partners with knowing/knowledge-based Jupiter rather as guardians of the inner solar system (Jupiter seems to be particularly good at that) but also in the idea that these two planets we can actually see as we stand outside at night here on Earth…these are about things we can ‘see to do’ or make of ourselves.

 Symbolic ruler of Capricorn achievements, the reality of the

Aquarian society we live in and our need to function in this

world, Saturn's present retrograde-in-Libra motion is asking all

of us who we are in this world and what we are going to make

of ourselves, our world and our times.

photo credit: NASA/JPL

Saturn has a whole other relationship with Neptune as that thing which teaches us boundaries and to try …not without fear of failing, but without fears of being a failure. 

If we can for these next few weeks hold onto this idea of experiencing but not pinning our own ‘judgment’ of self on what happens, we will probably be a whole lot better off for it. Against this, we may also find some boundaries melting away. That as Neptune has been pressing to the end of Aquarius while Mercury is in Pisces (Neptune's sign of rulership) and we've seen several public figures start dancing distinctly outside the lines of mental sensibility - even stability? That's very Neptune, and we shouldn't be surprised to see more of the same. Even the unreasonable extents to which such things can go. Neptune-Mercury is a traditional astrological marker of 'delusion' or 'the lie' as often as it marks extreme creativity - the problem is telling which is which!

And for those who are dubious about astrology, let's be clear here (this being a good moment to try for clarity!): planets don't "do" anything. Neptune isn't going to give you a call on the cell or tweet you with morning doings. But as planets move through space they do distort the space they move through. It creates a 'ripple' defined by distance, angle and planetary characteristics. Astrology is the study of using positions of planets to "clock" when effects reach Earth. Much as the Moon tugs on Earth's oceans to create tides, so planetary movements help us track the tides of influence in a global life on Earth which is after all, contiguous with the rest of the E=mc2'd universe.  

Neptune enters Pisces on April 4th (a whole other Neptunian saga!) and we won’t know what we don’t know – like as not – until then!

Can you wait?

What’s your option?

Maybe for the moment we should just enjoy the pluses and figure on a few ‘that’s life!’ minus moments?

Maybe so. And maybe…just maybe that’s what we’re meant to learn and should take with us – moving forward – out of this time.

Everything happens for a reason, right?