You Were Searching ... (the Saturn-Neptune Edition)

(left) Saturn (Kronos) by Ivan Akimov (1802, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

(right) Neptune by Angelo Bronzino

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This post is in response to someone searching for the term ‘Saturn conjunct Neptune’ - which is not just a subject well deserving of a search (whoever typed this one gets applause) ... it’s something I’ve done a lot of research on firstly because of that most human and obvious of reasons (Neptune and Saturn are very prominent in my chart) and secondly, because as I’ve said before, time and cycles of time have always fascinated me - and Saturn/Neptune is a known synodic cycle, said cycle being the time it takes for a pair of objects (in this case, Saturn and Neptune) to conjunct and then conjunct yet again.

Synodic cycles are interesting: they seem to mark chapters in human development, whether that pertains to us as an individual, or society in its own right. And since over the years I have looked into this particular planetary twosome, this is going to thus become the post I put all of that into - which is one of the other purposes for this blog: to record information for freely searchable future reference ... and in this case it’s my hope I get it all written down.

After all, if I don’t, there may have to be a Saturn conjunct Neptune II: Return to Impossible Possibilities.

Also: considering the many nuances to go through here, this is the only search term for today. (See what happens when you hit something I’ve studied in particular?)

And if by chance you’re thinking ‘this isn’t about me or MY chart,’ think again. Sure, you may not have Saturn conjunct Neptune natally. And you may indeed have a Saturn positioned somewhere which Neptune’s current 164-year orbit isn’t going to get to during your life span.

But you DO have a Neptune in your natal chart ... and Saturn only takes 29.46 years to toddle once around the Sun, during which time, transiting Saturn will conjunct your natal Neptune. For instance, if you were born between the years 1970 and 1984, give or take a couple of weeks at either end of this period when Neptune was either coming out of Scorpio or going into Capricorn, your Neptune is in Sagittarius. And since Saturn arrived in Sagittarius as of December 2014, at some point between December 2014 and December 2017 when Saturn moves its ringed self into Capricorn your Neptune is going to get conjuncted.

So I’m just sayin’ ... you might want to read.

Besides, 2026 will eventually get here.

That date aside for the moment (I’ll get back to it), most astrologers (or astrologists, as some prefer) would agree that to put Saturn and Neptune into the same astrological breath, sentence or conjunction is very much akin to be connecting that which is tangible with something which is intangible in real time ... which if you think about it is just a tad hard. Saturn defines everything which ... well, everything which can be defined. It represents realities and facts as things we can depend on and structure our life around (Saturn) or on.

So this conjunction is connecting the highly definite with that which is Neptune and thus quintessentially nebulous...? Yes, it is. We’re talking about conjuncting Saturn with that which not only can never be defined but which always ends up revealing some vulnerability in US when we go to rely on it ... at which point we suddenly discover what we thought was so real is actually an illusion.

OUR illusion.

That would be very Saturn-Neptune, a quotient in which the Neptunian side of the thing can never be proven - it can only be trusted or relied on in faith.

Sometimes the Saturn in this pairing represents the strength with which we deal with some Neptunian weakness or vulnerability. Sometimes Neptune represents the softening of Saturn's exacting edge, allowing for a bit of humanity all around. With Neptune around, all can be wonderful if you don’t have to depend on it, which is why Things Neptunian include the lovely dream, the inspirational moment and that universal if ill-defined moment when on the brink of slipping into slumber all is released without prejudice, care or conscious effort.

Neptune's rings (photo credit: NASA-JPL)

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And yes, Neptune can be the very essence of the haunted personality which manifests in any number of maladaptive and generally repetitive cycles even when someone knows full well that things are just fine.

If a human could be said to be spooked by their own shadow, that shadow would be their astrological Neptune. Neptunian things exist and often flourish so long as you trust them ... and Saturn represents that state of being which exists in reality. Granting that from sign to sign and house to house any set of symbols manifest differently, people with a natal Saturn-Neptune conjunction may excel in one area of their life and yet have substantial issues in another such as in the case of someone who is able to survive a lot of rough-and-tumble in their career with barely a break in stride but who at the same time is hugely sensitive. Or maybe they’d be sensitive to their own insecurities, but still perfectly capable of being hugely insensitive to insecurities in others. Seeing that on some level Saturn always refers to our ‘career’ in life, Saturn-Neptune can also indicate a Saturn career in any typically Neptunian field such as the arts, pharmaceuticals, the oil industry, charity work - or any of the helping professions which help those unable to help themselves in some regard.

Because this conjunction is going to get transited (over and over again) in any natal chart, which planet numerically comes first will also have some bearing on how the person experiences life: Saturn is all about clarity - sometimes even to the point of chilling clarity, and Neptune is a shifting, ever-present and ever-changing fog. With Saturn first and Neptune numerically second, barriers, facts and limits (the Saturn part of life) will tend to get ‘fuzzier’ or melted away as the planet which transits Saturn moves on to Neptune. So maybe everything is tough until you try it and then (much to your relief) things turn out not to be as bad as you thought they would be. Or maybe you’re someone who is diligent and uber-determined until something bursts your Neptune bubble, dream or illusion. Can you reassemble yourself? And if Neptune is transited first, will you learn to trust the process and to try as hard as you can on faith - a quality Saturn generally honors unless we’re trying to do something which is utterly Neptunian and unrealistic to begin with?

Saturn-Neptune by conjunction asks whether reality, whether or not we conceive of that as our reality or not, is worth trusting. This isn't easy; the natal square between these two symbols is known for all sorts of 'coping mechanisms' which either mimic or are out-and-out personal addictions. The conjunction isn't known for such manifestations, but the fact that the square is tells us that this intersecting of the "Is Factor" and "Maybe, if..." quotients are something natives either (Saturn) work to learn to harness responsibly (taking their 'medicine' along the way) or which they (Neptune) accept should be offered on faith but never insisted on, as insistence is a manifestation of ego (i.e., 'my way is the right way') and therefore contrary to core Neptunian values, which in conjunction to Saturn would indicate a 'dissolving' of what gets built, despite best intentions.

So this conjunction usefully asks whether we are willing to ‘see’ clearly and see beyond today. And yesterday, too - which could sometimes be even harder what with all Neptune's inbuilt-wistfulness (read: insecurity in and about time) and Saturn’s time-bound preference for the timely, the real, the proven, the status quo and certainly that which is blatantly proven by history.

Yes, even if given Neptune's presence Saturn's version of history could be include a little 'fuzzy calculus' and preferential editing in the mix.

This conjunction occurs every 37 years or so - over this past century there was one Saturn-Neptune conjunction in early Leo back in 1917, a second Saturn-Neptune conjunction in 1952-1953 in Libra, and a third Saturn-Neptune meeting in 1989 (into the earliest part of 1990) in Capricorn.

Furthermore, each one of these conjunctions came with its own special quirk. The Leo conjunction was in trine to dwarf planet Eris (discord), which on one hand marks this as a time when these planets by transit would indicate WWI ... and on the other (as a natal indicator) would speak to those who ‘came out of this period’ able to see challenges as motivation, as negatives - or as opportunities, any part of which could be used to benefit All (and therefore the Self as part of that All) ... or no one but the Self as part of a search for achievement and personal success.

-link to post-

Eris Discordant: Mastering

Our Own Weakest Moments

Those with a Libra Saturn/Neptune conjunction have been faced with a substantially different dynamic. Currently in their early 60s, these people haven’t faced the internal yea-or-nay of the Saturn/Neptune-conjunct-in-Leo group, but then their general Saturn mission didn’t include the (Saturn) long-term Leo lesson in development of Self. Instead, this Libra Saturn/Neptune group has been getting a life doctorate on the subject of how to get along (and not get along) with others ... (nicely folded into) .... how to get them to get along (or not get along) with you. This conjunction in Libra differs from the Leo version also in that Saturn in Leo is Saturn in a sign (of detriment) where Saturn tends to act pushy (even arrogant), where Saturn in Libra aims for the noble and good thing and has to hone the Self along the way to getting there.

The problem is simple - and quite understandable, actually. Ultimately Saturn asks what we are willing to make of our Self and its promise is that others (and life, and the world) will reward us for what we’ve earned. So since Leo is all about developing that Self, that leaves us to applaud ourselves - which is not only not much fun, but which when done with a bit of Leo drama sounds a bit odd.

And yes, sometimes a touch arrogant - sometimes when all that a Saturn/Neptune in Leo person is doing is having a bit of personal fun.

(And yes, therein lies the problem, on occasion.)

Saturn in Libra is entirely different. Libra being the sign all about our relationship to others (and this world) and how the world (and others) react to us depending on who we really (Saturn) are and who we have (Saturn) worked to become ... Saturn in Libra becomes the hallmark and essence of what you put out comes back to you - which underlies why Saturn in Libra is a positive if the native is honest with themselves about who they are and what they are doing with the understanding that they are only going to get back what they put out there.

'Shadow of Demarcation' - In this photograph, Saturn's upper hemisphere is tinted

in green and blue and its lower hemisphere appears in

more creamy, warm-hued tones

(photo credit NASA JPL)

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And then we factor in Neptune, which in Libra - a sign ruled by Venus - emphases the ‘hands off’ side of relationship, namely that which is platonic in the highest humanistic sense of the term. With Saturn, such a Neptune can indicate a negative blindness or a positive willingness to (Saturn) work interactively on (Neptune) faith - of some sort.

The tendency with Libra involved is to think that we need to have faith in them ... where the reality is that we need to have faith in our ability to be our Self in spite of whoever ‘they’ are - or in spite of whatever happens.

We don’t want to think that.

It’s true anyway.

As for what interesting modifier this conjunction is connected to, that would be Ixion.

Yes, Ixion the Plutino.

 

- link to post-

Ixion: Our Conflict of Self

The thing about saying Ixion is a Plutino (for those who don’t want to go read the whole Ixion saga at the moment) is that while yes, the term ‘Plutinos’ is a reference to Pluto, what it means in terms of our current conversation is how like dwarf planet Pluto, Ixion’s orbit around the Sun is controlled and modified by Planet Neptune’s magnetic resonance.

So it’s back to Neptune.

Also unlike the Eris-to-Neptune/Saturn connection: that was a trine. Ixion to Saturn/Neptune is by conjunction, and that’s a whole other animal. Trines are about things already in motion where conjunctions refer to embodiment or being so directly confronted with something as to be either ‘saddled’ with it, unable to see it for what it truly is (good or bad), or so much in sync with/part of it that it is easy to (Neptune) assume that (Saturn) you’re the only party (Saturn) responsible for anything. Or maybe even everything ... (Neptune) imagine that.

This ‘Neptunian loop’ (or ‘echo,’ if you prefer) may  seem to make it harder to recognize some (Saturn)  realities as the realities they are - a situation which can simultaneously lead to insecurity on the inside and difficulties on the outside even while the ‘double helping’ of Neptune may well lend an ability to endure a lot even while you’re (as they say...) crying on the inside, knowing there’s nothing to do but surrender to the reality of whatever is going to (Saturn) be/become the (Saturn) reality you’re going to be (Neptune) inspired by next.

Probably more than either the other two conjunctions during the 1900-1999 period, this Ixion - Saturn - Neptune conglomeration is probably ripe to be affected more by house placement as well. The strong houses for Saturn will be the 7th, 10th and 11th, meaning effort is easy to summon up and/or maintain as required. The difficult houses for Saturn will be those in opposition to the above - namely the 1st, the 4th and/or the 5th, reflecting a Saturn placement which will tend to test the boundaries of any personal (1st house) agreement, long (4th house) term responsibilities and sort of as we discussed with regards to Leo (Leo being the natural sign of the 5th house) issues with frustration and often enough, rates of gratification.

But strength isn’t always a good thing. If we equate strength to loudness, there is a point at which your ears hurt, after all. So where Saturn may trend towards ‘overdoing’ either through action, insistence or restriction when positioned in the 10th or 11th (its  houses of natural rulership, challenging us to set limits as a measure of discipline on the Self), Neptune in the 12th represents a tendency to be very hard on one’s self with regards to ‘measuring up’ if  simultaneously unrealistic when it comes to the distinct probability that the dreams being held so dear would not be so wonderful in reality ... or that they are merely ill-conceived or unfeasible, all of which is a variation on the Neptune in 12 tendency to place faith in ideals to a greater degree than others in such a way to risk (and incite) greater disappointments and a greater sense of overall vulnerability which in Leo would be about the Self, in Libra would be about the validity of the relationship (whether it’s based on anything real) and/or whether others can be trusted.

And all that is without Saturn even being part of the picture.

As for the 1989 Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn, that one occurred in conjunction with Facies, a nebula long referred to in astrology as a ‘fixed star’ simply because astrological names come from a time long before telescopes could differentiate between a distant single star and the sort of distant star cluster known to us as a nebula.

Whatever name used, Facies has a reputation for presenting ‘complications’ and complicated scenarios, which in a sign about achievement and worldly standing (Capricorn) speaks to challenges neither easily dismissed nor easily worked through.

Two of Saturn's moons, Rhea in the foreground and tiny Epimetheus in the background

orbit with Saturn in the background and Saturn's rings all around.

(photo credit: Cassini Spacecraft - ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA)

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With Neptune in Capricorn evoking everything from powerful illusions to illusions of power amidst a general questioning of what ‘world standing’ means ... with all this cast against Saturn in Capricorn’s strictly structural (and structurally strict) standards for achievement, most of the ‘fallback’ positions became all about holding into (or reverting to) some a status quo, sometimes even when said status quo was plainly outmoded. And all of which has ... and is likely to continue playing out in the lives of those born during this time as experiences which are as introspective (Saturn-Neptune) as speculative (Neptune-Saturn) ... with plenty of questioning between.

And then, about the time these people reached twenty-two (which for the record would be just after their first Chiron square), along came 2011 ... and Pluto’s conjunction of Facies - which would also be Pluto conjuncting the Saturn/Moon in the chart of any person or other entity (businesses, products, nations, organizations, etc.) ‘born’ during this time.

- link to post -

Pluto Station/Retrograde in the Face of Facies

If you’re one of these people (or you own or are part of some company or whatnot founded during this 1989 time) you’ve probably noticed how messy these past couple of years have been. The worst of it would have been in 2011 through January 2013, but Pluto has only exited the orb of conjunction to this Saturn-Neptune conjunction as of November 2014.

And now Scheat is going to get eclipsed - which means anyone with this conjunction is going to have their Saturn-Neptune eclipsed, a three-year process which is bound to strip away many built-up walls (physical, emotional and otherwise) as we all learn that though life may not be what we want it to be, it still can be good. Productive. Worth being part of.

We just have to get past our Self ... and ourselves.

In conjuncting Facies, Pluto would also be conjuncting the Saturn/Neptune conjunction in these charts at a time when the young adults living those lives were just realizing some things (Chiron) can’t be learned in advance: you have to live through them and work with them in order to learn from them - or about them.

Some members of this natively Pluto-in-Scorpio generation will have reacted well enough. Others will have reacted by running scared (fear being the negative side of Saturn’s energetic) and still others will have felt discouraged or confounded by something unexpected altering their plans. Whichever group they belong to, much of their positions on things and overall priorities will begin to change as we move through 2017 into 2018 - the period during which this group will arrive at their first Saturn return and become (as we all do) more real, realistic and practical about life as a whole.

As for the next Saturn-Neptune conjunction, Saturn will begin catching up to Neptune (i.e., it will enter the five-degree orb of conjunction) during April of 2025  with Saturn and Neptune perfecting their conjunction (initiating another 37 year Saturn-Neptune synodic cycle) on February 20, 2026 - which I told you I would get back to (and now I have). Since this conjunction occurs in Aries, this will have Saturn in the sign opposite that (Libra) in which Saturn is exalted and where Saturn’s ability to ‘require’ standards manifests as a need for integrity of thought, in one’s words and with regards to agreements, lest all one does come (in time, time being Saturn’s byline) to nothing.

Or at least nothing you intended it to be.

Furthermore, in occurring at 0 Aries this conjunction is accompanied by not one, but two fixed stars: orange star Deneb Katos (Beta Ceti) in constellation Cetus and famously fixed red star Scheat - which in being at 29 Pisces is in line to be hit by this March’s 29 Pisces Solar Eclipse with exacting exactitude.

Said to bring a harshness and qualities of restraint and limitation, the first of these stars (Deneb Katos) isn’t written about much. But its constellation (Cetus) though popularly depicted today as a whale, originated with the idea of a classic ‘sea monster.’ And yet, this is the first star in the zodiac lists (by degree order). So is this star about the process of ‘being born,’ or ‘giving birth’ to something in one’s life, making the ‘whale’ more of a ‘whale of a job’ and the ‘sea monster’ the oceanic depths of Pisces just ‘behind’ and our instinctive desire to avoid and (if possible) deny our own vulnerabilities?

As for Scheat, Scheat is a star which in most general terms is about being denied or denying something ... generally to, or about others. And for good or ill, that fits certain modes of both Saturn and Neptune. Neptune effects are often said to ‘veil’ us - or the truth, depending on how willing we are to face our own feelings (and where they come from), particularly with regards to lingering feelings of vulnerability, that being what often sets Scheat dynamics off, whether in us or on the part of those we are interacting with - which is a good part of Scheat’s Piscean, critical degree presence.

When Scheat is triggered, nobody responds as you think they will - or as you think they should, or as you would hope they would because right is right and facts are facts and all that. That doesn’t mean things will work out badly, but it does virtually ensure that we will feel badly. And since Pisces as a sign is all about getting us to feel, and in particular about getting us to explore our most human and problematic human, mortal feelings, that’s about reality.

And reality is symbolized by Saturn.

Also to consider with any such conjunction: the state of the planet ruling the sign. Obviously the Sun (ruler of Leo) never goes retrograde, but Venus (ruler of Leo) does, Saturn (ruler of Capricorn and co-ruler of Aquarius) does and so does that spicy little ruling planet associated with Aries named Mars.

If the planetary ruler of this conjunction is retrograde in the nativity, in the return chart for that planet (anywhere along the lifeline) or a solar return chart, this conjunction will be turned inward ... or at least need to function/be functional 'internally' before anything which is going to (Neptune) satisfy the native is going to be (Saturn) done. Matters which pertain to this conjunction will also tend to be somewhat delayed or require/be in the process of getting a restructuring, some 'reconceiving' or some 'reinventing' during periods when that planetary ruler of the conjunction goes retrograde. 

Also ... as touched on earlier, transits to Saturn conjunct Neptune depend in part on which planet numerically comes first, as that’s the planet which is going to be transited first, sort of ‘setting the scene’ for that which follows. conjunction can be problematic. Currently in Sagittarius, Saturn itself will be entering Capricorn in late 2017 - just as Saturn comes into orb to sextile Neptune, representing an opportunity.

Will we take advantage of that opportunity when it comes along? Or will we not realize that the reality we’re resisting is meant to be our own?

That’s an answer well worth searching out - which in this case would mean searching within.

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To the Person who searched for "Saturn conjunct Neptune,"

Are you still glad you asked?

Seriously, I hope this is of some help to you ... and others. It's not the world's easiest configuration, but some very accomplished people have this conjunction in their chart (which among other things proves that we can get past the Saturn-Neptune habit of creating some 'reality' in our mind which turns out to be OUR reality ... but not that of anyone else!).

But some people with this conjunction do find ways to use it well. In fact, it may be that very separation - that of success (which is a Saturn quotient) from satisfaction (which is far more Neptunian) which lies at the heart of many of the challenges you (assuming this is your configuration) will experience. So if you can keep those two things separate as you utilize the strength and grace of this configuration while doing each to your level best within the astrological boundaries provided (no running afoul, please), there is much to be (Saturn) learned and gained - which whether you (Neptunian) know it or not will (Saturn) earn a satisfaction few who do not spend a lifetime wrestling with the finer points of (Neptune) infinite (Saturn) finality will ever know. 

All the Best,

Boots

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Neptune Station-Retrogrades in Pisces

In this photo taken by Voyager 2, Neptune and one of its moons, Triton, are seen together.

Though it may seem like tritin (the smaller crescent) is beyond Neptune, actually it's

closer - which just shows you how much larger Neptune is than this most curious of planetary moons.

Unlike every other known moon in our solar system, Triton doesn't orbit its parent planet in the

direction if the planet's rotation. Why Triton orbits in the opposite direction is as yet unknown, but

more than a couple of people have voiced a question as to whether this could be connected to

Neptune's massive magnetic resonance, a force so large it controls a substantial swatch of

space beyond the planet's orbit, evidently all the way around the Sun.  

(photo credit: NASA-JPL, August 1989)

For the past couple of years, Neptune’s station has been happening a week or two (sometimes three) after the year’s first set of eclipses. It’s almost like life putting us through the pressure cooker or crucible process of the eclipses so as to break down all the tough personal callus we tend to build up so that Neptune can finish the process by ‘dissolving away’ that which separates us from a more insightful reality so we can see our inner potential.

And yes, sometimes that which is blocking us from being able to fulfill our greater potential.

Life absolutely requires us to have a sense of boundaries and separation. That’s one of the most important functions of ego, that thing which defines the “I/me” of life so we know where we end and the next person begins. And yet, if there’s too much of that ‘ego wall,’ we can’t relate. We’ll have no compassion. Or – worse than that – we’ll totally negate the value of anyone else’s life apart from our own.

Astrologically often most associated with Saturn as the physical ‘structure,’ the psychological ‘limit’ or the emotional ‘wall’ between us and anything else about life, this ‘boundary’ can be seen as being two sided: Saturn provides the structural “wall” of self-identity and Neptune represents the amorphous ‘all’ which at some level we all long to be part of. Or to merge with. Or to be swaddled by.

The relationship between Saturn and Neptune in a person’s chart at some level defines their comfort and relationship with reality. How both planets are presented tells us where (by house) and the medium (by sign) they will experience life. A bit counter-intuitively, Saturn tends to define our ‘comfort’ level with life where Neptune pictures our relationship to and with the world around us.

But it’s never ‘this here’ and ‘that there’; these two precepts are always in continuous interaction, just as we all go through life reflecting on the world around us and having our thoughts on people, life and the world in some sort of mental format which is itself – at some level – ‘imaginary.’ Neptune is that precept which allows us to not focus so hard on life around us that we can’t feel ourselves being (or feel what we feel about being part of this world) even as Saturn represents those precepts which keep us grounded in a reality-oriented realistic pattern of functionality.

When any planet goes retrograde, it’s station (and the days surrounding that station) displays an increasing ‘pressure’ in our lives. So now, as Neptune goes retrograde on June 7th at 8:27 in the morning (UT/+0 time), we are likely to get past our ‘pre-definitions’ to some truth of experience.

That may be in the moment. That may be from the past. That may involve a vision of the future. It could be eternal. It could be neither of this time, space nor realm of reality.

Neptune’s keywords vary between the extremes of emotional experience: idealism and illusion, inspiration and despair, faith and abandonment. Wherever we see Neptune in the chart whether by transit or natally, that’s where we know we will experience all sorts of highs and lows which in the end teach us to not pin our hopes on one thing or the other, but to experience life as it is – to accept life as it unfolds in every moment.

You know…in reality – that Saturn thing.

Eclipse cycles move slowly back through the calendar; a couple of years ago they were happening in June…then it was May and June. Right now it’s April and May. Meanwhile, Neptune’s stations have been moving forward through the calendar: a few years ago, Neptune was going retrograde during May. Last year it was June 4th. This year it’s June 7th.

Where did they “cross”? That would have been in 2011, when there was the solar eclipse on June 1st (at 11 Gemini and conjunct Aldebaran) with Neptune going retrograde on June 3rd (at 0 Pisces).

Considering 19 years is the length of a Metonic (solar eclipse) cycle, this suggest that from 2011 until 2030 we are going through both a Gemini/Pisces learning cycle (dealing with the realities of our mentality, perhaps?) AND a period during which Neptune’s relationship to our yearly eclipses will be important – not to mention the idea that Neptune, it’s transits through our chart and maybe most particularly its stations are going to carry some message about ‘eclipsing’ that which we have been.

Or maybe that’s about being what we can become. Or think we can become. Or think we are. Or don’t believe we are – whether that’s true or not.

And while the eclipses have been moving backwards through the calendar and Neptune’s mid-year station/retrograde date has been moving forward (i.e., getting later and later in the year). In fact…

The above diagram is color-coded light-to-dark to show which event comes

first (lightest blue) and which comes last (teal)

 

…if we look at the dates, 2010 was the last year when Saturn (hard reality and facts) shifted into worldly gear prior to the power of inspiration versus dissolution (Neptune) being internalized – which sounds like hard lessons being learned from events which then bring about shifts of personal consciousness or awareness.

Up until 2010, the mid-year solar eclipse also fell after all this, which would seem to say that life events brought about internal realizations which set the stage for letting go of the old and getting on with evolving ourselves and our world.

As of 2011, the order has become solar eclipse – Neptune going retrograde – Saturn going direct. That differs from the former pattern in that it is through the vanishing or alternation of something which has outlived its function in our lives (the solar eclipse) causing us to understand something about ourselves (Neptune going retrograde) which then frees us to capitalize on our efforts – or begin to make efforts with which we build our way into the future (Saturn doing direct).

Just as a concept, some of us are probably more adept with dealing with one format or the other. Plus let’s remember: this was also when Uranus started back into the wildly wooly if wonderful world of getting us to change ourselves as people by entering Aries.

And yes, Neptune entered its home sign of Pisces, deepened the emotional waters (can you spell a-b-y-s-s?) while churning up a bunch of storms.

(You know, just to see how sea sick we could get in our own lives.) 

All and all, those particular years (2010-2011) probably manifested as a period when slowly but surely, ‘tables began to turn.’ For us, against us, under us, over our heads…it all depends on who we are and how we cope with the changing times.

Speaking of change, now we come to the 2013 edition of Neptune’s retrograde station. In going retrograde, that quintessentially Neptunian ‘could it be…’ moves from the outside to the inside. So instead of looking at the world for possibilities, we will tend to look for inner inspiration and to our inner potentials for our answers.

There are worse things, certainly.

Against this there will be a clearer view of all ‘Things External’…which given Neptune’s habit for making things look prettier than they are mans that over the next few months we’re liking to find things differ some from whatever we had been thinking they were.

Some people experience Neptune’s yearly retrograde periods as a time of heightened inner confidence, as if the ‘internalization’ of Neptunian energy is like some sort of spiritual anesthetic. (Neptune-Pisces do rule drugs, you know.) And that can be good if you have something really tough to go through. It’s just that…well, all the things they tell you not to do when you’re high on anything sort of apply under Neptune retrograde.

Though it does depend (she said, imagining apace) on whether Neptune is natal in your natal chart. It does seem that those who are born with any planet in retrograde seem a bit more “immune” to it’s transiting retrograde periods. People with any of the personal planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) retrograde in their natal charts nearly always report that though mildly annoying, retrogrades of those planets don’t throw those sectors of life into a complete tizzy. (Exceptions seem to occur when the planet in question goes retrograde in the birth sign.)

So why not with major planets, say I…! (Yes, I so say.) It’s a new postulation. (Feel free to comment yea or nay according to your experience of same.)

Getting to the brass tacks here, Neptune is going retrograde on June 7th at 5 Pisces, a degree known for situations which test our sense of balance and which no matter how difficult, ultimately prove useful.

The glyph for Pisces represents the two fish swimming in opposite

directions connected by an immutable, golden cord 

But that’s not all. 5 Pisces is also the current position of a star known astronomically as Alpha Cygnus (and astrologically as Deneb). Known for its strong will and a clarity of insight which comes from afar (references to channeling and shamanism are often seen with Deneb), this heightens the effects of this Neptune station, making them inordinately powerful, if not on a mundane level.

Oh – and lest we forget, this is a first decanate degree of Pisces, a sign all about facing ‘our fears of being frightened’ specifically as that pertains to our Self and how we think we may not live up to our own greatest hopes for ourselves.

And yes, others. Pisces tends to be highly problematic when we project our longings on others; the tendency to want to be ‘saved’ is very high with Pisces because it is the sign of ‘universal compassion.’ But that’s not how the sign of the fish tends to work. Pisces works best when we extend compassion and accept others and thus allow ourselves to be accepted, cared about and cherished in return. The fantasy that someone or something can ‘fulfill’ you is particularly problematic in the Piscean realm unless you understand that your fulfillment comes from who you are and the standards to which you hold yourself in all you do and are.

Being one of Pisces’ first ten degrees (degrees 0 through 9), 5 Pisces is also a personal degree: it’s about us – our feelings, our physicality, what we do and accept as ours to do. And since royal star Fomalhaut is right next door to 5 Pisces (at 4 Pisces) this Neptune station will also put a lot of energy into the concept that our dreams only come true when those dreams are neither corrupt, corrupting nor corrupted.

But wait – there’s more!

Dare I say…GRAND TRINE ?

Yes, this station has Neptune as part of a grand trine. And while any grand trine in water is going to put an emphasis on feelings, this one has all three prime objects at 5 degrees of their respective signs.

You just don’t see that very often!

Simply line up Venus-Saturn-Neptune and you get a question about the ‘stabilities of values’ or ‘long term worth’ (or values) which may or may not be accurate, or be being questioned (that last being the Neptune part). This could even be the moment when something you had thought of value, or some sort of financial (Venus-Saturn) status quo shifts.

And no, this doesn’t have to be for the worse. But it could be, let’s be honest.

Saturn retrograde in Scorpio lends a distinctly interactive quality to this energetic. So whether the issue is money, sex, inheritances, loans, partnerships personal or business, buying or selling, signing financial agreements of whatever sort, the prime instruction given by Saturn is to know what you’re doing and to not over-extend yourself, whether that’s financially, emotionally, sexually, or any other which-way.

Venus in Cancer is often a matter having to do with family, your place of residence, real estate or housing or national/cultural traditions. Atropos here speaks to a ‘cut-off,’ which means this could be something you are currently cut off from, or which you are moving towards cutting yourself off from.

Neptune (and Deneb) are within sextile’s reach of Facies, which suggests that there are many ways to see the situation and many factors which need to be taken into account.

Pluto is conjunct Facies, so the ‘Facies factors’ may be difficult to wrangle with. Beyond that, Pluto is also in opposition to Venus and Atropos, speaking to a change of circumstance which – according to the grand trine – is in progress.

Then we come to fixed star Alhena. Alhena is the star and signature of our Purpose. Positioned in Cancer (an emotional water sign), Alhena speaks very eloquently to that so many people refer to as our passion. Finding what fits you not because you were told to like it, not because it’s traditional but rather because it’s integral to your nature and true to your innermost interests is Alhena’s drive. With this star conjunct Mercury, there’s a lot of deep feeling and thought going into what’s important to us now, whether we’re on track with ourselves or not.

Although…with Alhena in trine to Neptune and Saturn, we would hope that you are living a life which fits you well and truly. Otherwise this grand trine may signal a time of trial.

With Pluto in opposition to Venus, Atropos, Alhena and Mercury as a conglomerate, there are many challenges to be met now, many of which will ask that we weigh out our (Saturn/Neptune) priorities.

You know, those priorities which have become obvious over the past couple of years?

The cloud tops of Planet Neptune as photographed by Voyager 2. Rather amazingly,

this huge planet - which is around 3.8 times the size of Earth - makes a full rotation

in just over 16 hours.  (photo credit: NASA/JPL, August 1989)

Like all celestial stations, Neptune’s turn to retrograde is given a couple of days ‘allowance’ to either side. So we should figure that this station begins on June 7th (maybe even on the 6th) and ends on June 9th…or maybe the 10th. During this time, sensitivity of many types can be expected to be heightened. It’s a fine time for get togethers provided nothing too, too serious is on the line. If you’ve been having some sort of problem with someone – or if there’s something you need to tell them, this might be a good time to arrange a space for a talk. Just remember, Neptune/Mercury contacts can signify deception or falsifying – which would be one of the reasons to be careful about contracts or business dealings over these days. But if there has been a problem, or if there is something touchy or problematic to talk about, the natural openness which comes with Neptune’s station may be just the time to have a heart-to-heart. Providing you can say what you have to say with some degree of compassion, you should be received with all due humanity.

This doesn’t mean there may not be disappointment. Even a few tears. But tears are part of being human too. Knowing you matter to someone else is hugely important to us.

It’s part of our Neptune lesson…because it helps us deepen our experience of being being touched.

Emotions, whatever they are, however they manifest are forms of vulnerability. And when someone shows you their vulnerabilities and you choose to treat them with compassion instead of rejecting them for their weakness or destroying them with the knowledge of their vulnerabilities, your acceptance of them heals and strengthens the resilience of your soul, ultimately liberating you at a uniquely Neptunian level from those ego fears of judgment which are the weakest side of Saturn’s structural limitations.

May you station yourself in peace.
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She Thinks Astrology

 A mosaic pavement from a 6th century synagogue at

Beit Alpha (in Jezreel Valley, Israel) representing the zodiac.

Here in the pause between celestial doings, I've been thinking about how Neptune is evidencing its transit of Pisces. As many times as I define Pisces and speak about Neptune here on the blog it doesn’t seem to say enough. And we have some twelve years yet to go with Neptune in Pisces.

I suspect we're all going to get tested - most of all against our own willingness to accept reality for what it is, and to feel ourselves really existing. Neptune teaches that life throws things in our path so that we will feel and we will accept reality...and Neptune symbolizes all those things we do to escape, deny, avoid - and everything we use to escape, deny, avoid.

Known as a symbol of dissolutions and dissolving, Neptune draws us into our escape then melts away the sense of having escaped. And in doing so, it teaches us that maybe we don't really want to escape, because its so painful to realize what isn't real, true and valid.

Then there's the fact that Jupiter is transiting Gemini at the moment. This is a concept by itself, of course, but its made even more important by Jupiter being the ‘entry ruler’ of Pisces.

As ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter represents the search for and the acquiring of knowledge. Or understanding. It's everything we do and everything we use to push back boundaries, explain our perspective, learn to learn and to test our our ideas.

Big red Jupiter is about increasing our world so that we have more of a world real, mental and spiritual to live in.

As ruler of Sagittarius, Jupiter represents the idea, the experience, the understanding of knowing. But in Pisces, Jupiter represents how much we know about feeling. Thus with Neptune, Jupiter serves up the 'one' of the one-two 'punch' which is Pisces. First question: do we know our emotional selves? Or how to deal with emotionality? We think we do, of course - but do we?

The saying 'oh, I can deal with this' is the Sagittarian sort of 'Jupiter knowing' we think about as we get ourselves into something. Then comes the Piscean education - the test of how much we really know about how we feel, how we could feel, how we deal with feelings (or try to escape from them), and what comes of that which we choose.

Life is after all, full of choices. And most of those choices end up about being what we 'do' to ourselves - our emotional selves.

That would be why Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, allegedly. Some call Pisces the 'trash can' and where all the 'refuse' of life ends up being thrown. I tend to disagree (and no, not because I'm a Sun sign Pisces!). My take on this is that in the "end," humans are emotional animals. How well we deal with emotionality and our own relationship to emotions (that pesky Piscean thing) ends up defining everything from whether we end up in jail, end up poor but peaceful and happy or whether we end up dissatisfied.

There are no finite answers - only how we feel about our own answers.

So Jupiter is in Gemini, a sign where Jupiter tends to represent the overstepping of bounds, or the talking too much, or the taking on too much, or the over-thinking of the thought. Jupiter in Gemini can be all talk no action, doing things totally unthinkingly, being thoughtless, not thinking things through...it's a test of excesses in whatever direction we go.

Natively, Gemini squares Pisces. So this is a true time of testing for us, greatly on an emotional level. Or about how we handle (or don't handle) our emotions or emotionality. Life will tempt us to overrun or overestimate or even think we can “get away” with things. Or maybe underestimate ourselves. Or our ability to cope.

It sounds rather like a test of both our humanity and our maturity, don't you think?

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I was also thinking about Pluto and Uranus. With it’s orbit of 84 years, the last time Uranus was where it is now (in Aries) was the late 1920s…another time of world economic upheaval. Aries is a sign of the physical and the "I Am." And whatever sign Uranus is in, it tends to give us the quivers. 

I can see that. A lot of us feel insecure. And that does seem to go right along with that Neptune-Jupiter, Pisces-Gemini thing.

That last time around, a number of people jumped off the bridge...

Seinebrücke bei Asnières by Van Gogh (Summer 1887)

...that was their reaction to not being able to cope with feeling their lack of stability and "worth."

But back in that day (the late 1920s) Pluto was in Cancer. Today it’s in Capricorn - the opposite sign to Cancer.

So if you’re thinking WWIII is about to erupt? I'd think probably not. But I would put good candy money (candy is my wagering medium - I usually use bubblegum) on a 'war of economic stratas'....otherwise known as ‘class warfare.’ I think we're seeing that now - or at least the rumblings of the discussion of the discomfort with that sort of thing.

And its interesting that it all comes down to money. I'm not knocking money...it has its place. And goodness knows it's necessary to survive with now that it seems to have moved from a "placeholder" for value to a thing which people seem willing to trade their very soul for.

But again, that's about security. That's about identity. That's about a sense of personal worth which ultimately comes from our ability to deal with our own feelings.

The problem with being human is that humans are fallible. It doesn’t matter what we do, if humans are involved, there’s a vulnerability quotient built in. That old rule – complete power corrupts completely – strikes me as really applicable here.

But it's not about what we do - that's not the power I'm referring to. I'm talking about that grit-teeth, clenched fist thing we do with ourselves when we want to get past those feelings or emotional dealings we really don't want to face.

Astrological squares are defined as challenges. The square from Uranus in Aries to Pluto in cardinal signs now...as back in the 1920s asks us what are you willing to do about it?

Both eras made us vulnerable through hard economic times. But I'd say that's not as much about money as survival. For some, it's their plans or their self image which gets shaken. For others, its that sense that life is just going to go along reasonably pleasantly and they don't have to try. They don't have to care. They don't have to pay attention or be involved.

Squares represent times which can beat us down or which can motivate us like nobody’s business. And here we have two of them - Pluto against Uranus and Jupiter against Neptune.

My money (mental and bubblegum) is on Neptune-Jupiter. For one, the Pluto-Uranus square is going to be over long before Neptune's done transiting Pisces.

Again, it's that Pisces thing. Apparently we live in a time when though we are moving into the airy and theoretical, technical Aquarian Age, we need all the connection to our emotionality to get there.

And in fact, that makes sense. Why so? Because of the wheel of this incoming Age...

 

In the wheel of an Age, the sign of that Age goes on the Ascendant. That puts Pisces on the 2nd house - the house of security, self worth, talents, self respect and investment in self.

But as I say that, lets remember...Pisces can also be a sign about insecurity, dissipation, addiction, evasion, denial...and the 2nd house can be the house of selfishness and materialism and all those things we try to do or have instead of having self worth and any real sense of human security or personal satisfaction with the person we are.

**********************

A friend of mine (another astrologer) wrote asking what I thought of having Saturn and Neptune in trined water signs. (Saturn is currently in Scorpio and as we've been discussing, Neptune is in Pisces).

I wrote her back that I thought this was a time when the (Saturn) realities about what we're doing as individuals was going to be coming out. Saturn being the ruler of governmental Capricorn and co-ruler of corporate, economic and income-ruling Aquarius, I also said I thought this would be a time when we would be seeing what societal and social mechanisms (as above) are doing doing or not doing to help, hinder or collude with us when it comes to how well we do or don't deal with our emotions.

There are certainly enough flaws to go around, too. I worte a piece the other day on my 'other blog’ (Writings from the Hart – it’s linked in the sidebar) about  prescription painkillers, and there's one factor in all that which I think pertains in particular to my girlfriend's question. We're used to blaming addicts. We're not so good at people who are part of groups or employed by or running organizations or corporations acknowledging they have any blame.

There is this squicky edge where profit... wealth... politics... status...insecurity...becomes the trip-wire which ends up committing murder.

I think we're going to see a deal of that.

But the faster we can learn, the faster we do recognize that we do need to have feelings and feel them? The more human we are, the more humane we're likely to act.

So I'm all for this difficult confluence. Not that I'm not having my share of angst and headaches - I promise you, I am! But if this is the passage and the growing pains I have to do endure and which others are going to have to flail through so that we all come out the other side better and more caring, responsible, attentive human beings?

Then I'll bite. I'll eat a bowl of Neptune and Jupiter and even sprinkle some Pluto-Uranus on top.

Danse de Nomades by Vanecha Roudbaraki

(2007, Acrylique)

Saturn connecting to Neptune often indicates addiction. In Scorpio, Saturn is likely to turn up everything from sex to debt to issues of power (and abdication of same) to issues of corruption, badly managed responsibilities, the whole maggot-ridden enchilada.

(No insult meant to enchiladas, obviously.)

I’ll take two helpings of societal exposing, please.

Saturn moves faster than Neptune, so this is reality ‘catching up’ with whatever illusions or delusions or simple mistakes have been made. There’s no way to compensate lives or time lost in lives...that, I know only too, too well. And that cost is sincerely tragic – as it is whenever lives get compromised when they didn’t have to be.

Still...hard times do teach compassion. And that gets me back to thinking about Pluto/Facies. The complications we each face are very real. The problems we each are each going to encounter going forward are also real.

Hopefully we can remember that life presents us with situations which are about reality and the world and how life works on its surface...but also about what we need to learn inside.

And if we learn that inside part, no matter what happens on the outside, we win.

These times aren't all that easy. Nor - evidently - are they intended to be. Still, the answer isn’t quitting. I learned that a very odd way…and no, I’m not telling you how that happened.

Why not?

Because your way has everything to do with you and how you experience your feelings, whatever they may be.

What I will say is this: I’ve ended up learning far more from facing my feelings than by running from them. I’ve learned the most from recognizing the difference between those two very things.

And that to get past the problem, first I have to accept that the problem is truly real.

Then again, I am a Sun sign Pisces.

So that's all for today. And not to worry...by the end of the week the astrological parade you're more used to will have recommenced.

Final word for today: astrological squares teach that by teaching ourselves to take things in hand equally and evenly, we can build for the future. Two positives build well, one negative undermines all.

I wish you all the positivity you need.
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