On June 30th, 2023, the big blue planet Neptune stood still at 28° Pisces and began to move backward through the sky. It will remain in this retrograde condition for the rest of this year, turning direct again on December 6th at 25° Pisces.
Astrologically the planet named for the king of the waters, on land and sea, is recognized for intuition as well as dementia, dreams and waking nightmares, forgiveness, compassion, unconditional love, and betrayal. Neptune correlates to the beliefs that we share collectively with others, the collective unconscious.
It is the archetype that correlates to our consciousness, or lack thereof. Everything in the Universe is conscious; minerals, plants, animals, and people. Consciousness, like the water element to correlate to, takes the shape and form of whatever it enters. In rocks and minerals, it manifests as crystal emanations. Plants are the source of all the pharmaceuticals we need for survival. The plants know they are here to help us and silently endure so all species can survive. Animals know that they are here as our helpers, partners, and companions. The plants eat the minerals. The animals eat the plants. We eat the plants and the animals… some of us.
There are two essential qualities of water. The first is that water must fill up every space it passes through before it can move on. The second is that water dissolves anything it encounters, either slowly in small drips or rapidly in a torrent. Someone once suggested that a cataclysmic geological torrent formed the Grand Canyon in minutes—just some food for thought.
Neptune rules Pisces, the culmination of the evolution of consciousness through the water signs. In Cancer, through our lunar experiences, we see ourselves. In Scorpio, we descend into the underworld of the subconscious repository of our wounds, failures, and disappointments to find a new basis for understanding why these experiences occurred. Pluto helps us release the emotional corpses we carry and reintegrate those experiences into whom we are becoming. In Pisces and through the dynamics of Neptune, we cleanse ourselves completing the Ensō that is of our lives and prepare for renewal.
“When Neptune is retrograde, it points to our Soul. When Neptune is retrograde, there is an accelerated evolutionary desire, need, to throw off all delusive things: that which is not actually ‘real’ yet what we have considered real before the delusion or illusion was finally understood.”
–Jeffrey Wolf Green
This six-month cycle is formatted by a Sagittarian Moon in a compatible trine to Neptune, which can lift our spirits. Our collective dream is of a world connected to the natural world, free of hatred, pestilence, and ignorance.
At this station, Neptune approaching the last degrees of its native sign of Pisces, anchors a bond between Pluto and star maiden asteroid Astraea. Pluto is re-experiencing unresolved lessons about the responsibilities that come with power. Astraea is concerned with justice and fairness, law and order. She has been called “Neptune’s storyteller.” Unlike her cousin Eris, Astraea is not grounded. She has her head in the clouds. She is non-confrontational and would rather withdraw then engage in conflict.
Neptune forms a waning inconjunct with her sister Pallas Athene in Leo. We are getting active downloads of new ways to grow by making life-changing course corrections.
Minor planet Ceres, in the early degrees of Libra, separates from opposition to Neptune. We are encouraged to nurture ourselves by nurturing others.
Some minor crises predicate change due to Mars applying a balsamic conjunction to Pallas Athene. Mars is also sesquisquare to Neptune. Our choices can be more compassionate and less self-centered.
In short, we are “dreaming the impossible dream”, but not the way we expected it to go.
“I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace, its paths adorn
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!”
–Langston Hughes
