June 30th ~ July 7th

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour. 

~ William Blake

The New Moon in Gemini on June 17th was square Neptune. Like an initiation, or perhaps a veiled warning, the station of Neptune is always preceded by a square to the Sun.

This year, the square to the Sun coincided with the New Moon, with a hint of new beginnings. The square to Neptune heralds the transition into the upcoming retrograde phase of Neptune. At first this feels a bit ungrounded and uncertain. We are being asked to find deeper meaning, even if we don’t know what that is, or where to find it. 

The Neptune station at 27º Pisces 41’ is almost, but not quite at the end of the last sign of the zodiac. This is adding yet another reminder that we are transitioning from one era to another. But with Neptune this feels like sailing through the fog on a boat without a navigation system. And yet here we are. Being asked to make choices and decisions even in the midst of uncertainty, and perhaps a bit of confusion. What is to be, is still yet unformed, while that which was still haunts us like a shade from the past.  

Back in 2012 when Neptune first entered Pisces, astrologers wondered what this era might bring. We waxed wistfully about a resurgence of spiritualism and compassionate ideals, perhaps an escape from our dependence on oil. We also considered the legalization of marijuana as a possibility, while tossing around the unthinkable notion of a global pandemic (little did we know!). We worried about scapegoating the vulnerable, while idealizing snake oil salesmen. 

The previous time Neptune was in Pisces was in the 19th century when Thoreau was emerging from Walden Pond, and our noble crusaders of the Underground Railroad were plotting a course for salvation. We may wonder where the Neptune in Pisces heroes of the current era are. Know that they are here. Walking among us in another guise. There’s no telling what the final chapter of the current Neptune in Pisces era will be. 

Neptune is not through with Pisces yet. It will make its first tentative steps into Aries in 2025. And as it now stations for its retrograde phase, it will make its presence known. Therefore at these stations of unbounded Neptune, we are opened up to see more, hear more, and feel more. This is the basis for experiencing Neptune through empathy and compassion, intuition and vivid dreaming. It can also sometimes feel, for those who are already steeped in sensitivity, overwhelming. 

Neptune heightens our feelings, but it also masks them with glamour, deception and delusion. It can as easily obscure our vision as cloud it. It can baffle our understanding as well as enhance it. Neptune is a planet of ideals. It is our connection to the divine, but it is also the doorway to oblivion. And for those who are already sensitive, the retrograde phase can be a time of psychic overload. 

Neptune has domain over artists, mystics and visionaries. It can also cast a veil of confusion, leaving us feeling ungrounded and vulnerable. It opens up psychic channels, it thins the boundaries between worlds. There are both positive and negative influences within the intuitive and emotional Neptune realms. Which is why it is so important to create a center of attraction for those positive influences such as cultivating compassion, kindness and understanding, while avoiding anything that attracts negative influences and/or adds to the confusion: such as denial, blame, prevarication, alcohol and drugs. The idea is to feed your psyche and cultivate your spiritual nature during this critical part of the year that Neptune is retrograde (thru December 6th), not drain it. 

This is a good time to work on those inner and outer senses: feel the wind on your skin, notice the light touching the grass. Pay attention to your inner senses, the psyche, your inner voice, your conscience. All those inner senses that tune you in to what is going on in and around you. Pay attention to your dreams, as these are more likely to speak to you now. Be inspired. Be kind. And dare to transcend the mundane. 

And then on July 3rd we have our Full Moon in Capricorn. On the heels of the retrograde station of Saturn, this Moon is not only sextile pragmatic Saturn but trine magnanimous and visionary Jupiter. Full Moons are revelatory. The Full Moon in Capricorn can show us how far we have come, through our own efforts, hard work and decisions. And can also give us a brief glimpse into the possibilities of the future. We are shown something. We become aware of a situation that we had not previously realized. Like a beacon of clarity in the time of Neptune, we are being given a light to guide our way. 

The Full Moon at 11º Capricorn 19’ falls on Monday, July 3rd, at 7:39 am (EDT); 4:39 am Pacific, and 12:39 pm in Greenwich Universal Time. Full Moons are times of culmination, where endings and conclusions are achieved. But they also have this way of glorifying, exaggerating, and making things even larger. So even as the Full Moon can bring clarity, it can also confound things further with the Neptune station. 

Pay attention to what emotions are coming to the surface. Staid and realistic, the Full Moon in Capricorn gives us the opportunity to objectively see our situation for exactly what it is, without the frippery and imaginary elaboration. Allow yourself to be inspired. And then see within the stark reality of the current situation how you can make something that seems like a wistful hope, a closer and more achievable reality. 

Ways to connect with your inner Neptune during its retrograde phase: 

• Get lost in your imagination: Draw, paint, play music, sing, dance, write poetry, watch a good movie, read a good book, and dream. 

• Practices that help to align you with your spiritual center: Meditate, Pray, Chant, read something spiritual. Take long walks in nature, near water, or seek solace in sacred spaces. 

• Let go of that which you no longer need to carry and is taking up too much room: Release. Forgive. Shake off the old leaves of regret, anger, dismay and sorrow, in order to make room for something better to take root.

• Connect with yourself: Reflect, journal, lay out the cards, read the I Ching, dig out the pendulum & oracles

• Do activities that connect you to Neptune: Perform acts of compassion and random acts of kindness, a kind word, stop to listen, be present for others. Volunteer your time or your resources for a good cause. 

• Slow down: Pay attention, See, Hear, Feel, Be present in order to honor and fully appreciate each moment.

For the station of Neptune for your sign (or natal house if you know it), check out this week’s horoscopes:

HOROSCOPES

Image: “Gemini” by Johfra Bosschart

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