Neptune Retrograde in Aquarius

'Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer.  But can you put your hands in your head? Oh no!'

         Supertramp

As if we didn't have enough cosmic activity already, then Neptune - ruler of Pisces and planet of compassion, art, dreams - the great dissolver, illusionist and god of the sea stations into retrograde motion today until November.

The outer planets retrograde for long periods each year and when they touch upon our natal charts, and induce significant change, as they often do - well, it can take a while.  They 'see-saw' over ground, sometimes not leaving until years later.

Neptune is retracing steps he'd made from April 2009 and then again in February 2010.  The Sabian Symbol for his station today is 'A Butterfly emerging from a chrysalis' (as mentioned in my previous post on Saturn Quincunx Neptune) and he will retrograde to 25 degrees Aquarius.  This is hugely significant as it is the place where the Jupiter/Chiron/Neptune triple conjunction occurred last year AND is the discovery degree of Neptune (a miniscule 2 seconds from that point).  When the planet was discovered on 23rd September 1846 it was at this point in Aquarius - and at this point it entered global consciousness.  Discovery degrees are said to 'resonate' with that planet - like a drop of ink in water.

The Sabian symbolism for the retrograde is as follows:

1. 'A tree felled and sawed to ensure a supply of wood for winter"
     Regrouping and gathering - utilising resources
2. 'An ancient pottery bowl, filled with fresh violets'
    Nature, beauty, reflection, purity and renewal
3. 'A garage man testing a car's battery with a hydrometer'
    Repair, renewal, testing, fluidity
4. 'A Butterfly with the right wing more perfectly formed'
    Challenge, balance, the intuitive path vs. the logical

Since Uranus entered Aries the mutual reception with Neptune (each in each other's signs) has gone.  The landscape is more direct, confrontational and inclined to action, not reflection.  Neptune's retrograde asks us to speak and live from our heart centres, recognising our own emotional truths as well as those of others.  It is worth remembering that in Cardinal Grand Cross times your boss, neighbour, friend and child are all experiencing change.  Something else that I've recognised a lot recently is people not wishing to hear the good news of others - it's rather like someone saying 'Cheer up!' when you are down, there's only so much you can take.  However, the journeys of those close to us are also ours and we should rejoice them - when they transform, so do we.

If we can re-group, and do this, feel the centre of our compassion to ourselves and others then the rocky paths to emergence, which lies at the heart of all this, will be travelled lighter.

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Picture Copyright Patrick Hajzler