Transiting Neptune in Pisces
What Do We Have to Look Forward To?
Neptune entered Pisces on April
4, 2011, Retrogrades back into Aquarius on
August 6, and re-enters Pisces on February 4,
2012, where it will remain until 2026. Since
Neptune is the ruler of Pisces, it's transit
here is a very influential one.
To see what we can expect from
this transit, let's first look at the meanings
of both Neptune and Pisces. Neptune and Pisces
are associated with universal love and
acceptance. Neptunian love differs from that of
Venus. Venus says "I'll love you if you love
me." It's an expression of personal love.
Neptune says, "I love you because you exist."
It's an expression of universal love. Neptune
and Jupiter are both associated with religious
faith. Yet they also differ. Jupiter has to do
with beliefs. Neptune has to do with connecting
directly with God, or what might be referred to
as the oneness of the universe. Pisces is the
sign most associated with sympathy and
compassion.
Neptune and Pisces are associated
with spirituality, imagination, idealism, and
creativity. They are associated with psychic
phenomenon, the subconscious mind, dreams,
visions, and intuitive insights, as well as all
arenas that combine imagination, creativity, and
beauty. This includes music, art, literature,
movies, theater, decorating, and design. So
with Neptune in Pisces, we can expect a rise of
appreciation in all these areas. Creativity is
likely to reach new heights.
Creativity represents the
positive manifestation of imagination. The
negative manifestation is escapism, which may
take the form of drug or alcohol addiction or
simply ignoring problems hoping that they will
go away. Idealism is also ruled by Neptune.
Idealism can be a positive way of looking at the
world, the capacity to see possibilities
regardless of the circumstances. Or what is
disguised as idealism can really be illusion
caused by an unwillingness, or inability, to
face situations as they are. Illusions can be
self-delusion, such as seeing people and
situations as you wish they were, or they can be
deceptions purposely perpetrated by others, thus
Neptune's association with victimization.
Since Neptune is an outer planet
with a 168-year cycle spending 14 years in each
sign, it's transits are associated with world
trends. Typically the sign Neptune falls in
becomes idealized for that 14-year period,
regardless of the validity of those ideals. For
instance, when Neptune was in Capricorn, big
business, CEOs, and the work ethic were
idealized. If you weren't willing to work 70
hours a week to achieve success, society looked
upon you as if by not being "ambitious enough"
you were in some way flawed. By the same token,
when Neptune was in Sagittarius what was
idealized was a four-day work week and more
leisure time. When Neptune was in Scorpio, sex
and drugs were "good." Hallucinogenic drugs
would connect you to God. During the current
Neptune in Aquarius timeframe, ordinary people
such as police and firefighters came to be
idealized (in the aftermath of September 11,
2001). I had expected Neptune in Aquarius to be
associated with the rise of the "ordinary
person." Being US centered, it had not occurred
to me that the rise of the ordinary person would
be world wide and result in a lower standard of
living for the ordinary person in the developed
world. So, now we come to Neptune in Pisces.
Planetary cycles can never be
repeated in exactly the same way, as the rest of
the sky is not simultaneously duplicated. Yet,
we get a hint of what will happen this time by
looking back to the past. The last time it was
found in Pisces was between 1847 and 1862. This
was the first time that Neptune had entered
Pisces after its discovery on September 23,
1846.
Early on with Neptune's entrance
into Pisces the California Gold Rush occurred.
The Gold Rush started in 1848 when a mill crew
led by James Marshall found a few nuggets of
gold on the American River at Coloma near
Sacramento. By 1849 a mania had developed.
People from all over the world, mesmerized by
the illusion of quick riches, descended on
California to seek their fortunes. Human and
environmental costs soon followed. As toxic
chemicals from prospecting operations destroyed
the natural habitats, as much as 80-90% of
Native Americans died from small pox epidemics.
An Act passed by the California Legislature in
1850, euphemistically called The Act for the
Government and Protection of Indians, allowed
settlers to capture and use Indians as bonded
workers, i.e., slave labor. As the boom ended,
attacks on foreigners and confiscatory taxes
began as a means of driving out immigrants,
particularly those from China and Latin
America. And some say that during the gold rush
mania, more people made money selling picks and
shovels than those who mined for gold. So, here
we see the victimization side of Neptune – the
victimization of the Native Americans by outside
forces and the victimization of many of the gold
miners caught in their own web of dreams of
great riches. It's possible that perhaps now we
will see a different type of gold rush – the
prices of gold and silver skyrocketing as they
are seen as an alternative to the declining
value of fiat money.
The Communist Manifesto by Marx
and Engels was published in 1848. The Manifesto
presents an analytical approach to class
struggle and the problems of capitalism, in
which laborers (or working class) are exploited
by the bourgeois or proletarians (the people who
employ the laborers). It sees capitalism being
replaced by socialism, and socialism ultimately
replaced by communism. (Uranus was in Aries in
1848 as it is now.) (It is also interesting to
note that the countries with the fewest economic
problems due to the financial meltdown in 2008
were the socialistic countries of Norway,
Sweden, and Denmark). The correlation between
Neptune in Pisces and communism is easy to see.
Neptune's idealism can express itself in
compassion for less fortunate. Uranus in Aries
represents a more forceful way of standing up
for the rights of the individual.
The European Revolution of 1848
also occurred with Neptune in Pisces and Uranus
in Aries. During this timeframe, the middle
classes and working classes banded together to
fight feudal systems in Europe. The unrest
began with the French Revolution of 1848 and
spread to the German states, Denmark, the
Hapsburg Empire, Switzerland, Romania, Ireland,
and Belgium. Most of these rebellions were put
down quickly as tens of thousands of people were
tortured or killed. Yet these revolutions are
thought to have sown the seeds of what would
become Europe's future. The 1848 revolutionary
wave is being compared to the current
revolutionary wave taking place in the Mideast.
Hopefully for the people of the Mideast
countries, their rebellion will have better
immediate consequences. But we can see how
Neptune in Pisces can represent the merging of
those who lack power.
On the more spiritual side,
Neptune's last trek through Pisces coincided
with the birth of modern spiritualism. There
was increased interest in mediumship and psychic
phenomenon. In 1858 the vision of Virgin Mary
appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes,
France. The Transcendental movement started
with Uranus in Pisces, but peaked with Neptune
in Pisces. The association of Neptune in
Pisces with spirituality and psychic phenomenon
is easily recognized.
The Civil War in the US began
with Neptune in Pisces. Abolitionists had been
speaking out against slavery in the US since
1830s; but the Civil War, which ended slavery,
did not begin until April, 1861 when Confederate
forces attacked a US military installation at
Fort Sumter, South Carolina. The War ended with
Neptune in Aries in 1865, with the Union in tact
and the end of slavery in the . Neptune and
Pisces are both associated with slavery.
So while the beginning of Neptune
in Pisces saw an expansion of slavery, by the
time Neptune left Pisces, slavery in the US had
ended. We can take this as a sign of compassion
for those less fortunate, which we can expect to
increase once again over the next 14 years.
Along with this, I believe socialism will make a
come back (despite how it is currently
maligned).
Neptune in Pisces also focuses on
the oneness of the universe. Buddhist ideals
are likely to become more popularized.
Cross-cultural distinctions are likely to begin
to evaporate and mixed race marriages become
more prevalent. Quality of life issues will
become a greater priority as the wish for peace
and tranquility grows. Social distinctions will
begin to obliterate as more people change their
focus from the material to the spiritual.
Environmental concerns, particularly global
water issues, also move more to the forefront as
oneness with the universe also includes a
oneness with Mother Earth.
Neptune in Pisces will be at
cross hairs with Pluto in Capricorn, which
enhances the power of the haves at the expense
of the have-nots (until it reaches an extreme,
where the trend reverses) and also with the
Uranus in Aries square to Pluto in Capricorn,
which leads to more rebellions and uprisings.
The planetary energy leads to has
two distinctly separate divides—those seeking
peace and enlightenment and those rebelling
against the status quo. However, it is possible
for at least some of those seeking enlightenment
to become more at one with those rebelling as
they see how the current power structure has
rendered many powerless.
So, all in all, despite the
increased violence and social and political
polarization going on in this country and
others, we can expect increased spirituality and
compassion as a counter trend force.
To see how
Neptune in Pisces is affecting you, or to find
out more about your astrological chart, contact
Joyce at
joycel@joycelevine.com or call 617-354-7075.
Joyce Levine is a full-time
professional consulting astrologer with more
than 30 years experience. She serves as a
catalyst for her clients to recognize their
natural abilities and use them to overcome
personal obstacles to success and to take
action at precisely the right time to achieve
the results they desire. Joyce is available for
consulting work with individuals, couples,
families, and businesses. Joyce is the Clerk of
NCGR, President of NCGR's Boston Chapter, and
Level IV Certified in Consulting. She has been
a certified professional member of the AFA since
1979.
Joyce is the author of
Breakthrough Astrology, Transform Yourself and
Your World, A Beginner's Guide to Astrological
Interpretation. Transformational CDs:
Self-Help Series: Meditation, Creative
Visualization, Healing Anger, and Contacting
Your Guardian Angel; and Integrating
Astrological Cycles Series: Pluto, Neptune,
Uranus, and Saturn, and Jupiter.
Joyce can be
reached at
joycel@joycelevine.com or 2353 Massachusetts
Avenue #91, Cambridge, MA 02140, 617-354-7075.
Her website is https://joycelevine.com.
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