What Does Neptune Rx FEEL Like?

Click here to see the entire photoshoot gallery in hi-res.

Since Neptune recently entered Aries for the first time since 1861, the internet is ablaze with warnings and discussions of how this affects individuals with Aries placements. I understand we’re all tired and Aries placements seem to be getting hit after hit lately, but remember, Neptune is going to be here for 14 years. I would advise getting acquainted with your new house guest, otherwise it’s going to be a long 14 years. While I know we're all tired of the Aries part of our charts taking a beating, I invite you to consider that Neptune retrograde may have the potential to be more of a balm than an assault.

If you have Neptune Rx in your chart, you may find that you’re the type of person who REALLY doesn’t understand how everyone can just keep on trucking along according to a bunch of made up rules toward a made up goal.

You may find it extremely difficult to understand how people just accept reality as it is, how they just seem to be able to function as if everything is normal.

Neptune retrograde is a time when, if you can accept the realities that your disillusionment reveals to you, you will find a great weight lifted from your shoulders. It's not an acceptance of defeat, but rather an acceptance of the circumstances you may have been pretending weren't there. It's honesty, not self ridicule. This is the kind of thing that once you accept it, things get a little softer, a little easier, and the path forward becomes a little simpler.

When Neptune is direct, it is perpetuating the ideals of Neptune…the story, the fantasy, idealism for better or for worse.

When Neptune is retrograde, that is reversed. Neptune retrograde questions the fantasy, it questions the ideals we’ve set up for ourselves, it forces us to face our own delusion.

For those who have Neptune direct in your natal chart, this may be a time when you are forced to face your own delusion, forced to question things, forced to see the reality of something that you couldn’t see before. It could also feel like reality of a situation is forcing you to slow down your momentum and that might feel really frustrating. Maybe it’s not you who is deluded but you are affected by the retrograde because others are becoming disillusioned. For those who have Neptune retrograde in your natal chart, you actually might feel more clear headed during this transit than you do when Neptune is direct. Perhaps suddenly the people around you are starting to question what you’ve been questioning for a long time. Maybe the mental fog clears up for awhile. You might feel less pressure to chase an illusion that you don’t understand, and have a better grasp of what you actually want to chase.

My natal Neptune is Retrograde and conjunct my Ascendant.

This photoshoot is meant to capture the feeling of Neptune retrograde.

I wanted to learn to see the softness of this placement in a positive light. As a person I've long felt the need to appear strong, clear, and unassailable...and yet lately I've been finding myself the complete opposite of those things. I realized I didn't need to continue trying to be unassailable...I needed to stop resisting the softness. This is the delusion I am awakening from while the planet of delusions retraces its steps.

I planned this photoshoot, which is a celebration of my own natal retrograde Neptune conjunct my ascendant, for the day that Neptune stationed retrograde without even realizing it. Historically my photography has always been very crisp, clean, sharp, well defined…but I’ve been intrigued by long exposure for awhile. I like how my experimentation with this different kind of photography comes at a time when I am learning to soften. When I’ve finally allowed myself to start accepting that maybe my view of myself was a little bit deluded.

Click here to see the entire photoshoot gallery in hi-res.