The transit of Neptune through its natural House can be very powerful: it alludes to a period during which we will be more sensitive than usual, not only to the forces operating in our unconscious, but also to feelings and latent currents in the atmosphere around us. Whatever House Neptune transits, we are attracted to the sphere of life it represents, and we feel (though sometimes not consciously) that our redemption, renewal, or integration will occur through the affairs of that House. In this one, this may mean that we become fascinated by the workings of our unconscious, by what happens within us, and that we immerse ourselves in our interior.
We feel the impulse to look inward, both to understand ourselves better and to find greater satisfaction in our life. The motivation to reflect more deeply on ourselves and on life in general may be reinforced by a feeling of growing dissatisfaction with our present existence. Perhaps materially we have achieved much in the world, but a nagging feeling of being incomplete tells us that life is something more. Neptune stirs deep feelings: the emotions it brings out exert such a force on us that we will find it difficult to deny or resist them. i
One of Neptune’s goals in this House is to overwhelm the ego and our current sense of ourselves, disrupting the control we exert over what has access to our consciousness. Obviously, many will find this threatening, because it leaves us no choice but to accept the emotions and feelings that we have kept at bay until now, and let ourselves be carried away by them. In this sense, we become victims of our own unconscious: buried or restrained impulses and desires gain strength and take hold of us in such a way that we can no longer deny them.
Many people will have the impression that they are being dragged by uncontrollable inner forces and compulsions… a particularly terrifying situation for those who have always managed to maintain tight control over themselves. Some people may believe that they are dominated and possessed by spirits. But, regardless of how we feel, the floodgates have opened. What do we do? We can try to resist Neptune and exert even stricter controls over ourselves, but such efforts are not likely to be successful. Nighttime dreams and daytime fantasies will remind us that there are parts of ourselves that we are trying to forget. We may devote so much energy to denying what we are feeling that we may have little left to live our lives.
It is more prudent and more productive to cooperate constructively with this transit through some form of therapy, spiritual guidance, or self-exploration that facilitates what the psyche is trying to achieve and clarifies its meaning. Whether we like it or not, Neptune is heading towards our Ascendant, and we are on the verge of a major change and psychological renewal. And growth requires us to give up our old personality. At this time it is necessary that we have faith in the wisdom of our unconscious. This does not mean that we have to heed every desire or whim that rises from our depths, but that we must be attentive to what we feel and acknowledge it. During this transit it is possible that we will have certain intuitions and impulses that, if we follow them, will affect us in ways we could not have imagined; suddenly we have a tremendous urge to start studying something, to call someone we haven’t seen for a long time, or to visit certain places: these may be messages from the unconscious that wants to guide us towards beneficial experiences, for ourselves or for others.
The unconscious is smarter than we usually think. Even what we take as mistakes or lapses can end up being interventions, through the mediation of the collective unconscious, of a “higher intelligence” that is attentive to our well-being. We leave the house, realize we have forgotten something, and when we return we find the phone ringing: it is an urgent message that we would not have received in time if we had not returned at that precise moment. Transcending our condition as separate beings also means being more sensitive to what the people around us feel or experience, and especially the needy and the suffering.
Their sad condition will move us and, without our proposing it, it will resonate with our own vulnerability and our own wounds. This kind of receptivity can guide us towards forms of work, not necessarily paid, aimed at caring for and helping our fellow human beings. Or we can identify with and be carried away by collective movements for social reform: I am referring to things like campaigns for nuclear disarmament, work for AIDS patients, or the defense of animal rights.
Although our primary motivation is likely to be altruism, compassion, or social concern, we should examine other, more personal reasons why we are attracted to providing this type of service at this time. There may be a certain charm in the idea of being one of those people who “save” or fight for others, or perhaps it is the only way we can feel we have some value or some power.
Serving others can also be a means of silencing some deep-seated guilt, a remnant of childhood, that needs to be examined and better understood. The discovery that we also have personal motivations should not deter us from these endeavors; on the contrary, clarifying all the psychological reasons that may attract us to various causes and crusades can help us to achieve our important goals more cleanly and effectively.
However, during this transit we must bear in mind that we are more susceptible to being invaded or feeling exhausted by the people or environments we come into contact with. Accordingly, we may need more time alone to cleanse ourselves of the “psychic contamination” we have absorbed and accumulated during our interaction with the world. When Neptune is transiting the 12th House, we are likely to be beset by unresolved issues from earlier stages of life (or past lives).
Old resentments and wounds reappear, sometimes disguised as new conflicts, and at other times through recurring dreams and memories. In some cases, the real people associated with some trauma or painful period from another time in life cross our path again. The best thing about this transit is that it can ultimately have a purifying effect on the psyche, allowing us to feel the love, compression, and willingness to forgive necessary to make peace with people or events of the past, or with parts of ourselves. These feelings of reconciliation are the prelude to the new life we will begin when Neptune crosses our Ascendant.
When Neptune transits the 12th House, it is in its element, as both factors dissolve the rejection of the past. Here one can cleanse the subconscious of its limiting ghosts, and work towards the realization of the great dreams one had in the 11th House. The less a person remains enslaved to worn-out social ideals and activities, the less likely this transit is to bring about disturbing psychological states.
In the 12th House, one should avoid building doubts and fears concerning one’s personal and social worth. One should tear out all false concepts and face reality head-on, without self-pity. There may be a tendency to withdraw from social life and live in one’s own dreams and illusions. A person may become the target of gossip or underhanded attacks; however, if one maintains true self-respect, slander will not hurt them. For those with psychic gifts, this transit can strengthen contact with more subtle realms of reality and bring enlightenment; true mystical experiences are possible.
The results of one’s past experiences in social and interpersonal life, and the images built in the psyche as a result of those experiences, are likely to precipitate crises. If one has failed or become frustrated, or if laziness or a conformist spirit has kept one in a rut, one may now be prey to feelings of guilt and remorse, feeling even less capable before taking a step forward towards one’s greater destiny.
The challenge here is to accept one’s failures for what they are, and have the courage to move on from there in terms of the real situation one is in. There is no need to dwell on the past or to believe that because one has failed once, one must fail again. Until an individual is perfected, each cycle will leave some “unfinished business” that will condition the new phase. This is inevitable.
What matters is the willingness to accept that unfinished business with all lucidity and as well as one can. Then a person should prepare to move forward and do better in the new cycle. What is done or not done during this transit of the 12th House will, in any case, condition the future. One should, therefore, allow Neptune to dissolve the memory of all that was left undone, so that one can create a seed of what has been done. That seed will germinate when Neptune reaches the Ascendant with a new call to the life of the spirit.