Whether Astrology is science or magic, we’re open to most things, if they may be of benefit. ~ Ed.

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Neptune stations retrograde from June 21 through November 27, 2019.

It will not be talked about too much—not a lot of fanfare.

Neptune is an outer planet, a “transpersonal” planet and, as such, does not usually get a lot of attention. But, for those of us with artistic and spiritual leanings, Neptune’s frequency is wholly personal.

Many of us have attuned ourselves so precisely to this frequency that she guides our direction and informs our highest yearnings.

She resonates at the old soul level, has an “other world” vibration and making practical use of her energy has been a challenge in this material, concrete realm.

She is detected in the little boy who stares out the window in class and dreams about scoring that winning run for his baseball team; the adolescent girl who imagines what her wedding day will be like; the painter who scrambles for some vision of what she will next be birthing.

In her most generous light, Neptune rules over dreamers, mystics, spirituality, music, and art. She takes beauty and art and catapults it to that next level, the higher octave of Venus. She evokes our capacity for spiritual attunement. She invites dream-like reverence, our vivid imagination of what “could” be in our ideal world, and the heights of compassion and unconditional love.

And yet, Neptune’s shadow dance evokes a more formidable entity.

Neptune’s tranquilizing effect can potentially derail and suspend everything we value and hold dear. Should we bend to her will and sacrifice our integrity in the process, our sense of self weakens or we lose ourselves completely.

Neptune whispers into the heart of the man who pines desperately for that ethereal, goddess-like woman he has no hope of ever attaining in a real way. She moves through the mythological sirens who sing from the sea, luring young sailors to their demise. She is present in the spiritual guru who promotes one way of being, while living out another. She leads the innocent through the maze of addiction, self-deception, and dreams that tease, but never deliver.

We cannot fully penetrate Neptune, because the essence of her energy is entirely intangible. She is the indefinable, indescribable, nameless, ineffable presence that lingers just beyond our grasp.  That is her allure, her mystery, and what makes her so intoxicating. What else is there to do but yearn? This is her realm.

Her capacity to deceive us is as sharp as is her capacity to inspire us. She arrives at our doorstep bearing all that is wonderous, awe-inspiring, dreamlike, dubious, confusing…all that may propel us beyond the heavens and, conversely, hurl us straight to hell.

The invitation this Neptune retrograde season is to do our light and shadow work in relation to everything that lies under Neptune’s domain. Her energy is directed internally at this time, where we have greater access to her divine knowing. We would do well to take ownership of how Neptune has been operating in our lives.

Noting that where Neptune stations retrograde in your astrological natal chart will yield more specific information as to where this energy is to play out in your life, here are some questions to reflect upon from June 21, 2019, until Neptune’s direct station on November 27, 2019.

1. How do I experience inspiration in my life and how can I can channel this energy into concrete expression?

2. How can I further sensitize myself to the artistic and spiritual inclinations within me and further cultivate a relationship with these aspects of myself?

3. What enchants me and brings more buoyancy and dreamlike optimism into my world and how do I best make use of this energy?

4. How can I utilize my creative and spiritual connection to raise my frequency and tap into my inner muse, my inner guru?

5. How can I loosen or relinquish my tendency to look outside for inspiration and guidance as I develop more confidence in my capacity to tune into my inner knowing?

6. How can I tune into the ways I have been deceiving myself and get more real with what is actually happening?

7. How have I allowed my escapist tendencies to manage affairs I have not felt capable enough to address directly?

8. How can I bring a greater sense of compassion to myself as I unravel all the ways I have fallen short of my own expectations?

And some practical tips for this time:

1. Take walks.
2. Journal. Talk to yourself (yes!). Ask your own questions and allow the answers to flow without censorship.
3. Cultivate a home yoga and/or meditation practice.
4. Reflect upon past behaviors, acknowledge ways in which you have been dishonest with yourself or others, and begin to open to the ways in which you can clear up the confusion.
5. Reflect upon any ways you have found to escape feeling what you genuinely feel. If addictive tendencies have emerged and we can lift the veil on this reality, we can begin our journey toward recovery and reclaiming a more authentic state of being.
6. If you have relied too heavily on out-sourcing your inspiration, connect to ways in which you inspire yourself. Cultivate an outside “observer” self and watch the movie of your life from that perspective.
7. If you have been searching for a greater sense of meaning and truth through external acquisition of knowledge, now is a time to pull back, process, and integrate that knowledge.
8. If your life has been directed, thus far, by certain visions or dreams for yourself, now is a good time to take stock of whether they still inspire you and to make adjustments accordingly.

Now is the time to get real and connect to what is and is not actually working in our lives, both in the small picture, and on a larger scale in terms of what our lives are ultimately about.

May we find some renewed relationship with Neptune during this retrograde season, inviting this mytho-poetic vibration to run through us and connect us to the very pure essence of her creative, spiritual potential. Conversely, let us never forget that she also carries with her the seeds of our undoing.

As with any self-inquiry, a more conscious relationship with Neptune is more likely to inspire her to unlock and bestow her abundant blessings upon us.

Neptune in Retrograde: Guidance for Artistic and Spiritual Souls from Mollie Lyddane on Vimeo.

Relephant bonus:

~Supervising Editor 1: Nicole Cameron
Supervising Editor 2: Catherine Monkman