Transits – Neptune conjunct the Moon

the-return-of-neptuneNeptune, the beautiful, ethereal, blue planet seeks to merge. This archetype represents our ultimate connection to the universe. As ruler of the oceans, Neptune reminds us that we all come from the same source of life and that there is no separation between us. Neptune’s function is to dissolve structures that prevent us from experiencing that sense of oneness. The Moon is your emotions, your childhood, your Mother, your habits, your home. It shows how you feel, what moves you and how you instinctively respond. The Moon is where we are receptive and impressionable so Neptune’s transit to the Moon tends to be more pronounced. Think of how the Moon rules the ocean’s tides and you start to understand how these two bodies interact with each other. When Neptune conjuncts the Moon, our boundaries are low and our emotions are high and all areas of life that the Moon oversees can be affected. You may feel tossed on a stormy sea or like you are drifting far out in the ocean, unsure of where you are. Feelings of being lost and confused tend to characterise this transit. Neptune transits seem to ebb in and ebb out which means we don’t always see them coming. It’s like waking up after a long sleep and finding yourself deposited on some distant shore, recognising nothing. Things can feel unreal, unstable or like they are coming undone. You may feel like life has lost its meaning or you just don’t understand. Everything feels vague and foggy. Both the Moon and Neptune are bodies associated with sensitivity. You may feel vulnerable, easily hurt or take everything very personally. Sometimes this transit may manifest as an emotional (Moon) loss (Neptune). You may feel unable to care for yourself and need help. Neptune rules ‘the victim’ so you could feel at the mercy of others or circumstance. Sometimes (if the natal chart and other transits indicate), there can be stomach problems as the Moon rules digestion or you may find you become very sensitive or intolerant to foods that caused no issue before. Women may experience menstrual irregularities. You may also become more sensitive to certain medications, both western and alternative. As with other strong Neptune transits to personal planets, alcohol and recreational drugs may have a stronger than intended effect. Caution is strongly advised. Neptune rules peace and this is ultimately what we are searching for. As water gradually erodes the shoreline so too our ego is eroded until we are naked like the day we were born – emotionally speaking. Neptune conjunct the Moon can be a womb like experience where sounds from the outside world are dulled and we float silently in the umbilical sac of life. The urge to ‘check out’ or escape can feel overwhelming. Sometimes there’s a strong urge to lose yourself in films and fantasy, to hide away from the harsh realities of life. Maybe you find yourself fascinated with something – or someone. Idealism is a classic manifestation of Neptune. If you find yourself ‘checking out’ too often, consider what feelings you may be trying to numb or escape from. It can be helpful during this time to practice meditation, listen to beautiful music, paint your feelings, look to what makes you feel spiritually connected. Allow some time each day to check in with your inner self. Show yourself some tenderness. Bearing in mind that the Moon rules one of the eyes in astrology (the Sun the other), Neptune conjunct the Moon is rather like wearing rose-coloured glasses. We see what we want to see. Everything can seem just perfect, even magical…until Neptune moves out of orb of the Moon and reality reappears. It is important during this time to stay grounded. Romantic relationships can certainly feel wonderful but strive to see your partner as a living breathing, fallible human, not a God or a saviour. It’s all too easy to become lost in illusions and delusions but the spell may wear off once Neptune has moved along. For this reason, it can be prudent to avoid making life changing commitments during this time. Sometimes. the close proximity of Neptune to your Moon can bring up feelings of not knowing what you need. You feel like something is missing but you don’t know what it is or you don’t know what will fill that gap. Neptune brings up an a sense of longing. Neptune is the archetype of both victim and saviour and we can generally fall into one category or the other when this transit occurs. You either need help or you want to save the world. You may feel moved by great compassion and drawn to do what you can for others. This can be a beautiful trait and great acts of kindness can be undertaken during this period but again, it is important to be sure of the difference between help and rescue. Whether it’s a lost cause or a lost kitten, everything tugs at the heart strings and you want to make it better. I remember one friend saying she felt like she picked up no end of waifs and strays during her Neptune conjunct Moon transit – both of the animal and human variety! As the Moon also symbolises the home, you may find your ‘ideal’ home under this influence only for problems to be revealed later down the line. Always get a survey done and make sure you take another pair of objective eyes with you when you view a property. For some, problems appear in the current home – a burst water main, plumbing issues, damp. Issues in the home may be reflective of your own emotional state. Psychic sensitivity is heightened. Whilst the ‘real’ world out there may feel shrouded and indistinct, Neptune opens the inner eye. Dreams may become vivid or you may find your intuition is spot on as you tune in to cosmic subtle signals. You may simply feel more aware of how others feel and notice synchronicity more than usual. You could be moved to explore your spirituality, to find a connection to a deity or faith. Some may find a new spiritual path during this transit due to a powerful feeling of ‘coming home’. Because Neptune rules the unconscious, deep material that has laid at the bottom of this vast inner sea is now floating up to the surface. The difficulty is that both the unconscious and the universe tends to speak in symbolic language. It may be hard to understand the feelings that arise – you sense them but they make no sense. The beauty of this transit is that it can lead you on an extraordinary path of spiritual development as you search for meaning in your life. By the time the transit is over, you may find that you feel more spirituality nourished, less empty, more aware, more compassionate. You have to feel your way through. Under this transit you can learn much about those things that are normally unseen whether it is unconscious material or psychic impressions. The key is to take what you have learned and apply it in the ‘real’ world. Neptune spiritualises what it touches so your spiritual needs take precedence over earthly needs during this transit. The difficulty is that often we try to fill the spiritual gap through worldly means. Neptune asks, what do you really hunger for? Look to the natal houses of Neptune and the Moon and the houses ruled by these planets for further information as to how this transit may manifest for you. Below is my experience of Neptune conjunct the Moon. You will see certain factors that are very typical of this transit but as always, I will caution that my experience will not necessarily be your experience. Our charts and lives are all different. Note that in my own chart, Neptune is the only planet in a water sign so my distinct lack of water can mean that highly emotional situations are very difficult for me to navigate.

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The year I experienced Neptune conjunct the Moon, I lost both my beloved dog and cat. My dog passed away in the March of that year, my cat in the September. Chiron (wounding/pain) had also just moved into my 6th house which is associated with illness and pets. Don’t get me wrong, I adored my cat but my dog, Luka, was like my other half. When I lost her, I lost a huge piece of myself. My Moon is in the 7th house (partnerships/relationships) and rules the 12th (the unconscious/spirituality/self-undoing). My Neptune is in the 4th house (end of the matter) and rules the 8th (death/transformation). This was a year of endings. Reality was washed away. I was utterly lost at sea and thought I would never stop crying. I cried every day that year. The silence in the house was unbearable. Whilst time of course does heal, Luka was the light in my life who I forever miss. I had intense spiritual experiences during my time of grief. Like the prayer ‘footprints in the sand’, I was ‘carried’ through this time as I was too weak to be able to carry myself. I was sick to my soul. I began frequenting a forum full of other pet owners who were grieving and over time found I used the board less for my own emotional support and more for reaching out to those who were grieving. The sheer weight of loss put me in touch with other losses that had occurred (the Moon rules memory, history, childhood). I began bereavement therapy. My dreams were filled with powerful visions and spirit contact, Gods and Goddesses. I regularly had spirit visitations from both of my four-footed friends. This was when I first strongly experienced angelic contact which thoroughly surprised me as a Pagan. Whilst consciously I felt that angelic beings belong to no religion, unconsciously the association with Christianity was still there and that for me was a problem as I had quite strong views about Christianity at the time. The angelic experiences I had lead me to question my own spiritual path (12th house/Neptune) and to gently challenge the views I held. I learned more about what I truly felt connected to at a deep emotional level (the Moon ruling the 12th). I was confused initially (Neptune) but it shifted my practice considerably and ultimately made me feel far more connected once the Neptune transit was over.

Painting – Detail from ‘The Return of Neptune’ by John Singleton Copley

14 COMMENTS

  1. Thank You Leah, incredible post. This writing from you is extremely helpful. Longing to book reading with you. Hopefully soon. Thank you for your unique sensitivity, creativity, psychic awareness yet grounded pragmatic view. Love your work. ( am constantly recommending to people to check out your posts etc. Much gratitude… Also congratulations on the TMA gig. Love the paintings you include also!??

  2. Thanks, Leah. Your post came at a good time for me. I especially appreciated the details you shared about your own experience. Hope you won’t mind me sharing mine.

    I live with a natal Moon-Neptune square so I’m familiar with a lot of the feelings and sensitivities you describe. Recently though, my progressed Moon in Pisces (natal 6H) has been joined by transiting Neptune, kicking things up a notch or two.

    As you said digestion has been an issue, also my throat and voice, both literally and metaphorically (natal Neptune, ruler of my 7th, in Scorpio conjunct Mercury-Jupiter in Scorpio on the cusp of the 2nd/3rd).

    I’m still trying to figure out how best to nourish myself and when to let go. Often when I ask the IChing for clarification about what’s really going on, I receive hexagram 27 unchanging ~ which relates to the idea of nourishment and what we take in and put out in a larger sense ~ foods, words, ideas, who and what we give our support to and seek support from.

    Whether awake or asleep I’ve always been spiritually sensitive, though any visions I’ve experienced have come during the period between wakefulness and sleep or in dreams. Until the other day.

    Like you, my vision came in a very unexpected form and involved the Virgin Mary. The symbolism of what I saw, which I don’t feel ready to share just yet, touched me on a very deep level. I cried afterwards and still feel humbled and unsettled.

    When I did a chart for the event (I looked at the clock as my experience was beginning), asteroid Mary was exactly conjunct the transiting South Node in Pisces (falling in my 7th) opposite the North Node and Jupiter in Virgo, sign of the Virgin. In the event chart itself, the Moon, Neptune and Ascendant were all conjunct in Pisces, with Neptune coming from the 12th. And all were conjunct my progressed Moon. It was amazing.:)

  3. Hi LB – Thanks for your comment and sharing your experience of these energies in your own chart. I think it’s very helpful for people to read the variety of experiences we all have as we can see the threads of connection even if our experiences are different. The synchronicity of the asteroid Mary in your chart is beautiful as well as the event chart itself. These kind of connections never fail to amaze me!

  4. Okay, hopefully this will be my last comment. Don’t know how I missed it before but in my natal chart Mary is placed in my 3rd, at the midpoint of and square both my 6H Chiron (exact) and 12H Uranus which are in close opposition.

    My vision involved Mary’s hands, which is all the more meaningful since I’m a hands-on healer.

  5. Thanks for this….I have this natally in Scorpio…..and just had last hit of Neptune trining by transit…..been like a triple whammy……

  6. Really detailed and fascinating post! My boyfriend is going through this transit and just recently broke up with me because he’s been feeling emotionally overwhelmed and cannot express love or be in a relationship right now. This post has definitely helped me find peace with the situation and I’m hoping he overcomes these emotions and finds enlightenment eventually:)

  7. Súper interesting. Thanks for sharing your story. I will enter this transit of Neptune conjunct to the moon beginning March 2017 – November 2019. My moon’s natal home in my birth chart is the 9th house and cancer rules my 7th house; My Neptune’s Natal house is 12th house in my birth chart.
    I’m confused as to what area or house it will affect me most: 9th house or 7th house or 12th house or all of the above? Is there a link you can provide for my research.

  8. Hi Marypoppings – Most likely is that the area of life affected initially is connected to the 9th house (long distance travel, belief, publishing, law and so on). The results of this transit may be seen in the areas of life connected to the houses ruled by the Moon and Neptune. To understand more about transits, I would recommend a book by Bernadette Brady called Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark.

  9. I am counting the days for this transit to be over.

    “our boundaries are low and our emotions are high and all areas of life that the Moon oversees can be affected. You may feel tossed on a stormy sea or like you are drifting far out in the ocean, unsure of where you are.”

    I entered a romantic relationship some 8 months before Transit Neptune moved to oppose my Moon/Sun/Jupiter/NNode stellium. I was aware that due to Neptune that there would be elements of ‘illusion’ at play and I had to be careful of deceptions.

    What I wasn’t prepared for was the soul crushing pain of my lover suddenly abandoning me – don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all roses and sunshine. If the pain of that wasn’t bad enough, I discovered that he had lied and deceived me for the entirety of our relationship. This ‘god’ that swept me off my feet was a known womaniser and master manipulator … I had fallen in love with a charming sociopath. There was no real love. It had all been a lie.

    I am grateful and believe I was let off lightly regardless of my heartbreak – thank you Jupiter. 12 months on I still cry, still hurt, but I’m grateful I never gave into his attempts to have me invest my money into his dream of owning a catamaran. I was up for the adventure, I just wasn’t going to pay for the boat.

    I was told this week he headed off on his adventure months ago with the woman (from his past) he had courted from afar (she lived in another country) for the duration of our relationship. Within weeks of moving out of my house, the sale of her house came through, she moved countries, invested in the catamaran and set sail with her one ‘true love’. All planned while he lived under my roof. Perhaps I am not the only woman in this story blinded by Neptune’s ‘fairy dust’?

    Nothing in my life seems solid. Supposid life friends have disappeared. Life has lost its light, point and purpose. Amidst all this though, the childhood hurts which have shaped my interaction with the world have been released. The process of my heart being completely shattered has perhaps finally truly set me free.

    I still cry most days, but I cry for me. I cry for the lost child who has been hidden for so long. She is still tender and frightened and confused. Hopefully once this transit is finally over, she will be completely free and I will finally know my own truth. I will never fall under the illusion and delusion of fairytale romance. Instead I will know open, healthy connection.

  10. Thank you for your excellent insights. Neptune is conjunct my natal Moon in the 1st house and though I was looking forward to it it’s not bringing anything I’d hoped for and is actually pretty difficult to live with right now. (Natal Neptune in Sagittarius in the 10th kiting a grand air trine, opposing Mars in the 4th…)

  11. Thank you for this. I’m just having the most awful time, especially since Neptune turned direct in Nov 16. I have Natal Moon 6th house 10 Pisces (with my SN and Venus in Pisces) opposite Saturn R and NN in Virgo. It’s like my very existence has been crumbling away. My anxiety, panic been so severe I had PTSD when of Neptune stationing. A feeling of unreality, no connection to the world around me.. feels like I’m going mad. Scary since I’m a Sun Taurus in 8th So much karma has been released and I’m so close to the other side.. very very spiritual experiences. To much to comprehend infact. Most scary thing all the weird bodily sensations I’m experiencing. I won’t take any medication as I’m too scared. I can’t wait for this transit to be over.

  12. Great article. I would like to know if a conjunction Moon-Neptune in a Solar Return would work the same as the transit or would it be different??? I will be having this conjunction 2017-2018 (from August) in 4th house and I´m afraid it will mean a terrible loss (maybe my father?) or strong problems at home (I already have problemas with neighbours and landlord).

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