Mark
Well-known member
kimbermoon: I think you and I are interpreting our experiences of these influences quite differently... of course, when you think about it, it would be rather surprising if we didn't. I don't subscribe to the idea that the outer planets are "octaves" of the inner planets. It seems to me to be a short-hand way of shoving the outer planets into traditional methods astrology. I think of all the planetary realms/influences as being completely unique and free-standing, though there are some natural relationships. In function, it seems that Mercury and Neptune work like the negative and positive poles of a battery (respectively). Venus and Uranus work like the positive and negative poles (respectively) of a different battery. I feel that the word "octave" is a misnomer that leads to confusion. Notice that I've labeled Neptune and Venus as positive poles, and Mercury and Uranus as negative poles. The polarity might be what leads some to use words like "octave" in the first place. This is fine, but we must remember that positive poles are paired with negative poles, not like kind.
As to the effects of Neptune, perhaps it would be helpful to examine them over the lifetime of an individual. In childhood, strong Neptunian influences will produce an outstanding imagination that seems at times to be completely unconnected to reality. In adolescence, those Neptunian influences carry forth that childish purity of imagination, unable to understand the corrupt and broken pragmatism of the human world. To the Neptunian mind, close enough isn't good enough. It's obvious that this will cause tremendous disputes between an adolescent with strong Neptunian influences and anyone who tries to "talk some sense into them." In Truth, the highly Neptunian adolescent is the correct one, holding to purity of ideal, but those who support the human world as it is (the opposite of imagination) can never understand this fact.
In adulthood, one of strong Neptunian influences will have spent at least two decades swamped in Neptunian imagination, which seems to conflict with the artificial human world. This presumed conflict is what labels the imaginative creations as "illusions." Admittedly, Neptunian imagination is not concerned very much with pragmatism on a fundamental level, so it should be expected that the individual will float around in a soup of ideals for a while, rather than just get a job as he or she was told to do. Finally, there comes a point when the individual has spent so much time and energy dealing with these imaginative creations that he or she will begin to intentionally discriminate between illusion and reality. When the Neptunian mind finally "grows up," it becomes the expert philosopher, instinctively discerning the smell of bull****. To put it quite simply, when you've spent so much time dealing with your own illusory bull****, it becomes obvious when other people are bull****ing you.
So, while Neptune does lead one through a world of illusions, it also leads one out the other side and into the daylight. To be blunt, I think this process is absolutely necessary for everyone and most people do not put enough importance on it. Most individuals, of any astrological persuasion, are more motivated to be practical in the completely illusory human world. Only those of strong Neptunian influences end up becoming aware that the illusory human world really is just an illusion. Neptune gives you the dysfunction that you need in order to reject the artificial creations of humans and perceive the world for what it is.
As to myself personally, Neptune has been expressed rather vigorously in every part of my life. In my chart, it is the strongest member of a rather heavy Sagittarian stellium. Like I said before, my natal Neptune is separating from the galactic centre and is about 0.03 degrees away. It is also conjunct my South lunar node, loosely conjunct the Moon, trine to the Sun, sharply biquintile to Mars, and sharply sextile to Pluto. It is also parallel South to the Moon (0.25 degrees apart) and parallel South to the lunar apogee (0.34 degrees apart). Oh, and my natal Neptune is also retrograde. Considering these things, it would be extremely difficult (if even possible) to isolate which manifestations were influenced by Neptune alone and which ones were modified by other factors.
As to the effects of Neptune, perhaps it would be helpful to examine them over the lifetime of an individual. In childhood, strong Neptunian influences will produce an outstanding imagination that seems at times to be completely unconnected to reality. In adolescence, those Neptunian influences carry forth that childish purity of imagination, unable to understand the corrupt and broken pragmatism of the human world. To the Neptunian mind, close enough isn't good enough. It's obvious that this will cause tremendous disputes between an adolescent with strong Neptunian influences and anyone who tries to "talk some sense into them." In Truth, the highly Neptunian adolescent is the correct one, holding to purity of ideal, but those who support the human world as it is (the opposite of imagination) can never understand this fact.
In adulthood, one of strong Neptunian influences will have spent at least two decades swamped in Neptunian imagination, which seems to conflict with the artificial human world. This presumed conflict is what labels the imaginative creations as "illusions." Admittedly, Neptunian imagination is not concerned very much with pragmatism on a fundamental level, so it should be expected that the individual will float around in a soup of ideals for a while, rather than just get a job as he or she was told to do. Finally, there comes a point when the individual has spent so much time and energy dealing with these imaginative creations that he or she will begin to intentionally discriminate between illusion and reality. When the Neptunian mind finally "grows up," it becomes the expert philosopher, instinctively discerning the smell of bull****. To put it quite simply, when you've spent so much time dealing with your own illusory bull****, it becomes obvious when other people are bull****ing you.
So, while Neptune does lead one through a world of illusions, it also leads one out the other side and into the daylight. To be blunt, I think this process is absolutely necessary for everyone and most people do not put enough importance on it. Most individuals, of any astrological persuasion, are more motivated to be practical in the completely illusory human world. Only those of strong Neptunian influences end up becoming aware that the illusory human world really is just an illusion. Neptune gives you the dysfunction that you need in order to reject the artificial creations of humans and perceive the world for what it is.
As to myself personally, Neptune has been expressed rather vigorously in every part of my life. In my chart, it is the strongest member of a rather heavy Sagittarian stellium. Like I said before, my natal Neptune is separating from the galactic centre and is about 0.03 degrees away. It is also conjunct my South lunar node, loosely conjunct the Moon, trine to the Sun, sharply biquintile to Mars, and sharply sextile to Pluto. It is also parallel South to the Moon (0.25 degrees apart) and parallel South to the lunar apogee (0.34 degrees apart). Oh, and my natal Neptune is also retrograde. Considering these things, it would be extremely difficult (if even possible) to isolate which manifestations were influenced by Neptune alone and which ones were modified by other factors.