Neptune is the planet of dreams, imagination, and Divine inspiration. It is also the planet of delusions, betrayal, addiction, and deep, forlorn yearning for the unattainable. When the Neptunian longing for transcendence and bliss fuse with unmet needs for love, belonging, safety, or self-worth, we can get lost in an emotional fog. We end up chasing illusions and sacrificing our real life for a fantasy. As painful as it is, disillusionment is the key to waking up from Neptunian confusion. We have to let go of what isn’t real to be able to build on solid ground.
We have a page about Neptune if you want to learn more. I also recommend Liz Greene’s book The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption and The Book of Neptune by Steven Forrest.
Neptune in the 10th House in the Natal Chart
Overview
The 10th is the house of our career, reputation, status, and public role.It is also, along with the 4th, one of the houses that show our relationship with our parents. The work here is to consciously process any inner conflicts or unhealed aspects of yourself that you may be projecting onto the world. This enables you to become a clearer channel for your higher mission.
Gifts
- a career that feels like a calling
- intuitive understanding of collective needs
- sensitivity to unspoken social currents
- finding opportunities intuitively
- talent for acting or film
- larger-than-life public presence
- natural charisma
- magnetic quality that attracts attention
- potential for fame
- potential to leave an inspiring legacy
Challenges
- blurred boundaries between self and public role
- accommodating the public so much you lose yourself
- seduction by glamour or fame
- playing out victim-redeemer drama on the public stage
- self-sacrifice for external validation
- ambivalence toward the public (wanting adoration but also fearing disapproval)
- feeling overwhelmed or victimized by oppressive social forces
- being the target of scandals
- being misrepresented
- seeing the world as full of misery and in need of help or saving
- identifying with failure or invisibility
- acting subversively or deceitfully toward society
- drifting from job to job
- fatalism toward personal advancement
- self-sabotage
Lessons
- honest confrontation with inner projected material
- being authentic and aligned in public roles
- developing resilience against external judgment
- not letting others’ projections define you
- finding purpose that aligns with your soul
- untangling personal worth from public approval
- releasing self-importance
- letting go of ego attachment to fame or glamour
- developing your visionary imagination
Potential
- a career that uplifts the collective
- blending empathy with influence
- contributing something sacred to the world
- becoming a visionary leader
- being a lighthouse for your community
- reshaping culture and collective mythologies through creative or spiritual work
The Neptune Growth Journey
Neptune shows us where we are attached, clinging to illusions, trying to escape our existence, or hiding from reality. When the illusions dissolve, we are left with what is real and what actually matters. We are left with the raw truth, and our real self. And that is where the real magic is found.
Faced with the truth we were trying to avoid, we finally have to take responsibility for meeting our own needs. We take off the rose-colored glasses and come to terms with life as it is.
As we make peace with reality, we find that it is where we can actually meet our needs. We can, step by step, find real fulfillment in the real world, which feels far more solid and satisfying than our fantasy.
Once we know how to meet our needs in a more Saturnian way, we can then access the imaginative and dreamy side of Neptune without getting lost in the fog.
The desire for transcendence doesn't go away, but we are able to direct our feelings of existential longing toward what is truly boundless: spiritual practice, creativity, and communion with nature. We become channels for grace, Divine inspiration, and the feeling of Oneness we wanted all along. We’ve finally become a vessel who can receive Neptune’s magic without dissolving or drowning.
