“Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it’s from Neptune.” Noam Chomsky

On the Summer Solstice, June 21, the Sun slips into the sign of Cancer. Cancer’s ruling planet is Neptune, one of those generational planets which affects the whole mass of humanity – ruled by Cancer – as opposed to having a more personal influence on us. Although Galileo Galilei saw and recorded Neptune through his new telescope in 1613, and although esoteric scientists knew something was out there even though they couldn’t find it by conventional means, traditional astronomers only finally found the lost planet in 1846 at which time astrologers scrambled to figure out where to fit it in the “map” of signs, houses and planets which is our zodiac. It was finally paired with Pisces along with drugs, crime and unconsciousness. However, when vibrating to a higher calling, Esoteric Astrology pairs it with the most caring sign of the zodiac, Cancer. That said, like Pisces, there is occasional disquiet in regard to this planet and sign. Together they rule fogs, confusion, being lost and the illusion of Life itself. They can be the first to scuttle under a rock to avoid conflict or responsibility when lowly evolved. They often feel lost and ineffectual. When direct, Neptune is responsible for more failures than any other planet, but when it goes retrograde it necessitates, driving the native forward with a dynamic will which can be surprising. When retrograde it is, in fact, the most spiritual expression of all the planets. When honestly struggling to evolve and lead a spiritual life, Neptune’s purpose is to enable the native to Lift the Veil, to disperse the fogs and to recognize the reality of a higher way of being.

The ancient wisdom suggests that this far-off planet came from another solar system and as such is an ambassador from the galaxy itself bringing to us the cosmic energy of the Milky Way. Neptune is one of two ice giants made up of some 80% or more of “icy” materials including water, methane and ammonia. Obviously associated with water and its emotional symbology, Neptune is our most nebulous, hard to pin down planet also associated with the imagination, dreams, visions and the intangible. Richard Tarnas writes: “The archetypal principle linked to Neptune governs all non-ordinary states of consciousness as well as the stream of consciousness and the oceanic depths of the unconscious.” In short, it could be a bridge linking us not only to the entire Universe but also to the untapped depths of our own interior Universe.

Everyone: Monitor your dreams this month; the messages there are often more real than your daily life.