Neptune Station Retrograde 2024: Slipping into the Beginning of the End
Originally published on my Patreon
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Neptune Station Retrograde at 29 Pisces 6:40 AM EDT
Moon at 27 Taurus sextile Neptune Station Retrograde
Mercury at 29 Cancer trine Neptune Station Retrograde
Venus at 18 Cancer trine Saturn at 19 Pisces
Sun at 11 Cancer square the Nodes at 11 Aries/Libra
It is time, once again, for Neptune, the planet of dreams and intuition, the hazy and ethereal influence of spiritual awareness, to stand still and Station Retrograde, this time at the final degree not just of Pisces, but of the Zodiac. This is a poignant Station, awash with feelings that are at once full of hope and dread, of looking to new beginnings ahead but first needing to come to a space of peace, acceptance, and closure. This is the beginning of the end of an era, and that era comprises the entire transit of Neptune through this elusive and ever shifting sign, where Neptune has been bringing illusion and fantasy to this space in your chart since it entered Pisces back on April 4, 2011. We have just two more years of Neptune WILL enter Aries for a brief period in 2025 before stepping back into Pisces to culminate the lessons once and for all before heading into Aries for the long haul in January of 2026, so it’s imperative that we pay attention to whatever we experience with the dreamer and the idealist here at this final degree of the Zodiac upon this Station Retrograde. Whatever is happening now will find a resolution later, and may just now be stirrings and echoes of things yet to come, that will later surface as the fog lifts.
Outer planet transits are a long term collective force of change, and Neptune in Pisces has been the transit that has been directly responsible for redefining the way we approach spirituality, bringing patterns of addiction and codependency within relationships to the surface, and calling our attention to the nature of compassion and sacrifice. Neptune doesn’t make demands, it hints and suggests and works through intuition and inspiration, so sometimes the message is confused, and ends up producing the opposite result of what’s intended. Neptune has an underlying drive to see the best in things, and has an unshakable commitment to faith…sometimes this can be to our detriment and allows us to be manipulated, or led on by false hope. Neptune brings forth what we would like to believe, and it sometimes requires a major turning point to see the truth underlying what we’ve chosen to accept. This point of Station comes just after Saturn the Taskmaster has also Stationed Retrograde in Pisces, which has been coming behind Neptune in the sign waking us up to BIG reality checks. As we prepare to finish up this outer planet transit here, it’s crucial that we revisit the last few degrees of this sign so that we can find the true grace and acceptance that Pisces can bring. It doesn’t have to be all love and light, don’t get it twisted…when the Water is dark here, the nature of acceptance does not necessarily entail forgiveness or idealism.
The key dates to note in this Retrograde are as follows:
Neptune Station Retrograde at 29 Pisces 7.2.2024
Virgo Sun opposite Neptune at 28 Pisces 9.20.24
Neptune Station Direct at 27 Pisces 12.7.2024
Neptune Station Retrograde at 29 Pisces 6:40 AM EDT
Neptune Station Retrograde is a standstill, and especially given the elusive nature of this planet, it’s not a point of clarity. It’s a space of confusion as we begin to realize where our thinking has been misled, or our trust misplaced, or where we have been holding on to hope that doesn’t exist. Neptune is the spiritual awareness planet, but it also does come with a darker side…it has associations with deception, addiction, procrastination and these are the reasons that Modern astrologers may consider it to be associated with the sign of Pisces. I espouse Traditional rulerships, and consider Pisces to be Jupiter ruled, but I do see that Neptune has a natural affinity for this sign though I do NOT give outer planets a form of actual rulership. Neptune has a natural and intuitive experience in the sign of Pisces, which feels comfortable for it…sometimes too comfortable, in fact, and we don’t have the motivation to get moving, or sit and wait for things to happen instead of taking action where it's needed. This point of Station happens at the 29th degree, and it may show us opportunities that have passed by, or bring to mind the “what if’s” regarding things we feel we have missed out on for whatever reason, and there may be feelings of regret and rumination at the end of the Zodiac. Or, there may be a profound sense of gratitude for all that we’ve survived, if we have managed to still hold on to the hope and faith that we still have, and that brings us a sense of closure here and allows us to look toward finishing up the transit with fresh eyes, that feel perhaps open just a bit wider now. This Station, especially so close upon the heels of Saturn Station just 10 degrees behind, calls for examination of 2011 to the present, with a much sharper sense of scrutiny than that which we’ve previously examined it with. We may not be able to change where we went wrong, but in seeking to understand it, we can perhaps delve to the spiritual lesson that can be taken for what it is here at the end of the transit.
Neptune will be on this minute of Station through July 8, so this process of awakening unto the fog that surrounds us, of which we were previously unaware (perhaps blissfully) will slowly descend and the confusion may last for a few days. Again, this is not a moment of clarity, that comes with the Solar opposition at the center of the Retrograde. This is a point of exhaustion and the shifting of dreams from something ethereal and intangible into something we wake up and realize the level of effort it takes to realize them, to bring them to fruition. This Retrograde will only travel back to the 27th degree, so for all intents and purposes, we have Neptune back and forth here in this undertow at the end of Pisces for the next year and a half for these things to slowly come to full realization. We are now slipping into the final culmination of a long transit, and this is where the end begins.
Moon at 27 Taurus sextile Neptune Station Retrograde
Taurus Moon sextiles Neptune as it grinds to a halt, and I cannot say this strongly enough: PAY ATTENTION TO INTUITION, especially that which comes through symbols, deep and inexplicable feelings, and sudden profound yearning or need. The level of intensity of this Station Retrograde is powerful, and the best space to navigate it is deep within. Pisces is the sign of the subconscious, and ultimately, the sign of overwhelming compassion and healing…but we first have to confront the unpleasant nature of how we got these scars before we can watch them begin to disappear.
Taurus Moon guides us toward emotional security, and Moon is exalted in this Fixed Earth sign, so this is like a rope tossed in while we’re in quicksand, guiding us back to where things aren’t shifting and sinking so fast. We can take hold of solid reality around us thanks to this sextile from Moon in Taurus, and the emotional context that surrounds the Station is one of physical senses, cultivation, and long term domestic routine and stability. Taurus Moon takes whatever we can from the wreckage of Neptune’s confusion and disillusion and allows us to ground it into reality, one step at a time. Intuition guided, physically proven, the burden is upon us to do the work involved, and Taurus Moon has no problem rolling up our sleeves and committing to the change in direction. Once we wake up enough to decide what’s next, Taurus Moon in the chart lends the dedication to make it happen.
Mercury at 29 Cancer trine Neptune Station Retrograde
Mercury, planet of thought and communication, is bittersweet and deeply emotional at the end of the sign of Cancer, the realm of home, family, and roots upon Station, and will move into Leo shortly thereafter. In the Station chart, though, this influence is one of deep longing to belong, and a need for secure foundation of home and roots. That may entail a return to roots, or a strengthening of the family we’ve built around us…and this comes through a newfound awareness of the truth surrounding circumstances that we’ve perhaps ignored or been blind to. This can be an aspect of deep and abiding attachment, or one of dissolving bonds, as sometimes Neptune has an influence of disintegration and dissolution. Either way, we don’t get to remain in fantasyland or hold on to outdated ideals anymore, this Station redefines how we feel about and perceive family, and as it comes at the 29th degree of both signs, this is a final lesson we must now endure before we can move on to what’s next. Mercury in Cancer may need to reveal hidden thoughts or feelings that have been under the surface, and this trine may also bring out a powerfully protective instinct in uncertain or confusing situations. Cancer has very sharp claws when provoked, especially in the final decan of the sign. Mercury was trine Saturn in it’s recent Station, and whatever issues it revealed may now face hesitance and uncertainty as Mercury takes on this role in the subsequent time of Station.
Venus at 18 Cancer trine Saturn at 19 Pisces
Venus, planet of relationships and resources, will be trine Saturn, planet of guidance and discipline, that also very recently Stationed Retrograde at 19 Pisces. Saturn moves off the minute of Station today, and with Venus trine here, this is an excellent time to assess and examine the nature of commitments and the role of emotional connection within relationships. This trine indicates a need for relationships of spiritual connection, and aspect also heightens empathy and intuition. Every part of this intensely Water driven chart speaks to an overwhelming influence of intuition leading us through the murkiest Waters and the thickest fog, so when things do feel confusing or uncertain, trust your inner voice. This is also an excellent time to connect with a trusted spiritual advisor or mundane therapist/counselor, anyone who can help to sort out the reality from the fantasy, and separate what we feel from what we think and to turn all of it into something we can work with. Given that there is such a profound Cancer influence, with Mercury and Venus in tight aspect in this chart to Neptune and Saturn respectively, it’s the Venus/Saturn aspect that guides us as to DOING something to resolve relationship issues and tensions that may be made clear in the square from Cancer Sun to the Nodes.
Sun at 11 Cancer square the Nodes at 11 Aries/Libra
This Station comes at a point of celestial imperative, where Sun exactly squares the Nodal Axis, and this marks the halfway point between Eclipses. This time of Sun at The Bendings is a checkpoint in the path, where we may face instability related to Eclipse influences being brought back to our attention according to what we’ve done or haven’t done, and that is all extremely individual depending upon where the last set of Eclipses impacted your individual natal chart. Squares are a tension, a disturbance, and this time we have Sun in Cancer, the sign of home and family, the protective and emotionally driven empathic Moon ruled sign, at cross purposes with the Nodal Axis in Aries/Libra, the signs of ME/WE, of Self/Relationships. Aries is the direct blunt force of Cardinal Fire while Libra is cool and considered Cardinal Air, Aries MOVES and Libra orchestrates. Aries takes charge, Libra hesitates and debates. Either way that we are out of balance, Cancer Sun reminds us here that we need to shift the balance, and the underlying demand at this time is preservation of emotional security, and the needs of home and family.
Squares to the Nodes can provoke sudden disruptions or changes, or realizations surrounding the work that we’re doing in alignment with the Nodal Axis. Cancer often speaks to the meeting of needs and nurturing, and imbalances in this regard may be called to consciousness. Are we feeling truly cared for and replenished, or do we feel spun out by energy expended? Do we need to retreat within the proverbial shell for a while, or would our needs be better met by coming OUT of the shell and being more assertive about needs? Cancer often has a hard time knowing the difference between aggression (Aries square here) and assertion, the hesitance that Libra South Node is telling us to leave behind is a hard pattern to break, and the prevalence of Cancer aspects in this chart indicate that there may be emotional upsets and explosions if we’ve been keeping frustration or dissatisfaction to ourselves recently. This square to the Nodes complicates Neptune Station, because it’s a major point of demand to ACTION while Neptune is at a Standstill, and the inclination is to wait, to surrender to the undertow that surrounds us, to slip away into the pleasant dark that’s calling and the quiet that can happen at times like this. Sun square the Nodes make this Station anything but quiet, and that can add to the confusion swirling and the fog thickening. Once again, it’s time to allow intuition to lead and to guide. We don’t have to be certain, but we do have to go where we are led.