?Neptune in astrology is one of the generational outer planets, along with Uranus and Pluto. These planets spend a long time in one Zodiac sign, so entire generations often have them in the same sign. Neptune is our spiritual selves, and connects to the subtle energies all around us.

There are ten planets in a standard astrology chart (I personally also add Ceres, and there are others, but we start with the ten). Each planet links to a different part of your personality and life. Your natal chart is a snapshot of the locations of the planets, other bodies, and houses in the Zodiac at the moment you're born and from the location you're born at.

Neptune is the natural ruling planet for water sign Pisces, the most fluid and flexible of the signs, and naturally connects with the twelfth house, the house of endings and the hidden.

spirituality
intuition
imagination and the arts
compassion and empathy
sacrifice
dissolving
obscuring

In your natal chart, your natal Neptune rules your spiritual self. It can show how you connect to your spiritual self, your spirituality and spiritual beliefs, and your connection to the beyond.

Conjunctions (alignments by other planets to your Neptune) tend to be strong, though the other planet can take over Neptune at times, while Neptune can hide the planet it's conjunct. There is often some trauma or baggage associated with the conjunct planet, and dealing with that is important.

When it comes to transits, the transit (moving) planets aspecting your natal Neptune can impact your connection to your spiritual self, either strengthening this connection with sextiles and trines, or challenging it with squares and oppositions.

Neptune governs our intuition, and can show where you use and benefit from your intuition with the house in your natal chart it's located both natally and in transit. This is where you have to strengthen your connection to your intuition, and where you can get intuitive insights.

Neptune in astrology rules imagination and the arts, specifically art itself and music, though imagination can also link to writing. Neptune rules fantasy, what's not of this world, and this lends itself to creative inspiration, and creativity can often be the only way to express what is felt with Neptune. Creativity can also bypass the need for conscious or thought-out expression, which can be difficult sometimes, and with Neptune being foggy, not having to be practical and focused is a big help.

Neptune in astrology rules compassion and empathy. Thanks to the strong imagination, Neptune helps us envision what it's like for others, to put ourselves in others' shoes, without having to actually experience it ourselves. This gives us empathy, and that makes us more compassionate and understanding. 

Neptune in astrology rules sacrifice. Neptune wants to be of service, but not in a broad way like Uranus. Neptune wants to be of service in a deeply personal, one-on-one kind of way, and thanks to the supreme compassion and empathy, is willing to make sacrifices to help.

This part of Neptune is where needing healthy boundaries is very important, because with Neptune, it's easy to be taken advantage of. We want to help so much, and the manipulative among us can take-take-take if we're not careful.

Transit Neptune's base energy is to dissolve. This often means that it takes away something from whatever natl planet it's touching with a conjunction, square, or opposition. This isn't usually traumatic though; in fact, we often don't even realize it until the transit is over. Neptune causes it to fade out of existence rather than be something big and loud like Uranus or Pluto.

Sextiles and trines by transit Neptunecan still dissolve something, however we can be more aware of this, and see it as a good thing, or are the ones who are making it go away.

Neptune is known as the foggy planet. It has obscuring energy, and can hide whatever it's in contact with. In your natal chart, the house natal Neptune is located can get this energy, and you may not see everything there is to see, and have to work at being more grounded. This can also be the case with any natal planets natal Neptune is conjunct, square, or opposite.

Transit Neptune can also obscure, temporarily with the areas of life ruled by the house it's touring in your natal chart, and with the natal planets it's conjunct, square, or opposite. This is hidden from you, and you may not realize what's been out of your view until Neptune has moved on.

For everyone, look to the Zodiac sign and natal house your Neptune falls in. The energy of the Neptune sign is how you connect to your spiritual self, intuition, imagination, and compassionate side, while the areas of life ruled by the house your Neptune falls in are where you need to operate on intuition and be creative. Also look to the natural planetary ruler of your Neptune sign (the natural planetary ruler of the Zodiac sign your Neptune falls in) as this can also connect to the Neptune energy.

Planets that are conjunct (aligned with) your natal Neptune can be super important with your spiritual self, and can show where you need to be intuitive. But, they can also be obscured by Neptune, and you have difficulty seeing them consciously. They can be sources of major creativity and artistic talent though.

Transit (moving) planets aspecting your natal Neptune can bring some temporary energy for the Neptune matters. This can impact you spiritually with Neptune, but can also impact the areas of life ruled by the house your Neptune falls in, as well as the areas of life ruled by the house your Neptune rules (so the house that falls in Pisces). 

The most challenging aspects to your natal Neptune can be hard transit Saturn (since Saturn is realistic and gets annoyed by the imaginative intuitive nature of Neptune), and hard transit Chiron (since Chiron rules our wounds and Neptune can struggle with boundaries so we can be wounded easily).

Make sure to sign up for the free monthly worksheet to keep track of the transit planets impacting your natal Neptune and aspects by transit Neptune every month!

Some may have a more important natal Neptune. This can be the case for you if you have:
- a stellium (3+ planets) including your natal Neptune
- your natal Neptune conjunct an angle
- your North or South Node in your Neptune sign
- your 1st house ruler conjunct natal Neptune
- your natal Neptune anaretic (at 29 degrees)
- retrograde Mercury, Venus or Mars conjunct your natal Neptune

If your natal Neptune is in a stellium, it can either make your natal Neptune disappear so it gets overtaken by the other planets in the stellium, or it can make it so Neptune obscures the stellium and you have a hard time accessing the energy consciously. You likely need to connect to it subconsciously, and have a block to work through. But it can be a source of great ability and power once you do.

If your natal Neptune is conjunct a retrograde Mercury, Venus or Mars, you likely have an alternative way of connecting to your spiritual self, your intuition, your imagination, and your compassion. There can be a big block or old trauma associated with this though, and that has to be worked through first before you can find that alternate way.

An anaretic natal Neptune can show you either are way too much into your Neptune and get lost in fantasy, can't handle reality, and are super easily manipulated and taken advantage of, or you shy away from your Neptune completely and have difficulty connecting to your intuition, spirituality, and imagination at all. Balance, moderation, but also working through issues and blocks are needed.

Neptune conjunct an angle makes a spiritual connection, imagination, and strong intuition more important for that angle; conjunct your North Node, you can have great potential with your spirituality, intuition, and imagination, but need to get through fear of this first; conjunct the South Node, you may have a deeply spiritual side, but can use it as a crutch to avoid reality and have to learn to deal with the physical world; and conjunct the 1st house ruler, you can be super charismatic and empathetic, but have to keep healthy boundaries in mind.

Suggested Reading: Natal Neptune and Transit Neptune pages for general interpretations