During the next couple of years I will be having Neptune opposing my natal Mars five times. Such an event being generated by one of the outer planets is an energy that comes to dominate the life for awhile, and which can teach one vast and profound things.
This transit is complicated by, and I would also say enriched by my having Neptune conjunct Mars in my 9th harmonic — so this is an energy I am moving toward, that I am developing inevitably.
One major area which Neptune/Mars addresses is subtle energy, and for most of my adult life I have been interested in energy therapy. I am a Reiki master. I have taught flower essence therapy, gem and mineral therapy, and several other forms of energy therapy. I will say,though, that my involvement with these things has been strongly theoretical and abstract, that is, I think about them, collect information about them, and know much about them. I am now strongly feeling that what Neptune/Mars is to bring me over these next two years is a more pure, direct, experiential ivolvment in these therapies.
Astrology is said to be Uranian. I say “said to be” because there are many different forms and styles of astrology. The Uranian type of astrology has much to do with intellectualizing and the mind. What I have always been more drawn to is what I would call “Neptunian” astrology, and that is why I have been so focused on the use of degree symbols when interpreting charts. Uranian astrology attempts to see the uniqueness (Uranus) of each chart. Neptunian astrology is more interested in using the chart as a doorway or portal into the deeper and hidden realms of the psyche, which ultimately means using the chart as a lens through which to focus the intuition. Uranian astrology is more about inventing mental constructs to explain the chart. Neptunian astrology is more about feeling into the chart, about the chart as poetry. And here I am not referring to superficial poetry, whose only goal is beauty and pleasantness, but the ancient poetry, whose purpose was magical evocation, poetry which is talismanic and carries the energy of healing.
My Mars is in the 1st degree of Virgo, and the Chandra symbol for that degree is “A volcano erupting at night.” The Omega symbol for that same degree is “Late at night someone comes home and slowly ascends the stairs.” What I get out of this is that the volcano is about a natural, primal releasing — an effortless pouring forth of something which is a combintion of fire and earth (lava) meaning a combination of that which is spiritual (fire) and yet practical. The person coming home and slowly ascending the stairs is about a retreat from the world and a return to the deep inner self. In a sense the two images seem diametrically opposed, but both are about release — a letting go.
The man climbing the stairs is being slow — He is working to elevate himself — the stairs take him upward into a place of privacy. And yes, as I am now under the first of these Neptune opposing Mars transits I feel both that I am in the process of spewing forth my contents like the volcano while yet also coming back to personal center.