The archetype of Neptune by its very nature is difficult to pin down into a precise set of characteristics or meanings, primarily because it is associated with the unseen aspects of reality, with transcendence, and thus to the spiritual side of human nature. The watery quality of Neptune conveys deep mystery and depth, where things are not quite what they seem; the Neptunian realm is “slippery”; it “is” and “is not”; truth and illusion are separated by a hair's breadth.
Like Uranus and Pluto, Neptune as an archetype, deeply influences collective reality and collective evolution, and this year, not only does Neptune change signs with a corresponding shift in the way the world unfolds, he also completes a full cycle of the zodiac and rebirths through the 1st sign of Aries after 164 years, adding a stronger effect to the way things are going to unfold.
This cycle renewal is yet another symbol, reflective of the current window in time, where the cosmic pattern is undergoing significant change, which in turn, continues to reflect in the world.
Neptune was first discovered in 1846, when Neptune and Saturn were in exact conjunction at 25˚ Aquarius. In early 2025 we are currently culminating a cycle of spiritual development at the collective level that began over a hundred years ago, and are now preparing for a new growth cycle with new expressions and new potentials.
The discovery of Neptune coincides with a change in the way we were collectively dealing with the spiritual side of life. At the time, Neptune was conjunct Saturn in Aquarius, and this initiated a “rebellion” against science materialism (Saturn) to effectively bridge humanity back to the spiritual plane in a way that didn’t rely on secret societies or religious top down hierarchies; instead the new message was typically Aquarian: all individuals have their own unique way of relating to and connecting to the Divine and the unseen, and that there are many pathways to do so.
The epoch of Archangel Michael
Neptune entered Aries in 1861-1862 and began to initiate a new cycle of spiritual development, generating new energy upon which the Spiritualist Movement could lay the foundations for the modern New Age Movement. Shortly afterward, the Rosicrucian cycle of the 7 archangelic epochs also shifted in 1879, from the previous epoch ruled by the Moon and associated with the Archangel Gabriel, to the current 7th epoch, ruled by the Sun, and attributed to Archangel Michael. This shift, lasting until approximately 2300 AD, ushered in a very benevolent time period where the energy of self-realisation is accentuated, making it much easier for human beings to expand conscious awareness of the spiritual basis of reality. The Michael epoch offers us a significant advantage as we move away from the dark materialistic Ahrimanic cycle (Kali Yuga) via the transition into the Age of Aquarius. The Ascension paradigm represents this shift toward the ‘middle way’ via the path of Christ-Sophia Consciousness.
The retrograde nature of the Neptune-Saturn conjunction in 1846 meant that much of the ‘new’ in the New Age Movement would be built from older existing knowledge, either released gradually into the public arena from knowledge bearers within secret societies, or retrieved by gifted individuals from the Cosmic Akasha.
As the 7th epoch, Michael represents the energy of synthesis, and this has encouraged all the different systems to be brought together through the New Age Movement for greater understanding, as well as encouraged the release and dissemination of previously protected spiritual information into the public arena; nowadays, more than ever, it is possible to access for relatively little money, knowledge that was once highly guarded and only given to those chosen to be knowledge bearers.
The New Age Movement began to culminate when Neptune returned to the sign of Aquarius in 1998, where we saw it build rapid momentum in the mainstream arena. In 2024, for example, it is fairly commonplace for individuals to consult Tarot or other oracular card systems or astrology, to seek spiritual connection through Eastern meditation practices or Yoga, and once ridiculed and rejected ideas like lithotherapy (crystal medicine) and energy healing, are now very much mainstream; there's an established global gemstone marketplace, where buyers are just as likely to purchase crystals for their spiritual qualities rather than as mere collectors items, and Reiki healing is especially accessible in the mainstream.
But the New Age Movement is a motley crew of spiritual dissidents, adventurers, explorers and con-artists. It has no specific structure or code, it embraces a radical universal swirling cauldron of spiritual and therapeutic ideas, relatively free from the constraints of organised religion or governmental regulation, and yet fundamentally influenced, if not derived, from past religious and spiritual systems. Like all things it has a light and dark side, and those who find themselves drawn to it must learn how to discern and navigate safely.
A New Spiritual System for a New Age of Freedom
Once again Neptune and Saturn will conjoin in the sky, this time at 0˚ Aries in 2025, so the rebirth of the Neptune cycle also coincides with a Saturn conjunction, providing an amplified initial energy wave kicking off the new seed impulses related to our relationship between physical mortal life and spiritual eternal existence. Since 2012, when Neptune first entered Pisces, coinciding with the culmination of the Mayan Calendar System (marking the beginning of a primary new epoch in human evolution), we’ve seen some powerful expressions of Neptune in the world amplified through Pisces. For example, more and more people medicating on drugs to combat depression and mental illness, high suicide rates in western countries, and a thriving porn industry.
In the last decade we are collectively immersed in profound confusion, meaninglessness and an incapacity to truly know what is real. The challenging side of Neptune in Pisces has generated increasing disillusionment with the current materialistic paradigm, with a subsequent burgeoning hunger for deeper meaning. At the same time, for those already at a higher frequency, its been a time to jump down the rabbit hole, and embark on personal awakening journeys that inevitably activate spiritual awareness beyond science-materialism. This awakening has been touching all sectors, all cultures and all ages, and the plethora of spiritual conversations thriving in social media platforms is evidence of a growing hunger for all things spiritual within the collective.
The rebirth of the Neptune Cycle through a conjunction with Saturn in Aries is going to initiate a break away from old spiritual structures to begin generating new spiritual systems that go deep enough to tackle the weight of the existential crisis we face collectively.
This is highly suggestive that the New Age Movement is going to be surpassed by something else as we move through the next 20 year period, marked by Pluto’s transit through Aquarius, and onward as Pluto enters Pisces in 2043. I mention Pluto to provide the Aquarian evolutionary context we are currently just beginning (Pluto will be activating 0˚-3˚ Aquarius this year), which means the rebirth of spiritual meaning and higher purpose (Neptune) in ways that pertain usefully to our earthly embodied life (Saturn) will emerge through the Aquarian lens of freedom, idealism, science, ideation, equality and the furtherance of our human potential.
New spiritual ways of relating to existence will have to address the galactic and inter-galactic place Earth holds. Our understanding of sacred-geometry, subtle energy, star-gates, multiple dimensions, densities, and frequencies of consciousness and soul, will naturally form part of a new spirituality on Earth. This is of course already happening, and the autonomous spiritual outliers who are already engaging the new higher frequencies, will increasingly disseminate wisdom and knowledge into the collective process.
Neptune in Aries represents a time of the spiritual pioneer and trailblazer, so we can expect new spiritual teachers to emerge, each contributing to a move away from the prior limitations of religion toward a more dynamic and liberated spiritual engagement that respects the individual. We may also see new spiritual movements, or pathways emerge; ones that provide a more integrated structure and allow for the synthesis of multiple disciplines. We may also see many who have been previously following a spiritual or religious system begin to carve their own spiritual path on their own terms in a more solitary manner than before. A key theme will be a call to autonomous spiritual connection and new explorations into the spiritual realm, resulting in new knowledge and understanding: we are entering the time of the spiritual warrior, especially in the way we evolve and grow at the personal level.
Neptune: the guardian at the threshold
Neptune is the guardian at the threshold between the realms of the seen and the realms of the unseen. He acts as the gateway to multiple dimensional realities of experience. On a personal level we each have a unique relationship with Neptune, which correlates to our personal level of self-mastery and frequency of consciousness.
For the individuated and awakening soul, Neptune represents the realm of dreams and subtle energy; the vertical axis connecting us to multiple dimensions of existence; the Living Field Matrix that ultimately connects us to the One Creator. Neptune in this sense is about transcendence with a capital T
For the sleeping soul, trapped in a limited perception of purely materialistic reality, Neptune represents the impulse to transcend with a little ’t’ through escape strategies such as fantasy, illusion, and addictions - including narcotics and alcohol, as well as hedonism.
While Neptune has been in Pisces, the impulse to transcend or escape has been heightened, as has the dissolution of illusions and false realties that have either left us feeling elated or deeply disillusioned and bereft of meaning. Part of the reason for a growing meaninglessness is tied to the culmination of the cycle; the old ways of relating to ultimate meaning and the spiritual in general, are quite naturally becoming redundant and insufficient. Even our established spiritual teachers and leaders are under pressure to deliver adequately to those seeking more spiritual depth than was previously asked for. As Neptune in Aries begins, it may drive seekers to look in new directions in order to find answers, and collectively we may begin to become more open to new ideas and move away from obsolete dogmas that hold humanity back, especially within organised religion.
It would not be a surprise if organised religion as a whole will come under pressure to modernise, change and adapt to our evolving spiritual needs. We may as a result of this see the emergence of religious wars or conflicts challenging the old ways, especially within theocratic countries in the Middle East. The same type of conflicts could show up between the spiritually awakening groups and the secular atheists, which might show up in a clash between the new emerging pan-psychic science versus the more conventional and well established materialist science. We may see significant leaps in the way science understands consciousness.
Finally…
Neptune in Aries will contribute to our changing world and more or less coincides with Pluto’s transit through Aquarius. I think that these two transits together will stimulate considerable breakthroughs in spiritually based science. This theme is amplified by the imminent ingress of Uranus into Gemini for the next 7 years. As an air sign, Gemini will pertain to sudden scientific breakthroughs, especially since Sedna is also currently at 1˚ Gemini. Sedna has an extremely long and wide orbit of 10,770 years; she is currently the celestial body that travels the furthest away from Earth, and while Uranus makes conjunction with Sedna, we can expect new information to be 'received', which will alter the way we see the universe and our place in it. This could manifest as new inventions and new science based theories, as well as more knowledge of the galactic milieu and a greater understanding of the other galactic cultures operating in our ‘neighbourhood’.
Neptune in early Aries will also make a sextile aspect to Sedna, enhancing telepathic connection with the other Star Nations and groups such as the Galactic Federation of Worlds. Such new developments will in turn influence our collective spiritual development, moving us into new territory.
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Aquila offers Self-realisation mentoring, Evolutionary Astrology, and Tarot sessions for those awakening to their true potential.
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