Neptune transits to mars

the square, opposition, and conjunction

As retrograde Neptune approaches its square to my natal Mars for fourth time, I’m reminded of the intensity of this transit.

Explaining Neptune/Mars harsh transits has initiated tears for my clients more so than the explanation of any other transit. 

There is something so validating to hear exactly what you’ve been experiencing and realizing that you’re not losing your mind. 

I had a nice 6 month break of Neptune being far enough off my Mars that the intensity of this transit eased, and I felt somewhat normal again. 

Only for this retrograde to remind me just how intense harsh Neptune transits can be. 

We can easily look back on Saturn and Pluto transits as major turning points in our life.

The year that Jupiter transits or the 18 months of a Nodal transit to a house, those themes seem very present in our reality. 

But Neptune dissolves and blurs, so it’s hard to even put into words the experience of its harsh aspects. 

Until you’re in it. 

Then you’re reminded of Neptune’s “force.” Force in the sense that it can totally alter your reality, but also not in a totally tangible way. 

Transit Neptune in harsh aspects to Mars brings about extreme fatigue, sometimes unexplained/hard to diagnose health issues, disorientation in reality, lack of direction, deception, and trials or even failure when seeking success or motivation. 

During the square, it can be a time where every self-directed effort goes unnoticed, or doesn’t quite work as planned. 

Everything you thought you wanted and were working towards, disintegrates. Not always in the physical world, but in your internal motivation. 

Things you were so passionate about, you begin to doubt and question. 

And if the desire is still there, your energy or “umph” to move towards those things definitely isn’t. 

It feels like floating through a void of reality. Not fully grounded but not fully lost. 

As you question everything, you question yourself. 

The fatigue is so hard to pin down. 

You can be doing everything the same as you were a month ago (diet, lifestyle, health related things), but now you can’t seem to release the heaviness from your eyes or mind.

And for some, the health issues become very present but simultaneously illusive. 

I’ve been battling these hard to diagnose health issues for about 2 years. 

The issues arose the day Neptune began squaring my Mars at 3° and Pluto was quincunx my Chiron and opposite my Ascendant. 

Pluto is known to bring toxins to the surface to be released, which is ultimately one of the many comorbidities I have been experiencing. 

But, it wasn’t until after Neptune’s 3rd and final pass that my root cause was finally (hopefully) diagnosed. 

It’ll still be probably at least another year of treatment, and ironically another year until Neptune is fully out of bounds. 

Currently, this retrograde is bringing Neptune back to 0.05’ square my Mars. So not a formal “pass” but definitely close enough for everything to be experienced in full intensity again.

And all the progress I felt like I had made towards feeling better has been erased. 

The inflammation throughout my entire body, the extreme exhaustion, the flares related to the health issues all began to kick up as Neptune got back to around .3-.4’ away. 

And I simultaneously feel like I have transcended reality. Life feels like a dream, but not a good one and not a bad one either. A very twilight zone, alternate reality way. 

I had begun redefining business goals as I began to feel better a month or two ago, only to be thrown back in a place of dissolution. 

And it’s not even confusion anymore, it may have once been, but now it just feels like floating through space, where not much feels real. 

Neptune to your Mars will do this. It strips you bare of your motivations and desires to get you to the core of what you want to direct your very limited energy toward. 

You get a ping of what you may want only to have a 5% battery reserve, so you’re forced to sit with how badly you want something. 

Ultimately, it helps you learn what your true desires are and how to direct your energy more efficiently in the future. 

Due to the unbearable length of the transit, it rewrites any false start triggers you have. In hopes of in the future getting you to direct your energy in a more authentic and aligned way to what is true to you. 

If you are someone who has been working towards things due to other’s expectations of you (societal, parental, etc.), you’re forced to come face to face with that during this transit. 

While you are unsure of forward movement, you will see how certain things you’ve been working towards come from a false place. 

The career you’ve been pursuing may be one that society or your parents deemed as the “right” or successful path, but your true love is for something totally different. 

You may see where you’ve taken on others’ opinions or ideas of what you should do and blindly followed. 

Or you saw someone else be successful at a thing, and imitated their success. This imitation may have once worked for you, but it no longer does, because it was never truly yours.

Neptune’s dissolving is to assist you in seeing your true motivations, desires, and passions. 

Only after the year and a half (plus) length of time will this become clear to you. 

As you move through it, it may feel like everything is falling apart. And not in the same way a Pluto transit clears out the foundation. 

These transits make it near impossible for you to continue to make the thing that was working great, work, if its not ultimately for you. 

And often initially, those going through these transits (square, opposition, conjunction), see this as an indication that they need to try harder. 

So they push, force, and become desperate all while further depleting what little energy reserves they have. 

These transits are times of rest and retreat, where the prescription is creativity and romanticism (if every day life – not romantic relationships). But as reality slips away, we feel like we desperately need to grasp onto something, so we resist the rest that is truly needed throughout this transit. 

Speaking of relationships, Neptune often gets dumbed down to “rose-colored” glasses. 

But within relationships, romantic and otherwise, harsh Neptune contacts breed deception, lies, and betrayal. 

Those who have had harsh Neptune synastry with someone or who have gone through harsh Neptune transits to their Venus are very familiar with this tale. 

The white knight seemingly so perfect and everything they ever dreamed of, turning into a cheating abuser as the romantic delusion faded. 

With the above example of pushing and forcing and trying harder where things aren’t working, one is also prone to being taken advantage of. This can be through work endeavors or even just connecting with others.

And when it comes to sexual relationships (Mars energy), there is no basis in reality on whether someone is a good match or not. Sexual dysfunction is also possible. Be careful of being taken advantage of, lies and deception within sexual contacts with others. 

Finally any type of alteration to consciousness should be avoided. 

Drugs, alcohol, medication, and even certain supplements will have an unusual effect on the body, often different and more intense than what one is used to. Allergic reactions are possible. 

Your body and bodily functions become overly sensitive at this time, and it is wise to tread carefully and slowly when dealing with health issues and their remedies. 

Surgery and anesthesia are also cautioned against during this transit.

Neptune transits I think are some of the harder transits to navigate because they are so hard to pin down. 

It’s why Neptune square Neptune is considered a mid-life crisis transit. 

Our brain thrives on predictability and dependability. It is conditioned that when x, does y, then z happens. 

So when x, y, and z no longer function in a predictable manner, or no longer function at all. The feelings that can ensue feel overwhelming. 

At least with Saturn transits, we can work on and towards a thing. We’re encouraged to learn responsibility and accountability. There’s tangibility and action in Saturn transits. 

With Pluto, we can feel just as out of control as with Neptune, but Pluto is remedied with deep, subconscious, psychotherapy work. So, if you’re someone who is open to such, you can face Pluto head on. 

To me, Neptune is all about letting go and giving up control in a way that is hard to even express. You’re basically at its mercy for the 1.5+ you experience its passes. Rest, meditation and creative expression are often remedies for Neptune, but when it’s aspecting your Mars, taking action becomes the very thing that is compromised.

But, I don’t share this in a hopeless way, you are being shown things about yourself, even if they feel foggy and unclear at the time. 

You make not realize as you are going through it, but you are refining how you expend your energy. 

You’re being asked to focus on your health. And while often hard to diagnose things are happening, it forces many people to get the check ups and tests run that they may have not done for another 10 or 20 years.

And you are being asked to realign with your authentic desires, passions and drives. 

Because ultimately, achieving what you want for yourself is more fulfilling than doing things because someone else dictated them as successful or safe. 

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