N E P T U N E I N C A P R I C O R N
The planet Neptune stays in each sign for approximately 14 years. It was in Sagittarius from 1970 to 1984 and it will be in Capricorn from 1984 through 1998. To understand what that means we have to see what Neptune does.
Neptune on an individual level is a person's dreams. For an image of Neptune imagine a person in flowing white robes with a dreamy look on their face. This person may talk in a spaced-out, sing-song manner, or give vague and poetic answers to precise questions. Officially, Neptune rules drugs and dreams, the underdog, ghettos, and bohemias. On the high side Neptune is a great musician, poet, or compassionate religious leader -- at its worst, Neptune is skid row or a con man with his hype. Neptunians are only vaguely aware of the physical plane.
On a broad social level, which is more what we are interested in, Neptune is the image of a generation or a time period. Since Neptune stays in a sign for 14 years we can talk about the people born in these periods as Neptunian generations. The Neptune in Virgo people (born 1928-1942) have a clean-cut image of service, hard- work, and the Puritan ethic. The Neptune in Libra generation (born 1942-1956) maintain an image of social harmony and aesthetic taste. The Neptune in Scorpio folks (born 1956-1970) have an image of black leather, cool intensity, and macabre realism. When Kiss and Black Sabbath came out I chuckled and said, "Well, here's the Neptune in Scorpio generation." The rest of my generation, Neptune in Libra, was not as amused at the time...
Each of these generations then lived through Neptune going into many of the succeeding signs. The Neptune in Libra period started right as the tide turned in the middle of World War II and lasted to the late 1950's. This period can be thought of as the birth and proliferation of the suburbs. Everything was run by committee and clique -- social acceptance was highly important. For further information, read The Lonely Crowd. In the last issue of the Daily Planets we talked of Dwight Eisenhower as epitomizing this time.
The switch from Neptune in Libra to Neptune in Scorpio was dramatic. The two overriding events were Sputnik and Little Rock. The rest of this period had a dark, deep psychological intensity punctuated by stormy transformations of society. Neptune was in Scorpio until 1970 -- the period of the 1960's with its paranoia and civil rights was Neptune in Scorpio. Religion during this time was seen as a probing into ones inner depths -- drugs were used to aid this process. The Neptune in Virgo generation stressed "do your thing" in those years -- the Neptune in Libra generation was more into Love. By now you can perhaps feel what Neptune in a sign means. It represents the "Zeitgeist", the spirit of the times. You might say it represents the quality of the sea of vibrations we live in. The image of religion, and what is "religious" is also Neptune. On a more mundane level, Neptune represents the quality of advertising, the mass media and, to a lesser extent, the general economic picture.
Neptune in Sagittarius has been the years from 1970 to 1984. Sagittarius is the sign of the out of doors, the wide open spaces, and "nature." Neptune in Sagittarius has been the time of spiritual retreats in nature, "natural" shampoo, and, in general, "natural" everything. Sagittarius also rules world-wide travel, philosophy, organized religion (actually organizing itself), and publishing. Many of these endeavors involve people who spread ideas (or themselves) far and wide. Sagittarians are built to be on lecterns, the ideal place to spread their ideas. The negative side of Sagittarius is pompous didactic behavior.
What is Neptune in Capricorn going to be like? There are two ways of doing this: one way of predicting is to look at prior periods in history when Neptune was in Capricorn and the second is to look at what changed, what grew when Neptune entered Capricorn and reverted when Neptune reenters Sagittarius.
Some prior Neptune in Capricorn periods were 1494-1508, 1658-1672, and 1821-1835. Some of the greatest art work of the Italian Renaissance was created during the period 1494-1508 including the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper. The 1658-1672 period brought the restoration of the British monarchy and the somewhat riotous behaviour which set in as a reaction to the Puritan clampdown of Oliver Cromwell. During this time Paradise Lost was written and the great Flemish painters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt did much of their best works.
Finally, the 1821-1835 period was the period of the younger and less conservative Romantics. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Goethe's Faust was written in this time. Much of this period was a reaction to the spread of Napolean across Europe, although the independence of nations broke down much of the heavy reactionism that initially occurred.
These historical effects point up the two basic interactions of a planet in a sign. Capricornian entities are dissolved by Neptune, the planet acting on the sign, and Neptune becomes more Capricornian, the sign acting on the planet. When Neptune entered Capricorn we immediately noticed that people suddenly wanted to actually accomplish (Capricorn) their dreams (Neptune,) were impatient to actually manifest them. Before going into other things that we observed or could expect from Neptune in Capricorn we must describe Capricorn more fully.
Capricorn, with its independence, loneliness, and patient conservatism is the complement of Sagittarius. Looking through the last three periods when Neptune was in Capricorn we see that these were periods of political and social reaction to unsettling situations -- these unsettling situations were often created during the prior Neptune in Sagittarius period. New forms of government coalesced in these times. People tried to rebuild the structure or create a new one. Strikingly, these were periods of great artistic achievement in many cases, perhaps because artists were willing to spend the time and effort to create a masterpiece.
On the more personal level, Capricorn is the sign of the mountain goat: a sure-footed, patient animal that climbs treacherous mountain sides yet never looses its footing. Capricorn is the long years of work necessary to carve out a career while constantly remaining aware of the slip that can end a career as well. The Capricornian questions whether a person can be trusted, what their prior accomplishments are, where are their references. Capricorn is ascetic -- you should carry the minimum on a rock climbing expedition. However, Capricorn can also be a witty, sly, humorous old geezer -- Capricorns who are very conservative in youth often become quite risque in old age. Witness Benjamin Franklin, a Capricorn, at the French court in his 70's with his many mistresses...
Therefore, you can see why Neptune in Capricorn has a yuppie flavor. Neptune in this sign is hard, long, patient work on your dreams, as well as the dream of advancing through such effort to a higher position within the social and political structure. Advertising and the mass media will shift to this sparer image and away from the image of nature and the out-of-doors. Religion will be less involved with seminars in the woods and more with meditation, concentration, and actual experiences/accomplishments which can be tested. Unfortunately, religion will probably become more moralistic, too.
At times Neptune in Capricorn can feel like you are swimming in a sea of moralistic, nose-to-the-grindstone puritanism. You must be productive at all times. You must not enjoy yourself too much (that would be counter productive) and you must never, ever be counterproductive! If Capricorn had its way (the moralistic side), everyone would be quiet, meditative, hard-working, and spartan. No one would have fun. The Capricorn ant knows that the pleasure-seeking grasshopper is being foolish. And, after all, fun can be such hard work. Why bother having fun. It is no coincidence that during Neptune in Capricorn the moralistic forms of religion have taken off.
When Neptune was entering Capricorn, all the spaced-out dreamers who were in the woods (nature = Sagittarius) decided to get careers, come back to the city, and work hard to build a business. The ultimate dream is to create a successful business with Neptune in Capricorn. The Horatio Alger story is the dream. To get there, you must work hard, avoid pleasures, etc.
People's religion (Neptune) is business (Capricorn). Business will save us. Business is trying to help us. Business people are our friends. Unshackle business from government (which is trying to restrain business so it doesn't poison or stomp us in a paroxym of greed).
The government counterbalances the excesses of business. That's what the laws against pollution, bigotry, greed, etc were meant to do. The belief in business, the ultimate faith in business makes us believe that we don't need those laws anymore. The media (owned by bigger and bigger businesses these days) tells us not to worry. With Neptune in Capricorn we should have expected all these merging and flowing together of media conglomerates.
At the time Pluto went gone back into Libra, sign of relationships, while Neptune remained in Capricorn we saw many people questioning others in close relationship about their commitment. Essentially they ask each other, "are you real, are you in for the long haul?" (This was in 1984)
Saturn is exalted in Libra. This means that old age and conservation are placed upon a pedestal; everyone sees the Saturnine qualities as enviable. The leaders during Libran periods tend to be old men. Since Libra is a sign of leisure and charm these old men have charming smiles and spend much of their time in leisure activities. During the recent Pluto in Libra period, 1972 through 1984, we had Jimmy Carter, a double Libra with a broad and intense grin, and Ronald Reagan, a smiling grandfatherly figure.
The career of Dwight Eisenhower exactly followed Neptune in Libra. Neptune entered Libra in 1942 and left in 1956. In 1942 Eisenhower became supreme commander. His star was kept high all the way through the presidency. He was a Libran, by the way -- a kindly grandfather figure who played lots of golf during the presidency. When Neptune entered Scorpio during the middle of his presidency with Sputnik and the turbulent racial problems of Little Rock people suddenly said, "Why isn't he doing something rather than smiling and playing golf?"
The period from 1942 to 1956 was one of recuperation from World War II; people just stayed in their homes, avoided anything unusual, and let our leaders do what was best for the country. The college students of the time were noted for their apathy and conservatism. Everything was done by committee and consensus. These are all Libran tendencies.
The transition from Libra to Scorpio involves the move from peacefulness to turbulence, from apathy to action. This conjunct of three planets is the major driving aspect of 1988 and 89 while the conjunct of Uranus and Neptune will continue to influence us throughout the 1990s.
copyright 1993 - 1996 by Ed Rose