Neptune

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun. It was found in 1846, after its position had been predicted from irregularities in the orbit of Uranus, and it is named for the Roman god of the sea.

What it stands for

• imagination
• dreams
• illusion
• compassion

In the birth chart

In the birth chart Neptune is read through its aspects to the other planets. Astrologers say it matters most when it is closely linked with the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars. Its house shows where imagination and idealism run, and also where self-deception is most likely.

The name and the myth

Neptune is the Roman sea god, the Greek Poseidon. The sea became the image of what is deep, fluid and hard to see clearly, and that is what astrology attaches to the planet.

How astrology reads it

Astrology links Neptune with dreams, art, music, spirituality and illusion. Tradition says that when it is well connected to other planets it feeds creativity and inspiration, and that when it is not, its energy is vague and easily mistaken for something else.

Signs: Pisces.

In tarot

In the Golden Dawn scheme, Neptune goes with The Hanged Man.

Planets other than the Sun and Moon seem to move backwards at times. How retrograde planets are read.

Tarot, astrology and numerology are traditions of symbolism. This page says what the tradition associates with its subject. It does not predict anything and it is not advice.