Of course, our old friend Neptune has been virtually motionless late in the 11th degree and early in the 12th of Pisces for some time now; we may have worked this energy and its impact into our own chart through its contacts (or lack of them, isolating this massive dose of inspiration, confusion, spiritual enlightenment, and energy-suckage in matters of the House its transiting), and convinced ourselves things may always stay that way. The retrograde point of something so sluggish as Neptune may resemble the slow-turn of a heavy stone wheel: it’s moving almost imperceptibly, grinding down what it touches, compressing that point and those natal bodies it forms major aspects to in such a way that the alteration in direction brings no relief, and little hope for change. Instead it threatens to take the slow-grind over territory we thought we’d already dealt with, and give the matter another layer of grist, so to speak, grinding away at new aspects of the same old subjects.

So, we shouldn’t expect immediate results from the retro–what we most likely feel is the return of something we thought we’d just dealt with a minute ago–and now we see it with the Neptunian influence withdrawn or changed somehow. We may question or re-examine our spirituality, our creative efforts or urges, may become confused to the point of do-overs, or just unable to navigate with any confidence. We could also see the imagination, spiritual efforts, or creative talents freed of their conventional Neptunian ‘beliefs’; that means that how we see and define those areas might get the chance for permanent alteration, should we decide to explore, experiment, or feel our way through the fog.

Neptune, Saturn, Vesta, and Jupiter are still forming a Grand Cross, and with Neptune’s retrograde we may apply those creative changes to the reality picture, the social role, and/ or to those causes we dedicate ourselves to, or to the home or mate. The shift in direction of Neptune offers us a new way to see all or part of the energy involved in the Grand Cross, and so to address it more accurately through the beliefs, the spirituality, or the creativity.

We also have a Fist of God with apex Mercury and base of Zeus-Pluto, with the impact continuing for a couple of days. This suggests that concerns surrounding power and desire combine, possibly through conflicts that arise, or that naturally exist between those power needs and the ambition/ desire picture, and fill the mind, the communications, and those things that are communicated by others. It may be an unavoidable free-for-all as no one will be terribly successful at keeping what they want, and how much reach they wish to have, under wraps. Brace yourself to hear some surprising power wants–and some even more surprising lusts, desires, and goals. The only ones who come out of this without revealing themselves are silent and invisible. A square of Venus to Chiron says this might hurt, especially in the way it reveals things about our relationships, and Venus quincunx Mars says we are vulnerable to awkward acting out or poor decisions that could jeopardize our assets, if we’re not careful.

Today’s word image is a red suit. A suit is something we ‘put on’, and red suggests energy and possibly power or influence. In what way are we perhaps pretending we have more power or ability or energy to handle things than we really do? We may think we have to wear this suit when we really don’t–if we can just admit the true situation.