Neptune, North Node & a Major Lunar Standstill
Last week, spontaneously I decided to research the Neptune-North Node cycle. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought to do this as part of my deep dive work this year. I was born with Neptune conjunct my North Node, after all. Duh. So Neptunian. 🤣
This is exactly how Neptune works in my life. My path develops as I walk it. Trusting myself enough to surrender to this process can be incredibly challenging. I sense things, I feel them more than see them, but if I’m not careful my radar can lead me down the wrong path. My teacher used to describe Neptune phases as a process of gaining immunity, or learning to be more sensitive to what is true vs. what is false. Neptune veils, and in the shadow expression, it reminds me of the fairy tale “the Pied Piper of Hamelin” - how the Pied Piper hypnotically led the children toward their demise. I’m really getting this vibe right now.
I am seeing how quickly everyone has been divided in our country, identifying with whatever they’ve been conditioned by while thinking the other side has been conned. There is a complete lack of trust in each other. I don’t think there has been any other time period in my life that I’ve felt so disoriented. It reminds me of my longer sojourns in other countries. Lost and homesick. Not knowing who you can trust. The grifters taking center stage.
The energy of Neptune can be illusive and lead you astray until you become more conscious, it can seduce you toward something that appears life-sustaining but is in fact empty, a fantasy, a con. Neptune can definitely be demonstrated as propaganda and I would say we are living in a time of overt and contradictory propaganda with a strategy to de-stabalize our country.
As I researched this cycle, I realized how rare an event this specific Neptune-Node cycle was. Neptune and the North Node meet up every 18.6 years, but very rarely do they meet up at the end of a nodal cycle. At the end of a nodal cycle we experience what is called a major lunar standstill. I go into more detail about what this means in the video I’ve put together about this cycle - the current cycle perfecting on February 4th.
This cycle will continue to influence us until Neptune meets up with the North Node again with a shift in 9.3 years as Neptune meets up with the south node and we experience a minor lunar standstill. The effects of a standstill are said to last 1.5 years on each side of the cycle. If you’ve been feeling that this is a particularly intense time, well it is.
As a personal demonstration about how these cycles can help you understand specific themes in your own chart, I looked at the chart of the exact Neptune-North Node conjunction prior to my birth. This is what I found: Mercury rules my south node and it's an important theme in my life. My ascendent is Libra and my Mars is in my natal third house in Capricorn (the third house is the natural Gemini house and I have a Gemini south node).
My partner's Sun is near my Mars and his natal Mercury is at 29 degrees Sagittarius (where the Sun is in this chart). His mom was born with Sun conjunct Mars in Sagittarius and her Mars exactly conjuncts my North Node (see where Mars is in this chart). Peter proposed to me in 2008, the last time Neptune conjunct the North Node at 24 degrees of Aquarius conjunct his natal North Node (2 degrees away from my Sun). I realized the cycles prior to meeting my partner also involved significant relationship milestones. As Neptune and the North Node meet up again, we are beginning a new cycle in our relationship.
What might you learn from reviewing a significant cycle in your own life?
