Happy Anniversary, Neptune!
The planet Neptune, as seen from above its largest moon, Triton. Illustration by Paul Hudson, National Geographic.
Today marks the 165th anniversary of Neptune's discovery in 1846. The beautiful blue planet was mathematically predicted long before it was spotted visually.
These days, Neptune has a prominent position in the study of tarot and astrology. Here's what I wrote about it in my latest book, Tarot and Astrology:
The Hanged Man spends hours—or even days—suspended in a trancelike alternate reality. He is in perfect synch with Neptune, the planet of spiritual and psychic enlightenment.
The Hanged Man's consciousness transcends the physical, just as Neptune itself seems to escape the ordinary bounds of physics. After all, the planet is composed mostly of ethereal mist and gasses. It's a planet of dreamlike illusion, as well as an existence removed from the limitations of physical concerns.
From that vantage point, mystical experiences come easily. Both Neptune and the Hanged Man are associated with fantasy, imagination, and visionary art. They are idealistic, sensitive, and exceptionally psychic.
Neither one is very good at establishing boundaries. The real world can be a dark and dangerous place, and both the Hanged Man and the Neptunian spirit quickly learn to escape through meditation, prayer, sleep, and dreams.
Occasionally, they seek refuge through alcohol and drugs. Sometimes, those substances are a form of self-medication, in an effort to block the unsolicited psychic messages that flood the Neptunian soul.
In a tarot reading, the Hanged Man card often represents a period of willing self-sacrifice and the suspension of everyday cares and concerns. It could suggest a retreat or a change in perspective.
While most versions of the card show the Hanged Man upside-down, he rarely seems to be in any pain or discomfort. Instead, he seems to be tuned in to a higher consciousness—and it's a reward, not a punishment.
In Roman mythology, Neptune was the god of the sea. He ruled the tides and the tide pools, as well as the dark, mysterious world of the ocean's depths. Seas would rise and fall at his command, and he could drown his opponents in an uncontrollable swell of unfathomably violent emotion.
Neptune rules Pisces and the twelfth house of the zodiac, where astrologers look for secrets. It also rules the places where those secrets are confined and locked away: hospitals, prisons, and mental institutions. In medicine, Neptune is associated with mysterious illnesses and neuroses.
The Hanged Man corresponds to the element of water.
The Hanged Man illustration is from the Wizards Tarot by Corrine Kenner and John Blumen.
I found the Neptune illustration here.
