Much of my midpoint interpretation is heavily influenced by Reinhold Ebertin’s “Combination of Stellar Influences”. My copy is well-worn, having used it as a reference on a nearly daily basis for many years now. For the most part, it’s been indispensable as a guide. But when it comes to Neptune, Ebertin is clearly not a fan!
Many early 20th-century astrologers held a dim view of Neptune, so it really comes as no surprise. I truly respect the views of modern astrology’s forebears, but I don’t believe that Neptune is wholly negative. As with all midpoints, I try to provide both negative and positive potentials for an activation.
Sun/Neptune general principles
Sun/Neptune, broadly speaking, is representative of the Ego in relation to spirituality or “transcendence”. Neptune has an association with mysticism and “the Divine”. Linked to this are states of “non-ordinary” reality. A well-aspected Sun/Neptune midpoint will reveal a person with strong intuitive and empathic abilities.
The Sun/Neptune midpoint is also associated with the creative mind. In its higher manifestation, this can show a talent for art of all kinds. Neptune can be inspirational and imaginative – while the Solar Deity, represents the Source of all Creation. The force that brings warmth and light and makes life possible. Together, the essence of an idea (Neptune) is “fed” by the Sun.
Actors, musicians, and artists will often have a strong Sun-Neptune “signature”
The Sun/Neptune Midpoint can express itself more negatively in some instances. In its lower manifestation, Neptune has an association with delusion, confusion, deceit, and poor boundaries. Those with a strong Sun-Neptune signature can also be prone to lying and manipulating others. Some may go in the other direction and be too gullible and easily taken advantage of. There can be significant mental health challenges and often drug and alcohol abuse.
Physical sensitivity can also show up when the Sun/Neptune midpoint is activated. The vitality (Sun) is more susceptible to influence by unseen forces (bacteria and viruses for example). Certain midpoint combinations that include Neptune are strongly correlated with illnesses.
Ultimately, the whole chart will tell the story. There should be a repeating theme before making the distinction between a “positive” and “negative” Neptunian influence. But with transits and progressions, I do believe that more often than not, Neptune’s directions to any midpoint will veer more toward the negative end of the spectrum. Activations of the Sun/Neptune midpoint will generally have more positive potential, but from my observations, they are still not the best midpoint activations to experience.
Activations
Sun/Neptune=Sun
Places emphasis on one’s ego. There could be ego fulfillment through the arts, or through spirituality. Can place emphasis on one’s vitality. This could signal a time when one’s energy is at a low point. Can also emphasize the vitality or mental state of the father and other significant men in a person’s life.
Sun/Neptune=Moon:
Being more impressionable / easily influenced. Drug/alcohol use is highlighted. Can heighten psychic sensitivity and intuition. Vivid dreams. Moodiness. Insomnia and other sleep disorders. Illnesses of women or related to the female reproductive system. Betrayal by a woman or a close confidante
Jimi Hendrix’s secondary Progressed Moon was square to this midpoint at the time of his death. He was reportedly in ill health at the time, fatigued by chronic lack of sleep, and a persistent illness thought to be influenza. After attending a party and taking amphetamines, he (allegedly) requested sleeping pills from one of his girlfriends. He was found hours later, unresponsive and covered in vomit. He died from Asphyxia due to aspiration of vomit, contributed to by barbiturate intoxication.
The Sun/Neptune Midpoint was very active in Charles Manson’s chart in 1967. After a life spent mostly in prison, he was released into the care of a federal probation officer, who was allegedly involved in LSD research. Charles Manson and his Family are said to have been test subjects. At this time, Manson’s ARC Mars-Neptune conjunction, as well as his secondary progressed Moon were on the Sun/Neptune Midpoint.
Also in 1967, the Progressed Moon squared this Midpoint in the chart of Richard Alpert (Ram Dass). This is when he traveled to India and gained a Guru, as well as a name change.
The Sun/Neptune midpoint was activated by the Progressed Moon in cult leader Jim Jones’ chart in 1965 when he moved “The Temple” from his home state of Indiana to Northern California, relying heavily upon “faith healing” to attract followers.
Sun/Neptune=Mercury:
Deception, illusion, or delusions. “Foggy” communication. Inspired thinking. The mind is focused on Transcendence. Spiritual talks. Meditation. Readings with psychic mediums, tarot readers, or astrologers.
Amber Heard’s progressed Mercury was here in 2017, around the time her divorce from Johnny Depp was finalized. Months after is when she penned the op-ed which kept her dissolved marriage in the courts (and headlines) for the next several years.
When Terence Mckenna’s Progressed Mercury was semi-square to this midpoint, he co-founded “Botanical Dimensions” – an ethnobotanical preserve established to protect and study plants and mushrooms possessing a sort of “spiritual” significance.
Sun/Neptune=Venus:
Disappointment in love or with one’s financial situation. Love fraud. Idealization in matters of the heart (an example would be when someone claims to have met their “soulmate”). To be self-sacrificing in love.
While married to a millionaire banker, romance novelist Danielle Steel fell in love with a broke convict. Her Progressed Venus, followed closely by her progressed Sun was on the Sun/Neptune midpoint at this time.
Sun/Neptune=Mars:
Epilepsy. Lack of energy or incentive. Corrupt actions – fraud, lying, covering up of crimes or misdeeds. Deviant sexual behavior. Pursuing a fantasy.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the “D.C. Madame” had a natal conjunction of Mars/Juno on her Sun/Neptune midpoint. Mars/Juno =sex. She was dealing in fantasy (Sun/Neptune) and also committed financial crimes.
After years as an academic, Rajneesh/Osho resigned (by request) from the University he taught at after a controversial speaking tour. In the year or so following his resignation, he was dubbed by the Indian press as a “sex guru” for his “scandalous” counter-cultural views on sex. Progressed Mars was square to Sun/Neptune at this time. The Progressed Sun was also approaching a square around the same time period (the late 1960s/early 70s)
Sun/Neptune=Jupiter:
Being optimistic despite difficulties. Effortless success or success with things pertaining to the imagination or “spiritual” realms. Excess or abundance related to Sun/Neptune themes
Andy Warhol’s ARC Jupiter was semisquare this point in the year of his death at age 58. The Sun/Neptune midpoint was at 21 Leo, and his ARC Jupiter progressed to 6 Cancer, conjunct Chiron. He was recovering from gallbladder surgery (Jupiter=liver/gall) and died of arrhythmia due to “water intoxication”. Ebertin states that biologically the Sun/Neptune midpoint is related to edema and “water concentration in the cell”. Warhol’s Sun/Neptune was in the sign of Leo, which rules the heart.
Sun/Neptune=Saturn:
Illness. Crisis of faith or difficulties related to one’s spirituality. Blockages to one’s creativity. Problematic imagination / excess worry. Emotional pain.
In the early 1950’s, Jimi Hendrix used to carry around a broom, imagining that it was a guitar – which caught the attention of a school social worker. Despite the social worker’s suggestion of buying young Jimi a real guitar to avoid “psychological damage”, Jimi’s father refused. I’m not sure of any particular dates for this behavior, but in 1954 when Jimi was about 12, Transit Saturn was conjunct to this midpoint in his chart. This can represent one’s creativity being blocked.
Years later when Transit Saturn squared this midpoint, Jimi’s military superiors noticed his disinterest in being a soldier, and soon after he was honorably discharged.
Rajneesh/Osho died when his Saturn progressed to square this midpoint. The official cause of death was “heart failure”. In his final years, Osho believed that his declining health was the result of being poisoned during his time in US jails. (Neptune does rule over poisons)
Nancy Spungen was a difficult child. Her parents sought help for her violent outbursts when she was about 11 years old. At first, she was diagnosed as schizophrenic and placed in a mental hospital. Her parents pulled her out when they saw the conditions. Because she had been expelled from school for her behavior, they sought out boarding schools for special needs. They found one. It was a very structured environment for children with various behavioral problems and cognitive challenges. Nancy’s behavior improved while there. Her ARC Saturn was conjunct her Sun/Neptune at this time. Sun/Neptune can be a point of mental illness. Many mental illnesses require structure and discipline (Saturn) to be handled effectively.
Sun/Neptune=Uranus:
Sudden emergence of psychic abilities…or mental illness. Historically, there’s been a thin line between the two. Shocking events related to spirituality or drugs.
In 1971 Jim Jones received some bad publicity in which he was investigated by the Indiana State Psychology Board and accused of “quackery”. This was alarming to his congregation. Transit Chiron was in Aries, opposing Transit Uranus and Asteroid Lilith in Libra. These transits were square to his natal Sun/Neptune in Cancer.
Sun/Neptune=Neptune:
Neptune acting upon the Sun/Neptune midpoint appears to primarily highlight Neptune’s themes: Illusion, delusion, transcendence, illnesses/weakness, and inspired creativity.
My Maternal Grandmother died when Transit Neptune was on this exact midpoint in my chart.
Jimi Hendrix’s mother died from a ruptured spleen when Transit Neptune and Transit Jupiter flanked this midpoint. (His Sun/Neptune was at 3 degrees Scorpio – T.Neptune was at 4 Scorpio, and T.Jupiter at 1 Scorpio). Later this same year, Neptune would pass over this point again, and at around that time he acquired his first guitar.
Alex Jones’ Arc Neptune was on this point in 2010, while his secondary Progressed ASC squared this point. I used to listen to his radio show and it was in or around 2010 that he started to really overdo it with the histrionics. He went from having an interesting take on things, to sounding like a deranged lunatic pretty quickly.
Amber Heard had Neptune transiting this midpoint when she and Johnny Depp began dating.
Sun/Neptune=Pluto:
Manipulation related to spirituality or one’s ideals. Tragic deceptions. Extreme sensitivity to things that are “intangible”. Paranoia, suspicion.
Transit Pluto was on the Sun/Neptune midpoint of Jim Jones when he amped up his efforts to move his congregation to Guyana. His increasing paranoia led him to dismiss warnings that the existing infrastructure was insufficient to support such a migration. He was told that the facilities could only support 200 people. He moved in 600…and another 400 followed in subsequent months.
Amber Heard’s Arc Pluto directed to this point around the time that she and Johnny Depp were wed.
Sun/Neptune=Node:
Relationship to the public is associated with spirituality, drugs, or art. Deception and illusion in impersonal relationships. Meeting with people who are artistic, mystical or deceptive. One’s life mission or life theme is related to Sun/Neptune
Heaven’s Gate cult leader, Marshall Applewhite and Jim Jones of the People’s Temple were both born in the middle of May 1931. Each man had their natal Nodes square to Sun/Neptune.
Sun/Neptune=Asc:
Similar to Sun/Neptune=Node. Additionally, one may present themselves to others as “sensitive” or charitable.
Sun/Neptune=MC:
One’s ambitions are Sun/Neptune oriented. Use of deceit to get ahead in life. Receiving recognition for psychic ability, or artistic talent. In some instances, if a person has been deceitful, this will mark a time when they are “outed”
In 1946, L Ron Hubbard defrauded his “friend” Jack Parsons. The pair devised a business scheme to which Parsons contributed his entire life savings as start-up capital. L Ron Hubbard ran off with the money…and Parson’s girlfriend. Meanwhile, Hubbard was also defrauding the VA, requesting a pension increase to cover “psychiatric treatment”. By 1947, L Ron Hubbard’s MC progressed to 20 degrees Scorpio. His Sun/Neptune was at 20Taurus. It was at this time that his first wife discovered he had bigamously married Parson’s girlfriend, Sara. Another fraudulent situation. He did manage to pull the wool over the eyes of the VA though. He was awarded a 40% disability check which he collected for the next 33+ years.
Sun/Neptune = Pallas:
Stalker/murderer Robert Bardo had Pallas semi-square his Sun/Neptune via secondary progressions at the time of the murder of a young actress he was obsessed with. Upset that she appeared in a sex scene, he showed up at her house, shot her in the chest, and then ran out into rush hour traffic
Sun/Neptune =Chiron:
The Church of Satan was established in April 1966 while transits Venus, Saturn, and Chiron were all conjunct on Anton Lavey’s Sun/Neptune
Sun/Neptune=Ceres:
The Heaven’s Gate suicides occurred when Progressed Ceres was square to Marshall Applewhite’s Sun/Neptune.
When the black metal guitarist “Euronymous” discovered his bandmate/roommate had taken his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Transit Ceres was square to the Sun/Neptune midpoint. He took photographs of the scene prior to notifying authorities and is accused of retaining skull fragments as macabre mementos. Retrospectively, a former bandmate theorized that taking photos and “keepsakes” was his way of coping with the shock. He also stated that Euronymous “went into a fantasy world”
