Neptune retrograde in transit is a regular cycle lasting 160 days yearly during opposition to the Sun. As with all outer planets, it causes less concern than the rarer inner planet retrogrades. Neptune retrogrades 40% of the time compared to Mars at 9% and Venus at only 7% of the time.

Transiting Neptune retrograde can internalize your fears and anxieties by stripping away the illusions, dreams, and false realities that have clouded your vision. The destruction of your fantasy world will show those harsh realities you previously sought to avoid. Maybe you have kidded yourself about true love, financial situation, or career prospects.

The further from the truth you have traveled, or the more extreme your methods of escape, the bigger the shock. The fact of your reality is often quite painful, as is often the case when addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling, or porn has been your escape. It does not require intervention or withdrawal to recognize your self-deception either. This realization has always existed in your higher self, or pineal gland, as Neptune represents.

A new relationship or a critical event can trigger an old or past life memory of pain. Neptune rules self-sacrifice, victimization, false accusation, scandal, and slander. Neptune retrograde can show the source of the pain you sought to escape. You may feel humiliated, betrayed, scared, anxious, or guilty.

The internalizing influence of retrograde motion means you may spend more time worrying about yourself and your problems. Self-pity, social anxiety, or depression could lead to withdrawal and loneliness. Neptune retrograde is the ideal time for spiritual self-development. Self-help books or counseling may help, but other tools include meditation, Yoga, Tarot, astrology, swimming, and a healthy, toxin-free diet.

Phobias, hypochondria, and paranoia may become more noticeable during Neptune retrograde but also easier to discuss. The world may seem boring when conspiracy theories are debunked or Armageddon is postponed indefinitely. Sometimes, however, your suspicions may be based on realistic psychic impressions. In the case of health matters, it is especially worth seeking a second opinion in case of misdiagnosis or misinterpretation of results.

Neptune Retrograde Dates

• 2023, June 30 to December 6, 27°41′ to 24°53′ Pisces.
• 2024, July 2 to December 7, 29°55′ to 27°07′ Pisces.
• 2025, July 4 to December 10, 02°10′ Aries to 29°22′ Pisces.

Natal Neptune Retrograde

Neptune retrograde in the natal chart is more common than inner planet retrogrades such as Mercury and Venus. About 40% of people have natal Neptune retrograde, so it is less feared and less harmful than having a retrograde inner planet. That being said, Neptune retrograde natal still has karmic repercussions and a definite influence on soul growth due to the spiritual nature of the earth.

Natal Neptune retrograde suggests that some areas of life are so painful that you prefer to escape this reality through your imaginary dream world. Likely, this tendency to avoid pain through illusion is firmly rooted in tragic past life experiences such as torture, where your only option to escape physical pain was to transcend from a physical to a more spiritual plane of existence.

This earlier experience of spiritual pain relief was probably so intense and overwhelming that it became imprinted in your soul memory, in the DNA of every cell in your body. Past life crises like illness, false accusation, and victimization will often be repeated to a lesser extent early in your life. You may notice you are subject to gossip, scandal, or slander.

I associate religious persecution with natal Neptune retrograde. Throughout history, the Roman Catholic Church alone has accused, tortured, burned, drowned, and massacred countless millions of pagans, Protestants, Muslims, and many other innocents.

No matter the reasons, you come into this life with some justified fears and anxieties. Although not as natural or extreme now, specific experiences will trigger those more painful memories. Your natural reaction is to eliminate the pain by accessing that higher spiritual dimension. The quicker, the better, and you probably don’t care whether it is through meditation, prayer, imagination, or drugs.

The release of pain-relieving hormones in your brain is addictive, so you could quickly resort to escapism more often and for less critical reasons over time. You may use illness to gain sympathy or avoid life’s harsh realities. Perhaps you are more subject to confusion and deception than most or tend to become involved in intrigues and scandals.

False accusations and victimization will exacerbate your fears and anxieties around groups of people or specific people. Other karmic issues associated with Neptune retrograde in your chart could include misdiagnosed or mystery illnesses with the associated blame or guilt or institutionalization for crime, mental illness, or religious mania. Feeling isolated from society is common for many reasons.

Natal Neptune retrograde is likely to play some role in the case of the accuser, inquisitor, or torturer. However, I expect that Saturn retrograde guilt and Pluto retrograde misuse of power would play more prominent roles in these stories.