COMING ATTRACTIONS! Thrival Kits for the PUNC Planets

How to Navigate Outerplanetary Transits and Birth Chart Pressures of Pluto, Uranus, Neptune and Chiron (The PUNCs)

© 2014 by Joyce Mason

In my last post about the Harmonic Concordance Blog, I talked about the importance of the last step—the action we need to take in order to materialize the promises of the heavens. To make our lives and their astrological ups-and-downs meaningful, we have to work with shifting planetary tides. In celebration of that idea and to help make that work easier for you, I’m putting together a short “kit” with ideas for navigating transits of the outer planets, the ones that ask us for the deepest changes. The practices and core concepts in the kits (posts) can be applied not just to transits but also to natal overloads of these energies … or any time a transit of another planet is lighting up the natal outer planet.

Over the years, I’ve had a calling to work with the PUNC planets. (You can read more in the eBook, Outerplanetary [Extraordinary] People, available in the sidebar, or start with Part 1 of a series of posts on the subject to learn more.)

The Thrival Kit posts are thrival kits rather than survival kits. The reason? Surviving has a barely out of victim consciousness ring to it. Most of us don’t want to scrape through change by the skin of our teeth. If we can navigate a call for personal evolution, the outcome is to thrive or “thrival.” These concepts come from the work of Richard McKnight, Ph.D., and his workplace classic, Victim, Survivor, or Navigator: Choosing a Response to Workplace Change.

For many of us, fulfilling the promise (despite what sometimes feel like the perils) of our astrology charts make our horoscope the ongoing workplace of a lifetime. Dr. McKnight’s call to become a navigator fits the human longing to become all we can be. Thus, I’m hoping the Outerplanetary Thrival Kits offer practical tools for helping you feel like the captain of your own ship in the sometimes stormy waters of inner growth.

There will be four posts, one each for the four PUNC planets. I’ll be posting two a month starting September 2, 2014. The “kits” will have the following features across all four, though some will have planet-specific extras:

• What this planet asks of you
• What you may be resisting 
•   The shift needed to thrive 
• How to dance with this planet’s change of tune 
•  Music and entertainment (books, plays, TV, movies) that help you release resistance and embrace the adventure 
•  References for more reading 
•  Share your own tips, successes in the Comments, a community learning experience

Think of the Thrival Kit posts as an outline on a clipboard when you come for orientation to a new transit with any of the PUNCs—or a tune-up when your natal encounters with these giants of change seem overwhelming. They are tips to help you navigate your learning environment and to help you do your homework more easily. These are meant to be succinct notes, covering the main points and tools that can help you navigate outerplanetary transits.

Don’t forget your space suit! While the PUNC acronym puts Pluto first and Chiron last, I’ll approach the Thrival Kit posts in their normal planetary order from the Sun: Chiron, Uranus, Neptune—and, finally, Pluto.

~~~

Photo Credit: © alphaspirit – fotolia.com

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Planetary Fishing: Neptune

© 2013 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved

     Just joining our fishing party? See May Planetary Fishing Expedition for background. This is a self-paced learning experience. You can copy and paste the posts into a document and take this learning trip any time, though it’s lots of fun to do it together and share Comments.

Neptune was the god of the sea and the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon in the Roman religion. Today we take our figurative fishing boat back to his realm to learn more about the planet named after him. Our planetary learning experience here on The Radical Virgo has been undertaken with a Neptunian metaphor. That makes this penultimate fishing trip extra meaningful as we consider a subtext: What aspects of Neptune like intuition, dreams and psychology have helped us throughout our weeks of reeling in more information about our astrology charts?

Neptune rules Pisces, one of the four mutable signs. Each of these signs has some element of duality. [1] I think of the three prongs of Neptune’s trident as representing one of two natures on either side with the center prong being the middle ground where we synthesize the two.

The extremes of Neptune can accurately be called the agony and the ecstasy. On the ecstatic side we have inspiration, imagination, compassion, universal love, sensitivity, hunches, spiritual highs and a lot of fun stuff many of us enjoy like film, fiction, art and music. On the side that can bring us grief, there are illusions, impracticality, substance abuse and all things “underground” from manipulation to crime and a lot of other misdemeanors committed unconsciously. In other words, if we wanted to personify the extremes of Neptune’s full gamut, its poster boys would be the Dalai Lama and Tony Soprano. Could we really expect anything less encompassing from something as big as an ocean?

It’s Neptune’s ocean full of possibilities that make exploring this planet both a little daunting and very rewarding as we contemplate the full range of these energies and how we can catch the best fish or qualities in our net and throw back what doesn’t work for us.

Neptune Fishing Instructions

1.   Let’s start again with a question, and since Neptune rules one of the dual signs, you can choose one of two:

a.   How far will you go to avoid clarity about something, whether it’s the true nature of a relationship or an honest look at yourself?

b.   How far will you go for a high?

Of course, you can write about both, if you’ve got time. We’re opening with the murkier side of Neptune because it’s hard to catch its true gifts while being dragged into its undertow. This means an honest look at any potential self-deceptions. A little bit of heaven—maybe a lot—is bound to show itself in the rest of the exercises.

2. Time to steer your boat onto the oceanic counterpart of the Information Highway.  Climb into your search engine boat and look for god Neptune.

a.   What are your favorite and least favorite characteristics of the god of the underworld? (Don’t hesitate to search for Poseidon, too, as it’s the same archetype, different nationality.)

b.   What symbols of Neptune, his relationship to others or bits of history stand out for you?

Synthesis: How do you think your favorite aspects of Neptune and the other things you find out about him relate to your impression of astrological Neptune?

3.   About your Neptune and its sign:

a.   What does your Neptune sign say about your attraction to certain Neptunian qualities? For instance, Neptune in Virgo may struggle with Neptune’s lack of practicality but share its characteristic self-sacrifice. Neptune in Libra may love its merging qualities since it’s relationship oriented. Neptune in Scorpio may share its attraction to the mystical, psychological and things hidden.

b.   What’s the element of your Neptune? (Earth, Air, Fire or Water) Does that element help you navigate in the watery realm of Neptune? If yes, how? If not, why not?

c.    What’s the relationship of Neptune to your other planets? Mostly compatible or challenging?

d.   How many planets make a major aspect to Neptune? [2]

e.   How many of the planets are in close aspect, within 3 degrees or less?

f.    Do these aspects make it easier or more challenging to catch the best of Neptune? Within this question is another question, what to you consider Neptune’s greatest gifts?

4.  Who in your life was compassionate, spiritual, artistically talented and/or creative? How did he or she inspire you? If you can, find a picture of this individual. Commune awhile today with your Neptune figure’s spirit. What do you learn?

Extra Experience: Do something on the delicious side of Neptune today. See a movie. Write down a dream. Write about your dreams of what you want to manifest or simply daydream about them. Swim in your emotions. One of the consummate lessons of mastering Neptune is knowing when to come out of its deep waters before you drown.

Pay special attention to what it feels like when you have to get out of the water and “come back to.” Your emotional reaction will be a big hint about how to handle your Neptune in a way that you can have plenty of trips to ecstatic states without going down three times and only coming up two. Knowing how you get back to shore is your personal trident's middle prong and mastery of Neptune.

Next up is our final planet on our May Fishing Expedition, Pluto. Are you as sorry as I am that our planetary fishing expedition is almost over?

~~~

Photo Credits: The god Neptune © Avilog | Dreamstime.com.

Notes

[1] Gemini has a pair of twins. Sagittarius has a dual being for its symbol, a centaur that’s half-man and half-horse. Pisces has two fish. While more subtle, Virgo’s duality comes from the original depiction of the sign as a winged Virgin. This reflects her dual connection to Heaven and Earth.

[2] This is often easiest to find and view in summary in a matrix on the chart wheel page or in one of the “reports” offered, if you have astrology software.

Every person who comments on these May fishing posts will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Joyce's Chart Interpretation 101 e-book.