Mental Illness–Mercury Square Neptune

Neptune is an otherworldly planet. This can be wonderful and terrible. Neptune can take you to the heights of spiritual exaltation. It can take you to the heights of creative passion. It can throw you to the dregs of drug addiction. It can propel you to the some of the lowest places to which a human can descend, the throes of mental illness. Let’s talk about Neptune in relationship to Mercury, the planet of the mind.

If one studies the Astrological wheel, it has perfect logic. It is ordered, as is the human body or the Universe with all it’s planets held in suspension by some invisible hand. The chart is similarly ordered. Neptune rules the 12th House of the Zodiac. It is the house of the fetus and the house of death. It is the house of prisons, mental institutions, hospitals and hospices. These are the places that society shuns. However, there is a place for them, in the underbelly.

Neptune rules Pisces. Jesus was thought to be a Pisces. Pisces is the sign which is closest to the next dimension. A Pisces may write masterful poetry, but forget to tie his shoes. He may write music that takes one to the spheres, but drink himself into a stupor. He feels the pain of life, greater than the average mortal.

I have Neptune trine Mercury, so can speak about the trine. Even the trine makes one feel perilously close to the next dimension. However, the trine is manageable. It allows you to go to there, but come back. The square does not do so, so easily( or at all, perhaps) This is what I want to talk about now.

Neptune is the planet of the next world. One wants to visit, but leave, at will. If one cannot, one has serious problems. Neptune square Mercury CAN( note the use of the word. I said it is a possibility not a fait accompli) make the native feel as if he is not in control of his comings and goings. When this happens, he can lose his grip on reality. The closeness of the square is pivotal. An exact square is much more perilous than a more distant square. Each degree matters a great deal. With the opposition, it is easier because one goes back and forth between the two opposite poles. One day, one may be mired in fantasy. The next day, one may not. The opposition continues in this way. It may be frustrating but it is not locked. What does one do if one has the exact square?To be forewarned is to be armed with understanding. Study your chart. Try to find the balance to this square. Each chart has strengths and weaknesses. Find your strengths and use them to make yourself stronger, so as to deal with your hardships. That is the best use of the chart.

PS Please note that this is one aspect which could bode to mental illness and I have explained why. To look for mental illness or any complex trait, one must look at the whole chart, as well as study your background. Having this aspect does not mean you are mentally ill!