Neptune in the Houses

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An exploration of the meaning of Neptune in the houses of the natal chart.

Neptune’s position by house in the natal chart (that is, the house that Neptune occupies in the birth chart) reveals an area of life where we tend to ignore or avoid reality, preferring to see something better, higher, and more meaningful. We attach spirituality to the areas of life ruled by the house. Often, we chase dreams or illusions in these areas of life.

When trying to understand some of the effects of Neptune on the affairs of the house that Neptune occupies, it is helpful to think of the following example: if two people have decided to split the cost of an item, and that item is five dollars, what would they do if nobody had any coins? The Neptune person would insist on paying three dollars, and let the other person pay only two, and the Neptune person would insist that the other individual never pay him back.

This is a simplistic example, but it is illustrative of the character of Neptune. Wherever Neptune is in your chart, that is where you cut others a better deal than you do yourself. This, obviously, doesn’t always have to do with material goods. You cut others slack, often at your expense, in this area of life; you are trusting and idealistic.

So, if Neptune is in the 6th house, the native may easily gloss over the details of managing day-to-day affairs. Perhaps the person has adopted a philosophy that life means more than just sticking to routines, making lists, and organizing bills to pay. Another real-world manifestation of this position is the tendency to give in to co-workers or to not take credit for one’s own hard work.

Or, if Neptune occupies the 8th house, then money and business affairs involving others are literally involved. If a more aggressive personality seems to want something more, the native will simply cut them a better deal.

Similarly, if Neptune is in the 7th house, the native may tend to give more to a partnership (including marriage) than he/she takes. There may be a tendency to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to the selection of a partner, in an attempt to find a “soulmate”. The native must take a step back, consciously attempting to see their partners and relationships for what they are, rather than what they wish them to be.

In some cases, the complete opposite is true, and where Neptune is, they take more than they give. This is the case when the individual is perhaps spoiled. For example, because the person has avoided taking responsibility for circumstances surrounding the areas of life representing the house, others may have picked up his/her slack and the pattern continues to the point that the person expects the easy life in these areas.

So, in the case of Neptune in the 6th, while some with this position might be taken advantage of on the job, where others take their credit or might get stuck with too many duties, others might be so accustomed to avoiding their duties and responsibilities that they continue this pattern and try to manipulate others into doing these tasks for them. In either case, there is a giving up of power. One way, people make themselves martyrs or victims, and the other way, people take advantage of others.

Where Neptune is in the natal chart is where we might have many dreams, hopes, and wishes; where we are especially idealistic; where we might give more than we take, or the complete opposite, we might avoid responsibilities and coerce others to do our share, where we might feel unsatisfied with reality and where we might feel vague discontent or spiritual longing, and where we might have inflated expectations. Neptune’s position can reveal some of the karma that we experience.

Don’t know the house position of your Neptune? Find out how you can get your astrology chart positions free with our simple steps. Or, calculate your birth chart and receive a free report, including the position of your Neptune by sign and house, as well as other planets here: Free Astrology Reports.

Neptune in the First House

You might express yourself artistically, and come across as gentle, sensitive, and dreamy, especially if Neptune is close to the Ascendant (within 10 degrees). You are extremely sensitive to your environment. Others tend to see whatever they want to see in you, and you thus can come across very differently to different people. You might tend to encourage this, even without knowing. Your appearance and mannerisms tend to be chameleon-like. You are a peace-loving person.

While you don’t come on strong, you can be subtly alluring and intriguing. Others can be drawn to you and feel that you understand them. You can be moody and your first reaction to problems might be to escape or to feel sorry for yourself, or helpless. You may not feel a strong sense of identity and struggle with your own impressionability. Like a sponge, you absorb the moods of others. Your imagination is powerful. You have an easygoing manner – a “what will be, will be” approach to the world.

Neptune in the Second House

You may prefer not to attach too much value to money, but if this is overdone, there can be quite a few problems in life concerning money and ownership. You might make money through artistic pursuits but must avoid the potential pitfalls of putting too much faith in ideas that don’t have enough grounding in reality. Financial advice is important to obtain. You may have developed a non-materialistic personal philosophy. This might work well for you, but it could also lead to impractical attitudes and money problems.

When it comes to making money, you tend to act on hunches and intuition. You might have faith that you will come into money one day, or daydream a lot about being wealthy. The trick is to have faith in your own self-worth. If you frequently have money problems, you might want to examine whether you truly are not attached to material things, or if it stems from undervaluing your own worth or value.

When Neptune is in good condition in the second house, there can be a sense that you are wealthy no matter what you actually have, and this faith can bring you exactly what you need. If Neptune is challenged, you may be glossing over practical details and money can too easily slip through your fingers. You might be especially generous, but avoid situations where you get the short end of the stick financially speaking if they lead to feelings of resentment.

Neptune in the Third House

Dry, cold facts are hard for you to absorb, so traditional academics might not appeal. However, you are talented at visualization and whole-style learning. You are perceptive and dreamy, although you often have your head in the clouds and might miss important details. Sticking to schedules can be difficult, and so can tending to errands, communications, and other necessary daily activities. You might “tune out” when you hear specific directions, and consequently miss helpful details. You might as a result frequently be late for appointments or miss them altogether.

In your communications, you can quickly put others at ease, as you seem to intuitively understand them. You express yourself creatively, imaginatively, and with great charm. However, you might also encourage, without even knowing it, misunderstandings, as you rarely are definite in what you say. Learning, especially when young, can be challenged only because you might lack discipline or the style of learning is not creative enough to hold your interest.

Neptune in the Fourth House

Your childhood was likely complex, likely due to an especially sensitive, absent, preoccupied, or confusing parental figure. Early home life may have been chaotic in some manner, and you might have failed to achieve a strong sense of identity and groundedness as a result. You might long for a stronger sense of home, family, or mothering and nurturing in your life. This might lead you to create an extended family of sorts that includes non-family and helps you to feel loved and nurtured. Or, you might be a mothering figure yourself, giving of yourself quite freely, and perhaps hoping to receive unconditional love and nurturing in return.

If you feel that you often become a “doormat”, then it will be important to set some limits. Alternatively, you might have frequent needs to escape into solitude in order to replenish your spirit. You might isolate yourself from others needlessly or avoid obligations because they overwhelm you. Seeing your family and your childhood in a realistic light may be challenging for you, as you have many dreams and inflated expectations from home and family which can interfere with your perceptions. You might swing from over-idealizing them to impressions that they are far more difficult than they actually are, and in both cases, you are going to extremes. Strive to see family clearly.

Neptune in the Fifth House

You are an imaginative and creative person with a strong sense of drama. You are inspired by art and feel compelled to express yourself in a fantastic or dramatic manner. You could be an excellent actor. You might also be an especially creative teacher or caregiver, perhaps drawn to helping children with special needs. You have an exceptionally strong need to be appreciated, particularly on romantic and creative levels. Your love life involves a lot of fantasy, and often your deep need for drama can lead you to see things that you want to see. Your romantic perceptions may not be accurate as a result.

You might attract unusual, chaotic, or secretive circumstances in your love life if you are not spiritually content. You might be attracted to lovers who you feel need to be saved somehow, but you could end up with people who are confused, distant, non-committal, or dependent. Keeping a high level of drama in your love life is important to you, but it can also be exhausting over time. Finding a balance will be vital — keep your ideals, but try to avoid expecting far too much from ordinary people.

Neptune in the Sixth House

With Neptune in the sixth house, you may easily gloss over the details of managing day-to-day affairs. Perhaps you have adopted a personal philosophy that life means more than just sticking to routines, making lists, and organizing bills to pay.

However, avoiding or ignoring these basic responsibilities can lead to much confusion and chaos, as well as guilt. You might give in to co-workers too easily, or not take credit for your own hard work. You might have inflated ideals regarding being helpful to others. You want to help others unconditionally, but if you don’t draw some lines and boundaries, you could feel put upon. Or, you could feel helpless when it comes to managing your daily affairs or work, and often depend on others to save you from these tasks.

With health, you might have mysterious health complaints that are hard to diagnose, sensitivity to drugs, or allergies. These might be related to the aforementioned guilt. You might have a strong interest in alternative health methods. Some of you might be especially compassionate with animals and pets.

Neptune in the Seventh House

You are inclined to give more to a partnership (including marriage) than you take. There may be a tendency to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to the selection of a partner, in an attempt to find a soulmate. The need for a strong psychic or intuitive link with a partner is so strong that your perceptions in partnership are not accurate.

You need to take a step back, consciously attempting to see your partners and relationships for what they are, rather than what you wish them to be. You might be attracted to relationships in which you feel a partner needs to be saved somehow, or in which a partner saves you. However, you might end up with people who only serve to confuse you, who are noncommittal or unavailable, or who are overly dependent.

You tend to idealize a partner, assigning them traits that you want them to have, or even seeing them as worse than they are because of your inflated and dramatic expectations. You need to develop discipline and discrimination when it comes to setting limits, selecting partners, and keeping communication clear in a relationship. In some cases, people with this position give up their power to partners and become dependent upon them.

You are likely a creative negotiator and you can be especially accommodating with others. Positively, you are very talented at bringing out the good in another person, particularly a partner, if that person is appreciative of your efforts and is willing to grow.

Neptune in the Eighth House

There is a spiritual longing with this position. You might often experience deja vus or other psychic phenomena. You pay attention to dreams and you might enjoy analyzing them. Sexual fantasies or role-playing can be strong themes in your life. You might yearn for a spiritual form of ecstasy on a sexual level–a soul connection. You might feel that your needs on this level are always just out of reach. You might be a giver in bed, and perhaps feel that you give more than you get. Alternatively, you could be in the completely opposite position in which you seek partners who are exceptionally giving on a sexual level. Either way, there is an imbalance and you could be left wanting.

With this position, it can be especially important to be discriminating when it comes to selecting sexual partners if Neptune is challenged. You may not see your partner clearly because of a deep need for extraordinary or fantastical experiences. There may be times when you give more than you take with money. If a more aggressive personality seems to want something more, you might cut them a better deal. Your shared finances may be chaotic in some way. You may be taken advantage of on a monetary level in partnership, or you might keep poor financial records and end up paying or owing more as a result.

There can be a blurring of boundaries when it comes to finances and partnership, whether that means you allow a partner to control your own finances or you adopt a “what’s mine is yours” philosophy without following up on or enforcing the “what’s yours is mine” part. In this way, you may leave yourself open to deception or even fraud.

Over the years, you will likely learn to take more responsibility for your finances and learn to be less timid about taking ownership of what is rightfully yours. It’s possible that you’re a bit sloppy with accounting. You may have problems collecting inheritance and could encounter difficulties on a financial level through the marital partner. However, you are very creative and imaginative sexually, and you understand and accept a wide range of styles and preferences on a sexual level.

Neptune in the Ninth House

You believe that anything is possible and have extraordinary faith in the universe. This faith can bring about positive circumstances, but if taken too far, might lead to wastefulness and laziness. You may depend too much on being saved “one day” and avoid some practical responsibilities in the meantime. You might make lofty plans that don’t get off the ground, or that fail to materialize, because you have neglected important, practical details. The faith you have can certainly carry you far if you keep your feet on the ground and recognize that you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to steering your life in a particular direction.

Your spiritual beliefs are well-developed. You are very open to unusual or avant-garde concepts, and you are especially attracted to anything exotic. You may, however, be a bit blinded in your faith, as you don’t always take the time to think about why you believe in what you do. Some with this position might be easily led astray by concepts, religions, or cults that do not serve them well. There may be some confusion or chaos when it comes to getting a higher education.

You will need quite a bit of discipline in order to complete your studies if you are seeking a degree. You could be excellent at promotion and marketing, coming up with very creative methods of persuasion. You might also be a creative and compassionate teacher. Strive to keep your larger plans and goals realistic, while maintaining your ideals.

Neptune in the Tenth House

You have exceptionally strong intuition when it comes to current trends, business, and what the public wants, and you are likely to bring much creativity, vision, and artistic sense to your career. This position is good for a career in the arts, with the media, in the helping professions, and involving charity work. If challenged, Neptune here can point to drifting without a clear direction or a lack of clearly defined goals. You may find it hard to find a “calling” in life, perhaps because of fears that a particular profession will be less than ideal, or due to fear of your being less than perfect.

You might want to examine whether your expectations are inflated or unrealistic. Some of you might fear taking responsibility for your lives or for others’ lives. You may have received confusing or chaotic messages in your childhood or from a particular parent, and subsequently find it hard to take a definite direction or path in life, or fear taking responsibility. In your career, you may not always get due recognition, which can also stem from a problem with assigning yourself worth.

Others might take credit for your work, or you could have problems being recognized and rewarded by your superiors until you truly believe in yourself and your abilities and talents. You may not project yourself clearly and you should be cautious about your reputation. While you often prefer anonymity, try not to encourage others’ misperceptions about you.

Neptune in the Eleventh House

You have very accepting, humanitarian, and idealistic views. You are especially idealistic about friendships, always adapting and displaying much flexibility with people, but hopefully not to the point of being taken advantage of. Some with this position are so accommodating and non-discriminating in their choice of friends that they leave themselves open to being deceived or used. You may find it very challenging to draw up boundaries when it comes to how much of yourself you give up in order to keep the peace in friendships.

You might also find it hard to get in touch with your deepest wishes and hopes, and what it is that will make you happy. You might frequently feel unsatisfied as you reach a goal, wanting something more. You might also yearn for a feeling of true camaraderie and spiritual connection with friends or through group associations, but because your ideals may be too high or unrealistic, you often feel dissatisfied or let down.

You are likely to attract, or be attracted to, artistic, sensitive, or unusual and even off-center friends into your life. Your sympathy and compassion for the underdog or the downtrodden are strong. You need to be careful not to give so much of yourself that you end up feeling used. Strive also to be clear with others in order to avoid confusing or chaotic situations.

Neptune in the Twelfth House

You possess exceptional intuition and you are able to draw upon tremendous inner strength and faith when in a pinch, which might surprise others because of your easygoing and possibly even timid manner. You may be exceptionally sensitive but not always able to express your compassion and concern in direct ways, which can give rise to feelings of guilt. If you deny the spiritual side of your nature, you run the risk of chronic discontent, and you may feel very vulnerable to normal changes in life, fearing that you may not be able to handle them.

In truth, your faith runs deep and surfaces when you need it most, so this fear is actually ungrounded. You need to learn to believe in yourself, or you might resort to escapist behavior and avoid problems when they do crop up. Some with this position only discover their deep spiritual inclinations later in life, or they are aware of them but have troubles expressing them until they have built a stronger identity.

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Interpretations are written by Annie Heese.