Prague II – Sun Neptune: The ongoing search for self and perfection

Please find here for Part 1: PRAGUE – NATIONAL IDENTITY AND WHERE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE COLLIDE

Springing to remembrance, I recalled a particular astrological configuration in the natal chart of Prague: the Sun Neptune square. With Sun situated in Taurus at 13°11′ casting a near perfect 90 degree (a square) aspect to Neptune in Aquarius at 12°58′. It is one of the closest and most influential aspects in the chart.

Sun, being the centre of the planetary systems in the Universe, in a natal chart, it becomes the centre of our being. As well-known astrologer Liz Greene exclaimed: Sun, is the greatest life-giver! It is the life force that fuels you with joy. It is the core that illuminates the meaning of existence. It is why you are special and unique the way you are. It is the authentic identity beneath all facades. It points to the path of your sole purpose, and also yes, your soul purpose in life. Once you are connected to that true inner expression of yourself, to put it simply, you shine.

Neptune, on the other hand, is mysterious and elusive. Traditionally in astrology, it heralds a series of titles. It is the artist, the hermit, the mystic, the saviour and the otherworldly. It is also the cheat, the martyr, the victim, the alcoholic, the drug-addict, the down-trodden and needy. It can be beautifully magical – aspiring outside of the mundane and making the dream of perfection come true. Or, it can be evasively deceitful – casting a spell to live forever in a dream of illusion and delusion. Whatever Neptune is, it molds and shifts. It shies away from being pinned down to any concrete definitions.

When the Sun and Neptune come together, it is analogous to a sunbeam being tucked behind clouds. Typically direct and straightforward, now the Sun’s purpose is somewhat vague and diffused by the weaving strands of Neptune. Personal goals and identities emerge as a continuing process of clarifying and readjusting. Both the greatest fear as well as the greatest gift exist in this ever-changing self-definition.

Specifically, in the chart of Prague, Sun in Taurus is traditional and conservative. It relies on goals that are tried and tested; has a taste for things that can be measured; and rather prefers to stick to the old than venturing outside of its comfort zone. Naturally, this is challenged by Neptune’s avoidance to be confined. Neptune in Aquarius is a generation that has a dream of utopia in mind. It has big dreams and ideals. It is avant-garde, and would experiment with anything new, unconventional to dethrone the status quo. We have perceived this conflict of directions in the history of the nation. There was a huge populace yearning for the new, yet meeting much resistance in an effort to retain the old.

With a Sun Neptune square also predominant in my own natal chart, I pondered reclusively on how this one connection, amongst many, had individually played a part in my attraction to the wondrous land of Prague. Not unlike Michael, I had arrived at the same common denominator.

Just like Prague, I would always be in a state of becoming. Finally, Neptune’s shackle of eternally seeking the unattainable perfection within and without was broken. Because I understood for the first time, and with the utmost clarity, that perfection is realised in being open to the process of becoming.

Wandering casually around the Prague Old Town Square, inhaling in the delicious aroma from market stalls, feeling the slight tickle of the cobblestone streets, beneath all exteriors and beyond all senses, I connected deeply. There were at least two lost souls that were enjoying the everyday perfection of becoming.

Please find here for Part 3: PRAGUE – REDISCOVERY OF CREATIVITY