I left off talking about Neptune and Mercury in hard aspect. The last thought had to do with how these aspects create the tendency to lie, cheat, and steal. To illustrate the point I'll share a couple of examples. I once knew a Neptune-Mercury guy who was a remarkable thief. His thing was holding up drug stores. He'd stuff a perfume atomizer in his pocket and pretend it was a gun. Neptune rules perfume! This guy jogged all the time just to create the impression he was straight up healthy. He was a veteran junkie and devious enough to know how normal people see things so he'd dress up in expensive sweat clothes and run around, sometimes 27 miles a day. Everyone thought he was virtuous and health oriented but he was really just a cross-addicted crook! Another guy I knew with a Neptune-Mercury square loved narcotics and only dated women who worked as hostesses in expensive restaurants and hotels. He disguised himself as a "dandy" and had impeccable manners so no one ever knew what was going on with him. Everyone thought he was a total gentleman. He would case every joint his girlfriends worked in and break in after hours to steal all the artwork and paintings and whatever else he could get his hands on. He never got caught! Regardless of their problems these two guys were brilliant. There is a fine line between the mind of a criminal and the mind of a genius. Neptune and Mercury crossing each other make it possible for people to think outside normal boundaries enough to do things that wouldn't even occur to the rest of us. I wish I could explain how they do this but I can't. I learned a tiny bit about how the criminal mind works but I don't fully understand it. All I can say is it seems like they have the ability to think on a million different levels at once and there is no separation between right and wrong. I will stick my neck out and say that everyone with hard Neptune-Mercury stuff has this ability. To some degree they are all capable of lying either to themselves or to everyone else about who they really are. I don't think they even see it as dishonest because Neptune makes it so easy to see things the way you want to see them. Even the thieves I mentioned didn't see what they did as wrong. They called it "getting over" on people and had no guilt or fear about the laws of Karma. To some extent I actually admire them because what they did was so flawlessly executed and much more interesting than what regular people do. After all thieves have their place in the scheme of things too. The worst-case scenario with Neptune-Mercury aspects is they make people insane and they can create the most awful forms of mental illness. This has to be born out through other more complicated aspects and midpoint pictures so don't take what I just said as gospel. There is no such thing in astrology and the only reason we're even discussing the nature of aspects is to give you an idea of how to BEGIN looking at them. The truth about Neptune-Mercury stuff, or any other difficult planetary combination is that the native has to figure out how to use the energy in the highest possible way. Obviously the men I mentioned above got stuck on the ground floor. If they hadn't gotten so swept away by their weaknesses they could have ended up writing best-sellers about them.
When Neptune and Mercury form soft aspects it means that the higher mind and the linear mind are in direct communication. This allows for all kinds of psychic-intuitive ability. It also makes it easy for the person to tune in to their hunches and this is a wonderful thing to be blessed with if you like to gamble. If you're looking at a horoscope and you see positive Neptune-Mercury contacts, whether the person is aware of it or not, they are psychic. And it helps to let them know this because if they pay attention to it they can learn to listen to their inner guidance and really develop their clairvoyant abilities. Even if the psychic potential doesn't come all the way to the surface people with these contacts pick up on everything that others are feeling and thinking. This sensitivity can create a lot of inner stress and these types need to be aware of how much their moods are influenced by "stuff" that isn't even their own. Writers often have healthy Neptune-Mercury contacts and I feel safe saying that anyone with these aspects SHOULD write for a living. I have Neptune and Mercury conjunct and it seems to help me a lot. When I write I don't plan or make notes and outlines. I just sit down and do it and things seem to come out like water from a faucet.
Now let's talk about what Uranus does when it forms stressful aspects to Venus. We already know that Uranus is eccentric and unpredictable. Venus is a lot of different things but at the bottom line it's about money, relationships, and one's connection to their feminine side. The revolutionary, rebellious, totally NOT ordinary energy of Uranus layered over the love nature, the pocketbook, and the female brain produces some very interesting stuff. Basically it puts all of those areas in a tailspin. Venus is the part of a person that knows how to cooperate, compromise, and receive. The LAST thing Uranus wants to do is cooperate or compromise and it's too WILLFUL to even understand what it might mean to be receptive. Deep inside all of us want to learn how to be in close relationships. But people who have Uranus tightly aspected to Venus feel that what they have to pay to maintain them will cost them their freedom and their individuality and they don't want to give those things up. You can't have your cake and eat it too. It's definitely not easy for these people to have "normal" relationships. And I don't think anyone with Uranus and Venus in hard aspect should even try to pattern their relationships along normal lines because it would never work for them to try to play house or structure their love life too formally. They have difficulty committing themselves to anyone because what they want out of love is so affected by the changeable vibration of Uranus. And they definitely need a LOT of freedom. My experience has been that these types are better off not even living with their partner. These contacts CAN create the need for totally wild and crazy relationships. "Swingers" and people who deal easily with open relationships and three-sided love affairs often have hard Uranus-Venus stuff. Homosexuals and Lesbians fall into this category too and while there's no clear cut astrological prescription for deciphering people's sexual preferences Uranus and Venus will definitely have a lot to say about it. I have Uranus semi-square Venus. This isn't even what you'd call a "serious" hard aspect but I have never had a normal relationship and I don't want one! Marriage doesn't interest me in the least. As far as money goes, Uranus-Venus aspects are like having a tornado in your wallet. These people will have tons of money one minute and be flat broke the next minute. And because they never know for sure when they'll be wiped out they need to be able to sock away a little cash when things are flush in order to tide them over when there's nothing there. Venus also has a lot to do with people's "taste" and their sense of aesthetics. And Uranus-Venus contacts create very unusual tastes. At the mundane level they create decorating and fashion tendencies that are totally eclectic and/or Avant Garde. There's a huge attraction to anything out of the ordinary. Let's put it this way, Uranus-Venus people don't buy their clothes or their furniture at Sears!
With Uranus and Venus in soft aspects things are different. These contacts bestow fantastic creative abilities and unusual talents. Which area the gifts surface in will depend on how the aspects are tied in to other planets. Circus people, and people that put on juggling acts in public places are good examples of what I'm talking about. The people who are involved in the "Bread and Puppet" theater probably all have wonderful Uranus-Venus aspects. There can be a huge talent for computers and astrology. Due to the Eleventh House energy of Uranus whatever form the gifts take there can be some sort of humanitarian or collective purpose for them. "Art in the Park" shows and "Comic Relief" shows or any artistic/creative endeavor that is put on to support a cause are manifestations of what Uranus and Venus can do when they're happy together. In relationships there is no sense of jealousy or possessiveness for the most part. These people don't feel like their partners are their personal property and are able to give everyone they come into close contact with plenty of freedom to be themselves. They usually have tons of friends because they see everyone as interesting and worthwhile. There's no sense of "hierarchy" and they're just as comfortable with bag ladies as they are with debutantes. Financially there is an up and down quality but there's nothing frantic about it. Inwardly people with soft Uranus-Venus energy know that the tide flows in and the tide flows out so it doesn't rattle them when the money's gone. They also have more luck than most people so even if there's no money in the bank something or someone always comes through to save the day. These are the types who unexpectedly get bailed out by distant cousins who die and leave them everything. Many of them have awesome luck with scratch tickets, bingo games, and raffles. Luck just seems to smile on them more than it does the rest of us.
When Neptune and Venus form hard aspects, all kinds of things come up for people. First of all consider Neptune as a force that is lost, confused, in denial, or too passive, idealistic or sick to know what it wants. Plant that on top of Venus and you've got relationship and money issues that are clouded to say the least. It's typical for anyone with stressful Neptune-Venus stuff to have many disillusioning experiences in love and a lot of deceit as far as money goes. It's interesting to dissect the possible causes for this. The typical pattern is that the person will have an ideal vision about love that they actually believe exists and they veil their relationships with this fantasy. Even if the person they're with is a total loser they can't see it. Back in the 70's, when transiting Neptune was squaring my Venus I fell madly in love with a man who fished for a living (Neptune rules the ocean) and was a rip-roaring alcoholic and drug addict (Neptune rules booze and drugs). Interestingly he had Saturn conjunct Neptune both squaring Venus in his birth chart. To me, this guy was like a GURU (!) and as far as I was concerned at the time this was the most powerful experience of true love that I had ever had. Everyone else could see who he really was but I was blind to it. In my mind I was going to save this man and spent eight years with rose-colored glasses on trying to bring light into his life. He finally OD'd one night and it wasn't until then that I realized I'd been under a spell the whole time. The idea of getting into love relationships where someone is totally consumed trying to heal or save their partner is a strong Neptune-Venus theme. And it can work both ways. Sometimes with these aspects the person themselves thinks that their lover is going to redeem or save them. People who marry guys in prison, or the ones that are so absolutely selfless they get involved with someone who is chronically ill or handicapped, ALL have stressed out Neptune-Venus stuff. There's a strong belief that love has no boundaries and can heal absolutely anything that causes these types to get into situations like this. And at some level they're doing it for all the right reasons but they end up getting victimized by their choices and sacrificing themselves to an ideal that exists only in their mind and nowhere else. I talk all the time to people and there are so many variations on the Neptune-Venus theme. Whenever you meet someone who complains that they only attract partners who use them or who are bewildered by the fact that their love life is a total disappointment it is usually a sign that they have these aspects. There is such a deep longing for love that they don't even bother to check people's references. All they are interested in is the need to connect and there isn't enough discernment to see that maybe the person they're dating has a pile of baggage that not even Mother Teresa could put up with. The patterns that cause this behavior and the NEED to experience things of this nature go all the way back to the developmental period. More than likely Mommy and Daddy had a weird relationship where one or the other was being victimized. Or, it can come out of some early belief that in order to please or get love from the parents they have to sacrifice something. Neptune is such a nebulous, confusing planet when it's strapped to Venus too tightly it makes it hard for the person to know what they want. Because they have absolutely no clue about what would be good for them their love life is like one long experiment that doesn't yield a workable formula for anything constructive. And it's probably true that in this particular incarnation these people are getting something out of not knowing what they want. "Not knowing" opens up so many countless possibilities that wouldn't be there if they were clear. The limits of love are endless at the archetypal level and the one good thing about having hard Neptune-Venus aspects is that after millions of mistakes MAYBE the person will have a deep understanding of what IS possible for a person to get out of love. If they survive the process. Shooting at the walls of heartache is risky and incredibly disillusioning. My belief is if you don't have a strong spiritual anchor it's really hard to deal with these aspects or come out of the experiences they create in one piece.
Neptune and Venus also give rise to enormous amounts of inspired creativity and talent. Even the hard aspects create the potential for it. With difficult contacts the motivation to access the gifts isn't necessarily there but the talents do exist. Finding a way to bring them out is the trick. When Neptune and Venus are in soft aspect the level of inspiration is off the charts. These contacts imply that at some level the talents are already fully developed and ready to flow into a specific creative channel. Musical ability is pretty pronounced in a lot of cases, but if it isn't that, it's SOMETHING artistic, theatrical, or poetic. Relationship-wise soft Neptune-Venus contacts usually make it possible to have with that people with hard aspects long for. Some people DO get to have relationships that work and even if it takes a while to get there eventually they DO wind up riding off into the sunset with someone who's on the same page. I have Neptune sextiling Venus so who knows? Maybe someday I'll wind up in a relationship that works.
Cal Garrison (a.k.a. "Mother of the Skye") has been doing Horoscopes, writing about astrology, and reading Tarot since 1972. She studied astrology with Charles and Vivia Jayne in the early 70's. Cal does private readings and writes for several newspapers and magazines. She wrote The Old Girl's Book of Spells and The Old Girls' Book of Dreams: How to Make Your Wishes Come True Day by Day and Night by Night