©6-20-2010 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
The 3rd house of the horoscope has as many levels as the 5-story walk-up building in New York’s East Village where I had my first apartment. It describes many diverse influences on our lives, and they’re all true simultaneously. Here are some of them:
- How we perceive things—all 6 senses and which ones dominate
- Our thinking and reasoning patterns
- Speaking, listening, writing and other forms of communication
- Learning patterns—how we learn best
- Education through high school, short-term coursework
- Sisters, brothers, and their influence on us
- Aunts, uncles, cousins, and other near relatives
- How good we are with our hands
- Our sense of humor
- Neighbors and how we relate to them and our immediate surroundings
- Short journeys, commuting, and day trips
Are the items on that list similar to Mercury? Yes, they are, and Mercury and its aspects in our charts provide additional—and sometimes contradictory—clues to other levels of that 5-story walkup. The mind is a complex entity, and medical research is discovering that the brain has many separate regions with different functions.
For today, let’s stick to the wealth of information we can gather about ourselves by examining the 3rd. We’ll focus on an in-depth portrait of Neptune in the 3rd as a way to show how planet and house work together. I’ll use my own 3rd house Neptune and describe the Neptunian ways I operate in areas on the list above. I don’t usually like to write about myself, but it’s as good a case example as any.
(Incidentally, if you have a Mercury-Neptune aspect or Pisces planets in the 3rd, you may relate to much of what I describe. Mercury in the 12th isn’t quite the same. You could be very present and articulate but absorbed in 12th house matters like service or spiritual practice and thus not very communicative with the outside world.)
Perceptions, the 6 senses: I am extremely near-sighted, and without glasses, the world around me resembles an Impressionist painting. No one noticed that until we had a unit on music in the 7th grade, and the teacher wrote the keys on the blackboard. I was entirely at sea and failed a test about it because I couldn’t read what she wrote. I was always an A student, and apparently up to then, I’d just been guessing—successfully—what my teachers wrote.
That hazy view of the world up to age 12 shaped my perceptions of it. On many levels, the world remains a blur to me. Even today, I like that version better and won’t wear glasses in the house. I still love the Impressionists best.
Thinking and communication patterns: I’m Neptunian in my thoughts as well—extremely intuitive, sensing feelings as much as what’s said, looking toward the spiritual and universal patterns.
I’m zoned out a lot of the time in an utterly silent world of my own. (Thankfully, I also have 4 planets in Gemini to help me emerge from the haze from time to time.)
I’m uncomfortable with ideas that are purely theoretical and abstract, wanting to know more about the emotional impact of a situation or behavior. While my verbal abilities test very high, my math, science, and mechanical skills test down around the 20th percentile. In terms of the 4 elements, I’m water smart, and there’s no test to measure that.
I’m a good listener–too good for my own good–but I don’t just listen with my ears. I’m an empath of the first order and listen with the empathic part of myself. Sometimes I don’t even say anything, but people feel better for having been heard. Unfortunately, I soak up the feelings and even the physical pain of the person psychically if I don’t remember to shield myself.
How I survived summers with my crazy family in my teens was to become a bookaholic. The librarians only allowed me to check out 7 books at a time, so I biked to the library every other day to get my allotment. Even today I am a voracious reader but only read mysteries. I haunt garage and rummage sales all summer, gathering stacks of books for a quarter a pop to squirrel away for the winter.
Writing: It’s my addiction, my daily fix. It transports me to a higher level of existence and attunes me to the world of spirit. The process itself is sometimes torture, as I struggle to express the inexpressible world of my perceptions and attempt to portray universal but uncomfortable emotions and experiences. I do have writing partners who aren’t of this world who whisper inspirations in my ear. Neptune shows how we give service, and writing is how I share what I know with a far greater number of people than I could reach one-on-one.
The first writing I did as a teen and young adult was poetry. I hung out in the poetry circles of New York City, but I was such a lousy poet that I was convinced I couldn’t write. It was only after I got into astrology, and everyone who looked at my chart told me I HAD to write, that I settled into the niche of writing about spiritual and self-help topics.
Neptune also shows secrets, and throughout my nearly 50 years of writing, I’ve never written (for publication, at least) about myself and my family secrets. When I started this blog, one of my goals was to be more self-revealing. It’s been a scary process, but I’m getting there.
My mind seems to have an inexhaustible fountain of creative inspirations, with more viable article ideas in a day than I could ever write. I’ve considered raffling them off to benefit the medical emergency fund for NCGR. Would any of you budding authors out there pay $10 for a raffle ticket to win a package of 5 article ideas?
My secret desire is to write fiction. My personal sorrow is that the 4 novels I’ve written have all broken my heart—no exaggeration—because no publisher would take them. Believe me, I’ve tried endlessly. Neptune’s house represents the agony and ecstasy of our lives.
Near Relatives: We were considered the “black sheep” of my mother’s family because she “married beneath herself.” (You’ve all met Mom’s sister, my mean Aunt Bernadine.) It would be an understatement to say that my father’s family was problematic. On both sides, there were lots of alcoholics and lots of secrets no one talked about. No close connections on either side, major feelings of shame.
Neighbors: Given all the family secrets, we were taught not to get close to the neighbors or to confide anything about the family. After many years of work on myself, I’m comfortable with my neighbors in a pleasantly superficial way. We do help each other out in a pinch, but not one of them knows I’m an astrologer. (Born Again neighbors DO NOT need to know that!)
Brothers and Sisters: One of each, both of whom have led seriously troubled lives, but they’re not my secrets to share. As I was the “Big Sis,” I carry huge feelings of responsibility and survivors’ guilt that no amount of therapy, healing, or objective reasoning have allowed me to shed entirely.
Neptune’s house is where we’re most likely to have boundary and co-dependency issues. Yet, it’s through my siblings’ suffering that I learned to have empathy for those who suffer, and I’ve long since concluded that I went to social work school to learn how to straighten my family out. It didn’t work, needless to say, but I learned invaluable skills and information to share with the world through my writing and teaching. Most of all, I’ve learned to encourage others to heal by communicating their pain.
Oh, and I had an imaginary older brother, as I was growing up. My best friends had older brothers who protected them and taught them the ropes, and how I yearned for one of my own! In fact, my parents did have a stillborn child before me, and I had a lifelong fascination with him. I marked his date of birth in the ephemeris, hoping to meet someone born that day. Finally, I did, and it was Arch Crawford, a well-known astrologer who predicts the stock market.
***************************
Wow. This article has gone way deeper into my family soap opera than I ever intended. I just wanted to demonstrate how many layers of meaning the 3rd house has and to give a detailed example. And now I don’t want to publish it.
Well, nobody’s Neptune house is a pretty and untroubled area of life. We all have our Neptune issues to straighten out, and it’s often a life-long process, better as we mature and evolve, but it’s still there in times of crisis.
How about you, Readers? Can you see how your chart describes the various levels of meaning of your 3rd house? Share some of them with us in the comment section.
UPDATE: I just encountered an excellent article on Neptune in the 3rd written by Jeremy Neal, who also has this placement. See it here: http://chirotic.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/lost-in-translation-neptune-in-the-3rd/.
LOST BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Several people have written in to say that they had half or step siblings they didn’t get to know until later. CJ Wright of Auntie Moon wants birth data from people who were adopted or who spent periods of time in their childhood where they were in foster care or lived with adults other than their parents ~ grandparents, other relatives, families of friends, childrens’ homes, or other environments, to see what placements go along with those experiences. I’m guessing that an outer planet near the IC is one signature, but I could be off. See the announcement at http://auntiemoon.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/research-on-adopted-or-foster-kids/ and write to her at auntiemoonmail@yahoo.com.
Articles in this Series about Mercury and the 3rd on Skywriter:
- Understanding Mercury Aspects to the Moon
- Understanding Mercury-Saturn Combinations
- Understanding Mercury-Pluto Combinations
- Understanding Mercury-Uranus Combinations—It’s DIY Time!
Related Articles:
- What your Astrology Chart Says about your Boundary Issues
- Readers Ask: Q & A about Mercury, Gemini, and the 3rd House
- Things You May Not Know about the 3rd and 12th Houses
- Four Kinds of Smart–Which One Are You?
- How Strong is your Mercury? Here’s the Score!
- Thought Forms and the Brain
- Legacy Thought Forms-Shake (off) what your Mama Gave You
- Neptune and the Cosmic Soup–How Psychic Contagion Depletes Us
- 20 Articles about Neptune on Skywriter
- The Best Thing God Ever Made—the Public Library
If this post was helpful, sign up for a subscription, and get a FREE EBOOKLET for Skywriter Subscribers Only: Mothers, Daughters, and the Moon, a 50-page excerpt from The Moon in your Life. Read more about it here: New: Free Booklet For Skywriter Subscribers!
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Sky Writer 
Oh Wow! This is wonderful. Thank you so much Donna for thinking of us neptunes in 3rd!!!
I’m starting to love and pay much more attention to mine and this post is a great tool, so many elements in common is hilarious. I’ll be back later today, but just wanted to say thanks first!
By: Sabrina on June 21, 2010
at 5:00 am
Thank you, Sabrina. Your request in the Q & A piece was a big part of why I wrote this. I think it’s a great place to have Neptune, as long as we don’t mind being a space case! To me, as a writer, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 5:31 am
Hi Donna – thank you for sharing such personal things.
I have jup retrograde conjunct chiron in pisces in the third (With Nep in 12th scorpio trining the thing). That’s pretty neptunian. Better listener than talker, I guard secrets like I’m a superspy. I don’t like talking, I prefer writing. I make my living as a fiction writer, and although I don’t make much money (yet) I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. Used to make money translating – anything really as long as it had to do with words! (By the way – there’s a huge market for ideas, in case you are selling …).
I was really nearsighted in school – used to sit in the back and write/read, so not an A-student like you, no. Usually I had no idea what was going on around me – still don’t. I had an operation to correct it, and ever since then every light has a little shining halo around it. It’s very nice, actually.
My imaginary worlds are far more interesting than anything else. Lot’s of Virgo and a strong Saturn keeps me from ignoring bills and other people …
There were secrets conserning siblings in my childhood, and I think I have about a 150 cousins around, but don’t know any of them. I’m not much of a family person.
I loved your story about reading! I can still remember my 12th birthday – I was finally allowed in the “grown-up” section of our local library, and I could borrow as many books as I wanted. Nobody looked twice at what kind of books I borrowed. Usually I would finish a book on the way home, then read through the night. I even tried reading in the shower …
I never considered myself very creative, it took a long time for me to trust that I could finish a story. Now the problem is more how can I finish all the ideas I keep getting. There’s just not enough time..
Thank you again.
By: Natalie on June 21, 2010
at 6:19 am
Lots of parallels, Natalie. Pisces planets in the 3rd would do it–I’d best add that to the article. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 7:06 am
This is very interesting. My third house is empty, but with Pisces and a bit of Aquarius. However, my husband has neptune in the third in Scorpio and I’ve always found that puzzling because of the way he is and how he learns. He also is very foggy regarding his early childhood years, I always thought because it wasn’t very good and he chose to block it. He is not a good listener and remembers only what he wants to (maybe that is a husband thing:). He can recite reports he did in school word for word and is a whiz at math and mechanical problem solving, but has no interest in the other areas, rarely reads – really a one track mind. I tease him that he only likes three things: his hobby, eating and work. Has good relationships with is brother and sister. Anyway, another perspective.
By: cathie on June 21, 2010
at 6:33 am
Thanks for sharing about your Nep in Scorpio hubby. Well, actually many of us with these placements ARE hazy about childhood memories because we were never entirely THERE in the first place, spaced out to avoid being fully present in the painful environment. That’s why I read 24/7 during the summer.
Also hard to avoid being psychically flooded by all the upset, so perhaps soaked up the hazy mental state of drinkers or other dysfunctional housemates. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 7:10 am
I have a funny story about my Dad and his 3rd house Neptune. One day, the absent-minded professor that he was, he drove through a stop sign. The cop behind him pulled him over and due to my Dad’s Sagittarian charm, he was able to escape getting a ticket. As both proceeded in their cars, my Dad went through the next stop sign! This time the cop gave him a ticket.
By: Amanda on June 21, 2010
at 8:37 am
LOL!! If I ever got a driver’s license (Heaven forbid), I’d probably lose it in a week. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 9:57 am
Thanks for sharing, Donna. I wonder if the Neptune in the 3rd also has to do with a service component, that is, sharing with others what 3rd house issues have meant to you in your actions and career choice?
(Sorry, I won’t delve much more… Darn Moon conj. Pluto… Just thought I’d share my observation with you).
Gee, I wonder what house librarians fall under??? It’s hard to say if it’s 3rd or possibly 9th…
By: kristy on June 21, 2010
at 9:08 am
Oh, certainly, writing is how I serve, but yes, this article is hopefully a service. Well, maybe a local library is a 3rd house thing and a university library is a 9th house thing. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 9:58 am
Ah, that makes sense!! Public libraries are more about the community and neighborhoods (shorter distances), while university libraries are about multiple subjects and broad geographical and knowledge areas! Thanks for the insight!!
By: krissy on June 21, 2010
at 12:40 pm
What an interesting personal profile, Donna. Thank you.
Thoughts you(r Neptune communication) inspired:
Your Neptune-Mercury contact–a Sonar navigating undercurrents around you for safe passage.
Your Neptune in 3rd –A kaleidoscope of ideas and inspiration, refreshed with interior focus (writing).
By: pdw on June 21, 2010
at 9:12 am
Good synthesis, PDW.
I once wrote a poem that started, “I am a kaleidescope of mirrors.” Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 10:00 am
Oh God, I could write a small novel about my 3rd house Neptune! Rather than write volumes, I’ll spare you and just outline some of the highlights of what this placement has meant for me.
I have Neptune conj. Moon in the 3rd in Sagittarius. Learning was a process of osmosis for me – I was like a little sponge in school. Had great listening skills and what went in just seemed to stick there like glue. When I first started studying astrology I had a hard time relating to a lot of the classic “cookbook” interpretations of a 3rd house Neptune – I could hardly be described as “spaced out” or a “daydreamer” and always did well in school. As I grew older I found out I also had a really good musical ear and taught myself how to play piano by ear. The 3rd can also represent skills that we take for granted and I never thought this was a particularly “special” talent – I mean, I had friends who took piano lessons and they were much more technically gifted than myself. My music reading skills are pitiful to this day and I consider myself to be functionally illiterate musically.
My relationship with my extended family was almost nonexistent. My mother had estranged us from many of her siblings (my aunts and uncles) and would not speak to her own family for years at a time. Also, I’ve made the joke many a time that substance abuse problems do not run in my family – they GALLOP! My own mother was (and still is) an alcoholic/addict as was my father and many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on both sides of the family.
I was a voracious reader as a child – particularly of the fantasy genre – and enjoyed the journey that books allowed my imagination to take alongside heroes and heroines, through worlds populated with dragons and elves. As I’ve mentioned before it’s always been difficult for me to flex my imagination as I had to deal with some very stark realities as a child, so though I enjoyed the momentary respite that reading provided, I never got stuck in the land of make-believe. In fact, I can remember in kindergarten that “playing pretend” TOTALLY did not appeal to me whatsoever.
At 14, my older sister took over caring for my little sister and I after my father relinquished the majority of his parental responsibilities. The year prior we had run away from my mother’s home as her alcoholism had gotten particularly bad. My father took over our care temporarily only to pass it over to my older sister a year later. Talk about feeling passed around like a sack of potatoes! She was only 8 years older than I and I and I’m sure you can imagine the strain this put on our relationship.
The plot has thickened as I’ve grown. My relationship with my other sibs is at the same time close and yet frustrating. Though I’m second youngest in the birth order, I often feel like the eldest as I’ve watched some of them founder with addiction and/or the tendency to make repeatedly poor life choices. It’s not that I’ve always made sterling choices either, but at least I’ve learned (and continue to learn) from my mistakes and don’t continue to repeat them over and over again. What’s worse is that two of them have kids that get affected by all of this. I’ve bailed my older sis out of many a financial jam that was self-created because part of me felt indebted to her on some level. Though I love them all dearly, I’ve come to a point in life where I’ve needed to detach because I’ve been too preoccupied with their self-generated problems. One sib in particular only calls when she needs or wants something and I find that relationship in particular very draining and just don’t want to subject myself to it anymore. I think I have to be willing to just suurender and let some of those bonds dissolve rather than continue to be entangled by them…..
By: Alethea on June 21, 2010
at 9:28 am
Tremendous similarities, aren’t there? Hard to compare, but yours sounds lots rougher. For me, my salvation was always that my teachers were really good to me and practically adopted me…also scout troup leaders and a neighbor.
The part about the 3rd house Moon and your sister reminds me of Jack Nicholson. Did you read the article “Things you Don’t Know about the 3rd and 12th houses?” on the links to related articles Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 10:07 am
Ah, “rough” is such a subjective a term. I try not to focus on the negative – no matter how challenging it’s been at various points there is always someone out there who has it WAY worse. I had a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on the table, so I was blessed in that regard – many don’t even get that.
Yes, I did read that article and case study of dear ole Jack quite some time ago. Poor thing – that’s a hell of a secret to deal with and an extreme case of how muddled things can get when the influences of the Moon, Mercury, and Neptune are all swirled together in a blender. For those of you who haven’t yet read it, please do check it out – it’s a good one.
By: Alethea on June 21, 2010
at 10:53 am
Oh I loved your story. fascinating about how you survived until 12 without glasses! and your reading (that was my escape too)
I don’t have neptune in my 3rd house so i will let others fill the comments section. I’ll only say I wish you were my friend because you sound like someone I’d like to be around..
By: mimi torchia boothby watercolors on June 21, 2010
at 12:15 pm
Thank you, Mimi. Where would we have been without the library in those days? Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 3:59 pm
Thank you for your post Donna, I realise how you battle to publish such personal text.
A timely article as always as I’m trying to get my head around a composite chart with a mutable grand square part of which is Neptune in the 3rd.
By: tizer on June 21, 2010
at 12:50 pm
Mmm some good stuff! some great similarities, and still is helpful to see how each one has a particular expression. Ok here goes my long story!
I have neptune in the 3rd in Sag and is my only planet in fire, and the pivotal planet of a kite (that I really didn’t pay much attention in – ahem- 20 years…until now. I’m sort of finding out about kites!) is also in mutual reception with Jupiter in Pisces and square to it. Where jupiter is conjunct mercury and part of another air trine. So I’d better start working with mi amigo Neptuno.
Neptune was in the environment growing up: lots of art and books in the house, philosophy, history, astrology…they were around, and I loved them! paint and materials for crafts were in my mother’s studio (she’s a pisces painter) so my sister and I would spend countless hours painting, modeling or building something (still do). Kindergarten was great. We called the director and the teachers ‘aunt’ and I’m still in touch with the director, she is a dear friend of the family. Languages and foreign cultures are important too. I have moved around a bit. Not sure about big secrets though (but being Sagittarius involved is hard to be too secretive, I’d say a bit private)
I had to start wearing glasses at 12, and was a good student as well. Besides the very foggy vision, the other senses are very strong, specially the sense of smell, and the memories triggered by it.
Good learner, like a sponge as Alethea mentioned. I love being a student so much that I have two degrees, and at some point I was a professor and a student at the same time finishing the 2nd career. I had to call the legal department of the university to find out if I could do that! all of it while pluto was transiting in sag on my neptune and saturn was in gemini opposing). Then I had to leave everything due to the political situation in my country, you can imagine it was hard…I had to choose between career and a more peaceful future.
I tend to daydream and space out big time (sun in pisces) but having the opposite mars in gemini helps me to switch into a more alert mode. I feel I can connect easily from left to right brain. Music has definitely an important role, I can completely space out just by listening to it. And when I’m overwhelmed showers/water are a Godsend like some of you commented earlier.
Good photographic and spatial memory, can describe things to a ridiculous level of detail (I can draw the floor plan of the apartment we lived in when I was 3, and confirmed the accuracy decades later, because my husband in his teens lived in the same building!) But maybe the saturn in gemini has something to do with the memory, while neptune ‘feels’ the space around. Wish I was a better listener.
Good with hands, I paint and draw more than write (this has being a test!). In school mi notebooks would be filled with notes on the front, and drawings and drawings on the back pages!
Had an imaginary friend around 3 and later I wanted badly an older brother (I’m the big sis too) so I had recurrent dreams with my imaginary twin brother who was always wearing a red t-shirt (mars in gemini opposing neptune -funny I didn’t know any of this then) we were always running from something in the dreams and not long after I turned 12 or so, the dreams just stopped. But I do get quite a bit of info from myself or others in dreams, they tend to be very vivid and colorful. Sometimes I get strong ‘hunches’ in the ‘in-between’ stage, when you are about to fall asleep (I don’t know the term in english) I wonder if anyone here has had the same experiences.
I have an younger sister and we are close. Is interesting she is very much virgo/taurus/leo, yet if I describe her she’d be neptunian, complicated late teens and no clear relation between very logical verbal analysis and sometimes chaotic actions. On the other hand, very compassionate, she decided to become a doctor and she is wonderful, but has had a difficult career process and has trouble believing in her skills. She is a very talented writer.
We stay in touch with very few members of my father’s side of the family, there are a couple of aunts with serious drinking problems, and some tendency to pop pills rather easily. My mother’s side (me included!) is more into lots of coffee, tea and the occasional vino. I’m close to my mother’s only sister (sag sun/ pisces moon) and my mom who is a neptunian with lots of fire, tends to want to be taken care of. She was a protective, loving and a bit chaotic mom when we were little, but she often said that preferred the ‘older sister’ title.
My husband’s 3rd house is in pisces and his scorpio mercury has a wide conjunction to neptune in Sag. He’s a scientist and his love is research, he’s really good at it. Also has a great gift for languages and music and is very open to oriental philosophies…and is a much better listener than I am!
Big Thanks again Donna, the possibility of share and compare a particular placement with others, in a space like this is a priceless tool (and sounds a lot like neptune in the 3rd to me!)
By: sabrina on June 21, 2010
at 1:04 pm
Oh, thank you Donna. A Moon conjunct Neptune in Scorpio and 3rd (close to the Nadir) here.
I got my first pair of glasses aged 20 and said ‘That’s funny everything looks like it does in photographs!’ I definitely preferred the familiar impressionist view you wrote of.
I’ve always wondered why I don’t remember details from my childhood – no evidence of any serious traumas I’d need to blot out – so your suggestion of being mostly ‘not there’ made me smile.
My family called me a dreamboat.
I love writing poetry that is evocative of my feelings but not explicit. Trained as a scientist (genetics) and editor (science publishing), I learned successfully to project more accuracy and objectivity than is really in my nature.
I’ve felt ashamed of my emotional, imaginative, sometime melancholic drive to express myself in writing. But I am compelled to do it, as if it were my real work. (Mercury conjunct Uranus in 12th, not aspected to anything in my 3rd though.)
I felt I had ‘come home’ when I discovered aquatic bodywork and the altered states it was possible to acheive when being floated in warm water. I learned this art and now I try to write about it.
I find that I have to write about whatever moves me deeply.
In the family, I am no doubt still at 50 years the gypsy or puella. As a (Piscean) medical doctor, my beloved younger sister has found me frustrating and incomprehensible.
I often have a deep knowing about people and places. My dreams have increasingly become almost too perceptive and premonitionary for comfort.
By: Sara on June 21, 2010
at 1:24 pm
Thanks, Sara and Sabrina, for sharing your 3rd house profile. Exchanges like these give us a chance to see astrology live. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 4:03 pm
Dear Sabrina, it sounds like you are 9 months older than me…so when you were born, I was being conceived! lol! Curious to know whether you have Virgo rising too?
I have Neptune conjunct Mars and North Node in the 3rd (almost exactly conjunct IC), also making a wide conjunction to Mercury and Sun in late Sag.
Donna, I just found your old post on Neptune/Mars aspects the other day, and will repeat some of what I wrote there, since it’s unlikely anyone will see that.
I have just recently found out how best to use my Neptune/Mars conjunction, and that’s through energy work: reiki, chakra balancing, qigong, energy medicine, etc. I started a blog (3rd house/Mercury) on this topic (energy health) this spring.
As to Neptune in the 3rd, I was addicted to personal blogging in 2004, which got me fired from my flight attendant job. But then I turned my blog into a book and am currently working on the screenplay (trying to stay motivated–tough with Neptune conjunct Mars!) I’m really enjoying carving a (semi-)fictional plot out of my life. I have a production company in Canada that optioned the rights to this. My favorite activity is daydreaming, so thinking about writing the screenplay is easier than actually doing it! 😛
By: Ellen Simonetti on June 21, 2010
at 1:51 pm
Ha – a screenwriter, eh? Someone was just asking in another one of Donna’s posts as to what combination of planets might potentially indicate a screenwriter. The consensus seemed to be Mercury+Sun+Neptune and you happen to be a great case study as you have all three tied together! This is why blogs are great – you get to learn so much by listenening to the stories of others! Thanks so much for sharing, Ellen!
By: Alethea on June 21, 2010
at 3:39 pm
Sounds like a wonderful project, Ellen. A little reminiscent of that delightful movier, Julie/Julia. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 4:09 pm
Hi Ellen, sounds like it might be the case! we surely have some similar placements. I do have virgo rising, and like you, have a sag north node almost exactly conjuct to the IC. Which makes me wonder what’s your take on it? I’ve being feeling more oriented to do things from home the last couple of years.
I really liked your comment on how to deal with your mars/neptune aspect. Yoga seems to work for me but I’ve being curious about reiki. I’ll check the blog!
By: sabrina on June 21, 2010
at 6:40 pm
Hi Sabrina (and Ellen), My Scorpio Neptune is conjunct my 3rd house Jupiter/Mercury conjunction and is quincunx my retrograde 9th house Gemini Mars. I’ve also found Reiki to be a great way for me to blend the two seemingly incompatible energies; it also allows my intuitive abilities to flow more freely since I don’t have to “think” about them.
By: LB on April 5, 2011
at 10:37 am
Reiki? What a good tip! (I am a Reiki master). Do you direct the energies mentallywhat do you say or think or do? And what level of Reiki do you specify? Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 5, 2011
at 10:49 am
Hi Donna – How interesting (and not at all surprising) that you’re a Reiki Master. Thanks for sharing that. I’m certified at Level 2, not sure yet if I want to become a Master since I don’t have any real desire to teach.
Okay then, since you asked for specifics, I’d be happy to share! I believe Reiki directs me. I use music during my sessions and find it helps to take me out of my head and bring me back into my heart – it’s there I’m able to tune into the LOVE. Clients seem to like it too and I think it helps them to relax.
I’m also an Empath, so when I begin laying my hands on someone, I often know what it is that they’re feeling – spiritually, emotionally and/or physically. I can sense the unspoken pain that goes beyond the physical. Then I ask God (or whatever divine energy one believes in) to guide me in facilitating the very best and most loving outcome for the person I’m working with – I never ask for (or expect) anything more than love, and I always know I’m only the channel, not the source. I absolutely have to take myself (as well as my EGO) out of the equation through surrendering to a higher divine will.
During sessions, I’m usually filled with a profound love for the person, and often I sense someone who has passed on is trying to get through with their own message of love. Afterwards, I always ask if the client if they’d like me to share what it is that I’ve picked up on. If they want to know, then I gently share and offer comfort and reassurance, always through encouragement, never fear. Sometimes the talks we have after Reiki can be most healing; people seem grateful and relieved to know that they’re loved and understood on a deeper level without them having to use words.
My spiritual faith is HUGE, and I believe all things are possible through love – I never rule anything out, I just know it’s not up to me to determine what’s best. I don’t really think, I more FEEL, which seems to allow the energy (and messages) to come through more clearly. I can’t explain it, I just seem to know where to place my hands; I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing. I always feel humbled and grateful after giving Reiki – it’s an amazing privilege and not something I take for granted.
Well, I hope I’ve answered your question. If nothing else, maybe it will inspire others to give Reiki a try. Did you happen to catch the recent episode of “Ruby” where she goes in for a session? If not, here’s a link – it was pretty intense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_qvUdJtxbQ
By: LB on April 5, 2011
at 12:03 pm
Thanks so much for sharing your method with me, LB. I also am an extreme empath (strong Pluto) and can feel where and how the energy flows in an energy session (I also do MariEL) so know which body parts and chakras a really soaking it up. (I’m retired from doing healing work, too, except for sending it to friends.) It sounds to me like the focus on LOVE is very important in this business of guiding energy into smoothing out the aspects like the quincunx. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 5, 2011
at 12:53 pm
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but since you mention it, that makes sense. I’ve definitely learned with my quincunxes that anytime I try to satisfy one while denying the other, I’m left frustrated and confused. So in that respect, it’s much healthier for me to surrender it all to a higher will (a.k.a. Universal LOVE) where issues can be resolved in a way that isn’t either/or.
Nice talking with you Donna. 🙂
By: LB on April 5, 2011
at 1:33 pm
Likewise, and I think you have a principle there that people can use to harmonize the energy of a quincunx even if they don’t have Reiki training: ” I’ve definitely learned with my quincunxes that anytime I try to satisfy one while denying the other, I’m left frustrated and confused. So in that respect, it’s much healthier for me to surrender it all to a higher will (a.k.a. Universal LOVE) where issues can be resolved in a way that isn’t either/or. ” Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 5, 2011
at 3:17 pm
That is a beautiful description of how Reiki works, and so timely! as I’m about to call a friend who does distant Reiki (I’ve always wanted to try it but haven’t yet). And thanks LB for the tip about it to help balance mars and neptune energies, is definitely a tricky combo and in few years transiting neptune will contact both. I’m taking this message today as a good Omen, since transiting Neptune is exactly conjunct my natal jupiter!
Thank you ladies, blessings…
By: sabrina on April 5, 2011
at 1:40 pm
Sabrina, my DOB is Dec.15, 1974 (@ 11:18pm in Durham, NC, USA). I also have Neptune square Jupiter and in mutual reception. And, yes, I work from home nowadays. (If you can call it work…it’s more like play!)
Alethea…that was ME that asked about screenwriter aspects, lol! 😀 I also have a blog about the writing of my screenplay…I hadn’t been posting in a while, but now it’s back on!
Thanks, Donna…you just reminded me I need to watch Julie and Julia 8)
By: Ellen Simonetti on June 22, 2010
at 12:53 pm
My boyfriend has SUN, MOON, and MERCURY in the third house(all capricorn). I never really get the third house.He doesnt see his relatives or have any dealings with neighbors. He pretty much keeps to himself he is quiet, and kindhearted. But all this stuff in the third seems strange. The third house seems kind of boring. He did have an iIMAGINARY brother when he was young. Maybe the third house is about making up relatives you wish were real.Also the third house must make you a genius! but unless you have some good 10th and 11th house stuff to jazz it up, it seems like a waste to be a totally genius hermit.
By: m f on June 21, 2010
at 2:08 pm
This was a wonderful read, Donna!
Your personal angle let things be much more relate-able for me – I work/think best in analogies. Thank you for taking that tack.
Are you planning on moving though more of the outer planets within the third house? I think that would be a great learning series.
By: ej runyon on June 21, 2010
at 2:21 pm
No, probably not. I do have a couple more posts in the works digesting what people have said about Saturn and PLuto aspects to the 3rd or Mercury. Then some other topic will float to the top. I love the freedom of not having to write to editorial specification or bound by a book outline. I never know from day to day what will show up as a topic or theme, and after some 35 years of writing books, it’s wonderful! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 21, 2010
at 4:07 pm
P.S. I have Gemini on my empty 12th house cusp, and my 9th hs. Pisces moon opposed a planet in the third house – would that mirror some of the Neptunian effects you describe – it did feel like you were – ‘strumming my pain with your fingers, telling my whole life with your words…’ as I read the examples you listed for us.
By: ej runyon on June 21, 2010
at 2:29 pm
I just love what you write. Thanks for taking the time to do it for us.
By: Marybeth on June 21, 2010
at 3:27 pm
Loved the many levels you described. This is soooo helpful to me! I am a beginner so am befuddled by the myriad number of aspects and planetary qualities and house levels….
Loving it!
Thanks again,
Molly K.
By: molly on June 21, 2010
at 3:54 pm
Hi Donna! Wow. like many here have already mentioned what amazing similarities I find in your life experience & mine! Quite unexpected, since I have NEVER met anyone with so many parallels. So I always felt very much the outsider & different (and not in a good way. hoping to change all that soon though).
My 3rd house is empty and so is my 9th. Although I’ve traveled a lot and lived in different countries for long periods of time. I would like to travel even more as I love to learn about different people and cultures and experience it first hand. I have neptune in the 6th house in scorpio, same house as my sun but too far to be in aspect to it. My rising is gemini, mercury in the opposite sign of sag, squaring a 10th house aquarius moon conj. saturn.
I got my first pair of glasses when I was 12. I had very bad eyesight; could hardly see in my right eye, the world was very, very hazy. I think my mom was forced to get me glasses (can’t imagine she would do it otherwise) but I promptly lost them when I couldn’t stand how sharp and clear they made the world look. It was waaay too much info for my brain – the glasses gave me a headache. So I just forgot them somewhere. When I wanted to learn to drive when I was 15 she refused to buy me another pair, so I missed drivers ed and didn’t learn to drive until I graduated from high school because I had to pay for lessons myself thru an expensive private company.
I also was a voracious reader. I started reading when I was 3. As I got older, around 10 or 11, I could read 2 or 3 books in a day, especially the romance novels. I read the big thick historical ones as well as harlequins. But, I quickly bored of romance novels and I began reading everything. I spent all day reading which was totally frowned upon and labeled ‘weird’ by my family. But it kept me from having to take in anymore of them than I had to.
I am a child of immigrants and secrets are rife in my family. The complex family dynamics is one of the main reason I tuned them out. I know more of my scorpio mothers’ side — 4 siblings but we weren’t all raised together. Actually I have loads of ‘siblings’ if you count foster & half sisters/brothers, etc. However, I am only close to one younger sister. I barely know the rest. So, there are huge family secrets that I somehow absorbed and have been trying to release through writing memoir for many years in fits and starts. I make some headway and then stop. I used to write as a child in a journal and I think I was quite good. But that journal was read without permission by a family (foster?) member. After that humiliation I stopped writing and haven’t been able to get back to that flow of writing easily and effortlessly ever since.
I also pined desperately for a brother growing up, and even now! I truly missed that shield of protection from someone who would love me unconditionally and help his little sister. When I got older I discovered that I DID have a brother, but that he was estranged from our mother. Then, before I could meet him, he died suddenly in 1994, the year I had my son. Lately, I’ve been learning more about him and have been unexpectedly meeting people who knew him. I feel elated and grief-stricken all at once. I’ve been writing about him as well.
I’m an artist (actor/writer) and one of my regrets in life is not learning the piano.
Yes, even though I am writing a memoir and short non-fiction stories, it is still hard for me to reveal my personal story (even with that 10th house moon). I am always aware of the risk of being judged harshly and rejected. I guess it leaves me feeling exposed and vulnerable. Clearly a reflection of the reaction I did receive as a child, but not one that I would necessarily receive now. Also, I’m an adult — the danger has passed, I’ve already lived it. I can protect myself. I know this, but I wish I could convince my inner-child of this too so I can finish the book! 😉
Thanks for the post Donna. Much food for thought. ❤
By: marie-francoise on June 21, 2010
at 4:56 pm
Thanks for sharing the parallells, Marie-Francoise. One of the main reasons I shared my story and why I make myself be more self-revealing on the blog is because I think overcoming the barrier to self-revelation will change my writing and make it more potent. Having too many secrets about our lives severely hampers our writing. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 22, 2010
at 5:07 am
Donna, some of what you wrote struck a little too close to home.
* Pisces rules my 3rd house cusp
* South node in Pisces in the 3rd
* Mercury conjunct Neptune in the 12th conjunct the ASC
I am both a sponge for information and psychic debris. Also, I’ve been recently told that I am a medium, but I’m cut off from it.
I’m waiting for Neptune’s next move in the interim.
By: Katie on June 21, 2010
at 6:19 pm
Hi, Katie, yes all the chart features you quote would make you extrememly psychic. There are a number of posts on this blog that would give you some tools to keep from being inundated with it. Use the on-site search engine for the terms “cosmic soup”, “psychic cords,” “thought forms” and lots of articles about boundaries. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 22, 2010
at 5:10 am
I want to second Marybeth and thank you for this
column. As you can see, we are all just panting to have a place to discuss our chart complexities!
You are the ultimate listener and all those who read your blog feel your empathy and wisdom!
I have Neptune in the third house trine taurus Mercury (where it remained since it turned retrograde in my teens and did not enter gemini until I was 65) I am nearsighted, an omnivorous reader from childhood, musical, scent sensitive,
a librarian/professor, and serve by listening, since everyone wants to be heard.
My daughter also has Neptune in the third house
(scorpio) trine jupiter and sun. Her gemini Mercury sextiles moon/ uranus and she is a writer/lecturer/professor, kind and empathetic and a very nearsighted musician as well. However,a teacher once commented that she has no common sense.
By: maryjane on June 21, 2010
at 6:34 pm
Lovely placements, both you and your daughter, and clearly the world of books is as real to you as it is to me.
Oddly enough, I am also very sensitive to scents, and cannot bear to be around air fresheners or aroma therapy products…I get frightened that I won’t be able to breathe. I didn’t mention it but both my parents smoked two packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day and my mother didn’t believe in opening the windows. My lung capacity is quite restricted as a result. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 22, 2010
at 5:15 am
Neptune conjunct South Node in Scorpio in the 3rd, opposing a Taurus North Node in the 9th, that squares a 12th house Leo Moon that opposes a 6th house Venus in Aquarius. Grand cross right?
Neptune is sextile Saturn/Mercury/Chiron in Pisces in the 7th, & quintile the Ascendant.
I’m an only child so I’ve never been able to understand most 3rd house explanations much less Neptune & the South Node in it. Only until the Mercury score post, Donna’s suggestion that I read Neptune/Saturn aspects and all of the comments is when it made some sense. The Neptune theme in my life was the alcohol. People do/say hurtful things under the influence of alcohol. While I’m grateful that I did not go hungry and had a roof over my head, I’m not strong enough to fully talk about what happened. I buried all of that anger and hurt only to have it resurface now. However, yall’s posts and comments at least let me know that I was not imagining these things and that I’m not alone. I used to wish that I had an older sibling to protect me but as I observe my parent’s siblings and now my husbands siblings, I’m kinda glad I’m an only. Also appearances are not always what they seem to be, when you are observing from the outside.
The library, oh the library was the best thing since sliced bread. Somewhere in elementary school or maybe high school a teacher got me hooked on Agatha Christie so reading became my escape. The library and books was where I could be in my own little world.
“However,a teacher once commented that she has no common sense.”
School was my other escape. While everyone else was saying TGIF, Fridays were like Mondays for me. Hated for the schoo year to end and summer vacation but was thrilled when it was time to go back. I would have gone to summer school but my parents would not pay for it. I “held” myself back a little in school because of statements like that made to me not by a teacher but by my mother. I don’t know if it’s Mars, Pluto, or Saturn which are in difficult aspects to each other but whateva it is, if someone tells me I can’t do something, I’ll do what I got to do to prove you I can. I still managed to graduate in the top 5% if my high school class knowing I could have been in the top 1%. But that would have made matters worse. I was just trying to survive each day knowing I was getting closer to when I could get out on my own.
It’s funny just a couple of weeks ago my Cancer husband was telling me something from his childhood and he asked me did I remember whatever age. He was generally shocked when I said to him I don’t recall much of my childhood.
Oh, I started wearing glasses in the 3rd grade and I’m nearsighted as well with the left eye being stronger than my right eye. Hmm, 3rd house, 3rd grade?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer/artist/musician or something like that but I don’t think I have that kind of talent. I do l love the written word, art and music. Pretty much anything handmade, handcrafted.
Donna, now I see what you mean when you said “Take care of Saturn and he’ll take care of you”. Saturn grounds all my Neptune energy. I think it’s what’s kept me from the dark side of Neptune.
By: msfullroller on June 21, 2010
at 9:49 pm
It’s so strange–it’s like we’re all sisters, isn’t it?
I”m starting to wonder exactly what my Dad was up to as he journeyed through the midwest, wiring different parts of the farmland for electricity. Maybe you ARE my sisters and brothers. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 22, 2010
at 5:18 am
Really appreciated this mention msfullroller makes to Saturn-Neptune grounding and your previous hint Donna that you might write more on Saturn and Pluto aspects to the third.
I have Saturn in 5th sextile my Moon/Neptune in 3rd.
And Pluto/Venus in 1st sextile that Moon/Neptune in 3rd also.
With my astrologer partner’s help, I’m learning to appreciate what the Saturn has done and does for me. Certainly, it provided a persistence that helped me to compensate for the ‘dreamboat’ label in childhood. I was a studious student and loved diving deeper into things. It still keeps me working away at anything that fascinates me, a kind of drip-drip effect to use a Neptunian image.
Perhaps, also Saturn keeps that Pluto-Venus in check to a degree that I’d really love to be free of now that I’m mature enough to handle it. Saved me from a wild youth but I’d like to uncover the wild woman or at least the high priestess. What do you think?
By: Sara on June 22, 2010
at 4:32 pm
Yep you are definitely big Sis, that is if you don’t mind me adopting you as such!
By: msfullroller on June 23, 2010
at 9:22 pm
As long as you understand that a Big Sis is nothing like a mother, has no real responsibility to for you, other than to yank your coat when you’re in danger of going off the rails. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 24, 2010
at 3:32 am
I want to respond to msfullroller and her story since she must be close to my daughter’s age and also has a 12th house leo moon. .
On the issue of “common sense” we just laughed about it and said who needs it!( moons in sag and leo) Mothers are supposed to be supportive! I was happy to learn you have a cancer husband.
My daughter started wearing “coke bottle ”
glasses in the 1st grade as she could read and write but not see the board.
She is also an only child as I had three little sons die before she was born. two after.. She now has four much younger half siblings from her twice remarried father.( a mixed blessing)
Go to the library, msfullroller, and get some biographies of artists, musicians, writers and see that talent is not the most significant ingredient but saturn determination is. good luck.
.
By: maryjane on June 22, 2010
at 12:03 am
How odd. Other than mysteries, the main thing I brought home from the library was a popular series of biographies of inspiring people. they had orange covers–anyone remember them. One thing I remember very clearly from childhood was the day my big cousin took me to the library to get my first library card. How happy I was!
I wrote about my beloved libraries here: https://skywriter.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-best-thing-god-ever-made%e2%80%94the-public-library/.
By: Donna Cunningham on June 22, 2010
at 5:25 am
Donna I had just read your article the day before you did this post and was smiling the whole time because I could totally relate.
By: msfullroller on June 23, 2010
at 9:27 pm
Wow MaryJane guess what, Mom’s has Sun, Jupiter and Pluto all conjunct within 4-5 degrees in Leo. Hubby also has Moon and Venus in Cancer. Uranus in Cancer is conjunct his Sun with Uranus being in front. So even though those placements are in difficult aspect with mine, he lets me be me and had been very patient these past few years of this self discovery journey of mine. Maybe because I have Uranus rising in Virgo, we understand each others “weirdness”. lol
Thanks for the recommendation and I will do that. Now I see why, when I had cable, I would always watch A & E’s “Biography”, whatever the VH1 show was that was basically a biographical profile on a particular artist/group or similar show. I used to like reading biographies too. I’m also drawn to personal blogs and books of individual people I admire.
So your daughter must be going through her midlife transits too? If so, I wish her luck. Thanks!
By: msfullroller on June 23, 2010
at 9:52 pm
Hi Donna – I really enjoyed this post and related to much of what you shared. My Neptune (in Scorpio) is in my 2nd, but connected to the 3rd through a close conjunction to my Mercury and Jupiter (also in Scorpio). And it’s less than 3 degrees from the 3rd. Everything squares my Moon in the 5th.
I was a big reader, reading anything and everything I could get my hands on; like everyone else, I loved the library. Reading and dancing (and music) provided necessary escapes from the world. I don’t drive (partly because I’m slightly narcoleptic and prone to falling asleep during trips), and I’m nearsighted. I’m also very sensitive to whatever environment I’m in and often pick up on subtle clues that others miss. I’m also psychic and have recently discovered an ability to channel healing energy through my hands.
I always thought I had a missing sibling (a sister), and a psychic once told me the same thing, although I’ve never figured it out. I’ve even searched the internet for adopted children that might have been born to either of my parents prior to their marriage. My brother is a bit of a mystery to me, and maybe not quite what he seems.
I sing and dance and move, in a unique way. Someone once commented that I enter a room like Loretta Young (how many will even remember?) As far as my dancing goes, what I lacked in formal training, I made up for in inspiration. People always seemed mesmerized watching me dance, with several teachers telling me I had something “special”. I’ve often said I feel closest to God when I dance, as if I’m expressing some ancient divine language.
I’ve also had mystical experiences during short trips, and in communications. After someone close to me had passed away, my mother’s answering machine began playing back certain messages from 10 years prior, with the person (who had been estranged from the family for many years) telling us she loved us. A long deceased grandparent’s phone message also began playing. Mail troubles are another frequent issue. One of the most recent challenges has been due to the fact that our landlord apparently neglected to properly register our address, so for a while, the post office refused to deliver our mail. Throughout my life, this has been a constant theme, with many communication snafus resulting.
By: LB on June 22, 2010
at 10:14 am
LaBerry, you are very very Neptune in the 3rd. The parallels between those of us who have it are far more uncanny than I ever imagined. Donnas
By: Donna Cunningham on June 22, 2010
at 3:54 pm
My “feelings” were correct. After more than a half a century, I just found out I actually *do* have a sister who was put up for adoption several years before I was born! The funny thing is, I never had any practical reason to suspect such a thing, but I always just “knew” and the feelings haunted me. Like she was lost and waiting for me to find her. Really, I’ve felt that same sense of being lost.
Transiting Chiron in the 7th is exactly trine my natal Jupiter (in Scorpio) in the 3rd and T. Neptune is trine my Neptune (conjunct Jupiter/Mercury) and opposite my natal 12th house Pluto, ruler of my natal 3rd. T. Saturn is exactly conjunct my natal Sun and is forming a septile with T. retrograde Mars, which has been sitting on my natal 12th house Pluto (ruler of my 3rd) for some time now. Mars rules my 8th. Oh, and the T. Sun is conjunct my 8th house South Node, which means it’s also opposing my Sun. Now there’s some astrology!
Apparently only two people knew – no one else – and my mother swore both of them (an uncle – whose Sun is exactly conjunct my 8th house South Node – and his wife) to secrecy. But after
sharing with my uncle how strong this feeling was (and now that my mother has passed), he broke down and told me. I reassured m that he did the right thing for everyone’s sake. Now my mother’s spirit no longer has to carry this secret burden and
neither do I.
By: LB on April 12, 2012
at 1:42 pm
Wow! Quite a story, LB! Thank you for sharing it–I always like to add to my Neptune/3rd knowledge. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 13, 2012
at 9:38 am
Hi LaBerry, Donna and all,
i’m so thankful for the insights you’ve shared here, it really gives a feeling of a big sisterhood this Neptunic placement, but again, it’s very proper to feel so, giving his role 😉
I dunno if adress it to the same planetary cluster in 3d and Moon in 5th, but i found myself especially resonating with your case LaBerry. So, i have Neptune and a Mercury/Jupiter conjunction in 3d Capricorn, with Moon (and a Venus/Mars conjunction) in 5th Pisces.
By overall, i can relate to pretty everything that has been brought up in the discussion, aside the sight problems lol. Well, is not that i have a perfect eyesight and quite soon it seems i’m chatching up with you guys, what’s due to extending too much work through the pc interface lately. In mathers of eyesight, most of the time i deliberately enjoy going on the blur switch, it enables me to remain internaly focused, but then again, i have this ability to spot the most remote details and such as instantly spotting signs of movement on the horizon.
In mathers of communication, i’ve been often told that i paint pictures with words and i do in fact have a rather odd style of verbalizing, but as my knowledge of english is very basic (i’ve started selfteaching myself at the begining this year) you can only take me for the word here, or not 😉 I must say, the older i get the less appealing i find myself to speak. Yeah, glory and misery of the Neptune house placement, you was dead on that Donna.
In my early youth i was well known and recognised for my poetic outlets, but then they discovered i had potential with visual arts and bound me to take that course. Music and dance are my true loves, and as you said @BL, i feel closest to God when i’m in that Zone. Despite the lack of formal training, i have what is called the absolute ear, so i do manage somehow to bypass the backsets of it. I have in plan to studdy harp in a not so distant future, as i do not intend to mourn over the lack of having this possiblilty to be who i am for the rest of my life. In the meantime i play with electronic gears.
The allready mentioned ‘in between’ sleep and wake state is when i rise in music outlets. It’s allready a spontaneous process that started as a remedy to the inflation i’ve been expiriencing from other people mental bodies in that state of wakening boundaries of the conscious self. It may seem ku-ku, but i’m often able to hear people unspoken thoughts, as clear, as they are verbalized. The most acute it crystallized in that priori to sleep state when i’ve often felt as if all of the worries that haunt the thoughts of people in my proximity gathered to crush me down. Eventually it induced me in a sleep disorder. I’ve come to fight it with playing spontaneous “jam sessions” in my head, jazz, rock, classic, electronic music, big band, ater a brief period of warming up, i’m able to hear it ‘stereo’, as if i have two speakers stucked to my ears. Not only, i had expirienced, especially in the big band modus, to hear instruments phrasing, but understand it in human language, quite an expirience. God, that sounds nuts, but what can i do, it’s my reality. Following the same discourse, i’m very sensitive to electronic devices and electromagnetic fields, i can hear through 7 walls when a tv or radio is turn on as the internal preassure of my body completely changes. No need to say that i often feel over-radiated and while using the pc it can make me feel sick and induce a reflex to vomit. Not a nice thing to sahare, but there, we are collecting statisthics. I think that could be adressed to the Neptune/Mars square aspect i have
Reading, in certain phases, was definitely another way to breath, sci fi fantasy and hi fi science the most gratifying choices, but adore children books too.
As many of you, i feel, no, i’m certain i had to had a brother in this life time, but he that sliped through the strings of fate by circumstances that are bigger than ourselves. Sometimes i feel like living two lives, one for him and one for myself. I never dared to ask my mother about, i allready know what hapend and there’s no way to fix it, there’s no need to wound her more about than she allready is. But i feel that big piece of my life gone missing, and it’s not in this world, so eventually, i’ll have to follow somehow to find it.
My childhood found me too in some oddly remote places, alone by myself, hanging on to my books, paintings and the radio that i adored. I come from a, for the truth sake, artisticly illiterate background (Capricorn IC, Saturn on SN) so it was quite a challenge to keep the rights on my own vision, space and needs in check, while obviously been black sheep branded.
So, here the my 2cents,
thank you again Donna and all !
Love,
Sha
By: Sha on December 13, 2010
at 6:36 pm
Hi Sha –
I hope you’re still out there . . . somewhere. For some reason, I missed your comment the first time around, probably because I neglected to subscribe to comments.
Yes, we are all connected and I also find it very comforting to realize how much we all have in common. Your musical experiences sound amazing – I also receive “messages” during my “in between” sleep state, although mine aren’t musical like yours.
And like you, I’ve also struggled at various points in my life with several sleep disorders, including sleep paralysis, which many years ago made me think I was either going crazy or being visited by spirits – that is until it was finally diagnosed and I began to understand what was happening.. Now I just relax into it and eventually the visions, sounds, and physical sensations gradually fade away. Plus I no longer drink alcohol or sleep on my back when I’m overly tired.
Growing up, I never knew anyone like me – it would’ve been nice to have known you (and others like you) way back then. Nice to finally meet you.
By: LB on April 5, 2011
at 11:10 am
Thanks for this article!! I have north node in the 3rd in Pisces, Neptune trine in Scorpio in the 11th. I developed eye problems at age 5, within a year of moving, family fighting, parents fighting with neighbors (which caused us to move – much confusion and shame there and I didn’t know why) and my older brother showing me our dad’s porn (major tmi for a 4 year old girl). The other brother has had a troubled life, also found out a few years ago that I have a half sibling, while she was losing a loved one to cancer.
I got to lose myself in piano and music as a kid, and journaling (when my mother didn’t snoop and read it or take it away). I also currently have a lot of part time music work that involves a lot of driving short distances to my jobs. I can only imagine how healing it was for your to write this. It was very healing to read 🙂 Blessings — T
By: Tamara on June 24, 2010
at 6:17 pm
Msfullroller..I read through the posts and see you are an aries, and so am I, with Uranus conjunct sun. Your husband with cancer sun conjunct Uranus must be a treasure as most cancer men are loving and kind, but vulnerable, so don’t try his patience!
My daughter, with her deficient ” common sense”,
is indeed having midlife contacts. As I mentioned in a previous post, she is the only child surviving of five and precious to me. As you both have 12th house leo moons and pluto/virgo rising, Saturn has been relentlessly testing you and will continue to do so. Accept it as the landscape of life .When I was going through my mid life transits I knew nothing of the cycles of the planets and did not know there was an end to all the turmoil. Keep in mind the expression “this too will pass” and keep an even keel.
I admire your spirit and wish you the best.
( Also your Mom must be a Leo powerhouse!)
By: maryjane on June 24, 2010
at 9:59 pm
Third house Neptune in Scorpio here.I don’t look like any of my 5 sibs.I’ve gotten into arguments at family reunions as to which family I belong to.
By: Giselle on June 30, 2010
at 9:32 am
Odd, and in some ways painfully isolating. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 30, 2010
at 9:54 am
thank you astrology, thank you the internet, and thank you Donna…
after reading your comments,I felt that you had taken a peak into my life…I am apparently not the only one..
neptune in the third in scorpio trine mars in cancer and chiron in the sixth…can you say psychis sponge…
wearing glasses as far as I can remember….had to wear a patch on my right eye around 12 years old…the doctor could not figure out what was wrong…only found out a few years ago that I have a blind spot in my left eye!!!
forgot to mention I am a pisces and chiron conjunct my south node and pluto my north node in the twelve house…
family secrets galore…my father is an alcooholic, my mother used to have nervous breakdowns and would disappear at the hospital for a while…
Was told very young that I was responsible for my little sisters ( I had 2 at the time, the 3 one was born when I was 17) and I took that responsability very seriously…as a consequence of that, my chilhood ended very early…did everything to keep my family together…would fill in for Dad or for mom when they were physically or emotionally unavailable….
Lost one of my sister thanksgiving 2006 and it almost destroyed me(felt like I had lost part of my soul..) She had moon in pisces in the fourth house and took on a lot of the family gargage…she became an alcooholic and self destructed…all my love for her was not enough to save her…and that’s what hurt the most…
Before my first appointement with an astrologer in 1992, I had to fill up a questionnaire…
In the part where I was supposed to put down the major events in my life I apparently put down the death of the Twins…they were born a year before me and died when they were 10 days old…I don’t recall doing that…I suspect they have been with me my entire life…Since then, my grand-parents have join them…myonly memories of feeling safe were when I was with them…
Like all of you, the library was a safe heaven…I love books…always been fascinated by science-fiction( probably my mercury in aquarius lol, which also explain my passion for astrology…I have Uranus aspecting my sun, my moon, my mercury, my venus !!!)
As for the subject of secrets…since neptune as been conjunct my mercury for a while now…I have been slowly releasing them …I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life that I can share this with…and I think it is time…I am going through my Chiron return and it is time to heal myself now….thank you for the opportunity to talk about this…God bless you…
By: mermaid 49 on July 2, 2010
at 9:33 pm
Thanks Mermaid – I realize increasingly that Donna has created an opportunity for the finests levels of resonance and sharing here. I too am approaching my Chiron return and suspect that it does call for healing and then entering the healership that comes from such woundings.
When you mentioned the Twins, it reminded me of a piece to my own puzzle. The sense of someone lost, either my own twin (this occurs but is not always known of since one may be lost at implantation) or my sibling (a necessity for my mother). And both may have played a hidden part in my own loss of a pregnancy.
With Moon/Neptune in Scorpio in 3rd and Cancer on the cusp of my 12th house where Sun is, these stories are hard to tell unless to another who has a similar intangible tale. So, thank you Mermaid and blessings on your own healing journey, and the care you have taken of those you love.
By: Sara on July 3, 2010
at 4:17 am
Thanks, Sara and Mermaid. I just discovered that Jeremy Neal, our guest blogger for today, wrote a really fine article about Neptune in the 3rd, which you can see here:
http://chirotic.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/lost-in-translation-neptune-in-the-3rd/. He has Neptune in Scorpio in the 3rd himself and seems like a kindred soul. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 3, 2010
at 4:36 am
Thank you Sara…I needed some cheering up this morning and your timing was perfect…God bless you too on your journey to finally be whole…
By: mermaid 49 on July 3, 2010
at 5:06 pm
I have Jupiter in Pisces in 3rd.
What I realized about it is that my learning process is intuitive. Specially during my school years, when the teacher was passing a topic I didn’t have to pay much attention to what he/she was saying. I always felt as if I could understand what he was going to say before completing the idea. Because of this my mind was like on/off during classes.
I have a very good relationship with my brother and we have many things in common. We really enjoy learning languages and travelling.
I don’t relate with my neighbours because of gossip. I don’t like hypes, neither participate nor be the subject! So, well, if they want to talk about me it’s better let them wondering…lol…I have Neptune in 12th conjunct my ascendant. lol
My 3rd ruler is in 12th and 12th ruler is in 3rd. I’m seasonal with speaking…lol There are moments that I speak a lot and other times that I don’t say many words.
I like photographing and over the last months it has become one of my main activities.
Music..is another story 😉 I hear a lot of music in my head but I’ve been struggling a long time to find how to put this out! (Uranus in 12th?)
I have a Uranus-Jupiter-Mercury T-Square. Would you give me any advice on this?
Thank you.
By: Caca on July 19, 2010
at 1:20 am
Oh, I don’t think a Uranus-Jupiter-Mercury t-square is such a problem, it just shows the unusual mind you have and an insatiable thirst for learning and information. Sure, your mind never shuts down and you could probably train it to focus better, and given the 12th house connection, meditation and other spiritual practices would help. But, overall, view it as a real gift, your personal genius. You may develop writing talent. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 19, 2010
at 3:53 am
Thank you Donna,
for writing about you, and I hope you still cherish the pleasure of being openly YOU, and being loved/ respected just like that.
I have Neptune conjunct Mercury (less than one degree) in 3rd house in Sag.
I do got a chuckle at *glasses* part. I should wear mine more often, and I see people who wear them all the time, for me, it is one silly enjoyable hobby to put it down my nose and look at a sign board in distance, try to guess what is written and then to perch them up on the nose bridge and actually read what is written. I do the same when i watch movie in cinema.. and apart from becoming Clear with lenses of glasses,, I feel that it is brightened too. too sharp and too bright sometimes.
I would not comment on sibling issue, its big hurt and big secret of mine.
—
as a child I used to play fantasy scene with dialgues in it, and act them out. as I grew adult I got embarrassed of those,, and later on, I again took day imaginary scenarios as normal, as long as I KNOW the Demon, it can not hurt.
I literally have to remind myself to integrate my mercury more, and not only express neptune of the conjunction.
—
many a times, I feel an intellectual superiority, which is strange. and I feel the other person would not really get it.. but given a try, I found out (happily to my surprise) that many do. 🙂
—
the Only People I can call my Friends are those who both my neptune and mercury can talk to like ALTER_EGOs, and those people are comfortable talking to both. and so my true friends can be counted on one hand’s fingers.
—
I have been trying to find a way to integrate mercury and neptune to act for the benefit of eachother, and not be like *monitors* for eachother’s work.
with virgo rising, gemini is on MC and Pisces on cusp of 7th,, in relationships, there is NOT a single one where Mercury-neptune conjunct of mine is not activated in GOOD way.. Communication is the key to my heart of both cerebral and emotional kind.
All my significant others had neptune in sag too.. that I observed recently. strange.
—
the Astrologer Noel Tyl said; ”I can only be intimate with someone when I am myself without fear”
I agree, and will add that ”I can only truly communicate with someone when I am both my mercury and neptune, without any fear”
🙂
—
donna, you told about your writings and blast of ideas, writing them down helped??? do you have any connection of Neptune in 3rd to MC?
SS
By: Sexy-sag on December 10, 2010
at 9:02 pm
You have a dual connection between Neptune and the third, since Mercury is conjunct Neptune there. Thanks for sharing all the ways it plays out in your life. I hope you read the comment section–it’s eerie how much alike those of us who have it are…like we’re related. Myself? I have a 3-way connection of Mercury-Neptune but none to the MC:
Neptune in the 3rd
Mercury square Neptune
Mercury on the cusp of the 12th. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on December 11, 2010
at 4:47 am
Wow Donna your kinda like me !! I have a 3 way connection to the neptunian/ mercurial logical thinking
Mercury square Neptune
Ruler of 3rd in 12th house
Mercury in 12th house
By: Nick on January 30, 2014
at 2:37 pm
Yes, that’s the same setup I have. It’s good for the creative, intuitive side of my work, but who the heck knows where I put my keys. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on January 30, 2014
at 3:01 pm
yes, we do kinda think alike – even if we would be hard pressed to call that it is a trait of Great Minds thinking Alike 🙂
I have totally rudimentary knowledge of astrology. but Neptune feels like the subconscious Mind and Mercury like Conscious Mind. A link between two, makes for a bridge. But Neptune’s hold is stronger of the two, in my experience at-least.
Subconscious patterns can only be changed once they are brought to conscious mind’s attention. I feel Saturn can help tremendously to Conscious Mind’s range and reach, and links with Pluto can strengthen the subconscious ‘s understanding and intuitive understanding. Both work differently.
I also think this produces Writers, people who express very well in written form.
and an interest in Psychology and Psychiatry and depth analysis and psycho-analysis. Their first blind spot is themselves, whenever transiting saturn activates it, only then they bear *concrete integration* and Pluto’s link open up the intuitive understanding.
—
I should probably search some database ( like astrotheme), but I guess Neptune’s link to both mercury and MC, pushes people to Present their internal thought process to the Masses. (just loud thinking)
also does it lead to Bi-Polar thinking, or Alter states of mind.. i wonder if it can be linked to MPD somehow… going by how I can be.. in communication, it is almost two different Voices in head. Or two eyes which do not see the same object in same light.
By: Sexy-sag on December 11, 2010
at 11:08 am
MPD? Multiple Personality Disorder? I’d think it would take more Neptune aspects than that. But maybe writing’s just a benign form of MPD. I have several pen names, and each one of them has a distinct personality and writing style. And I never had more fun writing in my life as when I did 3 mysteries. (One of them, with an astrologer as the heroine, is available as a download in the Free page.) I felt like the two main characters were my imaginary friends. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on December 11, 2010
at 12:36 pm
thank you donna.. it is an interesting thought that writing is a benign version of MPD.. liked this ”benign version” .. 🙂
I think writing is the ‘sanity’, I wonder if writing is more a mercurial trait and acting, performing, drawing, sketching is more neptunian in flavor. whenever I write it helps to ”’organize”’ my thoughts better.
I am one of those people who make lists and work with time deadlines.. that is the ONLY way for me to be on-time and do everything right.
similarly, writing out the inner dichotomy of vision, provides an effective mean of getting it out of my system.. the best is, when I write Exactly as I feel and someone can read it and like it, without judging it.. thats my Prime of feeling close to someone.
… I would love to read your novels, can you plz post the link (for the free novel)
—
I have been thinking on mentorship and chiron or venus-saturn.. will reply as I find thoughts organized… thank you for the link …
but I have a feeling of DOOM lurking somehow… :(.. My North Node is 29 degree sagittarius in 4th house, and saturn (progressed) to 29 degree gemini in 10th.. I feel something totally shattering is going to happen soon.. like a BIG dose of Karma.. around the eclipse.. with my chart ruler mercury going retro.. and natal moon in 12th house… I only feel a Vague Unease, and cant exactly say what it is…
hope this eclipse does pass without much upheaval, but know somehow that it wont. how can I ease my mind and spirit into calm???
By: Sexy-sag on December 15, 2010
at 7:52 pm
You’re clearly a fellow writer–we’re a fellowship with so much in common, as I continually learn by subscribing to Writer’s Digest (they have lots of good stuff online too.) and The Writer. I agree with you that Mercury is more about writing while Neptune is related to arts like music, dance, and painting. But a really inspired and inspiring writer has a strong Neptune for the creativity. And I think poetry is pure Neptune.
The free astrology novel is on the “Free” tab at the top of the blog, along with a plethora of other offerings. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on December 16, 2010
at 4:29 am
I cant help my preponderance of Neptune/Mercury IIIrd house aspect.
other than writing, there is one other thing that works to keep feet Grounded & Real.. which will sound absurdly stupid but I recently found it very strangely, though not pain-less yet effective… MIRROR ..
with a head that is constantly living in third dimension, one long look in Mirror, brings me back to earth and without a fanfare.. lol.. yes, it hurts to see the earthy reality, but it works, 10 out of 10 times.
(just thought should share 🙂 )
By: Sexy-sag on January 2, 2011
at 12:16 pm
Interesting, that about the mirror. For me, it’s swimming. I could be all tied up in knots and gnarly, and a 45 minute swim will bring me back to center. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on January 2, 2011
at 2:50 pm
What about Neptune transiting Pisces, which rules my third house. When Nep moves into Pisces how will this effect 3rd house Neptune folks? I have Neptune in tenth in libra natally but rules my third. Will this give a boost to my writing aspirations?
By: Kelly on February 7, 2011
at 11:37 am
P.s. With Pisces on third, books are and were my escape, my LIFE! I taught self to read at age 4. I love public libraries more than anything.
By: Kelly on February 7, 2011
at 11:39 am
Me too, a bookaholic for life. You might enjoy reading my memoir about libraries here:
As for transits, Neptune in Pisces won’t have a direct effect on your 3rd house Neptune unless it actually forms an aspect to a 3rd house planet. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 7, 2011
at 11:44 am
Wow, that sounds like me. I mean, I can relate to that. I have Sun, Mars, Mercury Stellium in Cancer in the Third House and a North Node in Gemini in the third house. I have mercury and mars opposite Neptune in the 9th house. I did and still do daydream. As a matter of fact, I think all my life (Mars/Mercury Neptune). I think I would have done well in my education if I studied instead of daydreamed. I’m just assuming because even if I didn’t study my lessons seriously, I was able to graduate college at 19.
Like you, I have an imaginary friend in the form of a stuffed animal. Imaginary because a stuffed animal is an inanimate object. But my friend is real. (Saturn Sextile Neptune). She has a character that my friends and relatives acknowledge. I’m already 28 but I’m still playing with her. They too are starting to believe she’s real too. (Saturn in Libra 7th House & Neptune Sagittarius in the 9th House).
I love the third house. Makes one curious forever. With the Mercury/Neptune contact and no planet in the Earth sign, except my MC in Capricorn, it’s very hard for me to be realistic. But yeah, MIRRORING WORKS. I always look for people with strong practical traits as someone to mirror (Gemini & Third House). It does work. I am what I think & see I am.
By: venus_aspected on February 8, 2011
at 8:49 am
Wonderful to read all these insights and see so many parallels !
I have two Pisces sisters, and all three of us have loaded 12th houses and major mercury/neptune links. I have/d 3 children, all three have loaded 3rd houses. Just lost my middle son in a tragic car accident, in which he and three other young boys died, all neighbors/childhood friends. My two survivng children have Neptune and Uranus in their 3rd house, my son that died was Aquarius rising with a loaded12th house, inc. Neptune. I feel like I can now talk with him in my mind; he tells me that we can be closer now than we ever were when he was alive as long as I remember to tune in to hear him. Even as I cry in anguish, he tells me that he is not really gone, and this is a great comfort.
By: aura Pringle on July 30, 2011
at 2:28 pm
So sorry for your loss, Aura. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 30, 2011
at 3:38 pm
I have Neptune in the 3rd in Sagittarius semisquaring Mercury. I was never good with Maths and the like. Fuzzy thinking and talking is a typical thing with me. In fact I need to really concentrate to be able to speak without mixing words up. This is a challenge at work and I work as a communications speacialist 🙂
In my childhood I used to lie at times just because I liked the story better that way. I did realise at some point (around 14) that this is no good and stopped.
However I still am a good story teller. I believe my Neptune placement provides me with a great imagination. The reason I am a comm. speacialist is because I can put through feelings and thoughts really strongly using metaphors. thus I am a speech writer. But could never be a spokesperson myself 🙂 would keep getting words wrong…
By: bengi on May 31, 2011
at 10:21 am
Hi, Bengi, welcome to Skywriter. You’re every bit a Neptune in the 3rd type. I’m getting to know quite a lot of your age group with Neptune in Sag, and I think it’s a terrific Neptune sign. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on May 31, 2011
at 3:56 pm
Hi Donna,
Thank you so much for Brian Clark’s Q&A Friday night! Unfortunately I forgot about it on Fri, but read through it yesterday and it gave my soul the biggest Aha! moment I’ve had in a very long time. You closed off comments to that post, but it’s probably not by accident I’m commenting on this one.
To say I grew up in a dysfunctional family is an understatement, but that Q&A allowed me to see my siblings more clearly than ever. #1, the oldest of 7, who was born 4 mos before our mom’s 19 birthday, has Uranus in the 3rd squaring planets in both the 6th & 12th houses. #2, 3 & 4 all have Neptune in the third!! Two of them w/ it conjunct the IC and those are the two who’ve had the hardest time letting go of still wanting our mother to be a mother emotionally even though she never really was. (My father was missing physically sometimes but always emotionally, and my mother was there physically but it was always about her; did not parent us emotionally.) #2 has mercury in 12th (along w/ 4 other planets) all squaring Neptune conjunct IC and Saturn in 4th on other side of IC. #3 has both Merc & Nept in 3rd house. #4 has Nept conjunct IC (and has been diagnosed as ‘crazy’ for the past 20+ years), trining 1st house Merc. I have no 3rd house planets, Aries on cusp and Sag Merc in 10th not doing anything w/ Nept, but squaring moon & pluto. #6 has Mercury in 12th, Mars in 3rd Cap, and #7 has no planets in 3rd, Taurus on cusp, but Mercury squaring Neptune. Brian’s whole theme of disengagement, wishing for a different reality, sacrificing for the siblings, etc. was so right on I could not believe it. As corny as this sounds, it’s changed my life. I will never look at my sibs the same and thank you & Brian for it. I’m the only girl who’s moved away from home and thought that had to do with my Sag stellium, but now know I can thank my empty 3rd house for it:) What is wild is I’ve always felt pretty responsible for my family (Cap rising), particularly the younger ones, but this post has freed me. Now understand it’s way bigger than me & I really can’t change any of it. Checked all of the charts in my astro.com and it’s even passed down to my nieces & nephews, unfortunately. #3’s kids, oldest niece has sun & merc in 3rd with merc squaring neptune in 6th and her brother has pluto in 3rd.
While it’s sad, I get that each soul has signed up for this journey and it’s God & the Universe orchestrating it. It’s changed my expectations of my sibs and that’s a good thing. Oh yeah, and I have Pluto transiting my 12th right now: right on schedule as some astrologers might say.
Thanks again ~ God Bless!
By: Karen on June 5, 2011
at 4:26 pm
Donna, I didn’t read all of the comments prior to writing mine; I was so excited to thank you & share revelations. (Aha .. it’s written in the charts we’re so messed up! No duh, right?) Anyway, I’ve now read them and SexySag’s comment from last Dec 10 … “I would not comment on sibling issue, its big hurt and big secret of mine” instantly made me think of molestation. (Moon/Pluto conj & I’ve been told I’m an empath as well). Anyway, that’s what I felt. But it made me think of my #4 sis (right before me) who recently told me that #3 had sex w/ her when they were teenagers on a trip. I told her I thought it was too many psychotropic drugs for the past 20+ years and couldn’t see it. Now that I’ve read Brian Clark’s Q&A, have looked at all of the charts in my astro.com and have read this post & comments, I’m wondering. What’s your take around sibling molestation and Neptune in the 3rd?
By: Karen on June 5, 2011
at 5:23 pm
It could be so many kinds of family secrets–mostly denial around addiction and other emotional problems–not specific without other indicators. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on June 5, 2011
at 6:07 pm
It wouldn’t be my first guess…more often Mars, Pluto, or Mars/Pluto in the third or ruler of 8th in the 3rd or connected with a 3rd house planet or Mercury. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on July 30, 2011
at 3:41 pm
I just came across this, and it’s interesting because I too have a 3rd house Neptune and can so relate to many of the things you said. In particular about the glasses… I am also near sighted and hate wearing glasses! I lived so long without wearing them that when I finally realized I was near sighted I was too used to see things blurry that I just couldn’t get used to the glasses. I also wonder if neptune in the 3rd influences the fact it’s been almost impossible for me to learn how to drive?
As far as siblings go, I’m a middle child and I have two sisters and they are literally my best friends and the closest people in my life.
And I think maybe another way Neptune in the 3rd influences me is I daydream quite a bit and tend to get lost in my own world which includes getting “lost” in a good book.
I also find it difficult to verbalize what I’m thinking or how I feel and I tried to write poetry as a teen but was also not very good at it.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your Neptune in the 3rd story.
By: Melanie on September 9, 2011
at 5:01 pm
Thanks, Melanie. It’s amazinghow many layers there are to this one chart placement. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on September 9, 2011
at 5:27 pm
Wow. We should talk. A 29 degree Neptune in Scorpio in the 3rd reporting for duty. You pretty much got the goods on me. I’m 41 & been waiting a long time to share some of my thoughts with. Even if we never talk, thank you for having the courage & vision to write this. If we can talk, I’m here. 336.587.1215.
You know we private people. 5/17/70 3pm Washington DC. Nameste’.
By: Khayr on October 5, 2011
at 8:01 pm
Hello, I found your writings about Neptune in the third house truly fascinating as I could find so many similarities to my own life! I also have neptune in the 3rd house.
But it was not until I read about your still-born elder brother and your relationship to him that my fascinating took a big leap. I also have an elder brother who died the same day he was born and ever since I became aware of him, I have been “looking for him” in other people through his birth-date and year of birth…
I also have two younger siblings, so like you I am the elder sister…
As for the poetry and my being drawn to the mystical world, knowing things that I can’t express other than through images, metaphores or poetry, well it’s all there.
As is the guilt and the shame theme on my mother’s side with alcoholics etc in the families of my aunt.
Well, just wanted to share and thank you.
By: Ea on April 7, 2012
at 10:39 am
Thanks, Ea–so many people with this position have shared their stories, and so many of us are eerily similar. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 8, 2012
at 5:24 pm
This is really interesting. I have Neptune in the 3rd as well and I only wear my glasses to drive because I prefer to see people and my surroundings in a blurrier light. I don’t even think about it until I catch a glimpse of my dog or myself with my glasses on and think how different we both look.
I can play entire songs and playlists in my head all day without missing a beat. People sometimes ask me why I don’t wear headphones like they do, but I can’t listen to music in that way while working, it’s too distracting, when I do listen to music, I do it to REALLY listen to music.
I too am way too sensitive to surrounding emotions and pain. In fact, the other day I was completely distraught for no real rational reason, I was thinking about breaking things off with my boyfriend and I couldn’t stop crying. I went downstairs to get my laundry and saw the woman who lives below me’s boyfriend was moving out and she was crying. I felt completely back to normal after I saw this. Weird. And Dangerous.
I guess I would just add that learning for a 3rd house Neptune can be complicated. I really have to force myself to follow instructions, but I find when I just intuit my way through a project, I will also intuit the mistakes I’ve made before handing it back or turning it in. I can then quick reference the instructions and it’s like there it is! The other way around has never been successful for me.
Anyways, enough about me! This is an excellent post. Thanks for the shared experience
By: JaySea on August 21, 2012
at 9:46 am
JaySea, I love what you’ve written! Isn’t it uncanny how similar many of us are? Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on August 21, 2012
at 10:00 am
I forgot to add, that even opening an excel spreadsheet makes me very anxious and uncomfortable, Lol…
By: JaySea on August 21, 2012
at 10:08 am
Excel spreadsheets? Shudder! And one of my friends with Moon in Virgo is addicted to them and keeps wanting to make them for me to get me organized. (Does she not realize that for a Neptune in the 3rd type, organization is neither a priority nor a valid goal?) Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on August 21, 2012
at 10:15 am
Yep, pretty much! I’d rather remember all of it than deal with organizing it! Don’t people know we have internal intuitive reminders that keep us organized 😛
By: JaySea on August 21, 2012
at 10:48 am
I have my 3rd house ruler in the 12th, can the information also pertain to me ?
By: nick on April 15, 2013
at 10:23 am
To a certain extent, Nick. Especially if Mercury and Neptune are also part of the picture. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on April 15, 2013
at 1:32 pm
Thank you ! i also have mercury square neptune and mercury in the 12th house
By: nick on May 8, 2013
at 2:43 pm
Okay, Donna… Being a 3rd House Neptune (in old Cappy) person myself, I’m gonna answer your article point for point!
1. Perceptions – I too am near-sighted but obviously not as much as you… And yes, often at home I go around without my glasses because I just love the haze I see around me. My favorite style in would be surrealism, including surreal computer-graphics.
2. Thinking and Communication – Unlike you, I am a technical person and love reading textbooks (and writing in points!). So I do have a high mechanical IQ, which might be indicated by some of the other placements in my chart.
3. Writing – I have always loved expressing myself through writing. I lost interest in it during a depressive phase and am now rediscovering it. I started writing poetry by sheer surprise! When I was about thirteen, my school had a poetry-writing competition for the first time. I signed up in pure jest, but my poem (and that was the first poem I ever wrote!) got first prize!
4. Near Relatives – Both my mother’s and father’s relatives have been problematic for me. My mum and I were considered the ‘black sheep’ because of many personal reasons (you see, I’m not too comfortable talking about secrets myself!). We had (and have) many nagging secrets.
5. Neighbors – OMG! Your relationship with your neighbors describes mine very accurately! We had far too many secrets to get along back-slappingly, and there were many things I was not supposed to talk about to them. I still get along superficially with my neighbors, who probably think I’m the biggest loser around.
6. Brothers and Sisters – It is extremely likely that I have half-brothers or sisters from my absentee father’s side. As a child, I never had a single playmate.
By: Moviebuff2 on February 17, 2014
at 11:28 pm
P.S. – I just read Jeremy Neal’s article (from the link provided) and one point struck me – I do get lost quite often! I’m very ‘directionally dyslexic’, now I know, thanks to my Neptune placement.
By: Moviebuff2 on February 17, 2014
at 11:34 pm
Wow! We must be long-lost cousins! Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 18, 2014
at 4:11 am
I love how this was written 6-20-2010 with comments extending until now! Neptune 3rd – timelessness (thanks to Uranian internet)…
*According to Esoteric Astro (Alice Baily, Alan Oken, etc.), Cancer’s esoteric ruler is Neptune.
Cancer rules my 3rd House and I feel deeply connected to the Neptune 3rd house descriptions written by yourself and in many of the comments.
As someone who is currently testing the validity of Eso Astro in the fires of my own experience, this correlation warrants further research on the subject. How about you all? – Any experience with Esoteric Astrology and how that changes or deepens your understanding of either traditional, Evolutionary, or Archetypal astro you use now?
Thanks!
By: LETO on March 27, 2014
at 7:28 am
Hi, Leto. I’d forgotten that Alice Bailey named Neptune the estoteric ruler of Cancer. I read her about 45 years ago. I don’t think the readers here would rouse to the call of research on the topic, but Alan has quite a following for his thoughts on esoteric. Why not pose the question to him. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on March 27, 2014
at 1:46 pm
Can you write on Mars in the 3rd house ?
By: nick on June 15, 2014
at 2:03 pm
Hi
I also have Neptune in the Third and writing comes naturally, I have to journal every day. Also a voracious reader and a humble student of astrology. I have Saturn and Uranus in the Third too, so my sense of humor is pretty whacky. I was wondering about going to university to pursue a degree in journalism or communications, I need to ‘build’ my communication skills with Saturn in the 3rd to feel more secure..
IF you have a moment, could you look at my chart and give me an idea about career? Sun in Aquarius, Moon in Cancer, Libra Rising, Leo Midheaven
Born Feb. 16, 1989 in Winnipeg, manitoba Canada at 11:11 PM
Love your website,
Steve
By: StevenR on June 27, 2014
at 1:44 pm
Hopefully one day you can write an piece on Mars in the 3rd, I love your articles
By: Nick on July 13, 2014
at 9:58 am
For my Solar return I currently have Mercury conjunction neptune at 0 degrees and I would love to discuss it, Hopefully those with an similar placement can attest to what I write, Neptune or pisces in 3rd, Mercury in pisces or mercury-neptune aspects.**********************
I have became an voracious reader, I have probably read around 6 books since march Mostly in the Mystery sci fi genre. My head has been in the clouds and tho I have not missed appointments I have spaced out a lot especially with short distance travel, missing exits, turns, Forgetting stuff , making funny silly mistakes. We drove to my brothers place in camp lejeune, I knocked on the doorbell we both ran toward the car parked alongside the street, but I was careless enough to attempt to get in anothers car near my mom`s !! Good thing it was locked and the woman was polite enough to say !! hey wrong car !! I have had confusing but sometimes inspiring experiences thru travel.
By: nick on July 16, 2014
at 10:46 am
My friend made an video of having neptune in the 3rd house https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIheUQjhfs8
By: nick on August 11, 2014
at 7:19 am
Sounds interesting. Will check it out. Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on August 11, 2014
at 9:15 am
Saturn and Chiron in Pisces/third (having my triple Chiron return, thank you), trine Neptune in Scorpio…I feel your pain !!
By: Roxanna on November 26, 2014
at 1:42 am
…and I can’t read graphs !
By: Roxanna on November 26, 2014
at 1:43 am
Hmm I have Neptune, Saturn in third but in different signs. Uranus is at the end of second house conjunct Neptune within 3 degrees, don’t know what to make of that.
I am a daydreamer, but I do have the ability to concentrate when required, it takes some effort but its easy overall. Had a pretty bad childhood too, pretty much always misunderstood. My eyesight is weird, one eye is perfect other one near sighted.
By: Aeon on March 13, 2015
at 10:56 am
My Progressed Neptune is in the 3rd in Scorpio. Just as Neptune was entering my 3rd, I developed stomach cancer. Rather than allow the doctors to chop me to bits, I used my pendulum to help me chose which food to eat, which suppliments to take and which path to follow. It was a long process, but I eventually fully recovered. I am now comfortable eating a much wider variety of food than I ever was before I developed cancer.
I used my pendulum which such concentration and for such extended periods that I developed the ability to use my finger as if it were a pendulum. I just ask a question and my finger twirls automatically, clockwise for yes, counterclockwise for no. This is very easy and convenient for me. This is how I feel my way through life these days.
Natally, I have Pluto, Pallas, Mercury and Venus in a tight stellium in Virgo in the 3rd. I am good with math and science. I have a rational mind. The Polarity Point for my Pluto, the way forward for me, is in the 9th (intuition, a larger view) in Pisces (compassion, imagination). About four years ago, my finger told me to toss my glasses in the rubbish bin. I am extremely near-sighted. My vision is 20/500. Trusting my finger’s wisdom, I tossed my glasses in the bin and have walked about in a fog since then, focusing inward for direction. Occasionally, I feel a strong surge of energy from somewhere deep in my gut and briefly my vision snaps into focus. I have hopes that someday I will be able to see clearly without corrective lenses, but healing my vision is a slow process. However, a different sort of vision is coming into play. I am beginning to see a larger picture which I never imagined.
When I started using my finger for guidance, I used to refer to it as “my crazy finger.” This is because my finger’s guidance so often went directly counter to everything I “knew.” I figured I just needed to be temporarily insane for some reason and went along with it. It took a long time for me to understand why I needed to do things that seemed to foolish. It has taken a long time for me to truly trust my finger. These days I don’t call it “my crazy finger” anymore. I have a deep respect for the wisdom of inner guidance.
By: Ona Boggs on August 4, 2015
at 6:59 am
I am the Progressed Neptune in the 3rd person who wrote the post above (Ona Boggs). I just thought of something to add. One of my neighbors is a very heavy-drinking alcoholic. He is also a very sensitive person who would like to be a wise leader but has gotten lost along the way. I just moved to this neighborhood two years ago, so I have only known him for a while, but my feeling is that he is my brother from a past life. There is a deep connection between us. The other day, I was walking home from the store and he called me over to talk with him. He was very drunk and crying. He talked randomly about a lot of things, among them his memories of working as an aid in a hospital during the Vietnam war. He tended to many soldiers who had their limbs blown off. Some died, some survived. He is still deeply affected by the stories he listened to and the pain he witnessed. Shortly after listening to my neighbor cry, I went to the store and bought three cans of beef stew. I am a vegetarian. Sometimes I’ll eat fish, but not often. When was the last time I ate beef? I can hardly remember. It’s something I almost never do. But my finger told me to buy beef, so I did. And then, while eating the beef, I made a collage for my neighbor. My finger showed me which pictures to cut out and how to arrange them. The day after listening to my neighbor, I took my collage over to his house and taped it to his door. He was inside sleeping, recovering from his drunken spell. I think that by tuning in on some of my neighbor’s pain, I was reaching a deep place in myself that needed healing and my finger (my intuitive guidance) helped direct me as to how to do that.
By: Ona Boggs on August 12, 2015
at 6:47 am
It’s been several years since I left my last comment here. Over the years I’ve sometimes returned to this post for insight or validation, a sense of belonging. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Just wanted to say thanks, Donna.
By: LB on February 14, 2016
at 12:40 pm
Ah, LB, so good to hear from you. With my 3rd house Neptune, I relate to all the comments, too. Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on February 14, 2016
at 2:51 pm
Neptune in the 3rd House – “Have I said this before? I can’t remember … ” Typical of Neptune in the 3rd. I have a brother who disappeared many years ago after isolating himself from the family. I tracked him down at one point only to observe that he appeared somewhat odd, possibly “mental illness”? Tried to convince him to rejoin the family and this resulted in one journey home and I am happy to say – a short reunion with Mother, the last time she saw him before she died. I have Neptune in the 3rd House and all siblings have strange pasts and my connection to them is also somewhat strange. I could elaborate on this – actually I wrote a book about it! Hope to publish it soon.
By: Maureen on February 24, 2016
at 11:00 am
Quite a story, Maureen! best wishes on the book.
In my version of the 3rd house Neptune, I was the one who disappeared, absenting myself from my awful family for many years to preserve my sanity. Donna
By: Donna Cunningham on February 24, 2016
at 11:55 am
Thank you for this one, Donna. *So* much resonance here. – from another total Neptunian in the 3rd
By: halikarla on May 2, 2016
at 10:22 am
Nice article. I had to chuckle at the part about glasses. Same goes for me, except I didn’t find out I needed corrective lenses until I took the eye test to get my driver’s license at 16! It was a whole new world after that. I never knew things could look so clear from a distance! This seemingly disadvantage never interfered with my ability to do well in school either, I’ve always been an A+ student and a voracious reader.
I do love to write, though I keep the vast majority of it to myself. I have a degree in Psychology, but never pursued a career in this field, though my friends and family call upon me to “counsel” them more often than I would prefer…I’m not a professional therapist and it’s very emotionally draining.
The work I’ve done has changed quite drastically over the years from clinical research, to fashion design, to photography, to retail management, to law..too curious to stick with any one thing. It’s also very likely I have half siblings that I do not know. My mother left my biological father before I was born and I’ve never had any contact with him.
I have the Sun, Mars, Neptune, and Mercury in Sagittarius, all in the 3rd house, except Mercury. Mars, Neptune, Mercury, and the IC are tightly conjunct – Neptune & Mars both 17 degrees, IC 19 degrees, and Mercury 21 degrees. Saturn in Virgo squares all four planets, with Virgo rising. I’m not sure what to make of that, but will say when transits come around, it can be a bit rough/crazy. The recent Pluto/Uranus transit was not pleasant at all, but I got through it 🙂
Glad I found your blog, interesting articles here.
By: Scarlett on June 19, 2016
at 10:31 pm
Hi, Scarlett, I can totally relate to your story and all the Mercury/3rd house twists and turns. In your case, the Mercury connection is strengthened because what you have is a stellium of four planets in the same sign, most of them in the 3rd. You’ll find lots of information about stelliums on this blog, and I also have written a book about stelliums (The Stellium Handbook, available at MoonMavenPublications.com.) We stellium folks often have a history of career changes, as we do have many potentials. Donna Cunningham
By: Donna Cunningham on June 20, 2016
at 12:01 am