This week’s question comes from Michelle in Southampton, UK:

I’ve been feeling really confused lately about being around other people. Normally I know who I am and that naturally directs how I should act and I get along with people well enough if they are compatible with me. Lately it seems as if I am confused about “who to be” around others, as if I don’t really know which part of myself to share with them … or something. I have had difficulties with a Libra that I was briefly dating and people I am obliged to be around every day, with whom there is no hostility but frequent awkwardness. What is going on???

Well, Michelle, I don’t suppose transiting Neptune exactly on your Ascendant at 25 degrees Aquarius would have a thing to do with it.

Neptune has been straddling your Ascendant since the beginning of the year, and that alone would explain the weirdness you feel. And your description of not having a good idea who you are anymore? Those words could have been lifted right out of the astrology textbook. Confusion, fog, being in a daze … that’s Neptune for you.

The Ascendant is the face you wear when you’re out in the world. It makes sense that how you come across to others and how you sense others’ perception of you would be very confused with the planet of fog, illusion, delusion, and confusion on your Ascendant.

Neptune went retrograde in late May and just turned direct last week. He stationed – stopped while shifting phases – dead on your Ascendant, and he’ll be there pretty much for the rest of the month.

Since Neptune is on your Ascendant, that means he’s opposite your Descendant, which marks the beginning of the sector of your chart that rules close personal relationships. So it also makes sense that your closest relationships are thrown into confusion. Dating while Neptune is on your Ascendant can be a tricky business, indeed. You are very susceptible to seeing with rose-colored glasses at this time, and you may fooled into thinking you’ve found The One, when later you’ll look back and wonder what on earth you were thinking.

To complicate things further, Neptune isn’t alone on your Ascendant right now, but he’s in conjunction with Chiron. That likely accounts for the awkwardness you describe.

Once Neptune crosses over solidly into your first house, some of the weirdness will die down. However, this is the beginning of a period of several years in which you will go through changes in your personality that may totally alter your idea of who you are. It is very possible that you won’t know yourself as well as you used to, because you will be very different than the You you used to know.

The standard advice I give while Neptune is in your first house is to check in periodically for a reality check with a friend or family member you trust. Listen to them, and take their advice seriously, even if your first reaction is to dismiss it out of hand.

I hope that helps!

Pat

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