When Love Becomes a Choice, Not a Feeling (Neptune Enters Aries)

This week I’ve been processing the concept of unconditional love alongside Neptune’s upcoming entry into Aries on Monday, January 26. As I sat with it, I realized two things. One, that the idea of unconditional love and the premise that we should be able to hold it for someone at all times can be wildly misleading and, in many ways, incorrect. And two, that you don’t have to unconditionally love behaviors.

I’m not going to lie, this week has been very interesting for me. A tiny moment sparked my desire to sit more deeply with this concept. 

So what happened? What triggered this? What got me here?

Something very small occurred this week. It barely mattered on the surface, but it made me uncomfortable. I’m sharing it because after processing it, I realized it had nothing to do with the person who exhibited the behavior. They are a beautiful Soul as all souls are. It had everything to do with me.

I was at a coffee shop and saw someone not tip the barista. It was the kind of moment that would probably bother no one on earth but me, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like that they didn’t tip the barista, and additionally, I didn’t like my reaction to it either.

I was observing everything in real time.

Their behavior, my behavior, my thoughts, my feelings, my body. It was a lot. But what stood out most was that I didn’t like that I didn’t like it. So I went inward. I went to my heart. I breathed. I felt my body. And my Soul said very clearly to me that love is a free will choice.

I truly want and desire to unconditionally love the Soul, and there are moments when I don’t. When that happens, I always try to sit with it and ask what is happening inside me... Why would my love for the Soul wane? 

My frustration in that moment wasn’t something I could just accept and move on from.

I don’t like lying to myself about how I feel, think, or behave. So even if it is wildly uncomfortable, I force myself to sit in it until I sort it out within myself. I do this FIRST before processing with others because more often than not, my response has nothing to do with their soul.

So I sat with myself, had a real conversation with me, and I began asking myself these questions. Why am I so invested in the barista? Where are places in my life where I’ve done something similar? I asked myself to show me where I do this...

What came to mind was an image of me standing at Walgreens, reaching the round-up donation button, and clicking no. And I realized someone could see me and think I’m ungenerous, that I don’t donate, that I don’t care.  Hmmmm, I thought.

Then I explored my attachment and protective energy towards the barista. I knew this: I love service-oriented businesses and the skill sets they develop in the Soul. I particularly value waitresses and waitors, and really any one in service oriented jobs who received hourly wages. I value multitasking, the self-reliance, the inquisitiveness, the problem-solving, the banter.

And I realized, for me, tipping isn’t just a behavior. It’s a declaration of my love for the service industry. So, I associated not tipping with the opposite....

But not tipping was just a behavior. Thousands of people don't tip every single day.

And, all of these insights helped me, but didn't give me an "answer."

So I went and looked in my ephemeris...

Neptune is moving from Pisces into Aries this week. It moves from the ending of the zodiac into the beginning.

Neptune spends about fourteen years in a sign, and Pisces is its home. Compassion, forgiveness, spiritual knowing without action.

Aries is not comfortable territory for Neptune. Neptune is watery, and Aries is fire. It’s a very different experience.

While Neptune was in Pisces, much of the work lived internally. Feeling, sensing, grieving, forgiving, learning, knowing. A

I believe this is what Neptune in Aries asks of us:

Spiritual knowing must become an embodied choice.

For me, that meant choosing to understand why I was triggered, activated, annoyed, and judgmental. I had to choose it from a place of love within myself and recognize that this wasn’t actually who I am or what I choose. That something was confused, knotted, misunderstood or misapplied.

So, Neptune in Aries points to where misalignment can occur between what is yours and what is theirs (the veil).

This alignment is about seeing the behavior as a behavior, rather than imposing our meaning and values on it.

The work I am doing this week, using AI and my chart, is to explore what house this changeover for Neptune happens, and where I might be projecting my values and creating meaning into behaviors based on my values without considering another person's unique values, beliefs, and identity. 

Weekly AI Prompt

How to Get This Magic Working ✨

1)  Download your ⁠Natal Chart Navigator⁠ and save a screenshot to your phone in your photos (so you don’t have to repeat this step each week!).

2)  Upload your Navigator into your favorite AI (I use ChatGPT)

3)  Cut + paste the prompt below.

4)    Sit back, read the reflection, and connect to the cosmos <3

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🔥 Neptune in Aries Reflection Prompt

Prompt for AI:

“Using my Table 2 house cusps, identify which house contains 0°00′ Aries, the degree where Neptune enters Aries.

First, explain what life area this house represents and what values or themes require conscious awareness as Neptune moves through this space.

Then, using Table 1 natal planet locations, identify whether any natal planets or sensitive points are activated by sign, degree, or house relationship, and describe what this activation brings into focus.

Base your interpretation only on the information provided in my chart tables.

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*My entire body of work is based on Western Astrology and the Koch House system.