Here is the tricky thing about delusion: you never feel delusional while it is happening. You can be so deep in the fog that you do not even know you are in the fog. That has been the quiet theme of 2026 so far, and now the fog machine itself is turning around.
Neptune, the planet of dreams, illusions and mysticism, goes retrograde in Aries on July 7 and stays that way until December 12. When Neptune moves forward, it idealizes and it blurs. When it goes retrograde, all of that gets pulled inward. This is a season of introspection, deeper intuition and reflection, and pretty soon you will not be able to escape the truth about your own escapism and what you have been avoiding.
Why this year felt so confusing
Neptune entered Aries back in January, for the first time in 84 years. Whatever Neptune touches gets wrapped in idealism, inspiration and illusion, and since Aries rules the self, the confusion this time has been personal: who am I, what is actually driving my actions, what do I really want.
My cardinal signs felt this the most. Capricorn, Libra, Cancer, and especially Aries: the fog was not your imagination, it was the weather. But everyone has Aries somewhere in their chart, so everyone has one area of life that has been unclear or heavily idealized this year.
From Pisces dreams to Aries fire
Before this, Neptune spent 14 years in Pisces. Collectively that era pointed our idealism toward healing, spirituality, gurus, compassion and escapism. Mutable signs, remember how delusional we were? Now Neptune in Aries shifts that idealism toward courage, bravery and the warrior archetype, and sometimes it will tip into aggression. We are at the very beginning of a 14 year chapter, and we will watch it unfold in the world for years. For now, I want you to focus on your own chart.
The questions to sit with until December
Who am I? What do I really want? What am I fighting for? Where am I not seeing the bigger picture? Am I taking inspired action, or acting from a place of illusion? Where have I lost clarity? Where am I living in a fantasy?
This is the time to reevaluate the world around you, your role in it, and what parts of it you've been escaping.
It is also the time to reconnect with your intuition, spot the blind spots, and forgive yourself for the delusions. That last part is not optional. The point of this retrograde is not shame, it is clarity, so you can move through the rest of the transit grounded and connected to that inner voice.