The seventh house governs the marriage of the native. The presence of Neptune in this house is, on the whole, not to be desired. In the first place, the partner selected is likely to possess most of the qualifications of a person born with Neptune rising, and while these cannot be described as wholly bad, yet the average person does not select for a lifelong partner anyone so doubtful. What is really sought in wedlock is the negation of adventure. Wedlock is the spectre at the banquet of romance; matrimony is the tomb of love, and therefore what is most favourable for pleasure is most fatal in those affairs in which settlement is the object aimed at.
The attitude of the native himself to marriage will also partake of the Neptunian taint. He will probably contract some rash alliance on whimsical grounds, or through some extraordinary accident. Permanent relations should always be based upon considerations well thought out and approved by the reason and judgment, not only of the contracting parties but of those who have their interests at heart. Any such relation which may be entered into by a person with Neptune in the seventh house is likely to prove eventful. Many small things of a disturbing character will occur, and the general atmosphere of the house will probably be that of disquiet. It is probable that the matrimonial adventure will end in open quarrel, but this quarrel is not likely to be a plain, single issue. It is rather incompatibility of temper that is indicated than anything more definite. Infidelity to the marriage vows on the part of both the husband and wife seems assured, but such incidents will only be trivial factors in the general discontent. The whole attitude of the parties toward the marriage state will be extremely unusual. There may be all kinds of fantastic theories of the relation, based not upon the sober experience of humanity, but upon idealism, which have little to recommend them beyond the enthusiasm and the bona fides of their advocates. It is no doubt unfortunate that human nature is not wholly divine, that that which ought to be so often is not, that we are imperfect beings living in an imperfect environment, that practical considerations continually interfere with our ideas of what is right. But such is the situation, and it is the first thesis of all biology that the happiest and most prosperous individual is the one who accommodates himself most cleverly to his environment. The Neptunian is, therefore, handicapped in a world where grosser planets hold the greatest sway, and while in his own curious realm of dream-delight he may be king, he must expect to meet with continual obstacles which will bring him down to earth, often with an unpleasant crash.
Unless the financial position of the native is assured in other ways, he must expect tribulations of this kind from the outset. Even if he be well off previous to marriage, he will, in all probability, suffer hardships subsequent to and in consequence of matrimony for nothing is more certain than the fact that he cannot take marriage seriously. He does not conceive of it as an affair of settlement, of inheritance, of domesticity. It appears to him as a mere romantic adventure. He surrounds it with glamour; it is but a figure in a cotillon, and when the practical questions of increased rent and bills for food and medical attendance and such things arise, he will be disgruntled thereby. The dawn has come, the dancers remove masks and dominoes; and as they step from the garish lights of the ballroom on to the dewy grass, they feel the chill of the morning air. It is probable that a person in this. position will be thoroughly discontented with his marriage, and cast about him for ways and means to break the link. He will embark on a series of rather futile intrigues which he does not prosecute with energy or ability, and which usually go wrong. Very likely he will slip from one marriage into another with the same results. He is not at all fitted to undertake so serious a responsibility. He has not the necessary heroism, the fixity of purpose, the patience and the long-suffering required to make marriage a success.
These remarks do not apply at all to the love-affairs of the native, which are judged by the fifth house. It is only when the intention is a permanent settlement and partnership under legal and conventional guarantee, that the seventh house is implicated.
The seventh house implicates the business partner and all public contracts and arrangements, including lawsuits. All these affairs are likely to be as unfortunate as marriage itself for the same reason. The thought behind all such matters is that Neptune, shedding as it does the rays of a spiritual plane, is peculiarly unsuited to any thing definite or binding. His influence is to upset the physical world by bringing into it ideas of a higher and finer order, and if this be considered from the lower standpoint, the result can only be described as disastrous. In business, the partner is likely to be of the Neptunian temperament. Perhaps easy enough to get on with in a general way, but unpractical and arbitrary, unaccountable, fitful, eccentric and un-businesslike, as regard the affairs of the firm. Such a partnership is likely to terminate in exactly the same way, mulatis mutandis, as we have already indicated will be the case in marriage. There will be a subtle feeling that everything is going wrong; and yet it may be difficult to put one’s finger on the sore spot. There is some indication too, that the partner may ruin the business by wastefulness and caprice. There will probably be a great deal of trouble over accounts, and profits are likely to disappear in a very extraordinary manner, which may seem suspicious.
In the matter of lawsuits, too, similar considerations apply. The native will probably be involved in many such, and they will be of a dragging, tedious character. He will neither win nor lose outright. The thing will go on interminably like Jarndyce v. Jarndyce and nobody will be a penny the better. In the same way it will be difficult to get any business through of any kind. People will miss appointments. Contracts will go to and fro for revision, and, very likely, after months of arguments the whole thing will fall through . One should be careful in doing business with anyone who has Neptune in this position.
The seventh house also indicates the open enemies of the native; and, in this respect, the indications are not so unfavourable. For these enemies themselves will be vacillating and without energy to prosecute their assaults. A great deal of trouble may arise, but it will be of a somewhat petty character. The attacks upon the native will be futile, fatuous and carry in themselves their own condemnation. However, from time to time they may be exceedingly annoying; but in the long run, not much harm will be done. The only liability to long-continued and bitter enmity would be in case of a transit of Uranus or turn over the planet’s place.
In conclusion, one may remark that this and the fourth house are, on the whole, the worst positions for Neptune. Generally speaking, he should not be low in the heavens; the higher he is placed, the more kindly is his influence, as will be seen when we come to treat of the tenth house or medium coeli.