Neptune transiting the 1st house: "Reality has just left the building"

One of the hardest transits I’ve had to explain to a client is a Neptunian transit—especially when it’s a first-house event. It’s a long-term State of Confusion—and reality has gone on an extended vacation. Being an Outer Planet, Neptunian transits last for years. When this appears in a first-house position, and with the time that Neptune spends in retrograde again and again over time, it can feel like a lifetime has gone haywire for eternity. The Escher image can be somewhat helpful as a visual: "That doesn't make sense, but that's how I see things now." The body becomes more sensitive than ever to external influences, especially those which can cloud the mind, emotions, and thinking processes. Chemicals and substance indulgences can be especially hard to manage now, and their effects can be more debilitating when the individual is not aware of dosage or quantity.
Even worse, when these are used for escapism and “getting away from a world gone crazy,” the results can be staggering, both literally and figuratively. But with all transits, there are hopeful and meaningful Life Lessons. A Neptune first house transit can bring heightened levels of spirituality, sensitivity, and inspiration, especially if it brings energy to Venus or Jupiter, and if well controlled, to Uranus. (That is, if Uranus is managed well by natal aspect.)
Artists, musicians, and creative writers may find a Neptune first house transit to be helpful for their craft, and healers and spiritual-religious teachers may also find new levels of attunement with their values and beliefs. But the first house is an angular one (distributing significant amounts of attention for the individual’s personality and self-identity/image that society-at-large notices). In the case of a Neptunian transit here, there is a possibility that the other three angular houses (4th, 7th, and 10th) will feel an impact, especially if personal planets (Sun-Moon-Mercury-Venus-Mars) are placed in any of them. Even Saturn’s rigidness can be confused by Neptune, especially if the Taskmaster of Karma is natally positioned in one of those houses.
Imagine how unstabilizing a Neptune challenge can be to a 4th house position of Saturn—and the home environment slowly-but-surely comes undone to all that structure and discipline. Or consider a 7th house Saturn—and a Neptune opposition makes for all kinds of “is this truly a relationship worth keeping, or am I fooling myself—or being fooled in return?”
A 10th house natal Saturn would also suffer from a loss of foundation and long-term planning if Neptune crosses it via an uncomfortable squaring transit—and all that job security and effort might just be disregarded when someone decides to leave an established career and live as Henry David Thoreau on Walden Pond. And that’s nothing compared to Pluto positioned in the 4th/7th/10th with a Neptune square or opposition (or even conjunction): “My power, control, and domination have come undone: I’m Humpty Dumpty, and I’ve fallen off the wall and my shell has been shattered! How do I pick up the pieces and make sense of my life again?”
 Robert Hand says, “For the next several years, you will be changing your ways of interacting with other people. During this period, self-knowledge is difficult but essential. It is difficult because you will constantly be presented with new aspects of yourself as others see you, and you will try and incorporate what they see into your view of yourself. This is nearly impossible, however, because you are going through a chameleon phase to which you quite unintentionally present a wide variety of faces to people.
“It is essential that you know yourself during this transit, precisely because others will not know you clearly. You have to learn who you are in your own terms and to recognize that the way you project your personality to others is not the true inner you. It is only the aspect of yourself by which you relate to people. “The changes you are undergoing at this time may confuse you and certainly will confuse others.
Consequently, your relationships may become quite difficult because the people you attract relate only to the currently projected image of yourself, not your real needs. And just as you may confuse and delude others, perhaps inadvertently, they may do the same to you. Be wary of getting caught up in weird schemes and projects that others propose. Your sense of reality is not at its best during these years.
“You may also operate very idealistically during this period, acting on the basis of what you want to be true rather than what is true. You may get involved with very idealistic projects that have little basis in reality, with unfortunate results. “Another effect of this transit may be to stimulate your compassion for others. You may take care of someone you love who needs help, or you may want to work in groups with others for people who need help. There is a tendency to want to save others under this transit’s influence.
But avoid having people become improperly dependent on you, for that may prevent them from fully realizing themselves. You may also want to seek out someone who can help you during these years. In your confusion, you may become demoralized and feel that you are a totally unworthy individual. Or you may look to someone who seems stronger in order for you to be sustained by his or her strength. The chief problem with this is that you may become permanently dependent on him or her.”