Neptune, currently at home in Pisces, spends about 14 years in each sign, and retrogrades each year for approximately five months at a time.  When it comes to illusion, Neptune is the master, but when retrograde, the truth of the illusion is revealed.  The reality you discover may not always be pretty, but it will be the truth of the matter.  Neptune’s effects are more greatly felt when it is aspecting other planets, because it tends to operate in more subtle ways which are not so easily discernible when it comes to realizing Neptunian influence in your life.