Hello All,
Excellent topic at hand!
I don't think Neptune should be considered all good or all bad, fact, fiction, and folly aside. None of the planets, even Jupiter, can be considered all good or all bad. They are modifiers, changing pitch and color of each soul's experience. Our souls seek harmony with self-awareness, purpose, and experience. The planets indicate the materials and path.
Jupiter, the supposed benefic, is in a neutral sense, simply expansive. Usually this has positive impact. But what if Jupiter is involved in amplifying a conjunction or square? It can't be all good or all bad.
Neither can Saturn, who creates limits, but enhances our sense of purpose by giving us the road by which we travel on. Have Jupiter bummeling around without any limits is how we spoil our souls and miss the beauty in experience, trials and tribulations, and discipline.
Again, it seems silly to just say, "ok, this one is good and this one is bad." Does anything really ever end up being so black and white? (Not to mention that after the age of one, it is psychologically unhealthy to operate in those terms).
So then where does that leave us with Neptune. I wouldn't then say go ahead and embrace Neptune, but you can't beat up on the planet either. It does beautify things, and when grounded in an earth sign (like my lucky generation), it can be pretty useful (though, of course, I won't go as far as to say practical), especially because this generation's Capricorn Neptune is linked to Saturn.
Personally, I have Neptune angular. It is conjunct my asc in the 12th house. I also have Pluto angular, conjunct my MC in the 10th house. I feel pretty strongly about these placements (as if they would let me do anything else!), and I don't chalk it all up to my Pluto placement that I haven't gone the Neptune route of drugs, alcohol, and general escapism. Neptune doesn't make any negative aspects in my chart, granted a small inconjunction to Mercury which is obliterated by a tight trine from Saturn to Mercury, but this post isn't about me, I just wanted to make a point.
I don't think we should glorify Neptune either. There are a lot of talks about Neptune's involvement in psychic/spiritual qualities. Yes Neptune dissolves boundaries, allowing more information to come in. That doesn't make the person more powerful or more aware. Neptune's influence is blurring and muddying.
But then again, without mixing red and blue, we would never get purple. Neptune dissolves boundaries in a powerful and unique way, and allows us to get a unique picture that only Neptune can provide. Some call this art, some call this spirituality, some find this path through self-sacrifice. In any case, Neptune has the unique capability of stretching us beyond our normal, expected, accepted capacities. This means it cannot be a malefic.
Neptune is what it is, both the good and the bad. It literally is the gray in our lives and in our experience, so let's keep it that way.
mod.