These are very contentious, polarizing issues, particularly the question of separation.

I’m a born-and-raised Albertan so this referendum is very close to my heart. Because of that, it’s also very difficult for me to maintain objectivity. However, I will lean hard into my Libra Moon and do my best to focus on reading the astrology only, not letting personal politics or emotions influence my interpretation.

Because I know a lot of people just want a short answer to the question of what the astrology says, here’s a quick summary.

The TL;DR

The astrology clearly shows that Alberta is at a crossroads where issues of provincial identity – what it means to be an Albertan – are at the forefront. There’s likely to be some surprises and shakeups in the outcome of the referendum. Events are not likely to be resolved quickly or effectively.

The astrology does not scream “Alberta is definitely separating from Canada.” Neither does it say, “Alberta is definitely happy with the status quo and this will all blow over quickly.”

This referendum is one of the first major events of Canada’s Neptune return. Alberta sovereignty has been simmering for years, but the movement really gained steam in early 2025 – right after Neptune ingressed Aries. Events are building to a peak around 2032, with both Alberta and Canada going through an extended process of redefining themselves as province and nation, reaffirming and/or rejecting provincial and national identities alike. Alberta won’t be the only province to hold a referendum about these issues in the next few years. (Looking at you, Quebec.)

For those who would like the detailed analysis of why I arrived at these conclusions, keep reading.

There are a few charts are relevant to this discussion: Alberta’s natal chart, the 2026 Libra ingress, Alberta’s 2026 solar return and the transits on election day.

We’ll start with Alberta’s natal chart to ground ourselves in the natal promise. Alberta became a province on September 1, 1905 when it entered the Canadian Confederation. I use midnight because this is when it was legally official.

Side note: Saskatchewan also entered Confederation at the exact same time, making Alberta and Saskatchewan time twins and binding our fates together. However, due to the difference in location between their capital cities, the charts of each province are slightly different. I use Whole Sign Houses so this difference doesn’t really matter, as the Ascendant degrees in both charts are in mid-Cancer – Alberta’s is at 13 Cancer and Saskatchewan’s is at 10 Cancer.

Another side note: my Sun is at 13 Cancer so it’s no wonder I’m a proud Albertan!

Alberta’s Natal Chart

I’ve already done a detailed reading of Alberta’s chart (click here to read – though I did this several years ago and should probably update it).

What I want to focus on today is a few things that will be relevant when looking at the other charts:

• Alberta just turned 121, so we are in a second house year, which is in the sign of Pisces, ruled by Jupiter.

• Alberta’s natal Jupiter is in Gemini, the twelfth house.

• Alberta’s Jupiter is in a T-square with Mars in Sagittarius and Mercury-Sun in Virgo.

  • So, there’s underlying tension between Alberta’s third house, sixth house and twelfth house, which has direct bearing on the ninth house.

    • Additionally, Alberta’s IC/MC are in Virgo/Pisces, pulling in fourth and tenth house significations to those respective houses.

• Alberta’s Neptune is very close to the Ascendant, echoing the same signature in Canada’s chart (only Canada’s Neptune and Ascendant are in Aries).

  • So, both Alberta and Canada are deluded about their identities, just in different ways! See, we share some things in common.

We’ll keep these details in mind as we look at the next charts. Next is the 2026 Libra ingress chart for Alberta. This is the chart cast for the exact moment when the Sun enters Libra. It gives us an idea of what to expect over the fall. The Libra ingress isn’t as commonly used as the Aries ingress, but it’s useful when events happen close in time to it – like this referendum.

Alberta’s 2026 Libra Ingress

The Moon is right on the Ascendant in Aquarius, suggesting that the public attention (Moon) is very focused on first house matters of identity. No kidding – this referendum is literally asking us to consider what it means to be an Albertan and how that identity is going to change into the future.

Pluto is co-present in Aquarius, adding heavy weight to these matters and suggesting an impending, profound change in Alberta’s provincial identity, as well as power struggles of various kinds.

With Saturn ruling the Ascendant, Moon and Pluto of this chart, the referendum is not going to be resolved quickly. As well, Saturn is in very poor dignity in Aries, and therefore incompetent. This could be read as the referendum not being handled in an effective manner, but it could just as easily mean that these issues aren’t going away any time soon – regardless of the referendum’s outcome.

Jupiter, Alberta’s current time lord/profected planet, is in Leo very close to the Descendant and tightly opposing the Moon – in fact, the Moon’s next aspect is the opposition to Jupiter. This shows the focus on laws and legalities (Jupiter) that are situated within the seventh house, which represents the “other”. In the case of a province’s chart, that other could be the federal government and other provinces.

Again, this is very literal – the referendum asks Albertans about changing laws and legislation directly related to Alberta’s relationship with the federal government and other provinces. There’s clear tension and opposing opinions within Alberta’s own people, and also between Albertans and other Canadians.

Western alienation is real and has been a feature, not a bug, of Alberta’s identity since the province was created in 1905. I won’t go into a full history lesson here, but it’s well worth reading up on this for some context on why Alberta has reached this point – it didn’t come out of nowhere and it’s certainly not something that just happened in the last couple years.

It’s also basically impossible for both Albertans and Canadians to have a clear sense of their own identity, because both Alberta and Canada’s charts have Neptune on the Ascendant. Neptune gives a hazy, nebulous, ephemeral quality to whatever it touches, so both province and nation have lots of competing illusions, delusions, hopes and dreams that may or may not be tethered in reality. But hey, identity is whatever you believe it to be, right?

Pisces is the second house in this chart, and has special importance as Alberta’s current profected house. The second house is all about money – the province’s wealth. Indeed, though the referendum asks questions about immigration, Constitutional reform and separation, the issue underpinning everything is always money.

Alberta has a lot of wealth and many people – both Canadians from other provinces and non-Canadians alike – have flocked to Alberta in recent years to take advantage of this wealth. The numbers are quite staggering. In 2016, Alberta’s population was 4.2 million. In 2026, the population is sitting at 5.1 million – an increase of 25% in a decade. Alberta’s growth outpaces all of the other provinces and territories in Canada by a wide margin. Once again, the astrology shows this quite plainly.

Alberta’s 2026 Solar Return

I mainly focus on the profected planet/sign/house when I work with solar returns. Here, Alberta’s profected planet is Jupiter in Leo, the twelfth house of this chart. It’s making an exact trine to Saturn in Aries; also note that the Moon is close by Saturn in Aries. This adds to what we saw in the Libra ingress chart: Jupiter’s laws are being challenged by Saturn’s restriction and oppression.

There is a simultaneous expansion (Jupiter) and contraction (Saturn) in the public’s (Moon) opinions and feelings (Moon). This is occurring across the eighth and twelfth houses, suggesting that a lot of things are hidden under the surface and not in plain view. You could read this as a lot of people (Moon) are keeping their opinions restricted (Saturn) and not voicing them publicly, out of fear (Saturn) of how they might be judged by others (Jupiter). If that’s the case, the results may bring some surprises if they are out of sync with what the polls/prevailing sentiment seems to be on social media and in the news media.

Mars in Cancer is also making an exact square to Saturn and Moon in Aries, heightening the contentiousness. People (Moon) are feeling a lot of conflict (Mars) and struggling against the rules/boundaries (Saturn).

Pisces (Alberta’s profected house) is the seventh house in this chart, again highlighting Alberta’s relationship with the “other” (the federal government and other provinces).

The Sun and Mercury are in the first house of this chart, showing that the province’s leader, Premier Danielle Smith, is focused on communicating (Mercury) about issues related to Alberta’s identity. Mercury is in a very strong position in this chart, giving a lot of support to the premier. However, Uranus is squaring Sun/Mercury from Gemini on the MC, suggesting shake-ups and sudden disruptions within the government itself, as well as a sense of a yearning for freedom and liberation from the status quo. These Uranian disruptions are causing conflict over the premier’s work communicating about the referendum issues related to Alberta’s identity.

I also want to mention that this chart isn’t just about the referendum. Though that’s one of the biggest things that will happen in Alberta this year, it’s not the only thing. This solar return chart shows things that will happen for the next 12 months.

That Sun-Mercury in Virgo is a very strong indicator of the recently announced new pipeline, the Pacific Link, from Alberta to BC. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced this pipeline on October 1, 2026 and it is the first project designated in the national interest under the Building Canada Act. Effectively, this means that the federal government is helping to fast track it. That’s a huge deal, because just a few years ago the idea of building a new pipeline in Canada – especially through BC – was a political non-starter.

In addition to communication, Mercury also signifies commerce and trade; this pipeline certainly fits that. You could also read the Sun in the first house of Alberta’s solar return as Canada’s Prime Minister focusing on Alberta – and indeed he sure is, with the announcement of this pipeline and especially with this referendum.

Alberta 2026 Referendum Election Day

Note: I used 8pm for the time on the election day chart, because that’s when polls close. However, the exact time doesn’t really matter because we’re just focusing on where the planets are compared to Alberta’s natal chart – I’m not analyzing the election day chart on its own. None of the planets change signs during the day, so that makes things a lot easier.

I also combined the election day chart into a bi-wheel with Alberta’s natal chart, so we can see how the transits of the moment stack up against the natal.

On election day, Uranus is sitting exactly on Alberta’s natal Jupiter in Gemini. This has added weight because Jupiter is Alberta’s profected planet. It also echoes what we saw in Alberta’s solar return chart. The implication here is that this referendum will bring some shakeups that might surprise a lot of people, especially because it’s in the twelfth house – Alberta’s blind spot, so to speak.

Personally, I don’t think a majority of Albertans will vote for the option to begin proceedings on a formal vote to separate from Canada, but perhaps the numbers will be closer than expected. I do think the results of the other nine questions will bring some surprises, too.

Jupiter is in Leo on election day, Alberta’s second house, again showing the emphasis on money. Mars is also in Leo, and is exactly opposite the Moon in Aquarius during the hour when the polls close. Mars brings a lot of heat and anger – no surprises there. Whatever the outcome, people will be upset.

It’s very interesting that the Moon is in Aquarius on election day, just as it was in the 2026 Libra ingress chart. Again, this shows just how heavy and monumental this referendum is, and how Albertans are grappling with profound, transformative questions about themselves and their province. It also suggests these issues aren’t going away easily – Aquarius is a fixed air sign: ideas move slowly, sluggishly here.

Aquarius is Alberta’s eighth house, suggesting a strong influence of foreign (non-Albertan) money. This would be the federal government’s finances, but also money from foreign nations. Now, this isn’t necessarily nefarious (i.e. U.S. interest groups seeking to influence our election, though of course that’s not out of the realm of possibility). The eighth house symbolizes any kind of foreign investment, and Alberta has plenty of that.

60% of Alberta’s four biggest oil and gas companies are American-owned (source). Only 27% of those companies are Canadian owned, which leaves an additional 13% owned by nations other than the US or Canada. Those stakeholders are keenly interested in what’s happening here, and you can bet they’ve been finding ways to exert their influence through money. Same as it ever was.

Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, and as mentioned previously Saturn is in very poor condition, unable to perform as it would like to. Whatever the outcome, it will not be acted upon quickly or effectively. So, if Alberta votes a majority “yes” on any of the questions, the provincial government’s efforts are going to be significantly restricted, thus increasing discontent and fueling the western separatist fire even more.

And if Alberta votes “no” on everything, the government will not proceed on anything directly. But, the divisive sentiment that led us to this point isn’t going to disappear overnight and will manifest in other forms.

One other thing to note: the eclipses are currently occurring across Alberta’s second and eighth houses, showing continued emphasis on money and financial matters – the new pipeline is only one part of these developments. The eclipse cycle is moving into Alberta’s first and second houses in 2027, shifting the focus to Alberta’s identity and its relationship with the federal government. This promises that the story is not over – not even close.

So what do YOU think, Mel?

My personal opinion, based on my own sense of what’s going on here in Alberta as much as my understanding of the astrology, is that there will not be majority vote in favour of the separation question. However, I think it just might be a lot closer than people may expect – maybe more in the neighbourhood of 60/40 instead of 90/10.

I also think that the other nine questions are going to be very close, and some will get a majority “yes” vote. I find those other nine questions far more interesting than the separation question, quite frankly, and I wish more time would have been spent discussing those with some detail and nuance. The separation issue has dominated headlines and discussion, and I think that has occluded a lot of important conversations around the rest of the issues at stake.

I think the immigration questions are likely to receive widespread support, and those are the things that the Alberta government will be most empowered to actually take action on. The Constitutional questions are a different matter entirely. While I also think that many of those will also get a majority “yes” vote, the Alberta government is going to run into a brick wall trying to take action on those.

For example, if Alberta votes yes on Question 8, then the provincial government would begin a process of amending the Canadian Constitution to abolish the federal Senate. There’s no way that process will go quickly, even if the majority want it to happen.

We shall see. Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear what my fellow Albertans think about all this.

Venus Rx is close to my heart as a Venus-dominant person. These periods of time are always impactful for me, and this one in particular corresponds to some pretty major turning points in my life.

I’ll get an article published soon that goes into more details, but for now please watch and listen:

While your natal Uranus shows where this impulse is baked into you, the house that Uranus is currently transiting reveals where that urge for freedom will show up in your life.

This compulsion has undergone a major shift, as Uranus changed signs from the grassy fields of Taurus to the electric cyberspace of Gemini on April 25, 2026. This is a long-term transit that will continue until 2033.

In addition to that insatiable need for freedom, Uranus also brings revolution, disruption and chaos. Breaking free from a cage is exhilarating, even intoxicating. But it can also be terrifying. Humans are naturally change-averse, and Uranus brings changes that are often sudden, dramatic and intense. While in the throes of a Uranian transit, life can feel completely unstable and out of control. It could be a wild, fun ride – or you could feel like you’re hanging on for dear life, desperately waiting for the ride to stop.

Read this post for a refresher on the meaning of Uranus in astrology.

Gemini is a mutable air sign ruled by Mercury. Mercury is a chameleon, changing from a benefic to a malefic influence depending on which planets it tangles with in the sky at any given moment. This adds to the dynamism of this transit, and ensures it will not feel the same the whole way through. That’s not really the Uranian way anyway, but especially in a Mercury-ruled sign, there are some areas of your life that are becoming very unstable and changeable.

These changes might already be showing up in dramatic ways, especially if you have:

1. An emphasis on your natal Mercury (angular, Ascendant/Sun/Moon ruler, etc.);

2. An emphasis on Gemini (angular, lots of natal planets there, annual profected sign);

3. Mercury as your annual timelord; or

4. An emphasis on Gemini by secondary progression and/or solar return.

This transit might also take some time to show up, especially if you don’t meet the above criteria. You might make it through the whole transit before you can look back and spot the Uranian changes that have been wrought. But rest assured, these upheavals and cravings for freedom will indeed manifest at some point in the next seven years.

I’m not considering the rest of the sky in the forecasts below, but only focusing on Uranus transiting your Gemini house. These are general horoscopes intended to give you a broad overview of what you might expect over the next seven years, specifically related to Uranus’ transit through Gemini.

For additional nuance and detail related to your life in particular, please book a consultation with me.

Aries Rising (Uranus transiting the Third House)

Your daily movements will start to feel stifling or constraining over the next few years. You may start feeling restless or stuck with regards to the places you go on a daily basis. You’re sick of seeing the same things, tired of walking and driving the same paths every day. You might reach a breaking point where you just can’t take it any longer. While that might seem to come on suddenly, it’s likely part of a pattern that’s been building for some time.

Third house shake-ups often involve changing your neighbourhood, both literally and metaphorically. You might change the way you go to work or school every day – maybe because you’ve physically moved to a new house or gotten a new job, so you have to travel a new route. Or you might change the way you commute – getting a new car, or deciding to bike or walk instead of drive.

This might also be a period where you pursue a new path of study, particularly related to something you had studied in the past. If you’re looking for inspiration, think back to what subjects you were drawn to as a child and follow those.

Communication might also undergo a renovation – if you’re a writer or communicator, this transit is likely to bring some big changes in your work. It can manifest as a new project that you just have to work on, setting aside other more practical things in favour of a burning urge to speak words that refuse to be kept quiet any longer.

Taurus Rising (Uranus transiting the Second House)

Time to get your finances in order, because Uranus is going to shake them up. Over the next several years, you can expect some sudden impacts to your money and resources – both good and bad. There may be sudden windfalls, as well as sudden expenses.

You might also feel a need to take control of your finances in a way you never have before, with the goal of feeling freer about money matters. Especially if you’ve felt like a slave to your bank account and the constant bills and drains on your funds, you might find that the situation has become completely intolerable and you need to do something about it. This may lead you to pursue new avenues of income, both traditional and non-traditional.

Perhaps you’ll get a new job to bring in more money, or embark/expand on a new side hustle. Maybe you’ll get creative with the way you live and realize if you cut your living expenses drastically, that’s how you’ll be able to save more money.

Watch out for the periods when Mars makes hard aspects to Uranus and/or when Mercury is entangled with Mars or Saturn, and during Mercury retrograde periods. These are periods of time when your finances are likely to take a turn for the worse. Now, more than ever, is the time to build up a balance in your rainy-day fund.

Aside from money, you might also find yourself making drastic changes to your resources in general. This can be physical items you own, but also your internal resources. It’s a time that might bring sudden shocks to your capacity for accomplishing various things. You are invited to take stock of how you fill your inner gas tank and, especially with the price of gas these days, make changes accordingly.

Gemini Rising (Uranus transiting the First House)

Make note of how you see yourself in early 2026 and be prepared for that self-image to change over the next several years. By the end of 2033, you will have undergone a fundamental change in who you are.

This might sound scary or dramatic – and such things certainly can be. It’s likely to involve a change or addition to the titles that you would use to describe yourself to a stranger. Perhaps it’s a new title related to your career, or to a regular activity (for example, you start volunteering with an organization). Maybe you become a parent – that’s a title change!

Uranus in the first house also sometimes wants to manifest physically, so you may end up changing your look quite dramatically in the next few years – the way you dress and/or style your hair and makeup, or big changes to your weight and body composition. These are outer markers of an inner change. Changing your clothing might be due to a change in your day job, or because you need to express yourself differently. Changing your physical body may correspond to a new diet or exercise routine, or a change in your health status (pregnancy, illness, accident, surgery).

This is also a great time for going public with a part of yourself that you might have been too timid to share publicly before. Uranus doesn’t give a crap what other people think, and by the time Uranus finishes transiting your first house and crossing your Ascendant degree, you probably won’t either. This can be very freeing, actually, so long as you stay true to who you are.

New titles and new self-expressions are fantastic, but the key is to remain authentic and grounded in your true Self.

Cancer Rising (Uranus transiting the Twelfth House)

This is likely to be a more subtle transit, as much as Uranus can be subtle. The twelfth house is our cosmic blind spot, so things happening there often escape our conscious notice until a third party brings them to our attention.

You will feel a strong desire for freedom and a generalized sense of discontent. Your life might feel stifling and stuck in general, and you might start acting out in ways that surprise others, even yourself. The twelfth house is the seat of the unconscious and planets acting here often do so in a way that we don’t notice until someone else points out.

If your friends or family members make comments that you don’t seem to be yourself, or that you’re acting out of character, stop and examine this in more detail. It can be very useful to go to a neutral third party, like a therapist, for some insights into why you might be behaving in these ways.

This is an opportunity to break free from the chains of your own self-undoing. We all do things to sabotage ourselves, and often we are unaware of these patterns until we’ve already made a mess. Now is the time to become aware of these self-limiting and self-damaging patterns and consciously redirect the energies in beneficial ways.

On a more physical level, the twelfth house is a place of isolation – sometimes physical. You might find that you feel most free when you are alone, by yourself. Or, conversely, you might find your alone time feels restrictive, and you may crave social connection in a way that you haven’t before.

Leo Rising (Uranus transiting the Eleventh House)

Prepare for your friend, social and/or community groups to undergo a major change over the next seven years. There might be big events that you encounter in these groups that will change their dynamics fundamentally. Or, you might find that you are the one making the changes, and the people you associate with during the start of the transit won’t be the same by the end of it.

That’s a nice way of saying you might ditch people and/or groups that no longer serve you, especially where you don’t feel free to express yourself fully. This may be a period where you are seeking to find new friends and a community of like-minded people, or at least a space where you can feel free to be yourself.

The eleventh house can also represent coworkers, so a job change is implied. You might also start new hobbies or get involved with different organizations and activities, which will bring a new crop of people into your life.

The caveat is that if there are some people who make you feel totally stuck and who seem to actively impinge on your freedom, try to find a tactful way to disentangle yourself from them or change their influence on you. Uranus often likes to make big, dramatic changes very quickly – and tact is usually not a consideration that is made. That can lead to long-lasting problems with others that you might not actually be able to extricate yourself from, so consider yourself warned.

Virgo Rising (Uranus transiting the Tenth House)

You are probably on the cusp of a pretty major career change. The area of life where you are most public – which is your day job, for most people – is undergoing a big renovation for the next seven years. This can be an exciting time, because the push is for more freedom. Hopefully the changes that occur will bring you more freedom in your career.

Your Uranian revolutions are also going to be quite public. Somewhat similar to Uranus transiting the first house, when Uranus transits your tenth house it often corresponds to major changes in your titles. Think about your “elevator pitch” – if you had 30 seconds to describe yourself to a stranger, how would you do so? That pitch is going to go through a major overhaul over the next few years. By the early 2030s, you’ll have new titles and descriptions to apply to yourself.

Job changes are, obviously, one of the most obvious ways for this transit to land. But it can also be a change in how you are seen publicly. This could be due to acquiring a new title, spending time in a new group, or for some crazy sudden event that thrusts you into the public eye – for better or for worse.

Libra Rising (Uranus transiting the Ninth House)

If you’ve ever wanted to travel the world – or even just see more of it than you have already – the next seven years are a great time to do so.

You might find yourself hit with a sudden sense of wanderlust. The ninth house corresponds with long distance travel, which can be overseas or even just trips that take you farther away from home than your daily travel around town.

These travels will expand your mind in ways you haven’t previously experienced. New cultures, new languages, new people and new ways of thinking are all going to have a strong impact on you. By the end of the transit, you might find you have a new outlook on life – a new personal philosophy.

On that note, spirituality, religion and philosophy are ninth house pursuits, and you might find yourself actively exploring these areas of interest over the next few years. Higher education is also indicated here, so taking a university philosophy or religion course would be an extremely literal way to manifest this transit. Or, you might find yourself enrolling in other courses and areas of study, whether formal or less than formal. If you’ve ever wanted to study astrology rigorously, now is the time.

Because the nature of Uranus is sudden upsets, you might find that your travels and/or educational explorations occur after a sudden event in your life that you didn’t see coming.

Scorpio Rising (Uranus transiting the Eighth House)

Don’t dump all your savings into cryptocurrency, even if you get an overwhelming urge to do so. And you just might have these urges over the next few years, as the eighth house is a money house. Unlike the second house, however, it’s not your own money and resources, but rather what I call “bank money.” These are things like investments, debts, loans, mortgages, inheritances, pensions and taxes – any type of money that is owed to, or coming from, someone else. It’s also your partner’s finances.

This is a period where you are seeking freedom from and/or through other people’s money. Perhaps you’ll start investing or change up your existing portfolio. (Again, I urge you not to do anything extreme without consulting a professional.) If you are wholly dependent on another person for money – like your partner or the government (pensions, unemployment, etc.) – you might feel strongly about changing this and trying to realize freedom through financial independence.

Similar to Taurus risings, Scorpio rising people would do well do shore up their finances as much as they can over the next several years. There are likely to be sudden upheavals that will impact you financially over the next few years. These will act as stress tests for your finances and are likely to occur suddenly, especially around the hard aspects to Mars and/or during Mercury retrograde periods.

But while this period may see sudden bills crop up, it can also bring sudden windfalls like inheritances. That’s a good segue into the other major eighth house topic: death. I don’t want to scare you unnecessarily, but you should be aware that sudden deaths would fit in closely with Uranus transiting your eighth (very rarely would this be your own, so don’t panic).

Occult topics are also indicated here, and the next few years may see you exploring topics that are usually hidden from view and not discussed openly.

Sagittarius Rising (Uranus transiting the Seventh House)

Your closest relationships are the site of your urge for freedom during the next seven years. All one-on-one partnerships are included in the seventh house. This is often a spouse or other long-term partner, though if you do one-on-one client work or have a business partner, it can be those individuals too.

Marriages and divorces alike are common expressions of Uranus transiting your seventh house. Relationships might feel stale and stifling, causing an overwhelming desire to escape them. Infidelity leading to a sudden break-up is probably the most stereotypical way that this transit can manifest. But it’s just as likely that you might meet someone and jump into a relationship.

Business relationships can also start and end just as quickly during this period. Basically, try to be prepared for instability in all relationships with anyone you have a close one-on-one partnership with.

Sometimes, seventh house transits show up in other people entirely, as opposed to in your relationship with them. Your partner may become the source of Uranian disruption and upheaval due to crazy events happening in their life. So, Uranus is showing up in your life, but in the form of that partner. If that’s the case, they may need you to provide the firm foundation that they are lacking.

Capricorn Rising (Uranus transiting the Sixth House)

Take stock of your daily habits and routines, especially those related to your health. Diet and exercise are chief among these, of course. I like to think of the sixth house as being intimately related to everything you put in your body and the way you move your body. Those things are going to be the site where you crave freedom over the next few years.

You might feel trapped by these routines – like your diet or exercise habits have become a cage and you desperately need to break free from them. Shaking up these routines is a great way to express this transit, but of course the goal should hopefully be for long-term health benefits.

Addiction issues can flare up particularly strongly during this time period. Addiction is a daily health habit that is very constrictive and can make you feel trapped. Sometimes it’s only after a major upheaval that you’ll actually make permanent changes to break free from these restrictions. If you’re struggling in this way, you might get a “come to Jesus” moment over the next few years that permanently changes your habits.

Health in general is also more likely to be a locus of upheaval over the next few years. If the sixth house is a sensitive spot for you already, you might find that Uranus’ arrival will shake up health matters. Again, this could be good or bad. It’s likely to feel alarming and intense, as sudden surprises often do. But there can be real freedom in having your daily habits change, whether you chose to do so or not.

Aquarius Rising (Uranus transiting the Fifth House)

If you have kids, the next few years might see some interesting developments with them that might seem to come out of left field. If you don’t have kids…well, you might end up with some by the end of this transit.

The fifth house is associated with children, so anything to do with kids is going to be a focus. This could be your own kids of course, but also any kids in your life. You’re likely to experience some Uranian upheavals in a way that kids are great at providing. Having kids is obviously a major change in your life, even if they are wanted and expected. And if they are a surprise, well – the upheaval increases exponentially.

Aside from children, the fifth house is also creativity and creative pursuits. Think about the act of creation and the things that you metaphorically give birth to. The next seven years are a time when these creative projects are likely to feel more urgent than ever. It can be a time of great inspiration, where the Muses come in loud and clear and force you to take action. Your goal is to become a vessel for these creative forces and let them flow out into the world.

Pisces Rising (Uranus transiting the Fourth House)

Don’t be surprised if you move houses at some point in the next few years. The fourth house is home, which includes your physical house as well as your sense of home. Uranus is going to unmoor you at your foundation, which can feel very disorienting.

Your sense of home may undergo a radical shift, and you might find that the place you consider home has become stifling and untenable. The most obvious way this can manifest is through a physical move to a different house, but it can also show up as a change in your relationship to the concept of home itself. Ancestor research can be a good way to channel these energies, but be aware that Uranus likes to bring surprises – you might find some shocks when examining certain branches of the family tree.

Family, especially parents and grandparents, are also strongly indicated by the fourth house. You may experience Uranian upsets related to these people, either due to sudden events in their lives that impact you, and/or affect your relationship with them.

This could be something as crazy as meeting your birth parents if you were adopted, or something as predictable as becoming a caregiver for aging parents. Though, the latter can still happen quite unexpectedly if a parent experiences a sudden health event, and unfortunately that would certainly fit this transit too.

You might find that your relationship with your parents changes dramatically over the next few years. Maybe you go from living at home to living on your own. Or, you end up having to move back home with your parents, which can feel quite discouraging. Or, you might find yourself stepping into a caregiver role and having a parent move into your home, an odd reversal that’s certainly Uranian.

It is the planet of sudden, upsetting changes. It brings disruption, sometimes outright chaos. It signals breakthroughs and innovations. Its actions are amazing and horrifying. Sometimes you need to shake things up, and Uranus is always happy to do so, but it’s not often an easy or gentle process.

In astrology, Uranus’ main significations include:

• Disruption

• Breakthrough

• Revolution

• Rebellion

• Liberation

• Invention

• Individualism

• Restlessness

• Eccentricity

Uranus was discovered in 1781 by William Herschel, an amateur astronomer in England. After millennia of having a model of the solar system with only the seven visible planets/lights (including the Sun and Moon), Uranus came along and threw all of this out the window.

As is the case with all the modern planets, Uranus’ astrological meaning has been heavily informed by the circumstances of its discovery.

William Herschel found Uranus with his homemade backyard telescope, an immense multi-storied contraption. Here’s an illustration of it:

It’s actually quite incredible that he was able to discover a planet with such a device – and this certainly fits with Uranus’ association with innovation. This discovery also completely disrupted our understanding of the solar system, which had been well established for thousands of years.

Herschel, a loyal British subject, wanted to name his discovery after the reigning monarch at the time: King George III. While British astronomers were happy to adopt this name, the international community was less than enthusiastic about it. Eventually they settled on Uranus, the Greek god of the sky, bringing it in line with the names of the other planets.

However, the name “George” persisted in British astronomical circles for almost 70 years. You can find lots of examples of publications from that time period referring to “Georgium Sidus” (George’s Star). This story is an excellent example of Uranian rebellion against authority. Also, just imagine how hilarious it would be if that original name had stuck.

Uranus also seems to break a lot of rules on an astronomical level, too. Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side: it has an axial tilt of 98 degrees, so it spins around a horizontal axis – one of its poles is always aimed at the Sun. All the other planets rotate vertically. Since Uranus’ rings and moons follow this tilt, it looks like a great cosmic bullseye and is unlike any of the other planets in the solar system: a perfect example of Uranian disruption and rebellion.

Uranus is also strange in its composition. We call it an ice giant, but it’s actually a core of ice and rock surrounded by a thick cloud of gas. So, it’s neither one nor the other, but an odd combination of both ice and gas.

Uranus looks blue because of the methane content in the atmosphere: methane absorbs red light and reflects blue, so it looks blue to the human eye. Its rings are very dark and barely visible, mainly comprised of ice chunks but with a darkened surface, unlike the rings around Saturn and Jupiter which are also made of ice, but with a highly reflective surface. Again, Uranian rebellion from the established order.

Finally, Uranus does not follow the path that Newton’s law of gravity predicts for it. This is due to disturbances from another planet’s gravity – Neptune. This fact actually led to Neptune’s discovery a few decades later, but it’s also yet another way that Uranus just doesn’t behave like we would expect it too. Classic Uranus!

Because Uranus is a modern planet that was discovered only a couple of centuries ago, it isn’t part of the Thema Mundi. Therefore, it’s not part of the system of essential dignity in traditional astrology. This means it doesn’t rule any signs, isn’t exalted in any signs, and isn’t in exile or fall in any signs.

That said, I think it makes sense that there are signs where Uranus can feel more “comfortable,” in the sense that it can accomplish more Uranian things there. The mutable air sign of Gemini, for example, seems much more friendly to Uranian actions than the fixed earth sign of Taurus. This isn’t to say that people will have an easier time of Uranus in Gemini than Uranus in Taurus; it might actually be the opposite, since Uranus can bring such disruption and chaos. But Gemini’s association with communication and ideas is something that Uranus can do really interesting things with.

Modern astrologers, however, assign Uranus as the ruler of Aquarius. Side note: “modern astrologer” refers to those who practice astrology based on the systems that emerged in the 1960s through 1990s, until the traditional revival kicked off and we rediscovered the ancient texts that form the basis of western astrology. There are still people who practice astrology this way, and assign Uranus to Aquarius (as well as Neptune to Pisces and Pluto to Scorpio). They also usually follow a 12 Letter Alphabet system where they syncretize the signs with the houses, so Aries = the first house, Taurus = the second house, and so on.

I have not found any of this to be a useful or accurate framework. There are many reasons why; one of the biggest being that it completely destroys the Thema Mundi and therefore the ancient system of essential dignity, from which everything flows. A full argument against modern rulerships and the 12 Letter Alphabet is outside the scope of this article, however. If you’d like to read more about why I think considering Uranus as the ruler of Aquarius is dumb, read this post.

Modern astrology’s break with tradition really was made possible by Uranus, however, and perhaps that’s why modern astrologers hold Uranus so dear. I’ve even heard some claim that Uranus and/or Aquarius rules astrology. (It’s actually Mercury, according to the ancients.)

I find this a bit odd, since Uranus is often so disruptive – associated with events that most people find uncomfortable at best and completely chaotic at worst.

Regardless of your personal belief about which planet rules Aquarius, there’s no denying that Uranus loves to shake things up. It really is the planet of rebellion, anarchy and breaking with tradition. It brings disruption on both a personal and geopolitical level.

In mundane astrology, Uranus is associated with individualism and anarchy, activists and political dissidents, scientists and inventors. It signifies revolution, riots, liberation, disruption, chaos and natural disasters.

I’ve read a number of sources suggesting that Uranus represents right-leaning politics and politicians; however, I think Uranus’ influence is better described as being individualist or libertarian as opposed to assigning it to the political right. It’s true that many right-leaning politics tend to favour the individual instead of the collective, but even right-leaning societies are not truly anarchist or libertarian. This is why Uranus represents dissidents, anarchists and all those who want to break from the status quo.

Uranus also represents chaos and disruption of all kinds, whether natural (earthquakes, volcanoes) or man-made (riots, coups, rebellions, revolutions).

On a more positive side, Uranus is associated with innovations and inspiration, especially scientific and technological breakthroughs and discoveries.

To conclude, here are a couple of quotes about Uranus from a pair of eminent astrologers.

Robert Hand, Planets in Transit (1976):

“During the transits of Uranus to your natal chart, you will experience phenomena that are out of accord with your everyday life. The events that occur will be unusual, upsetting, sudden and unexpected. For this reason astrologers are often circumspect about giving precise delineations concerning Uranus. Almost all that can be said for sure is to expect the unexpected.

But the transits of Uranus are not malefic in the traditional sense, except to the extent that you are unwilling to accept newness and change in your life. Uranus challenges the rigid structures in life that most people work so hard to build.”

Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche (2006):

“Uranus is empirically associated with the principle of change, rebellion, freedom, liberation, reform and revolution, and the unexpected breakup of structures; with sudden surprises, revelations and awakenings, lightning-like flashes of insight, the acceleration of thoughts and events; with births and new beginnings of all kinds; and with intellectual brilliance, cultural innovation, technological invention, experiment, creativity, and originality. In addition to the occurrences of sudden breakthroughs and liberating events, Uranus transits are linked to unpredictable and disruptive changes; hence the planet is often referred to as the ‘cosmic trickster.’ … Uranus is regarded as signifying the rebel and the innovator, the awakener, the individualist, the dissident, the eccentric, the restless and wayward.”

I was delighted to chat about the astrology of Uranus in Gemini with Christa of . I met her through Substack and she was kind enough to have me on to talk about the mundane/geopoltical associations of this transit.

The next few years will bring major changes that are exciting and scary (as all change tends to seem, at least at first). Past historical periods suggest that this will be a time where we get radical books/texts that society uses to foment revolutions and wars, and catalyze sweeping change on a social, political and technological level. During previous periods of Uranus in Gemini, we got the printing press and the publication of some foundational, radical texts. These include Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, George Orwell’s 1984, the King James Bible, John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and the Declaration of Independence itself)

Uranus’ entrance into Gemini is the final piece of the puzzle in terms of what the skies will look like for the rest of the decade. Once it’s in place, the table is fully set for the major social, political and technological changes that are coming down the pipeline (literally).

I’ll be publishing some written pieces on Uranus in Gemini soon, but for now this video will give you an excellent primer.

The Aries ingress chart is used in astrological forecasting to predict what will come in the year ahead. While the positions of the planets are always the same no matter where you are on Earth, the Ascendant degree – and therefore the house structure – shifts by location.

Canada and the U.S. usually share very similar ingress charts due to the proximity of Ottawa and Washington, D.C. In 2026, both have a Gemini Ascendant (20° for Canada, 13° for the U.S.). The difference is subtle, especially using Whole Sign Houses as I do (though, there’s not much difference in Placidus either). So, we need to dig into the finer layers of planetary dignity, namely decans and terms, to distinguish how things will unfold differently for each nation.

This post will explore the astrological forecasts for both Canada and the U.S. in the context of the 2026 Aries ingress chart, which is in effect for about 6 months (due to a mutable sign on the Ascendant). For a more detailed look at the main astrological transits and themes this year, read my 2026 forecast here.

Mercury in the Maw of the Dragon

Gemini rising points to a year dominated by exchanges of all sorts: information, ideas, money and resources. The planetary ruler, Mercury, governs communication like news, podcasts, social media, printed books, newspapers, and everything in between. It also rules money exchanges and financial dealings. If you read it, speak it, or trade it, Mercury is there.

In this chart, Mercury is in very poor shape: in fall, conjunct Rahu (the North Node) and Mars, and stationing direct. This is about the worst possible condition that Mercury could be in, suggesting that while there’s a heightened emphasis on communication and commerce, it’s all stagnated, delayed and completely untrustworthy.

Perched right on Rahu, the insatiable, headless maw of the dragon, Mercury burns with hunger – more information, more trade – but nothing satisfies. Mars-Mercury is a classic trickster configuration in traditional astrology, underpinning this hunger with deception, scams, manipulation, thievery, lies and hidden agendas.

Differentiating through Dignity: Decans and Terms

The Ascendant in Canada’s Aries ingress chart is at 20° Gemini, which is a Sun-ruled decan and a Mars-ruled term. This brings leadership and conflict to the forefront of the year.

The Sun signifies the leader of the nation. Prime Minister Mark Carney is currently operating from a place of strength and is looking to shore up his power further. His Liberal party is close to reaching a majority through a series of defections (MPs from other parties crossing the floor to join the Liberals) and three upcoming byelections in April.

Mars ruling the Ascendant’s term relates back to the Mercury-Rahu-Mars conjunction: backroom dealings, manipulation, deception. The Liberals will likely get their majority, but not cleanly and certainly not transparently.

There’s a chance of a federal election though it might not be one that the Liberals are willing to take, especially if they get their thin majority after the byelections in April. Whether Canadians do go to the polls in 2026 or not, the ingress chart suggests we aren’t getting anything close to the full, true story with any of the government’s dealings.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Aries ingress chart, the Ascendant at 13° Gemini is in a Mars-ruled decan and a Venus-ruled term. Mars has dignity by triplicity in Pisces, but is in a position of strength compared to Venus, who is in detriment.

Venus attempts to negotiate peace and provide temperance to Mars’ militarism, but she lacks the dignity to do so. Mars clearly dominates this chart and ensures ongoing aggression, conflict and militant action. The Mercury-Mars-Rahu signature shows up here as an insatiable drive for power and dominance.

Thus, the ingress chart suggests continued, possibly escalating, military activity throughout much the rest of the year.

Gemini in the National Charts

Gemini is the third house of Canada’s national chart, representing communication, infrastructure, neighbours and friendly nations.

We can expect focus on pipelines and other resource infrastructure, transportation, development in the Far North, and (continued) constant media attention on the U.S.

Canada will continue its diplomatic talks with its friends and neighbours. This includes the U.S. as well as China and other nations as well. Unfortunately, the poor condition of Mercury in the ingress chart suggests that these talks will be murky at best and full of outright lies and deception at worst.

In the U.S. Sibly chart, Gemini is the seventh house of foreign relations and open enemies.

With natal Mars and Uranus here, the symbolism is blunt and revolves around military conflict, instability, sudden violence. The U.S. will be deeply engaged in volatile foreign affairs, including but not limited to the war it has just started.

Uranus will also ingress Gemini a month after the Aries ingress chart, beginning its seven-year cycle through Gemini and marking the start of the U.S. Uranus return. I’ll be writing more about this transit specifically in the coming weeks.

To summarize: in 2026, the U.S. will be busy with the war in Iran and all sorts of other military-based foreign affairs, and Canada will be busy talking about it. Canada will also try to work on national projects and its dealings with other friendly nations.

However, keep in mind that a very trickster Mercury rules all of this and is not to be trusted. Combined with the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, there’s a lot of grand visions that aren’t grounded in reality.

What about all those Planets in Aries?

A major feature of the Aries ingress chart is the stellium of planets in Aries: Sun, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, and the Moon.

The sign of Aries is all about initiation and ignition. It is the first sign of the zodiac ruled by headstrong Mars. Aries is the fiery field of battle where emotions run hot and bold, and assertive actions are rewarded.

And what a crowded, confusing battlefield it is. The Sun is the last to join the horde of planets charging through the sign of the ram.

This signals acceleration across many different areas. There’s a surge of new activity, rapid developments and bold moves. The Sun’s arrival at the first degree of the zodiac activates the Saturn-Neptune conjunction that occurred here only one month ago. This is a long, 36-year cycle that will unfold over decades, with 2026 serving as the ignition switch for a new chain of historical events that reverberate backwards and forwards in time.

Aries in the National Charts

Aries is Canada’s first house, signifying the nation itself and its people. This ties in with the renewed Canadian nationalism that’s been happening over the last year, since Trump took office in 2025.

Neptune’s entrance into Aries triggers Canada’s Neptune return. This long-term cycle peaks with the exact conjunction in 2032, but we are getting a good taste now of what that will be about.

The Aries stellium also puts pressure on Canada’s land and natural resources, as it is square Canada’s natal fourth-house Sun-Uranus conjunction on the IC at 8 Cancer. Resource development, trade diversification, and infrastructure are key issues. Canada has abundant natural resource wealth, but struggles to mobilize it effectively – especially with continued tariff pressure from the U.S.

Uranus’ presence with the Sun in the natal chart suggests a leader willing to make sudden breakthroughs in this department, and this is going to be activated for the next couple of years by Saturn, which will try to put a damper on it, and then by Neptune, which brings grand but possibly deluded visions.

Aries is the fifth house in the U.S. chart, signifying children and youth. Given the explosion of broad global conflict, this raises concerns about the role that the nation’s young people will play in these wars. There have already been talks of conscription. It’s impossible to say if those are real threats or just fear-driven (very Saturn-Neptune); the chart reflects this uncertainty.

The Aries stellium is squaring the U.S.’s natal stellium in Cancer, which is the eighth house of death and death-related affairs, as well as foreign financial dealings. Financial motives are central, as always. One of the goals of its recent conflicts – Iran, Venezuela – is an attempt to benefit the U.S. on an economic and financial level. They have good support to do so, thanks to Jupiter’s presence here (both natally and by transit – the U.S. just had a Jupiter return last year). This won’t come without a lot of tension and upheaval, however.

Where Are We Headed?

The U.S. and Israel started the war in Iran three weeks ago, shortly after Mercury stationed retrograde. I know I’m not the only one hoping that the end of Mercury’s retrograde will bring an end to the conflict. It would certainly fit the astrology for the leaders to go, “Oops, actually – nevermind.”

However, the war wasn’t signified by this Mercury retrograde alone. A humble Mercury retrograde brings confusion and disruption to communications and technology matters, but it takes a lot more to bring war – like the generational transit of Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries.

It’s highly unlikely that the war will suddenly end as Mercury stations direct. Rather, Mercury’s position in the Aries ingress chart of 2026 suggests that he will act as the messenger for the story of this war, and for all the other stories of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, as he travels through the sky this year.

It’s very unfortunate that this messenger is beleaguered and deeply untrustworthy. He delivers news, narratives and opinions, sure – but with a wallop of confusion and misinformation.

TL;DR

2026 is defined by action, conflict and relentless communication with very little clarity. The U.S. drives events through force; Canada responds through dialogue. Behind it all, trickster Mercury ensures that none of these actions or words can be trusted.

This is a year that will be argued about in the history books for decades to come. You’re living in ground zero of a major chapter. But hey – just think of all the great, firsthand stories you’ll get to tell your grandchildren one day.

I want to finish this piece with a list of key dates based on Mercury’s movements, when I think we’ll get some big pieces of information and/or events that continue the story laid out in the Aries ingress chart.

• April 9 at 22 Pisces – the degree that Mercury stationed retrograde on February 26

  • News about what unfolded then, providing additional context and clarity.

• April 14 at 0 Aries – the degree of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction on February 20 and the Aries ingress on March 20

  • Further news about the events related to that conjunction, including but not limited to the war in Iran, the Epstein files, UAP disclosure, instability in financial markets, and other Saturn-Neptune events that are unfolding as we speak.

• April 16 at 2 Aries – conjunction with Neptune

  • Mercury offers messages of truth piercing the fog of war, but also possibly thickening it in other directions.

  • What will be Neptune’s new dream for the next 14 years that it is in Aries?

• April 20 at 7 Aries – conjunction with Saturn; and 8 Aries – conjunction with Mars

  • This day brings whiplash: Saturn slams things to a halt and then Mars immediately escalates things to action.

  • The day may start with one message, but will end with a very different one.

  • Simultaneous cessation and escalation.

• May 14 at 23 Taurus – conjunction with the Sun

  • Piercing insights of sudden clarity and truth arriving amidst all the confusion. Events that occurred back in February and March may suddenly come into focus in a new way.

• May 17 at 1 Gemini – conjunction with Uranus

  • Revelations about Uranus’ next 7 years in Gemini and what that transit, especially the Uranus-Pluto trine, will bring.

  • New technology and other breakthroughs and innovations – possibly war-related, but not limited to this. New ways of communicating.

• May 23 at 13 Gemini – the Ascendant of the US Aries Ingress chart

  • Stories related to the U.S. in particular.

• May 26 at 20 Gemini – the Ascendant of the Canada Aries Ingress chart

  • Stories about Canada in particular. The federal government calling an election, perhaps? New trade deal announcements? Scandals being uncovered?

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There are 13 Full Moons each year. There’s a Full Moon each month in one of the signs, always opposite the Sun’s current sign because a Full Moon is a Sun-Moon opposition. One month gets a bonus extra Full Moon. (This is also known as a Blue Moon. Why? No idea.)

The Full Moons travel around the zodiac, with each month’s lunation falling in the next sign from last month. In astrology, you can use the Full Moon to tap into the activities and topics associated with the particular sign it occurs in. The energies are strongest around the date of the actual Full Moon, but they remain in effect throughout the month until the next Full Moon.

For example, on a Full Moon in Gemini, you might want to spend the next month focusing on communication activities like a writing or speaking project. On a Scorpio Full Moon, you could get obsessed investigating a niche topic that has piqued your interest. On a Virgo Full Moon, you could do a deep clean of your house.

When you map the Full Moons to your natal chart, you unlock even more possibilities for fruitful uses of each lunation. The particular house that the Moon falls in, as well as any connections with your natal placements, gives you a rich set of topics to align with those particular lunar vibes.

For example, a Full Moon in your fourth house would be a good time to do house-related activities, like repairs or renovations. A Full Moon conjunct your natal Venus is a lovely time to update your wardrobe or get a haircut. A Full Moon in your sixth house is a great time to kick off a new exercise routine.

You can get even more detailed and layer things further, based on your particular chart. For example, a Full Moon in your ninth house, ruled by Mercury in the fifth house, might be a good time to take a vacation (ninth house, Mercury) with your children (fifth house, also Mercury). A Full Moon in the second house, ruled by Mars in the seventh house, would be a good time to have a conversation with your partner (seventh house) about money (second house) and develop a monthly budget (taking action = Mars, though you’d need to be careful not to let it turn into a fight, because that’s also a very Mars activity).

I like making this Full Moon map physically, with pen and paper. I print a copy of my chart and mark down each of the Full Moons, along with anything else I might want to consider – like which of the Full Moons are lunar eclipses (there will be at least two each year), so that I know when to start my ritual eclipse cleaning. Or, if a Full Moon is closely conjunct one of my natal planets, I’ll know to watch out for those additional influences too.

Here’s the Full Moon map that I made for 2026:

What jumped out right away are the Full Moons that hit my natal planets – like the one back on January 3 that was right on my natal Sun, the one on May 1 sandwiched between my Mars-Saturn, and the one on June 29 right beside my Jupiter. I made a mental note to keep the lines of communication extra open with my husband throughout May, since that Scorpio Full Moon falls in my seventh house right between my natal malefics (and he’s a Scorpio Moon, to boot).

I’m also brainstorming some things to use that Full Moon at the end of June, as it’s conjunct my natal Jupiter – maybe exploring ways I could volunteer in my community, since Jupiter rules my eleventh house (communities and networks) and is in the same sign as my Midheaven (public self).

Another thing I noticed, when I looked at each Full Moon chart in 2026, was how there’s a Full Moon closely conjunct each of the outer planets this year:

• July 29 conjunct Pluto in Aquarius

• September 26 conjunct Neptune in Aries

• November 24 conjunct Uranus in Gemini

The Moon activates other planets when she conjoins them, and because all of those outer planets have made a major sign change recently, it’s like Luna really wants to give us a good lesson in exactly what these long-term transits will be all about. I’ll be watching for this on a mundane/geopolitical level, but it’s also nice to see them all laid out on my own chart. That way, I am reminded to keep an eye out for events/topics/significations that those transits might bring for me personally.

And that’s it! This Full Moon Map is a simple exercise, but one that can really help you do some astrological planning for the year. The Moon also moves quickly and I lose track of her all the time, so I find it useful to have something I can refer to throughout the year. It’s a handy way to re-establish my connection to Luna’s movements and her monthly and yearly rhythms, as she moves through the skies and my chart.

Planning for bad space weather is really no different.

First, you need to check the upcoming astrological transits and how they affect your chart specifically. That means either doing the forecast yourself, reading a reputable astrologer’s forecast, and/or hiring someone to do a consultation for you. (Shameless self promotion link here.)

Then you need to plan ahead to ensure you have everything in place for when the bad weather hits. This is remarkably similar to preparing for a big snowstorm, hurricane or other known-in-advance weather event. It means having your resources in place and a plan for when things go sideways – which is sometimes just knowing that things will go sideways. It’s remarkable how forethought can help you keep your cool when the shit hits the fan.

The great thing about astrology is that unlike physical weather, we know precisely what the space weather will be in advance. You can look up the astrology days, weeks, months, years and even decades ahead of time. Having a working knowledge of the short, medium and long-term transits is crucial for planning your best life. (Another shameless self promo: read my 2026 forecast here.)

Below are examples of how I plan for some astrological transits in the short- and medium-term. It’s not that I don’t plan for the longer outer planet cycles, but those require a lot more forethought and planning, and are very unique to the individual. It’s certainly worth knowing if you are going to get slammed by, say, the Saturn-Uranus conjunction in 2032. But there are many other things you can be doing right now that have immediate impacts. Keep the long game in mind but focus on the here and now.

Also, this is by no means an exhaustive list of all the transits to watch out for or all the things you can do to mitigate them. My intention is to simply illustrate the concept of living in tune with the astrological weather, as well as provide some practical examples of what I do personally.

Mercury Retrograde

We have to put this one at the top of the list because it’s probably the most mainstream-famous astrological event that gets a lot of attention each time it comes around – probably too much, honestly.

Mercury retrogrades aren’t usually too big of a deal. They likely won’t bring calamity. However, they are annoying as hell. Technology goes haywire, communications are misunderstood, travel is delayed.

The main thing I do before each Mercury retrograde – there are three each year – is backup all my files. Should I do that more than three times a year? Probably! However, when I remember there is a Mercury retrograde coming up, that’s my cue to dig out the external hard drives.

You’re also not supposed to sign any major contracts, buy vehicles, computers or other tech items, or travel during Mercury retrogrades. I’ve broken all of these rules, and usually things are fine. However, if you can possibly avoid doing these things, it’s a good idea to do so. The simple reason is that those are more vulnerable to mercurial shenanigans at that time, so why give the astrology an easy place to land (and mess with your stuff).

Eclipses

Eclipse season means it’s time to clean. Yay!!! I’m low key obsessed with eclipses, ever since I started seeing and experiencing just how fateful they can be. I take eclipse mitigation seriously and have written about it in the past. The TL;DR is that you should clean and pray.

I spend the day or two before the eclipse giving my house a nice good deep clean. This is the time when I go beyond surface tidying and really get things looking really good – like a “hosting Christmas dinner” level of clean.

Luckily, eclipses only occur twice a year so I’m not deep cleaning my house all the time. (Although, I’ve gotten myself to a higher standard of baseline house cleanliness over the last year and I’m a big fan – and it makes the eclipse cleaning days much easier to handle.) Much as I generally hate eclipses, I appreciate having these pre-ordained times of year when I put in the extra effort to get things sparkling.

Moon in Scorpio

This one happens every month and often surprises me, even though I’m doing astrology all the time. The Moon is in its fall in Scorpio, and accordingly for these two or three days each month, tempers are shorter and emotions run hot. This is especially true in my household, as we are a pretty Scorpionic bunch – all of us have personal planets in Scorpio. It’s my husband’s Moon and Mercury sign (the latter of which rules his Ascendant and Mars), and I’ve joked that Scorpio Moons are his time of the month.

This is kind of a “pot calling the kettle black” situation though, since I’ve got Mars and Saturn conjunct in Scorpio. It’s not like I’m blissfully unaffected when the Moon passes through that part of the sky.

The way I mitigate Moon in Scorpio is usually just awareness. Luna moves fast and changes signs every couple of days, so she’s easy to lose track of. However, I do my best to remain aware of the Scorpio Moon days so that I can do my best to remain level headed – or at least tamp down those particularly snarly emotions when they inevitably bubble up. This is hard and I’m not always successful at it.

Venus Retrograde

I take this one pretty seriously, partially because Venus is a big health indicator for me (she rules my Ascendant and my Moon, which is in the sixth house). When Venus is going through some trials, I usually am too.

The biggest thing I’ve found to help with Venus retrograde periods is temperance. That means trying to re-assert balance in my life, especially in areas where I’ve been out of balance. Often that’s diet and/or exercise.

I treat Venus retrogrades like astrological Lent. There are some interesting similarities between them: the Venus retrograde period lasts for 40 days, as does Lent. Just like how Catholics will fast during Lent and restrict their diet in specific ways – often reducing or eliminating certain foods, especially sugary treats or junk food – Venus retrograde periods are good times to pay closer attention to your diet and try to keep things on an even keel. Venus is associated with indulgences like food and drink, especially sweet foods, so keeping those in check is a good way to work with this period of time.

Remember that Venus rules Libra, the sign of the scales, and delights in keeping things balanced. Find where you’re off balance and try to correct that.

Annual Time Lord

This one changes every year as it’s dependent on which planet is my annual time lord. This is determined through annual profections, which I’ve written about here.

The house(s) that your annual time lord transits will take on more importance for that year, as will that planet. I don’t have a quick recommendation or action for this one because it varies so much. It depends on the specific planet involved, how that planet operates in your chart, and what else is going on with the current transits interacting with your natal chart.

One example, for when the Moon is your annual time lord, is to keep a Moon journal. I did this a few years ago when I was in a Cancer profection year, and wrote an article about it – read it here. Essentially, a Moon journal is where you take time every day to note where the Moon is and what happened to you that day/how you were feeling. It’s is a great way to learn astrology as well as stay in tune with yourself and your chart.

After you’ve done this for a few months, you’ll notice patterns emerging – like how I noticed the aforementioned Moon in Scorpio days being more difficult for me and my family.

There are many more ways to prepare for the space weather. As I mentioned at the start, the sky’s the limit (literally) for how far you can take this – you can plan for things on a daily, weekly, monthly and/or yearly basis.

These were also all specific examples of major recurring transits, except for the part on annual time lords. That section gives you an idea of how to go deeper with astrological forecast planning: once you know what parts of your chart are being highlighted at a particular time, you can figure out way to use that energy towards your goals.

Knowing where Saturn is going to reside for its two-and-a-half-year transit of a sign, for example, tells you where you may run into restrictions or setbacks aligned with the topic of that particular house in your chart. Here’s a piece I wrote on Saturn in Aries, which will be in effect until 2028.

And if it sounds like I can’t get out of bed without checking the transits, and obsessively plan my life around them – nope, not at all! I can and do get blindsided by the astrology all the time. As a professional astrologer, you’d think I’d be on top of all of this all the time, but I’m only human. I get caught up in life and then things happen, I check the chart, and then shake my head ruefully. I do my best to stay in tune with the sky, but that also means knowing you can never plan for everything.

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My kneejerk reaction is to look at the stars. It’s far too early to interpret what’s going to happen from here as a result of this event, but studying the current astrological transits can give us some insights into the “Why now?” question.

In short: multiple astrological transits have converged to create a perfect flashpoint for an event of this magnitude. Here’s a short summary:

• We are in the middle of eclipse season. Eclipses have long been associated with the death of kings and other leaders.

• The Saturn-Neptune conjunction was just exact at 0 Aries on February 20, 2026. This conjunction signifies regime changes and is linked to major events in Iran, particularly:

  • The 1953 Iranian coup d’etat occurred under the 1952-53 Saturn-Neptune conjunction

  • The death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini – and the subsequent appointment of Ali Khamenei as supreme leader – occurred under the 1989 Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

• Previous eclipses in the Saros cycles of the current eclipses (Saros 121 and 133) overlapped with the previous Saturn-Neptune conjunctions in 1953 and 1989:

  • A solar eclipse on January 5, 1954 (Saros 121) and a lunar eclipse on January 19, 1954 (Saros 133) occurred just a few months after the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in July 1953.

  • A solar eclipse on January 26, 1990 (Saros 121) and a lunar eclipse on February 9, 1990 (Saros 133) occurred just a few months after the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in November 1989.

• Mars just squared Uranus – a tense, incendiary aspect between the planet of war and the planet of shocks and liberation.

• All of the main national leaders involved in this event – Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ali Khamenei – were born on eclipses.

Those are the major astrological signatures, but even more so than that, Iran’s natal chart is absolutely lit up by the current transits. Here’s a bi-wheel showing Iran’s natal chart on the inner wheel with the chart of the US-Israel airstrikes on the outer wheel (I got the time for the airstrikes from this article):

Here’s a summary of the transits impacting this chart:

• Uranus in Aquarius is on Iran’s natal Moon, receiving the exact square from Mars in Aquarius; transit Uranus is also opposite Iran’s natal Uranus.

  • The Moon is the nation’s people, Uranus is sudden shocks, revolution and liberation, and Mars is war and military action.

• The Saturn-Neptune conjunction is 9 degrees away from Iran’s natal Sun.

  • Saturn is structures and death, Neptune is ideals and the Sun is the leader. Therefore, the ideals (Neptune) that were structured (Saturn) into the nation of Iran were torn down through the death (Saturn) of its leader (Sun). In other words, regime change.

• Iran’s is experiencing a reverse Nodal return, as well as the transit South Node directly on its natal Saturn in Virgo.

  • Nodal returns and reverse Nodal returns bring fateful events impacting the fortunes of the nation.

  • Saturn represents death and the South Node is a purgation, a draining away – also very death-oriented.

• The Moon is on Iran’s natal Jupiter, sextile Uranus.

  • The Moon is the people and public attention, and Jupiter is religious leaders – in Iran, the Ayatollah would be symbolized Jupiter (in addition to the Sun) since he’s a religious leader as well as the head of state. Those two planets together = the public attention is focused on the religious leader.

• Iran’s stellium in Pisces is being transited by the Sun and an exact conjunction of Venus with retrograde Mercury, the latter of which is close to its natal Mars. Iran just had a Venus return and is going to have a Mercury return in a few weeks.

  • While Venus is usually considered a symbol of peace, older astrological sources, like ancient Mesopotamia, considered Venus a planet of war. She’s sure not beating those allegations here.

  • As previously stated, the Sun is the leader; Mercury symbolizes communication and children; Venus symbolizes women and children (and war?); and Mars symbolizes war, military action and men.

    • Again, it’s all so literal: all people are impacted by this – every Iranian man, woman and child.

  • Retrograde Mercury suggests the fog of war is thick and will remain so for a long time, but perhaps also that there’s a reversal with the fortunes of women in particular.

    • It’s too early to know anything definitively, but perhaps this event could lead to a lifting of Iran’s oppressive treatment of women for the past 47 years. Maybe I’m being too optimistic.

• The current eclipse cycle is hitting Iran’s stellium in Pisces and Saturn in Virgo:

  • The solar eclipse on February 17, 2026 was at 28 Aquarius, the position that Mars currently occupies in its overcoming square to Uranus. The lunar eclipse on March 3, 2026 is at 12 Virgo – 4 degrees from Iran’s Saturn and 3 degrees opposite Iran’s Sun.

  • The last eclipse in the Virgo-Pisces axis is at 4 Pisces on August 28, 2026, suggesting one final development in this story.

  • The new eclipse cycle in the Leo-Aquarius axis just kicked off, suggesting a new 18-month story.

One more thing that I want to comment on is Iran’s flag. The current flag of Iran is a tricolour of equal horizontal bands of green, white and red with the Islamic emblem in red centered on the white band:

This flag was adopted in 1980 after the 1979 Iranian Revolution that installed the current government. Prior to that, Iran’s flag was the same tricolour bands of green, white and red, but with the Lion and Sun emblem. This flag is strictly banned from public use but is often used by Iranian opposition groups opposed to the Islamic government:

Photo c/o Wikipedia

The astrological symbolism is again so stark and literal: the lion is the astrological symbol of Leo, the sign ruled by the Sun. 2026’s eclipses are moving into the Leo-Aquarius axis and both solar eclipses this year (again, remember that these herald the death of kings) are in this axis. The solar eclipse on February 17, 2026 was at 28 Aquarius and the solar eclipse on August 12, 2026 is at 20 Leo. Expect more major developments in August.

To summarize, a tidal wave of astrological events have hit Iran. Regime change is imminent. If the astrology shows us anything, it’s that this is timed very closely to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction and eclipses, and therefore there will be another major development in about 36 years at the next Saturn-Neptune conjunction in 2061.

Not that things are over and done with, however. Clearly this was a major event that will resonate throughout history.

I said I wasn’t going to do any forecasting, so I’ll leave it here. My prayers are with the innocent people caught up in this mess. May there be a speedy, just resolution.

The Basics

Eclipses occur when the Sun, Moon and Earth line up in a particular way, close to the Lunar Nodes. This alignment is called a sygyzy (which is a game-winning word to use in Scrabble, just FYI).

There are two Lunar Nodes, which are the points of intersection of the Moon’s path around the Earth with the ecliptic (i.e. the Sun’s apparent path around the Earth). One Node is called the Ascending or North Node, which is where the Moon moves from the south to the north, and one is called the Descending or South Node, where the Moon moves from the north to the south.

The Earth’s slight tilt ensures that eclipses can only occur a couple of times a year instead of at every lunation — only when the Sun, Moon and Earth are lined up just right.

Solar eclipses occur at the New Moon — they are a Sun-Moon conjunction.

• This is when the Moon passes in front of the Sun, darkening its light.

Lunar eclipses occur at the Full Moon — they are a Sun-Moon opposition.

• This is when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow, giving it a reddish hue.

Eclipses occur in pairs, twice a year.

• A solar eclipse always follows a lunar eclipse, or vice-versa.

• Occasionally there can be a third eclipse and even a fourth eclipse in a row, though this is very rare. They will always alternate: solar-lunar-solar or lunar-solar-lunar.

Eclipses always occur within about 17 degrees of one of the Lunar Nodes.

• The closer the Sun and Moon are to the Nodes, the more total the eclipse will be.

Eclipses are only visible from certain locations on Earth.

• Those outside the path of totality will see a partial eclipse.

• Those too far outside the path of an eclipse will not be able to see it at all.

Types of Eclipses

Eclipses are classified according to how complete they are and there are a few different types of each.

Total Solar Eclipse

• The Moon completely blocks the Sun, creating a path of totality on the Earth’s surface.

• Those inside the path of totality will experience daytime darkness and be able to observe the Sun’s corona.

• Those outside the path of totality will experience a partial eclipse.

Partial Solar Eclipse

• The Moon covers only part of the Sun.

Annular Solar Eclipse

• The Moon is centered in front of the Sun but doesn’t completely cover the Sun’s disk.

• This occurs when the Moon is near apogee (its farthest distance from the Earth) and creates a “ring of fire.”

Hybrid Solar Eclipse

• This is a combination of all three types of solar eclipses, depending on the observer’s location.

• Hybrid eclipses begin as an annular eclipse and transition to a total eclipse, then finish as an annular.

• Those outside the path will see a partial eclipse.

Total Lunar Eclipse

• The Full Moon is completely blocked from the Sun’s rays by the Earth’s shadow (penumbra).

• This is also called a Blood Moon because the Moon appears reddish-orange, because of dust particles in the Earth’s atmosphere which bend sunlight and allow different wavelengths of light to reach the surface of the Moon.

Partial Lunar Eclipse

• The Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon, but the objects are not precisely aligned so the Moon only appears slightly reddish and not all of its surface appears that colour.

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

• The Moon moves through the faint outer part of the Earth’s shadow (penumbra).

• This is a very faint eclipse that often looks just like a regular Full Moon.

The Path of the Nodes

The Lunar Nodes move through the zodiac signs retrograde (backwards) in reverse zodiacal order. They are exactly 180 degrees apart, so they are always in one set of opposite signs: Aries-Libra, Taurus-Scorpio, Gemini-Sagittarius, Cancer-Capricorn, Leo-Aquarius or Virgo-Pisces. This sign axis is very important in the interpretation of eclipses on an astrological level.

The Nodes change signs every 18 months (approximately). This means that the eclipse cycle will occur across one sign axis for about 18 months before shifting to another. The shift isn’t always exact, and often will result in eclipse cycles blending together for a period of time. For example, in 2026, the Nodes change signs from Virgo-Pisces to Leo-Aquarius on July 27, but we got the first eclipse in the Leo-Aquarius axis on February 17 (a solar eclipse at 28 Aquarius). This was followed by a lunar eclipse at 12 Virgo on March 3.

It takes the Nodes just under 19 years to move through the entire zodiac, which means you get a nodal return every 19 years. You get a “reverse” nodal return every nine and a half years, which is where the North Node will be on your natal South Node and vice-versa. More on these below.

The Nodes “wobble” back and forth slightly in space due to gravitational disturbances caused by the interaction of the Earth, Sun and Moon. You may notice that occasionally, your astrology software shows the Nodes stationing or direct instead of retrograde, though they are retrograde for the vast majority of time.

There are two ways of calculating the Lunar Nodes and you can toggle between them in your astrology software:

• True Node: the exact mathematical calculation for where the Nodes are at any given moment.

• Mean Node: the average of all the variations in the exact Nodal position.

The exact position of the True Node will be slightly different from the Mean Node, but it usually doesn’t make much difference. I use the True Node in my work.

Saros Cycles

Each eclipse belongs to a particular Saros cycle, also called Saros series, which is a sequence of eclipses that occur at intervals of a Saros.

• A Saros is a period of 223 synodic months or just under 19 years.

• After this time, the Sun, Moon and Earth return to approximately the same position and thus cause a nearly identical eclipse to occur – they occur at the same lunar node with the Moon the same distance from Earth and at the same time of year.

Each Saros cycle is identified by a number.

• You can use the particular Saros cycle number to look up all the eclipses in that cycle.

A lunar Saros cycle consists of about 50 lunar eclipses over about 870 years.

A solar Saros cycle consists of about 70 solar eclipses over about 1200 years.

At any one time, there are about 42 Saros cycles running at once.

Each Saros cycle begins with a tiny eclipse at the north or south pole. Each successive eclipse shifts slightly north or south towards the opposite pole, and about 120 degrees west of the previous eclipse in the series.

• Therefore, you can tell the approximate age of an eclipse based on where it occurs:

  • Younger and older Saros cycles consist of small partial eclipses close to one of the poles.

  • Middle-aged eclipses are closer to totality and occur across the middle of the Earth.

Because eclipses always occur in pairs (one lunar and one solar), each Saros cycle has a “partner” of the opposite type.

• For example, the eclipse that occurred on February 17, 2026 was an annular solar eclipse belonging to Saros cycle #121. Its partner is lunar Saros cycle #114.

Eclipses in Astrology

Indian astrologers conceive of the Lunar Nodes as a great dragon. The North (Ascending) Node is Rahu, the head of the dragon. The South (Descending) Node is Ketu, the tail of the dragon.

This imagery, of a great dragon wrapping itself around the earth, matches perfectly to the way that each Saros cycle moves slowly up or down the Earth from pole to pole. They begin as a tight curl at the pole, lengthening into sinuous waves around the middle of the Earth, and then tightening up into a little curl again at the opposite pole. When you map out eclipse paths and Saros cycles on the Earth, it looks just like the path that snakes make in the sand.

In both Vedic and traditional astrology, eclipses and the Lunar Nodes are regarded as malefic, negative influences. This is particularly true when eclipses occur close to the degrees of an individual’s natal chart angles or natal planets.

Many modern astrologers regard eclipses – and by extension, the Lunar Nodes – in relation to themes of reincarnation, karma and past lives. Some modern astrologers do not regard eclipses as malefic influences per se, but most acknowledge them as periods of profound transformation and major life transitions — again, usually when they hit key aspects in the individual’s chart.

Saros Cycles in Astrology

There are many ways of using Saros cycles in astrology. Because Saros cycles are very long, I find them most useful for studying long historical cycles. However, you can use them for natal astrology too, especially once you have reached middle age or older. You can also use them for ancestral astrology and studying family patterns over generations.

One of the most common ways to use them in natal astrology is to look at the Saros cycle of your prenatal eclipse (usually the prenatal solar eclipse) for some insight into the life path or soul journey of your current incarnation.

Because each Saros cycle repeats every 19 years, the recurrence of your prenatal solar eclipse occurs around ages 19, 36, 55, 74 and 93. This is commonly referred to as an “eclipse return.”

However, we don’t need to limit ourselves to just looking at the prenatal solar eclipse. You can look up the Saros cycle for any eclipse and then consider it in relation to life repetitions that occur every 19 years. This is particularly useful when an eclipse hits a key degree in your chart – you can prepare yourself for what may occur the next time it comes around.

You could also do this for key moments in history, tracing backwards and forwards in time what occurred in history during each Saros cycle.

Eclipse Geography

Another way that I like to use eclipses is to look at where the path of totality will be on Earth, and where the point of maximum visibility/totality will be. Then, I compare this to what’s going on geopolitically in those regions. I also look at where the eclipses fall in the natal charts of the impacted nations and the leaders of those nations. This is most useful when looking at a series of eclipses and a broader section of history/current events, versus just a single point in time.

Many astrologers (myself included) think that eclipses are more impactful if they are visible in the location they occur, and vice-versa. That said, eclipses can still have an effect on individuals even if that person is in a location outside where the eclipse is visible. It really depends on where the eclipse falls in the natal chart.

Eclipse and Saros Cycle Resources

Hermit Eclipse website: easily searchable lists of all Saros cycles

Time and Date: upcoming and past eclipses with excellent interactive maps

NASA Catalog of Solar Eclipse Saros Series

NASA Catalog of Lunar Eclipse Saros Series

For more of my writing on eclipses in particular, visit my blog.

In modern times, eclipses have become a tourist attraction. Especially in the case of solar eclipses, thousands of people around the world flock to the area of totality to experience daytime darkness firsthand.

Those of us who practice astrology tend to remain suspicious of eclipses, however. I certainly am. Once you’ve had some calamitous, life changing events timed to eclipses, you understand why the ancients viewed them apprehensively.

For a primer on how eclipses work in astronomy and astrology, read this article.

2026’s first eclipse is a solar eclipse on February 17 at 28 Aquarius. This is the first eclipse in a new cycle, as the Lunar Nodes shift from Virgo/Pisces to Leo/Aquarius on July 27.

Eclipses always come in pairs, and the second eclipse of this set is a lunar eclipse at 12 Virgo on March 3, 2026. That’s the second-last eclipse in the Virgo/Pisces cycle that began in September 2024. The set of events that started under these eclipses are thus concluding, and will fully end with 2026’s second set of eclipses in August.

So, this is the opening salvo of a new eclipse story that is starting for the world as well as for each person individually. At the same time, it marks a conclusion of another story that has been ongoing for the last two years.

The solar eclipse on February 17 occurs among some truly momentous astrological transits events. It’s part of why February is one of the most impactful, chaotic months of 2026. The eclipse is sandwiched among several major astrological transits:

• Neptune entering Aries (January 26), kicking off a new 14-year Neptune cycle.

• Saturn entering Aries (February 13), triggering a new two-year Saturn cycle.

• Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 0 Aries (February 20), activating a new 35-year Saturn-Neptune cycle.

This eclipse is in the midst of a confluence of astrological events that are very rare. These are transits that will only occur a handful of times in your lifetime. History is literally being written right now. I can’t overstate just how big these transits are.

In other words, shit is wild and we ain’t done yet.

And that should be reassuring! If you’re feeling like things are moving at breakneck speed, it’s not just you. The astrology is bonkers and the world is responding accordingly.

Looking at it optimistically, we are at a peak in the cycle of chaos and disorder and it won’t be like this forever. Saturn-Neptune governs the dissolution of structures and boundaries of all kinds, on the level of empires/nations as well as individuals. We are all caught up in these massive geopolitical currents, and all we can do is try to get by. Eventually things will settle.

Also, while the astrology is crazy right now, it’s not *as* crazy as the astrology was in 2020. I just spent some time looking back at the chart of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in January 2020 and comparing it to the current transits in 2026. I also compared it to the two previous Saturn-Pluto conjunctions (in 1982 and 1947). 2020 stands out as just So. Fucking. Bad. The good news is we did that, we got through it, it fucking sucked, things are still a mess, but life goes on.

Going back to the current eclipse cycle: all of these huge astrological events are why this eclipse season is particularly hard to parse. And eclipses aren’t easy, obvious things to figure out anyway.

By their very nature, eclipses are enigmatic. Think about what an eclipse is: an obscuration, something being hidden from sight.

In the case of a solar eclipse, the Moon moves in front of the sun and blocks the Sun’s light. In the case of a lunar eclipse, the Full Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow, which darkens its silvery surface to a dull orange-red.

Accordingly, eclipses signify something being hidden, things that are unknown, unclear or otherwise opaque. Events that occur under eclipses are usually confusing and their true meaning is veiled.

The solar eclipse on February 17 has even more factors that amp up the “WTF” factor. It is conjunct Mars and Pluto by sign, which suggests it will involve conflict, violence and power struggles. It’s also square Uranus, which cranks up the unpredictability. Eclipses are already associated with sudden shocking events. So is Uranus, so when you combine the two it almost guarantees we’ll experience events that boggle the mind.

As the February 17 solar eclipse is in Aquarius, it is ruled by Saturn – which has freshly ingressed Aries and is only three days away from perfecting a conjunction with Neptune that has been brewing for two years. Saturn signifies work, boundaries, structures, limitations, restrictions, illness and hardships, indicating that this new eclipse cycle may bring challenges of this nature related to the areas of life governed by the Aquarius house in your chart, and/or the house where your natal Saturn is located.

Meanwhile, the March 3 lunar eclipse in Virgo is ruled by Mercury. At that time, Mercury will be in Pisces (the sign of its fall), retrograde, and combust (within 8 degrees of the Sun). That’s basically the worst condition that Mercury can be in. So, while this eclipse is nearing the conclusion of the two-year story related to the Virgo-Pisces sector of your chart, Mercury’s horrible condition suggests that any conclusions remain elusive. There’s still one more eclipse in this cycle (the lunar eclipse in Pisces on August 27) before it fully concludes, so you’ll have to be OK with postponing any insights or resolution for a few more months.

Mercury signifies communication, media, travel, commerce and intellect. Therefore, this eclipse may bring up ongoing developments of this nature, related to the areas of life governed by the Virgo house in your chart, and/or where your natal Mercury is located.

On the world stage, the eclipses moving into Leo/Aquarius highlights the tension between individual sovereignty (Leo) and the dictates of the collective (Aquarius). It suggests a peak period in the ongoing leadership crisis occurring around the world. Trust in world leaders and governments seems to be at an all-time low. The people in positions of power seem to be working against the good of the general population.

The eclipses are going to emphasize and exacerbate this tension. Things will get worse before they get better.

The February 17 solar eclipse will bring up violence, conflict and power struggles related to individuals and social structures. Saturn will attempt to bring order and stability in the face of ever-increasing disorder and chaos. This cycle is just beginning and will continue for the next 18 months.

The March 3 lunar eclipse will bring further developments, changes or endings related to commerce, trade and exchanges between nations – exchanges of goods and resources as well as ideas and information. Unfortunately, due to Mercury’s aforementioned terrible condition, the communications around these exchanges are not likely to be productive, welcome or well understood by either side. Let’s hope things can get cleared up with the final Virgo-Pisces eclipse in August.

So what do you do about all of this? Aside from just trying to stay sane and get through the day, read this post for some tips on how to mitigate eclipses. Read this post for a guide on how eclipses might make you feel and what symptoms to watch out for.

In astrology, Neptune rules all things ephemeral and illusory. It is a planet of hope and despair, bringing wild fantasies, fervent faith, technicolour illusions and destructive delusions. Neptune’s visions are always intangible and inscrutable. They feel so real, like you could just reach out and touch them – but then they dissipate like smoke from a snuffed candle.

Invisible to the naked eye, the planet Neptune looms on the very edge of our solar system. It marks the boundary between the orderly procession of planets around the Sun, and the wild rogues roaming the vast reaches of the Kuiper Belt.

Neptune’s phantasmic qualities make it one of the most dangerous planets in terms of its effect on both individuals and groups. It isn’t considered a malefic or benefic planet in the traditional sense, because it is not part of traditional astrology – having only been discovered in 1846 – but it can still bring about great destruction and hardship.

This destruction is very different than that wrought by Mars, which prefers fire, blood and direct, knife-to-the-heart forms of violence. It’s also different than the ruination wrought by Saturn, which will wreck you through back-breaking trials and long-term suffering. And it’s different than the annihilation wrought by Pluto, which brings about obliteration through cataclysm and calamity.

Neptune never takes a direct approach. It will lure its victims with a siren song and promises of riches, beauty, transcendence. It will conjure up images that seem so real, they entice people to abandon everything they’ve built, betray their friends and family, and destroy themselves chasing after that vision – only to have it all melt away like droplets on hot asphalt. Neptune wreaks havoc by confusion and mystery.

Yet Neptune can also inspire great heights of human spirit and achievement. When its energies are harnessed productively, Neptune acts as Muse, guiding one to create inspiring and beautiful works of art, or to connect on the deepest levels with others, or to transcend body and mind into oneness with all.

These are the main astrological significations of Neptune:

• Illusion

• Delusion

• Fantasy

• Hopes

• Confusion

• Dissolution

• Collectives

Astrologers diverge on some key points related to Neptune. Those who practice traditional astrology (such as myself) do not assign Neptune to the schema of sign rulership. Neptune is invisible to the naked eye and was not known to the ancients, and therefore not included in the Thema Mundi.

Modern astrologers assign Neptune as the ruler of Pisces, supplanting its traditional ruler, Jupiter. At first glance, Neptune seems to align well with the watery sign of the twin fishes. The planet Neptune is an ice giant with a deep blue hue, thanks to a high concentration of methane in its atmosphere – so it looks like a vast, swirling ocean. Accordingly, its astronomical namesake is the Roman god of the sea (whom the Greeks called Poseidon), furthering its connection with water and suggesting an alignment with the mutable water sign of Pisces.

However, Neptune’s astrological significations really don’t fit with the Roman ocean god. As the signifier of dreams and illusions, fantasies and phantasms, imagination and delusion, Neptune would have been better served by a different name. Morpheus, the Roman god of dreams, is far more appropriate.

Furthermore, modern astrologers also conflate Neptune with some 12 Letter Alphabet significations of Jupiter, which are themselves a conflation of Sagittarius with the ninth house and Pisces with the twelfth house. They say that Neptune is aligned with spirituality and religion (9^th house), as well as self-deception and mental illness (12^th house); also, that Neptune inspires and unites (Jupiter).

But in traditional astrology, Jupiter rules Pisces. In this sign, he is the benevolent, all-encompassing king on an ever-shifting throne of ocean surf. In Pisces, Jupiter unites all things, the way water will always seep into the tiniest cracks of dry earth, dissolving the boundary between earth and liquid. These droplets melt into the soil, rendering it fertile, life-giving loam. Jupiter in Pisces penetrates to the very essence of things, as magnanimous truth-bringer and life-giver, whose swirling waters unite all. This is why Venus is exalted here; she thrives in Jupiter’s fertile, connective sea, bringing inspiration and beauty.

Neptune does not function in this benefic way. It signifies groups of people, who may seem united under a common vision. But this only lasts until the hallucination, hope, fantasy or drug wears off. Neptune may seem to inspire transcendence, but only as a byproduct of illusions that may also drive you mad.

So, it all gets really muddy, really quickly. Neptune has also been in Pisces for nearly 15 years (from 2011 to early 2026). This has furthered the conflation of Neptune with Pisces/Jupiter/9^th house/12th house in current discourse. Neptune’s shift into Aries in February 2026 should hopefully dispel some of these misconceptions.

The circumstance of Neptune’s discovery is a wonderful example of the Neptunian principle at work. The planet Neptune was discovered in 1846 through the application of theoretical astronomy. Two astronomers, Urbain Le Verrier and John Adams, predicted Neptune’s existence after observing disturbances in the planet Uranus’ orbit. They each made this prediction independently from one another. In 1846, German astronomer Johann Galle verified their prediction by aiming a telescope at the part of the sky indicated by Le Verrier and Adams’ mathematical calculations. Lo and behold, Neptune winked back.

I think this method of discovery factored into Neptune’s association with fantasy and illusion, with unseen and intangible things that can nevertheless describe what is very real – just like how Neptune existed only in the imaginal until we found physical proof of it.

This origin story fits so perfectly with how Neptune operates in astrology. It was out there but invisible, causing real effects on its neighbour. Astronomers discovered it through an intangible method – mathematical theory – that nevertheless had a very tangible outcome.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about Neptune on an astronomical level, which also fits its astrological meaning. It’s an ice giant like Uranus, yet appears to be much more active than its icy neighbour, despite being so much farther from the Sun. Neptune has the strongest winds of any planet in the solar system, which cause huge, dark storms on its surface that appear and disappear at random. Very Neptunian!

In mundane/geopolitical astrology, Neptune rules collectives – large groups of people. You will find a number of sources stating that Neptune rules socialism, but in my experience, this isn’t quite right. Socialism is concerned with the welfare of groups of people, so Neptune can certainly be an indicator of this political ideology. However, I’ve found that Neptune simply represents the collective principle in a broad sense, which could be socialism but could also be other forms of collective government, such as fascism or communism. Neptune also represents groups of people that unite under a common cause, including activists and terrorists alike.

Neptune also signifies drugs, cults, mobs, gangs, fraud, thievery and hidden activity – illicit or otherwise. Basically, it’s anything where you have groups of people, especially those operating under illusions or delusions and/or in pursuit of an intangible but alluring goal.

I’d like to conclude this article with two quotes on the meaning of Neptune in astrology. The first is a passage on how Neptune operates in natal astrology, as described by Robert Hand in his book Planets in Transit (1976):

Neptune is usually one of the most difficult planetary influences to handle. It causes life to become confusing and unclear, and under its influence people often believe what is not true. At the same time, Neptune often has an ego-denying influence, which may make you feel discouraged, futile, undeserving and unworthy. Or it can lead you to perform great acts of selflessness and self-martyrdom. Neptune can also expose you to some extremely beautiful and ideal influences, which may not always be real but are worthwhile because of their beauty. Everything that man dreams of making come true as well as everything that man thinks is true, even though it isn’t, comes under the influence of Neptune.

The second quote is from Richard Tarnas, in his seminal work Cosmos and Psyche (2006):

Neptune is associated with the transcendent, spiritual, ideal, symbolic, and imaginative dimensions of life; […] with all that which transcends the limited literal temporal and material world of concretely empirical reality: myth and religion, art and inspiration, ideals and aspirations, images and reflections, symbols and metaphors, dreams and visions, mysticism, religious devotion, universal compassion. … with tendencies towards illusion and delusion, deception and self-deception, escapism, intoxication, psychosis, perceptual and cognitive distortions, conflation and confusion, projection, fantasy; with the bedazzlement of consciousness whether by gods, archetypes, beliefs, dreams, ideals, or ideologies; with enchantment, in both positive and negative sense.

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a dark night of the soul about it. My annual time lord, Venus, conjoined Pluto in my tenth house of career and public life.

I started writing this piece in response to the thoughts and emotions that bubbled up during that transit. I continued to ruminate on it over the proceeding days as a number of other planets – the Moon, Sun, Mercury and Mars – all marched out of Capricorn’s cold stone hallways and strode into the neon-flooded Aquarian streets, passing Pluto along the way.

Before I continue this essay, allow me to wax poetic for a moment:

A shadowy figure lurks in a recessed doorway. Neon lights reflect in the figure’s sunglasses, obscuring the eyes and casting back a lurid impression of the viewer’s own gaze.

A surge of fear.
Adrenaline.
Crackling nerves.

Each member of the quintet passes that dark silhouette in turn.
Each locks eyes and feels their self temporarily lost in neon haze.
Each is captured, broken.

At the pulsing core of that singularity, certainty rises: an affirmation of who they are,
who they were,
who they will be.
Unmade and made again, over and over.

Blindly they stumble past.

With distance the terror subsides.
With distance the knowing fades too.

Only in the half light of pre-dawn can they remember that bolt of truth,
a dark pearl shining amidst clutching shadows.

When AI first became a thing a couple years ago, my first reaction was a knee-jerk Luddite response.

I didn’t want anything to do with AI, thank you very much. I had no interest in messing around with LLMs like ChatGPT. They repulsed me on a fundamental level, probably because I’m a writer. A writing machine felt like a direct threat to who I am. It gave me all sorts of icky feelings, so I opted to mostly tune it all out.

Note: I use “AI” and “LLMs” somewhat interchangeably in this post. I mainly refer to “LLMs” (Large Language Models) as I’m discussing writing-focused AI software, though I also use “AI” when talking about Artificial Intelligence broadly.

Then it came up in my corporate day job. Our managers encouraged us to use an AI tool (Microsoft Copilot) to be more “efficient.” I grudgingly tried it out a couple times and found the process frustrating and useless.

Copilot was either unable to do what I needed, or I still had to check its work for accuracy. In all cases, using Copilot took me longer than if I had just done the original task myself.

We were also urged to have Copilot write/edit our emails to make them more friendly! Or professional. Or a mixture of both friendly! and professional.

Yeah, no thanks. I have a fucking Honours English degree. I can write my own damn emails.

More recently, I started considering AI in relation to my creative work, writing about astrology. This is where the existential dread and despair started to sink in.

I played around with ChatGPT to generate astrology horoscopes and laughed at the garbage it generated. It got the dates of important astrological transits wrong, and the interpretations were nothing more than a pile of Twelve-Letter-Alphabet slop.

Ha, I thought. Hahaha. Vindication! An LLM can’t do astrology better than me.

Then I started reading some other astrologers’ work on Substack and realized a lot of them were using LLMs to write some or all of their articles. It was pretty easy to figure out if the writer was using an LLM, because it felt a lot like eating a bag of potato chips: it was easy to consume and I thought liked it well enough, but shortly afterwards I felt kind of gross.

I decided to keep reading these posts, however. I had avoided the AI issue until now, but I felt like I should experience more of it to see if my concerns were truly warranted.

In a very short time (no more than a couple of days), I couldn’t take it anymore. The posts written by an LLM were so obvious and so lacking. While they might seem passable with a quick skim, they really weren’t providing any deep or particularly meaningful insights into astrology. They rang with the bland hollowness and glossy mediocrity that’s the hallmark of AI output.

But what really got to me was the sheer quantity of content. Some accounts were pumping out articles every day, often several. My inbox was quickly flooded.

Instead of just shrugging and unsubscribing, however, I spiralled into existential despair.

What’s the point of continuing to write and share my articles, I mused, when all these other people are using LLMs to post dozens of articles in half the time that it takes me to write one?

What’s the point of spending hours researching and writing something, only to have ChatGPT and other LLM bots scrape my work in an instant and regurgitate it for someone else to post as their own?

Will readers know – or care – if a human wrote these words, versus an LLM?

For a couple of days, I was more discouraged with my astrology work than I’ve been in a long time. Maybe ever. It just felt pointless.

What got me out of it was doing some astrology. Go figure.

You’d think that us star gazers would be in tune with the current transits all the time. It seems like we should all be ready and waiting for any difficulties to pop up, because we have the wonderful gift of foresight that comes from deep knowledge of these cycles and energies.

Yeah, no. We get blindsided all the time.

Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself long enough to check the transits, I was able to gain some perspective.

But I still had to make a decision about how I was going to move forward in my astrology work. I had three choices:

1. Double down on ignoring AI/LLMs and just keep chugging away on my own thing.

2. Give in and start using LLMs.

3. Give up and stop writing completely.

Even at my darkest moment, Option #3 was never really an option.

I’ve always been a writer. Astrology is what I write about now, but before that it was wine and food and theatre. I need to write. It’s like a reflex. Or a compulsion.

Writing is also how I process information and make sense of the world. My blog has always been the site (heh) of this, so I’m essentially learning in public every time I post an article. This is something I can’t stop doing. My curiosity is too strong.

I could stop making these essays public, but I think it’s fun to share everything I’ve learned. I hope it helps others who join me on this journey, whether they just dip in for a moment after finding my article through a random Google search, or whether they have been following me for years. (Hello to all of you, and thanks for reading!)

As for astrology, I truly feel called to it. That might sound cheesy or weird, but a few years ago the planets really did tell me this was my path.

For those curious: it was the 2020 Saturn–Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, within a degree of my Midheaven. Believe me when I say I had no choice in the matter.

Furthermore, my motivation was never to pump out as much content as possible to game an algorithm for a quick buck. I have the luxury of not relying on astrology for my main income, so the financial pressure doesn’t hit me the way it does many other writers and creatives.

I understand the impulse, and the current panic that this technology has caused. But I truly believe no one is going to get rich using AI tools to pump out as much slop as possible in a desperate attempt to stay relevant. You’re just spamming our inboxes and social media feeds, and eventually we are all going to unsubscribe and mute you.

Once I established that I wasn’t going to stop writing, I thought I’d go for Option #1. Fuck AI, I thought. I’m human, I’m a writer, I’ll just keep doing my thing.

But…I kept hearing about how great a tool these LLMs could be, and wondering if I was missing out. And then, an article by Sadalsvvd landed in my inbox.

Sadalsvvd has posted some excellent essays on astrology and other esoterica. A while back, I went on my friend Mat Dragonstone’s podcast, along with fellow astrologer Zamboni Funk, to talk about one of these pieces, “Astrology Has a Scarcity Mindset Problem.” That was a great discussion – here’s the link if you missed it.

Sadalsvvd’s latest essay isn’t about astrology directly, but rather is an excellent and extremely comprehensive resource that intelligently and fairly addresses all the major issues and complaints about AI/LLMs – environmental, social, philosophical and more. I’ll be referencing it repeatedly.

It also talks about how LLMs can be a liberating technology. OK, you have my attention.

Now, Sadalsvvd works in software engineering and therefore has a front-row seat to the best and worst that LLMs can do. They’ve personally tested all the major LLMs out there, and seem generally very optimistic about this technology.

What really stood out for me was that while people can and will use LLMs to do the writing for them, Sadalsvvd’s opinion is that they are better used to handle all the crappy tasks that suck to do. Here’s a direct quote from the article:

“My rule is: if there’s a task that requires you to use language to understand and complete it, but is not actually interesting or rewarding to do, an LLM can and probably should handle it for you. You have more important things to do with your time!”

The examples given in that article are things that will benefit me most in my corporate day job. But it got me wondering about possible applications in my creative astrology work.

Now, I’m resolutely against using an LLM to write for me. This is never going to change, no matter how good the technology gets. I write because I like writing. Why would I outsource that?

However, there are some tedious tasks involved in astrology work. I am reminded of the fact that it wasn’t very long ago when astrologers had to calculate charts by hand. While I think this is a great skill to have (and one I plan to learn, though I haven’t just yet), I don’t have a problem using software to do this work for me. So what other tasks could be outsourced without losing any integrity in my work?

Mundane astrology requires a lot of historical research, in order to spot astrological trends and thereby gain insight into what might come in the future.

I like doing this research but my time is limited. I can’t spend all day studying history (alas). I’m curious about whether I could successfully use an LLM to compile lists of historical events alongside their dates and key astrological transits. This will require diligent fact-checking, but that’s something I have to do for myself anyway. LLMs hallucinate; humans make typos. Both need a good editor.

So, while I’m extremely skeptical about the quality of work that an LLM could do with regards to astrological research, I’m not completely opposed to trying it out. It’s worth a shot just to see what it can and can’t do.

My initial experiments using ChatGPT for historical research haven’t blown me away, but they weren’t so bad as to be useless. I will keep trying it out to see if it is actually worth relying on an LLM to do some of this legwork for me.

Other than that, I’m intrigued by the idea of using an LLM to help me redesign my blog. I loathe blog design with every fibre of my being. I would be thrilled to outsource it. That said, this is nowhere near the top of my priority list, so I’m not sure when I’ll test that one out.

So, it turns out I’m not a complete Luddite. I’m still extremely cautious about how, where, and why I might use an LLM.

But I can’t escape the fact that this technology is clearly here to stay. The Uranus-Pluto trine is upon us and each of us is going to have to come to terms with how we will use it.

One thing I want to note before I end this meandering post: I haven’t addressed the issue of AI-generated images, music or other forms of non-written creative work. My stance on those is a lot faster to articulate: it’s all garbage.

I have yet to find an AI-generated image that didn’t look weird and uncanny at best, or horrifying slop at worst. I’m sure there are some exceptions, but those are vanishingly rare.

Copyright infringement is also a much bigger issue with AI generated imagery as opposed to LLM generated writing (which still has issues, but not as much). Sadalsvvd sums it up eloquently in the first footnote of the LLM essay, noting that generative image models have training sets that “almost universally violate copyright rights and creative ownership laws and are used extensively for disinformation, revenge pornography, and CSAM material. I am hard-pressed to find actual ethically justifiable deployments of image models, especially in business.”

I’d like to point you to my friend Vanessa’s recent piece about the use of AI images in contemporary occulture for a great discussion on the importance of aesthetics in magic work. Astrology writing isn’t magic, but it’s certainly not enhanced by slapping a crappy AI-generated image on it. And from what I see online, astrologers are some of the worst offenders on the issue of bad aesthetic taste with regards to AI imagery.

I try my best not to use any AI-generated imagery on my blog. Weird, cool or silly photoshopped images, sure. But not the AI stuff.

Before I end this post, I want to make one final thing very clear: I will never use an LLM to write my blog posts. Not now; not ever.

And just because you see em dashes in my writing doesn’t mean I’m using an LLM. I was using those for years before ChatGPT came along. They’re mine and I’m not giving them up.

Thanks for reading this meandering, navel-gazing post. I hope you got something out of it and I know I’m not alone in thinking through these issues. AI literacy seems like it’s going to become a core competency in very short order, so we’re all going to have to find ways to engage – or refuse to engage – with it, intelligently and meaningfully.

If nothing else, I want to be able to look back at this post in one year, three years, five years, twenty years, and laugh at how naïve I was.

Also, Venus just conjoined Pluto and that had me feeling all sorts of ~things~ about myself as a writer and astrologer. I re-read this post and it helped dispel some of the bad feelings that reached a peak for me in the last day. These feelings are shared by many, I’m sure, as they involve a sense of existential dread and despair in the face of threats to who I am as a writer and astrologer. I’ll do another post going into more detail on that soon.

For now, let’s reacquaint ourselves with my initial thoughts on what the next 20 years of Pluto in Aquarius will bring. For reference, here’s the link to the original post.

Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius is a generational shift with profound manifestations. Because Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the Sun, it takes a long time to fully enter a new sign. In 2023, Pluto only peeks into Aquarius for a couple of months before stepping back into Capricorn.

Here are the dates of Pluto’s movement between Capricorn and Aquarius:

• March 23, 2023: Pluto –> Aquarius

• June 11, 2023: PlutoRx –> Capricorn

• January 20, 2024: Pluto –> Aquarius

• September 1, 2024: PlutoRx –> Capricorn

• November 19, 2024: Pluto –> Aquarius (it remains here until 2043)

Pluto’s astrological meanings are intense, dark and powerful, including but not limited to: ruthless transformation, destruction, power struggles, compulsions, obsessions and death. As such, its transit through a sign marks a period of intense destruction and transformation related to the things signified by that particular sign.

Learn more about the meaning of Pluto in astrology

Pluto has been in Capricorn since 2008. Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign ruled by Saturn, representing all the institutional structures upon which we have built our civilizations: government, finance, education, healthcare, law. Pluto’s transit through Capricorn has uncovered the tenuous, crumbling foundations of all of these institutions.

Pluto’s transition period into Capricorn coincided with the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. That event is a perfect example of Pluto in Capricorn: destructive Plutonic energies fixed onto the global banking and financial structures and tore them down, exposing a web of power struggles, compulsions and obsessions underpinning the financial industry.

Over the next 15 years, Pluto has proceeded to expose the cracks in the foundation of all the other Capricornian institutions. These cracks were brought to bear during the Covid pandemic – the final years of Pluto’s transit through Capricorn – as all these institutions came toppling down.

All our institutions have failed us.

– Bret Weinstein, Feb 9, 2023

This tweet is a recent example of a sentiment that I have heard many times over the last few years – not just from Weinstein, but also from many others across a spectrum of different topics, industries and political opinions. Search the internet for “our institutions have failed” and see for yourself just how many times this has been said recently. Pluto in Capricorn, indeed.

The pinnacle of Pluto’s transit through Capricorn was the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She became Queen of England in 1952 and her reign was older than most people who were alive at the time of her death. Queen Elizabeth was a Capricorn rising and indeed, she was the human embodiment of Capricorn itself: a stalwart, dependable constant that seemed eternal. Her passing is a harbinger of the end of Pluto in Capricorn, and the beginning of Pluto in Aquarius.

So we look to the meaning of Aquarius for insight into the specific areas that Pluto’s renovations, transformations and destructions will occur over the next 20 years.

Aquarius is a fixed air sign, ruled by Saturn: heavy, stuck, oppressive air. It’s the miasma that hangs over an area before a devastating storm, the brittle coldness paralyzing a city in the depths of winter, the cloud of toxic gas released from a train derailment.

It’s the tension hanging in the air at the dinner table after an argument. It’s the sullen, bodily weightiness during the commute to a hated job. It’s the impatient desire for a better way of being, while feeling simultaneously paralyzed to make any changes to the status quo.

Where Capricorn represents our institutional structures, Aquarius represents our social structures. Aquarius is social groups and networks, and social movements. It is all about how the individual fits – or doesn’t fit – within the context of wider social orders. It’s how we fit within and how we structure our relationships with others: family, friends, colleagues, intimate partners. This also includes spirit relationships: how we relate to our ancestors, descendants, spirit allies, spirit enemies and the entire community of non-humans with whom we interact daily, knowingly or unknowingly.

Pluto’s movement through Aquarius will expose the underbelly of these structures and reveal the fault lines below. It will show how rooted or tenuous we are within our families, friends, communities, workplaces, spirit landscapes. Some of these social structures will be destroyed and replaced; others transformed irreversibly.

This is not the Age of Aquarius in the sense of the 1960s and 70s hippie counterculture, much as I might enjoy donning a flower crown, dropping some LSD and dancing through a sunlit meadow. (And admittedly, I would enjoy that.) It is the dawning of a new era, however. Dark times are ahead, but dark times are always ahead, as they are also behind. So too are light times: ahead and behind. The linear progression of time is a lie. We sit within all times folded upon each other simultaneously.

Pluto in Aquarius is likely to bring social unrest, uprisings and maybe even an outright revolution or two. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was between 1777 and 1798.

The French Revolution was between 1789 and 1799 – so, the entire second half of Pluto in Aquarius, the last time around. The American Revolution was between 1765 and 1791, so a good portion of that also overlapped with the last transit of Pluto through Aquarius.

Both of these revolutions were about overthrowing current governmental structures. They were also driven partly by the Enlightenment ideas of liberal democracy, especially in the face of ever-increasing economic, social and political inequality. When food prices get too high and large numbers of people are marginalized, you get revolution. Sound familiar?

This time period also saw the scientific revolution and the firm establishment of other Enlightenment ideas like materialism, reason and progress. Recall that Aquarius is fixed air, so it represents very fixed, dogmatic ideas and ideologies. Pluto’s transit through Aquarius will poke at the foundations of these Enlightenment ideas, which have become entrenched since the last time Pluto was in Aquarius. Some of these ideas may become even further entrenched, others may be discarded and replaced with other ideas that will take root.

These Enlightenment ideas and the slogan of the French Revolution sound great on paper. Who is going to argue against liberté, egalité and fraternité? However, we’ve already seen the dark side of these ideas – look only at recent examples of the extremes of the woke movement (to use a fraught word I loathe, but you know what I mean).

Much of the work of renovating and tearing down our social structures will occur over social media – another very Aquarian, fixed air phenomenon. There will be ongoing battles over social lines – race, sex, gender, age, ability – and these will reach a fever pitch, especially on social media. (This will be shocking to no one, I’m sure.)

Coupled with this, we will see ongoing censorship and attempts to control ideas and the information around these ideas. This is also very Saturnian and fits well with the signification of Aquarius as a Saturn-ruled sign. (Bill C-11, I’m looking at you.)

My hope is that we ruthlessly evaluate the ways that we are incorporating ideas and ideologies into our social structures and discard the toxic aspects while keeping the good ones. I’m not advocating for a return to traditional gender roles (if you know anything about me, you know that’s ridiculous), but I’m also not advocating for discarding the basic family unit, either.

Part of Pluto’s transit through Aquarius will be the start of rebuilding all the institutional structures that Pluto tore down through its transit through Capricorn. This is an opportunity for us to look at all of the fixed ideas that we’ve built our social and institutional structures upon and see what needs to remain and what needs to change. Let us keep that which enriches, enlivens and nourishes us, and compost all that doesn’t.

As an animist, I really hope Pluto in Aquarius helps us get rid of the empty materialist mindset that came out of the Enlightenment and became the de facto way that we’re supposed to understand the universe.

Pluto in Aquarius isn’t all revolutions and mandatory diversity training, however. I am hopeful that we will see some positive things come of this. This transit gives the West a chance to really evaluate our living situations. I am expecting multi-generational living arrangements to become much more normalized here again.

This will be done out of necessity at first, as younger generations simply can’t afford to live on their own. Indeed, this has already been happening at ever-increasing rates. The key will be for families to find ways to live multi-generationally in a contemporary way, where everyone in the household has their place (and privacy!), while still enjoying the advantages of a shared roof. I’ve been half-seriously joking with my own family about building a family homestead; I know we aren’t alone in that desire.

I also expect that we will see more homeschooling and alternative education arrangements, given all the rampant flaws and dangers that Pluto exposed in the traditional school system while traversing Capricorn. Aside from the issue of what subjects are being taught in school and how, the high rate of school shootings in the US make it very risky to send your kids to school.

As for the healthcare system, I admit to feeling very cynical about if and when that mess will ever get sorted out. The main takeaway, and something the Covid pandemic revealed very starkly, is that you – and you alone – are responsible for your health. It is up to you to take ownership of your health and try to live as healthy as you can. This is no easy feat, especially in a world that wants to pathologize and diagnose every little symptom, place the blame on anyone and anything else for the cause of it, and then sell you some meds to ameliorate the initial symptoms while causing a raft of new ones.

Technology will also be a prominent part of Pluto’s transit through Aquarius, particularly our relationship to technology and how technology changes the relationship between humans. The recent discussions and debates around various AI programs, like ChatGPT, is just one example of this. The technology angle of Aquarius can go in both ways: it can help people come together (like what social media is supposed to do) but it can also drive people apart and make us feel even more isolated and alone (like what social media tends to do).

I don’t think we are going to end up in a tech dystopia per se; there will absolutely be some dystopic elements of the technology that becomes normalized over the next couple of decades, but I am optimistic that real, in-person, human connection and creation will ultimately win out.

The Age of Air is well upon us. Pluto’s ingress into Aquarius triggers the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that was at 0 Aquarius on December 21, 2020. That conjunction marked the formal start to the new 200-year Jupiter-Saturn synodic cycle. For the next two centuries, all of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions will be in air signs. The old, earthy ways of doing things are fast fading away, and we must find new airy ways of moving forward.

Now is the time to look at all the social structures in your life and coldly evaluate which ones serve you and which don’t. Of those that don’t, how could they be shaped to serve you better? Of those that do serve, what do you need to do to keep them intact?

Consider how you fit in with all the different social circles you inhabit. How do you contribute to their flourishing and how do they contribute to yours?

The onus is on every person to embrace difference and celebrate divergence on both an individual and social level. It is only through this radical embracing of difference that we’ll make it through this transit with the ability to build a society in which all can flourish. At this moment, one of the most radical things you can do is work towards accepting and even delighting in those who think, behave and live differently than you do – especially if you disagree with those thoughts, behaviours and living situations.

Do what astrologers do: blame the Moon!

OK, but for real: January 2026 has many periods where the Moon is Void of Course (VOC), including a few very-rare kenodromia periods. This exacerbates the sense of nervous anticipation in the lead up to the astrological fireworks next month, which include one of the year’s/decade’s biggest astrological events, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

Hop over to my 2026 astrology forecast if you haven’t read about what the skies have in store for us this year.

What is a Void of Course Moon?

The Moon is Void of Course when it doesn’t make any aspects to other planets for a period of time. There are a few ways to define this period:

1. No Ptolemaic aspects to any planet until it changes signs.

   • This is the medieval method and used to include only the visible planets, but most astrologers nowadays include the outer planets too.

2. No Ptolemaic aspects to any planet for the next 30 degrees, regardless of sign changes (kenodromia/running in the void).

   • This is very rare and occurs only every few months, sometimes even less.

3. No Ptolemaic aspects to any planet for the next 13 degrees, which is the Moon’s average daily motion.

   • This is pretty obscure and I don’t think many astrologers nowadays use it.

The first definition is most commonly used.

The Ptolemaic aspects are the major planetary aspects defined by Ptolemy: conjunction, opposition, square, trine and sextile. I’ve never heard of anyone using modern aspects to define a VOC Moon, like quincunx, semisextile, quintile, septile, etc. If you include all of those, it’s basically impossible for the Moon to be Void of Course.

It’s up to the astrologer to decide whether they will consider all planets (including the outers – Uranus, Neptune, Pluto), or only the traditional/visible planets (everything except the outers) when determining VOC periods.

I think most astrologers nowadays probably include the outers, because there are demonstrable effects when the Moon aspects those planets. Seriously, just pay attention to when the Moon aspects Uranus or Pluto – you’ll feel it. But some hardcore traditional astrologers might ignore them.

I use definition #1. But I also pay attention to periods under definition #2, because they are rare and quite noticeable. More on this below.

When is the Moon Void of Course?

Because definition #1 is broad and includes all planets, and because the Moon moves so quickly, we usually don’t get many VOC periods each month. Usually, the Moon is only void for a short period – a few hours, or maybe even only a few minutes.

However, it depends on where the other planets are. If all the other planets are clustered at the beginning of signs, then we get more VOC Moons because the Moon finishes making all its aspects in the early part of its current sign. Similarly, when planets are at the end of the sign, then the Moon is only going to be VOC for a very short time period before it changes signs.

Because VOC periods are defined using only Ptolemaic aspects, the Moon will be void more often, and for longer periods, in certain signs and not others. The Moon must have either passed the planet in its current sign, and/or be averse/inconjunct the other planets. The latter means the other planets are in adjacent signs (semisextile) or five signs away (quincunx).

You can figure out if the Moon is Void of Course by eyeballing a chart or ephemeris. This can be a bit tricky though, and it’s much easier to jump over to astro-seek.com and use their Void of Course Moon calculator, which gives you a tidy list of all the VOC Moon periods by month/year. You can also filter by the different definitions of VOC Moons too. Nice!

What is Kenodromia?

Kenodromia is the Greek name for a period of time in which the Moon does not make any aspect to another planet for at least 30 degrees, regardless of any sign changes. It’s a compound word formed from kenos, which means “empty,” “fruitless” or “void,” and dromos, which means “running” or “race.”

This definition appears in the works of both Antiochus and Porphyry, who called it “running in the void” (which is such a rad description and very apt).

Kenodromia periods are rare, occurring only a couple of times a year. Some years don’t have any of these periods. The planets need to be configured a certain way, either all clustered at the very end or beginning of signs.

In January 2026, we get several kenodromia periods when the Moon travels through certain signs (times below are in MT):

• January 4 (12:44am) to January 7 (1:01am)

  • 26 Cancer – 9 Virgo

• January 13 (10:32am) to January 15 (11:16pm)

  • 27 Scorpio – 27 Sagittarius

• January 18 (7:02pm) to January 22 (9:40am)

  • 1 Aquarius – 18 Pisces

The only other time the Moon will be kenodromia in 2026 is in August, from August 13 to 15 and again from August 28 to 30.

What does a Void of Course Moon mean?

The image of “running in the void” tells you all you need to know about Void of Course Moon periods. When the Moon is VOC, there’s a sense of aimlessness. These are periods where little to no progress is made. Your efforts seem to be fruitless, empty or otherwise just don’t amount to much.

When the Moon is VOC it’s usually a bad time to start anything new – anything of significance, anyway. There’s a common proverb in the astrology community that you should file your taxes under a VOC Moon so that nothing comes of it. I haven’t tried this personally but hey, it’s worth a shot.

In natal astrology, kenodromia is an extremely unfavourable condition for the native. It suggests a person who won’t accomplish anything in life. Note that this refers to the strict definition of no aspects between the Moon and another planet for at least 30 degrees – so most people are off the hook. Also, the ancient astrologers are always so dramatic and dire. If you believe everything they say (especially Firmicus – I really need to do a post on him) then we are all doomed to suffer terrible lives of misery and failure.

I’ve heard some astrologers apply similar descriptions to people who are born under the modern definition of a VOC Moon. Personally, I don’t put much stock in this. I haven’t seen enough examples to convince me that someone born under a Void of Course Moon won’t get anything done in their life.

There are many other things in the birth chart that might indicate problems with forward momentum and the ability to complete tasks, but a VOC Moon isn’t the first thing I’d look at. And it would have to be paired with a few other things for it to suggest that there were actually problems of this nature.

Natal astrology aside, I definitely agree that it’s more difficult to get things done on a daily basis when the Moon is Void. This is magnified when the Moon is kenodromia.

So, keep that in mind over the next couple of weeks. The VOC Moon is really antithetical to accomplishing things, so don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t progressing on your New Year’s goals as fast as you’d like.

I also think these Void Moon periods in January 2026 are a great time to pause and reflect on everything that has happened over the previous year/decade, and prepare for what’s coming. Major changes are happening at the level of both the individual and the collective. Emotions are high, tension is thick and it can be overwhelming just to get through daily life right now.

When the Moon runs in the void, it’s a natural invitation to wander off course. These are times to give yourself permission to not get anything done. The work can wait. Instead, follow the Moon to what your heart really desires at this moment.

Before we get into it, I want to give a brief personal update. 2025 was a jam-packed year of major life events for me. I’m currently on an extended leave of absence from work (both my day job and my astrology work). I am well but I just can’t keep up with things as I usually do.

My plan is to re-open astrology consultations in the next couple of months. I also want to do more astrology writing this year. However, I can’t commit to a firm timeline at this point. Thanks for your patience, especially those of you who are waiting for a reading and/or for me to post this forecast.

2026 is very much 2025, Part Two. Together, 2025 and 2026 form the most astrologically active years of the decade, after 2020 itself.

Before you panic, remember what I said last year in my 2025 forecast: active is not the same as bad (or good, for that matter). There are a lot of different major astrological changes and configurations over these two years, marking a radical shift in energies from the first part of the decade.

Change is scary. It’s true that these periods of major astrological change tend to bring lots of major geopolitical upheaval. However, many people can and will thrive during these periods; it all comes back to your own life, your own outlook and ultimately, your own natal chart.

Change is inevitable and unstoppable. The best we can do is try to ride the waves in our own way and not get swept up in endless doom narratives that will swallow you whole.

Before you dive into the rest of this post, you may want to refresh yourself on my overview of the astrology of the 2020s, as many of the major shifts this decade occur in 2026.

Here are the major astrological transits in 2026:

2025 brought us a sample of what will be centre stage in 2026. We got a sneak peak at the ingresses of Saturn and Neptune in Aries, the ingress of Uranus into Gemini and the trine between Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius.

When working on this forecast, I couldn’t help but think of a bunch of cliches to describe this quality of time: The Future is Here; There’s No Going Back; It’s a Brave New World (dystopic connotations fully intended).

The point of these hackneyed expressions is to convey the magnitude of change. It’s hard to overstate just how major these outer planet shifts are. They are ushering in a new chapter in world history. This is a momentous turning point and we are going to experience a lot of history in a short time.

Saturn and Neptune in Aries; Saturn-Neptune conjunction

Neptune has been in Pisces since 2011. Saturn joined Neptune there in March 2023. The two planets got oh-so-close to a conjunction when they ingressed Aries nearly simultaneously in early 2025, but the exact conjunction won’t perfect until February 20, 2026. This conjunction will feel like an exhalation after an extended held breath and will reverberate throughout history for decades to come. The exact conjunction should bring some major historical events in 2026, but the impact and after-effects will continue for much longer.

The fact that this conjunction is at 0 Aries, the start of the zodiac, puts even more emphasis on this transit.

Saturn-Neptune conjunctions coincide with major world events. Broadly, they are events in which fantasies, hopes and dreams are turned into reality, and/or there is widespread disillusionment over the failure to manifest these aspirations. New social, governmental, economic and/or national structures are formed while others are destroyed.

Here is a very brief list of events that occurred under the three previous Saturn-Neptune conjunctions. I focused on the major events where national borders changed and various social/economic ideologies clashed, but obviously there were many more things that occurred during these periods:

• 1989 in Capricorn:

  • Fall of the Berlin Wall

  • Collapse of communism throughout the Soviet Union

  • Tiananmen Square

  • U.S. invasion of Panama

  • Denmark is first nation to legalize same-sex marriage

• 1952-53 in Libra:

  • Korean War

  • Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

  • Cuban revolution starts

  • Iranian coup

  • Red Scare/McCarthyism

• 1917 in Leo:

  • US enters WWI in April; war ends in November

  • Russian revolution

We are almost certain to see some major changes in geopolitical borders very soon – if not in 2026, then shortly after. The obvious spots for this are:

• Russia-Ukraine and the broader area of the former Soviet Union

• Israel-Palestine and the broader area of the Middle East

• China-Taiwan

• The Far North and Greenland

I’m typing this out on they day that the U.S. did a military strike on Venezuela and detained Nicolás Maduro, the nation’s leader. Needless to say, this is a major geopolitical move and very much a Saturn-Neptune signature. The U.S. has not taken direct military action in Latin American since the invasion of Panama in 1989, when it captured the Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega – an event that’s shockingly similar to what just happened with Venezuela’s Maduro, and which was perfectly timed to the last Saturn-Neptune conjunction.

The sign of Aries is very different than Pisces, and this landscape will inform Saturn and Neptune’s actions here. The watery potentials of Pisces evaporate into the fiery conflicts of Aries.

Pisces is a vast, fathomless ocean of possibility. In these depths you can pick any side, all sides, no sides. The Piscean dreams of dissolved boundaries, divine merging of body and mind, psychedelic transcendence, peak escapism, collectivist urgings – all of this disappears.

Instead, we get the stark, militant battlefield of Aries. Here, everyone is forced to pick a side. If you try to abstain, you’ll get dumped onto one side whether you like it or not. Aries demands a winner and a loser.

Saturn is in its fall in Aries, as it is opposite Libra, the sign of Saturn’s exaltation. Saturn in Aries promises that the winners and losers in any conflict are not determined through fairness or justice. These winners aren’t the strongest or most heroic; the cleverest or the most noble. Instead, those who come out ahead during this period are the ones who successfully lie, cheat, steal, fluke and/or stumble their way to victory.

Neptune conjures up dreams and hopes, illusions and disillusions. In Aries, the Neptunian dreams shift to visions of glorious combat: the victorious soldier triumphing over his enemies. It’s the hope of the pioneer, fast-paced progress and the illusion that if you just move fast and hard, you’ll be triumphant.

The warrior dreams will continue for the next decade, and we will see wars continued and new. Some will be physical, literal expression of war – flavoured with radical new technological breakthroughs courtesy of the Uranus-Pluto trine (more on that below).

Other wars will be metaphorical, fought in the realms of the mind and the heart. The weaponization of your attention and your empathy, which have already been a bloody battlefield for years at this point, will take on new forms.

While in Aries, Saturn is extremely ill-equipped to turn any of Neptune’s visions into a stable reality. If there’s any optimism on the horizon, it’s this knowledge that the changes wrought over the next couple of years are not likely to have staying power. Aries moves fast and hard, but doesn’t last. It will be when Saturn moves into Taurus (in 2028) where the rebuilding will occur and we’ll start to form some longer-term structures after they all get blown apart in 2026.

Aside from the major geopolitical shifts that are coming, the movement of these two planets into Aries means that many Pisces-related industries will be gutted. Astrology and occult/magic spaces are one of them, and I think this will extend further into the entire sphere of mind/body/wellness.

The Neptune in Pisces era brought about widespread, mainstream acceptance of spiritual and metaphysical pursuits. Yoga and meditation, as just two examples, have become so mainstream they are now huge commercialized industries. This opened the door for more esoteric fields to enter the marketplace and it’s now easier than ever to find a reiki practitioner, an astrologer, a psychic medium, a tarot card reader.

Droves of people flocked to these industries, as both practitioners and consumers. This is going to change.

I wonder if we’ll see a resurgence of hard materialism under Neptune in Aries. I certainly think part of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction will be a rejection of the esoteric arts. I hope it doesn’t go full Satanic Panic (which occurred the previous conjunction), but it could. This will be highly context-dependent, however.

I’m not overly concerned about getting arrested for practicing astrology in Canada, but there will be areas of the world where this type of persecution will occur. If I were in the American south, for example, I’d be taking extra precautions to safeguard myself and my practice over the coming years. Moral panics are coming; it’s just a matter of when and what form they take.

At the very least, a lot of the work is likely to dry up. The need will still be there but the dollars won’t be. There’s a big Neptunian bubble in the economy and when it pops – whether dramatically in a day, or slowly released over months – many people will find themselves in a very different economic context.

There will be a big reckoning for all the people who jumped on the Pisces bandwagon. Those who lack any sound structure won’t last. Similarly, clients will have to make hard choices and many won’t be able to engage with these services even if they want to. If it comes down to paying rent or getting an astrology reading, the choice has already been made.

Uranus in Gemini; Uranus-Pluto trine; Mars-Uranus conjunction

2026 ushers in a radical reordering of daily technology, thanks to Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius. Uranus spends about 7 years in Gemini and Pluto is in Aquarius for the better part of two decades, until the mid-2040s.

These two planets will be in a trine relationship for the rest of the 2020s. The first instance of this trine occurred in mid-2025 and we get a few more exact hits over the next few years:

• July 18, 2026

• November 29, 2026

• June 15, 2027

• January 13, 2028

• May 9, 2028

The cycle of Uranus-trine-Pluto is erratic and occurs at irregular intervals. Here’s what I said about it in my 2020 decade forecast:

“These periods are very dynamic and full of rapid change. Because it’s a trine aspect, it tends to be more productive in the sense that these planets are cooperating and working together to manifest each of their agendas. They will collaborate on the invention of new exotic technology on the level of both human and non-human alike. They promise great innovation, disruption, destruction, revolution and evolution.

There are periods where you get revolutions and rebellions; power plays; radical social and political movements; technological advances and scientific breakthroughs.”

2026 firmly ushers in a radical reordering of daily technology. Thanks to the Uranus-Pluto trine, this year will be when we really start to get an idea of the new technology that will reshape our daily lives for the next century. The last time that we experienced this transit was the 1920s, where western society adopted electric lighting and other daily-used electric appliances, in just a few short years. Cars also became ubiquitous.

That same level of daily tech is being installed now. The exact specifications are still being determined, and yes it involves AI – but not in its current form. Chat GPT queries and other AI tools have already become a daily habit for many, but the full scale of this change will extend far beyond what we see at this moment.

I’m not going to predict any specific details because, quite frankly, I just don’t know. What I do know is that the technology we use on a daily basis is going to look quite different in 2030 than it does now.

I want to share another quote from my 2020s decade post as it continues to be relevant:

“I think we will also see a rejection of technology as well as laws put in place to protect technology and machine. This may be a time period when AI gains rights, which should be a very interesting development that challenges the very concept of “human” rights on a fundamental level.

There may also be a general social trend where people consciously choose to limit their engagement with technology, a sort of return to tradition that we’re already seeing. Overlaid with the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, we also may see some new religious movements or even cults form around both technology and the rejection of technology. Personally, I’m both excited and nervous to meet robot Jesus.”

Alongside the development and deployment of AI, the energy sector will be overhauled too. Electricity demands have skyrocketed due to the widespread use of AI.

Nuclear power is the obvious choice, and fits very well with the Uranus-Pluto trine. I think nuclear will become the energy-generation standard in many places that currently rely on fossil fuels, including my home country of Canada. Even though I’m from oil-rich Alberta, I just don’t buy into the hype around Canada’s supposed renewed interest in oil pipelines. It seems more likely that we’ll build a new nuclear power plant before a new pipeline.

However, it seems like the US and probably Canada will cling to fossil fuels for the time being, since new energy infrastructure will take decades to build out. In this respect, North America is already woefully behind. While the US has a decent-sized nuclear grid, that infrastructure is aging and needs to be updated or replaced.

Alternative forms of power generation may be developed in the next few years, and/or nuclear power will be modernized. In keeping with the fragmentary Age of Air, I could see small-scale nuclear power generation become the norm, as opposed to one giant reactor. Perhaps we’ll see other alternatives too.

Whatever it looks like, the energy sector is going to go through a massive transformation, and that will cause major impacts throughout financial markets and geopolitical affairs. There will be a scramble to control the world’s remaining oil reserves (which is certainly a big reason behind the U.S.’s recent actions in Venezuela), but eventually oil will need to be replaced. When we reach a point where the world no longer depends on fossil fuels to power things, what does that mean for the global balance of power?

When you overlay the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries with the Uranus-Pluto trine in Gemini-Aquarius, you get the application of radical new technology and scientific developments to various pioneering, battlefield dreams. This may give some indication of the forms this technology will take, but again I’m not going to predict any specifics at this point.

What I can say is that there will be several points of acceleration in these developments, particularly when Mars conjoins Uranus or Pluto. There will be several of these conjunctions over the next few years, for the entire duration of Uranus in Gemini:

• Jul 4, 2026 (Mars conjunct Uranus)

• Jan 11, 2028 (Mars conjunct Pluto)

• Jun 23, 2028 (Mars conjunct Uranus)

• Dec 24, 2029 (Mars conjunct Pluto)

The US has Mars and Uranus in Gemini in its natal chart. This is in the seventh house of open enemies and foreign affairs. Uranus in Gemini will bring major military developments for the US, and unfortunately that will mean new ways to wage war. This increases tenfold with Mars involved – and that first conjunction of Mars and Uranus is on US Independence Day which feels…significant.

We’ve already seen new forms of warfare that come with technological innovations, particularly drone technology used for both surveillance and attacks. Expect rapid new developments and deployments of battlefield technology over the next few years, particularly when Mars conjoins either Uranus or Pluto.

As I mentioned already, nuclear technology will be highlighted in the next few years. Sadly, I think there’s a real chance for a nuclear detonation of some sort. It could be an accident (like an aging nuclear plant having a catastrophic failure), but it might also be intentional. When I meditate on the Uranus-Pluto trine, and especially when I include Mars, the image I keep seeing is a battalion of AI-powered drones dropping mini nukes over a concentrated area.

That’s bleak, I admit. For now, circle July 4, 2026 in your calendar and let’s move on.

Jupiter in Leo; Jupiter-Pluto opposition

Say goodbye to the good times of Jupiter in Cancer, which was the biggest balm smoothing over the prickly astrology of 2025. Jupiter ingresses the sign of Leo on June 29, 2026, leaving his sign of exaltation and thereby removing a big source of good energy in the skies. As someone with a stellium in Cancer, I will miss the big guy being there – especially because Jupiter departs from the crab’s sign just a week before my solar return. No fair.

Jupiter doesn’t have much essential dignity in Leo, save for some by triplicity, bound (in the first six degrees) and in the second decan. Even worse, upon entering Leo, Jupiter directly opposes Pluto in Aquarius. This adds an underworld jolt to the jovial sphere, and is likely to dredge up some less than savoury elements. This will be a rude awakening for Jupiter-ruled people and those with strong Cancer placements, though it might give a slight boost to folks with Leo placements.

Jupiter in Leo also forms a trine with Saturn and Neptune in Aries. Jupiter will make an exact trine with Neptune on July 20, and with Saturn on August 31 (with a couple more exact hits of the latter in 2027, on April 3 and July 11).

Being so challenged by all these malefics, Jupiter is no longer in a good place to help out with…much of anything, really.

Still, Jupiter will do his best where he can. I’m hoping that by forming that opposition with Pluto and trine with Saturn-Neptune, he’ll provide some measure of mitigating influence over the more extreme manifestations of those transits – and hopefully over the eclipse cycle too.

Eclipse Cycle in Leo-Aquarius

In 2026, the eclipse cycle moves into the Leo-Aquarius axis due to the lunar nodes shifting into these signs. That ingress occurs on July 27, 2026 but we get the first eclipse in this new cycle in early 2026.

There’s a solar eclipse at 28 Aquarius on February 17, bringing the first set of events that will be part of the Leo-Aquarius eclipse cycle. This eclipse is in the same sign as Pluto and occurs just a few days after Saturn ingresses Aries. Saturn rules Aquarius and therefore rules this eclipse, so this lunation will deliver some immediate events and information related to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, underpinned by Plutonian intensity.

Indeed, the whole month of February is lit up astrologically, so brace yourself for what’s coming early in the year.

August delivers the year’s second set of eclipses. There’s a solar eclipse at 20 Leo on August 12, followed by a lunar eclipse at 4 Pisces on August 28. That lunar eclipse is the last eclipse to occur in the Virgo-Pisces axis, so it will mark a closure of the chain of events that started back in September 2024.

Meanwhile, August's solar eclipse will continue the new set of events that began in February 2026, again providing another exclamation point for the Saturn-Neptune and Uranus-Pluto transits. Eclipses often mean the death of the king/leader. As well, in mundane astrology, the Sun signifies the leader and the Sun rules Leo, so when the Sun is eclipsed in its own sign that suggests some pretty stark developments for anyone in a leadership position.

Late summer, therefore, may bring some big challenges and/or changes in leaders around the world. Jupiter is conjunct this eclipse in Leo, and while Jupiter may provide a moderating influence over things, the skies are set for some big upsets nonetheless.

Aside from leadership challenges, another major theme of the eclipses in Leo-Aquarius will be the tension between the individual and the collective. This tension will overlap with the Saturn-Neptune and Uranus-Pluto themes in terms of the specifics: national identity, economic models, new technology, human rights vs. machine rights.

Venus retrograde in Scorpio and Libra

I’m not going to spend much time on the Venus retrograde in this post. You can refer back to my previous posts on Venus retrograde for a refresher on this transit, and I’ll do a post later this year that goes into this transit in more detail.

Briefly, Venus retrograde periods bring challenges to all Venusian ruled things, notably interpersonal relationships. They challenge harmony and balance and force us to contend with any excesses or issues with our natal Venus placements.

On a global scale, they can bring periods of strife and tension. This is likely to be exacerbated by the fact that Venus spends part of this retrograde period in Scorpio, where Venus is in detriment, and the other half in Libra, where Venus is in rulership.

2026’s Venus retrograde begins on October 3 at 8 Scorpio and concludes on November 13 at 22 Libra. It is likely to have two very different flavours. The first half will dredge up some icky, ugly things that were previously hidden. The second half seeks to balance, reconcile and integrate these things.

Venus will be opposite Saturn and Neptune (by sign) during her time in Libra, providing obstacles in that reconciliation process. Some ugliness will be exposed during this time period, particularly with regards to foreign affairs and diplomacy between nations, as well as major news headlines involving dark and negative things around women, and possibly children as well (Venus rules both of these).

This transit brings hope and the possibility for justice, but the opposition to Saturn-Neptune doesn’t give me a lot of optimism that justice will be served in any meaningful way.

I can’t overstate just how monumental 2026 is on an astrological level. This looks to be a year of major historical events. It will be one for the record books, literally.

I wish everyone all the best through these tumultuous times.

Eclipses are trickier to remediate than other negative astrological influences because of their inherently chaotic, disruptive, life-draining nature. All of the other planets have their own rules that they follow. They may not always behave well, but they will always operate within their own spheres of influence. Eclipses operate outside these rules.

(The outer planets – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – also don’t behave in a way that’s easily mitigated. However, this is a post for another day.)

Contrary to what some popular online articles have said, eclipses are NOT a good time to do any kind of magic. Actually, eclipses aren’t really a good time to do anything – certainly not something that you actually care about or want to go well.

Now, obviously life goes on and we can’t just hide under our beds for the entire eclipse period, much as we might want to. However, try to avoid starting anything major at this time. And definitely don’t do any magic other than basic cleansing and protection. You’ve been warned.

There are some things you can do during the eclipses to hopefully mitigate their effects on your life. Eclipses will affect you more intensely if they hit a key part of your chart, but they are always a wild card so it’s a good idea to do some form of eclipse remediation each time they come around.

Hide

My number one suggestion for mitigating eclipses is to hide from the eclipse light. This is especially important if the eclipse is visible in your location. (To see where the eclipses are visible, check out this site.)

This means staying inside on the day/night of the eclipse and closing all your curtains and doors. Eclipse watching parties are a terrible idea that I find particularly horrifying. And yes, I’ve definitely watched eclipses before, especially lunar eclipses. I have to admit they look really cool, but since becoming an astrologer I will no longer watch them in person. I even feel weird looking at pictures of them now, to be honest.

If you have to be outside in the eclipse light, try to limit your exposure and definitely do some of the additional practices below.

Cleanse

Cleansing is just as important as avoiding eclipse light, and it becomes the most important thing you can do during eclipses if you have to be outside during them. I recommend a full cleanse of both your house and your self, on both a physical and a magical level, on the day of the eclipse.

Part of my eclipse remediation practice is doing a deep clean on my house a day or two before the eclipse – and I mean a really good deep clean, not just a quick tidy. I’m talking about moving the furniture to vacuum/mop every nook and cranny, dusting every surface, wiping off the baseboards, scrubbing down the entire bathroom, cleaning the fridge, and completely tidying up all the clutter (no small feat with small children in the house, trust me).

Because this can take so long depending on how slovenly I’ve been, I book time in my calendar to make sure I do these tasks. If there’s an area of the house that I know will take extra time (like scrubbing down the oven or doing a total fridge clean), often I’ll start this a few days before the eclipses. It’s a pain in the ass, admittedly – and also part of why I hate eclipse season! – but it’s also kind of nice having two predetermined time periods each year where I catch up on all the cleaning that often gets missed in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Forget spring cleaning: eclipse cleaning is where it’s at.

On the day of the eclipse, I take a normal shower in the morning to clean myself physically, and then I do a full ritual cleansing bath at some point later. Sometimes I do this right after the shower and sometimes I do it later in the day, depending on my schedule.

If you’ve never done something like this before, a good basic cleansing ritual is to draw a bath, light a candle, and meditate for a few moments to centre yourself. Sprinkle a liberal amount of sea salt into the bath, and recite a prayer over the water. Psalm 23 and 37 are good choices. Then get in the bath and wallow in it, making sure to submerge every part of yourself.

I highly recommend you experiment with your own form of a ritual cleansing bath until you find a method that you like. Try different prayers and different herbs and oils (though I always recommend having a lot of sea salt in there). Even if you don’t think of yourself as a magician and/or don’t feel like this applies to you, I promise that we all accumulate lots of psychic gunk as we go about our daily lives.

Really, we’re all basically swimming around in psychic shit constantly while never washing our hands afterwards, unless you have a regular cleansing practice. (This is doubly true if you spend any time on social media.) This hyper-materialist world would have you believe that only the physical level of matter is real. Nonsense. Learn to listen to yourself on an intuitive level and trust your gut – you know when something feels “off” yet there doesn’t seem to be any “rational” reason why. Build a regular cleansing practice into your life – and use it all the time, not just during eclipse season. (But especially use it during eclipse season.)

Pray

Ideally, you should have some form of daily prayer practice already. However, I’m aware that prayer is often a difficult thing for many people, particularly those who have had bad experiences with organized religion and/or mega churches as a child. This is a struggle for many people in western culture, and something I had to contend with too.

However, the power of prayer is real, immediate and deeply human. Connecting with the divine on a regular basis has immeasurably positive effects on your entire life. Given how intense eclipses are and how relatively powerless we are to mitigate them, appealing to higher powers who do have mojo to work on your behalf is a very good practice.

There are many forms of prayer and I leave it to you to find the ones that work for you. I've used classic Christian prayers and various mantras. The latter is aligned with Vedic astrology and I'm hesitant to recommend any specific mantras, as these are traditionally given by a guru to a student on an individual basis and tailored to their personal natal chart. I am emphatically not a guru. I also don't practice Vedic astrology.

The one exception is the Gayatri mantra, which is beautiful and transcendent and seems to work as a lovely balm for everyone, regardless of your background. I have never felt anything but gentle peace when I recite it. The Goddess Gayatri is also the pre-eminent mother in Hindu mythology and is therefore very aligned with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Gayatri mantra is considered particularly auspicious during lunar eclipses. All Hindu mantras are usually chanted 108 times (or a multiple thereof).

You can also play mantras, prayers and other spiritual music on eclipse days, especially medieval chant like the work of Hildegard von Bingen. Check out Anonymous 4’s interpretations of Bingen’s work, as well as their other medieval chants. So good.

Personally, I’m partial to the rosary. I recommend reading The Way of the Rose if you need to jailbreak the rosary, particularly if you’re not Catholic or had bad experience with Catholicism. The Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most welcoming of all deities and I think she’s especially powerful for eclipse remediation, because of her association with the Moon and (divine) motherhood. She will never turn away any of her children who ask for her help – but you have to ask.

I also particularly love the iconography of the Blessed Virgin Mary crushing the serpent underfoot. Given the association between eclipses and serpents, this is an absolute perfect image and story to meditate on for eclipse remediation.

Fast

Abstaining from food, drink and drugs is a very good practice during eclipses. Now, I personally hate fasting and I don’t do well physically when I don’t eat anything, so instead of avoiding food entirely I just eat lightly instead. This is the point where I give my disclaimer that I’m not a medical doctor and I’m not giving any medical advice. Do what’s right for you and your body.

Many ancient texts and mythologies mention fasting during eclipses. Fasting is particularly useful during North Node eclipses, because the North Node is Rahu in Vedic astrology: the head of the dragon. He’s a ravenous force that can never be satiated, because he has no body to digest food.

In Hindu mythology, Rahu was a serpent entity who stole a drink of amrita – the nectar of the gods that grants immortality. Lord Vishnu discovered Rahu’s deception and beheaded him, severing him from his body (which became Ketu, the tail of the dragon). Because Rahu had that sip of amrita he became immortal and so he is forever trapped as a disembodied entity that swallows the Sun and Moon when he catches them, causing eclipses.

This myth illustrates the strong urge towards consumption and overconsumption during eclipses, North Node eclipses in particular. Doing the opposite of Rahu’s insatiable consumption, in the form of fasting and/or avoiding overindulgence, is a good way to remediate these energies.

Purge

I don’t mean this literally, though I suppose you could do that if you’re so inclined. (Again: not a medical doctor; not giving medical advice.)

By purging, I’m referring to getting rid of unwanted stuff and general clutter in your life. This is a great thing to do during South Node eclipses. In Vedic astrology, the South Node is Ketu, the tail of the dragon: the body that was severed from the immortal head of Rahu.

Ketu is the essence of non-attachment: he is release, purgation, divine emptying. Thus, South Node eclipses are a good time to shed the things that no longer serve you – donate clothing, household items, extra food. (Bonus points if you turn such donations into a mini planetary charity ritual in its own right.) Focus on releasing the attachments that bind you, both material and immaterial alike.

I wish you all the best during eclipse season. Do not believe any of the stupid, misguided posts claiming that eclipses are good for manifesting or doing cutesy-pie little spells. They are not good for anything besides draining your vitality and causing death, destruction and despair.

For some background on the astronomy and astrology of eclipses, read this post.

That astrologer was the late Joan Quigley. She wrote a book about the experience: “What Does Joan Say?” My Seven Years as White House Astrologer to Nancy and Ronald Reagan. I finished reading it recently and want to share my thoughts here.

I’ll start with the background, because I think this is probably a story that not many younger astrologers know much, if anything, about. It’s important for all astrologers to know about this, as the ramifications are enormous. Imagine if Trump used an astrologer. If he did, he might not have gotten shot last summer. I digress.

This post summarizes the details around Joan’s job as presidential astrologer. I also give some of my comments on the book itself. I plan to do a follow-up post diving into the specific astrology that Joan discusses in her book.

Joan Quigley served as Nancy’s Reagan’s personal astrologer during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, from 1981 through 1989. It’s well-known now that Nancy consulted an astrologer, however it was kept secret throughout her husband’s presidency.

Astrologers of the time guessed that someone was providing astrological insights to the president. Famously, Reagan announced he would run for a second term at a press conference held late on a Sunday night. That timing raised eyebrows and we now know that Joan elected this time as particularly auspicious. The average person probably thought it was weird, but shrugged it off. Astrologers, however, looked at the chart and knew something was up.

An inner circle of people at the White House were aware of Joan, though most of them seemed to turn a blind eye until Donald Regan published his book. Regan served as the White House Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987. He published a memoir in 1988 entitled For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington. It became a bestseller because he revealed that Reagan, specifically Nancy, consulted an astrologer.

Regan made some very unflattering comments about Nancy in that book. He and Nancy did not like each other and she was thrilled when he stepped down/was fired. It was obvious that he intended to damage Nancy’s reputation by revealing she employed an astrologer. He also commented that it was good the astrologer truly seemed to care about astrology above all else, given the extremely sensitive nature of the information she was privy to.

He has a point. As Regan points out in his book, Joan was a huge national security risk. She was essentially a stranger, not on the White House payroll, who only corresponded with Nancy via telephone. Through Nancy, Joan had intimate knowledge of the President’s daily whereabouts. Indeed, if we take her at her word, Joan actually dictated a lot of Ronald Reagan’s travel. More on that below.

Regan’s book caused a media frenzy, as journalists tried to suss out the identity of the astrologer who had the ear of the President – or at least his wife – throughout his entire eight-year term. Once they figured out it was Joan, she was swarmed with attention, most of it none too flattering.

Joan makes it clear at the start of her book that she takes astrology very seriously. She discusses how rigorous you need to be as a professional astrologer and how much work it takes. She acknowledges there are many charlatans in the field, which give all of us a bad name. (Amen, sister.) All of this remains true to this day, to the continued chagrin of professional astrologers around the world.

Even though Joan kept her work secret, I think she always hoped that, if and when the news did come out about her work with Nancy, it would help legitimize astrology. She reminds me of some astrologers working right now, notably Chris Brennan, who want to see astrology restored to its former status as a respected profession.

But after Donald Regan’s book came out, the opposite occurred.

I’m too young to remember this firsthand, but when the news broke about Reagan using an astrologer, and when reporters confirmed Joan’s identity a little while later, it was a media sensation. Both Nancy Reagan and Joan became the butt of many jokes. It was a long-running bit on the late-night talk show circuit of the era. Rather than legitimizing astrology as a serious and valid profession, this incident cemented it as silly, frivolous nonsense.

That had to hurt. I can only imagine how much that pissed off Joan, even more than Donald Regan’s criticisms.

However, Joan continued to remain silent about her work during the Reagan presidency, until Nancy Reagan published her own memoir, My Turn, in 1989.

My Turn was a rebuttal to Regan and in it, Nancy seriously downplayed her relationship with Joan and the influence that Joan had over Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Nancy brushed off her use of an astrologer as something that arose from her paranoia after the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. So, she reinforced the widespread commentary that astrology was nothing more than a meaningless hobby used by neurotic women.

That was the last straw for Joan. She broke her silence about her work for Nancy and Ronald in her own book, rebutting both Donald Regan and Nancy Reagan. Thus, by publishing “What Does Joan Say?”, Joan Quigley aimed to set the record straight and tell her side of the story.

Joan comes out swinging with an aggressive tone right from page one. Her hurt feelings are quite obvious and my heart went out to her. However, that sympathy was pretty quickly stifled by Joan’s haughty tone and grandiose claims about her astrological prowess.

Joan states that Nancy’s book was evasive and reads like fiction. Joan argues it leaves out much about the way Nancy used astrology during her husband’s presidency. Joan makes some very bold claims right from the start:

“I had contributed ideas and astrological advice that shaped administration policy with the U.S.S.R. and with regard to other crucial matters. Through Nancy, I had a direct line to the President. That the astrological work I did for both Reagans affected the top level of government is now a matter of history. […]

I was responsible for timing all press conferences, most speeches the state of the Union addresses, the takeoffs and landings of Air Force One. I picked the time of Ronald Reagan’s debate with Carter and the two debates with Walter Mondale; all extended trips abroad as well as the shorter trips and one-day excursions, the announcement that Reagan would run for a second term, briefings for all the summits except Moscow, although I selected the time to begin the Moscow trip. I timed congressional arm-twisting, the second Inaugural Oath of Office, the announcement of Anthony Kennedy’s Supreme Court nomination. I delayed President Reagan’s first operation for cancer from July 10, 1985 to July 13, and chose the time for Nancy’s mastectomy.”

That’s quite the resumé.

If we take Joan at her word, she did a ton of work throughout the presidency and really did have a critical role during the Reagan era. Even if you don’t believe in astrology, this was a person tasked with scheduling most of the president’s key travel plans, speeches and other events. That’s no small thing.

And if you do believe in astrology – well, then Joan may very well have had a pivotal role in Reagan’s successes and failures, and therefore in the major American political events of the 1980s.

I recommend “What Does Joan Say?” to any and every professional astrologer and astrology student/enthusiast. Not because it’s a great book (it’s not), but because it’s a critical piece of contemporary astrological history. It’s also an excellent cautionary tale about the dangers of being a public astrologer, especially when your main client is the modern equivalent of a king. This remains as true today as it was in antiquity.

It’s worth knowing this story, especially in light of 2025’s transits and what’s coming in the second half of this decade.

That said, be forewarned that the book can be a struggle to read. As I mentioned previously, the tone is challenging. Joan is very aggressive right from the start and while I can sympathize with the reason for this combative stance, she’s downright obnoxious at times.

Joan clearly had a very big ego and thought very highly of herself and her work. Granted, if I had done daily work for the President of the United States and had the First Lady on speed dial, I’d probably have a huge ego too.

Still, I was constantly reminded of my own personal dealings with that particular brand of astrologer. Huge egos abound in astrological circles. It’s exhausting. The constant arrogant, self-congratulatory comments get old fast, and threaten to derail the reader’s interest early on. It’s also not the best way to win the audience over, especially if she’s trying to garner sympathy for the injustice that she feels was done to her at the hands (or rather, pens) of Donald Regan and especially Nancy Reagan.

It’s true that Joan was betrayed by Nancy, who was not only her top client, but also someone that Joan clearly considered a friend. I just wish that Joan had kept her ego in check a little bit more, and showed us more of her vulnerable side.

However, when you see Joan’s chart, it becomes immediately obvious why she was never going to go for a warm and fuzzy approach. Here she is:

With Mars near the Midheaven in Gemini, opposite Saturn in Sagittarius and square Mercury in Pisces, Joan is someone who will naturally gravitate towards combativeness and “fighting words.” Also, her Mars and Midheaven, as well as her Ascendant in Virgo, are all ruled by a very debilitated Mercury in Pisces on the Descendant. While a dignified Jupiter is close by and seeks to boost Mercury’s fortunes, this is the kind of placement that will make communications very tricky for the native. Her Leo Moon is proud to the point of vanity, and since it falls in the twelfth house, always carries the risk of being the source of her own self-undoing.

Donald Regan’s book was published on May 1, 1988, right after Joan’s 61 birthday. The eclipse cycle that year was in Virgo and Pisces and was therefore more impactful for Joan, due to her Ascendant in Virgo. Indeed, there were eclipses across Virgo-Pisces just a couple of weeks before her solar return that year, when she was in a first house profection year.

Side note: I’m writing this the day before the start of September 2025’s eclipses season, when the eclipses are also across Virgo-Pisces and therefore pinging Joan’s chart. Even though Joan died several years ago, her chart lives on and continues to be activated at certain times.

Those spring 1988 eclipses combined with a striking Uranus transit to make that time period especially impactful for Joan. Transit Uranus was right on her natal South Node alongside transit Saturn and Neptune, and all of that was square her natal Uranus. The publication of that book and the ensuing chaos that it caused certainly fits with themes of Uranian upheaval.

I’d like to do another post talking about the actual astrology that Joan discusses in her book. Though, spoiler alert: I was disappointed that Joan didn’t dig very deep into this. Granted, I think she probably wrote it for a non-astrology audience and didn’t want to alienate the reader with a lot of technical astrological jargon. Plus, her ego suggests that she wouldn’t want to share her techniques openly, or have them held up for scrutiny by other astrologers.

Still, she gives enough clues throughout the book that you can deduce a fair amount of her interpretation techniques and approaches. Stay tuned for a second post looking at some of that.

But let’s get personal: how is Saturn in Aries going to affect you specifically, on a natal level?

You’ve had a preview of the changes that Saturn in Aries has brought since it first entered the sign of the ram on May 24, 2025. Saturn remains in early Aries until September 1, 2025 when it retrogrades back to Pisces for a few months. Saturn enters Aries for good on February 13, 2026 and will remain there for two years, until April 12, 2028.

The summer of 2025 therefore brings us a peek into how this transit will affect you from 2026 to 2028. There are a lot of other major changes in the space weather this year and into next, but this post focuses on Saturn.

Read this post for a refresher on the meaning of Saturn in astrology.

Saturn brings a renovation of whatever topics are associated with the house it transits in your natal chart. In particular, Saturn brings restriction, work, heaviness and boundary-testing to those areas. These areas often the biggest sources of stress and tension in your life, forcing you to examine and evaluate the way you have structured your life in relation to them.

Saturn transits are also an opportunity to build or rebuild a particular area of your life. Saturn invites you to step up or step out. Are you going to do the work that presents itself in that particular area, or are you going to break under the pressure?

If the affairs of the house that Saturn transits are generally in order, you’ll have an opportunity to shore up those foundations even further. But if that house is messy and chaotic, you’ll be forced to make some drastic changes. It probably won’t be pleasant.

Saturn’s actions are flavoured by the sign it transits. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, the cardinal fire sign ruled by Mars and representing a strong initiatory, start-up energy. It is Saturn’s least favourite sign as it’s opposite Libra, the sign where Saturn is exalted.

The fiery, burning, go-go-go energy of Aries is the antithesis of Saturn’s cold, calculating, slow and methodical approach. Saturnian things tend to go poorly in this sign.

Saturn’s transit through Aries will represent new areas of hardship in your life, which will be more difficult for people who have:

1. An emphasis on their natal Saturn (angular, Ascendant/Sun/Moon ruler, etc.);

2. An emphasis on Aries (angular, lots of natal planets there, annual profected sign);

3. Saturn as their annual timelord;

4. An emphasis on Aries by secondary progression and/or solar return; or

5. A night chart.

Saturn’s transit through Aries is notable for starting off closely conjunct Neptune. Saturn and Neptune ingressed Aries within weeks of one another. They remain close for the rest of the year and into 2026, though their conjunction doesn’t perfect until February 20, 2026.

As I wrote in my 2025 year-ahead forecast, the energies of Saturn and Neptune are diametrically opposite. Saturn represents physicality and embodiment. Neptune is intangible and ephemeral.

Your experience of Saturn’s transit through Aries starts off being very murky and clouded by Neptune. Once Saturn gets some distance from Neptune in mid-2026, the cobwebs will clear out and things will become more tangible and obvious again.

Take some time this summer to take stock of where your hardships have shifted. If things feel confusing or uncertain, write those observations down too. These are likely to flare up again in early 2026 and further progress or developments will occur.

Below, I’ve written some short horoscopes as a general overview of what Saturn in Aries will bring to each rising sign. If you’d like to go into depth, book a consultation with me.

Aries Rising
(Saturn transiting the First House)

Now is the time for you to come to terms with the way you work with Saturn in your life. Do you tacitly accept Saturn’s responsibilities? Or do you reject them and loathe things that are slow-moving in favour of quick action and immediate gratification? This will depend on where Saturn is located in your own natal chart, but I’m willing to bet that you tend to operate more from the latter point of view.

Saturn through your first will test the limits of your patience and might force you to slow down and deal with things more slowly than you’d prefer. Saturn in the first is often a time of introversion and introspection, possibly even depression. This might be particularly disorienting if you’re an extroverted person, as you might find yourself drawing inward.

Lean into this opportunity for self-reflection. You have a chance to review all the ways you structure your own approach to life, and make some changes to address the things that aren’t working (or are straight-up dysfunctional). In particular, this might focus around your relationship with anger, aggression, conflict and action.

Saturn through your first is an invitation to a cosmic anger-management course. You might resent having to leash your inner fire, but you have a chance to temper it into something more stable and productive.

Taurus Rising
(Saturn transiting the Twelfth House)

Watch out for mental health challenges and your personal self-sabotaging tendencies during this transit. These might be particular challenges for the next two years, especially with Saturn in the sign of its fall. Impulse control, especially around anger and aggression, must be confronted.

You might find yourself withdrawing or even going full hermit mode during this time. There’s a tendency to brood and even despair, particularly over past failures and missed opportunities. It’s easy to start obsessing; the key is to allow these feelings and thoughts to bubble up, hold and observe them, and then release. Don’t get caught up in a sunk-cost fallacy: cut your losses and prepare to move on.

Take stock of what you accomplished over the last several years, as well as what you haven’t. You will have an opportunity to start over and build some new self-structures in a couple of years, but now isn’t the time to forge ahead on a new path – much as that Aries energy might have you wanting to.

This period of isolation and seclusion can become quite literal for some, as the twelfth house corresponds to illness, confinement and incarceration. Take extra care of your health during this time. It may be a good time to undertake some form of therapy – and you might be forced into this if circumstances spiral beyond your control.

Gemini Rising
(Saturn transiting the Eleventh House)

Saturn through your eleventh will have you feeling a lot of heaviness and work coming up in the groups and communities that you’re a part of. While you might volunteer to take on new responsibilities related to groups and communities during this time, by the end of the transit these responsibilities might feel overwhelming and oppressive.

You might start to feel like people are getting in your way more than they are helping you: coworkers, acquaintances and friends might start to chafe and annoy.

You are invited to step up or step out – either you’ll shoulder more responsibilities than ever, or you’ll decide you’ve had enough and ditch. At the end of this transit, Saturn will enter your twelfth house, which is a period of isolation and withdrawal, so the next two years will bring events and changes leading you up to that point.

You might also be re-evaluating all of your desires and objectives. The things you thought you wanted start to feel restrictive or heavy. Again, you might decide to accept these and soldier on, or you may realize you need to re-examine and restructure your hopes and wishes.

Cancer Rising
(Saturn transiting the Tenth House)

Work is going to take on even more weight under this transit. Saturn is work, literally, and so your professional life is likely to be the focus during these two years. You’ll be forced to take on more responsibility whether you want to or not. This can be used productively to advance your career – though it’s probably going to feel like quite a slog – but sometimes it can also just be a lot of extra work for little to no gain.

But while promotions are on the table during this transit, Saturn through your tenth can also bring career endings. Your work life may become so oppressive that you can’t stand it any longer and quit, or external factors may cause this to happen despite your best efforts.

There’s a baleful spotlight on your public self during this time, so watch out for threats to your reputation. This is also a time period where your personal life might be in shambles, particularly if you’ve been neglecting it in favour of your professional life. You’ll have to figure out a way to balance the two, which might feel difficult, if not impossible.

Leo Rising
(Saturn transiting the Ninth House)

You may find yourself drawn to enrol in school or otherwise take up some kind of more formal education during this time. It’s a good time to get serious about your studies, whatever they might be. If you’re a student, lean into it – but know that you’ll need to do more studying and less partying over the next two years, if you want to maximize this transit.

If you’re not a student but have been interested in learning something new, Saturn invites you to put some structure and formality around these studies. Rather than just dabbling here and there, you’ll be most successful if you put your nose to the grindstone. This is particularly true for studying subjects like spirituality/religion, the occult, philosophy and law.

You might also find yourself having to travel more, particularly for work. Saturn in the ninth isn’t that great for leisure trips abroad, but it can certainly mean travelling for work, school, or other duties/obligations.

And of course, Saturn is great at bringing endings to these things. You might find yourself dropping out of school or ditching an area of study that you had previously engaged in eagerly, because it has come to feel oppressive and restrictive.

Virgo Rising
(Saturn transiting the Eighth House)

Looking to buy a house, take out a big loan or go into business for yourself? Saturn through your eighth will focus on work and responsibility around your shared resources with other people – particularly your spouse, but also business partners.

The eighth house signifies “other people’s money” which corresponds to debts and loans of all kinds, as well as taxes, inheritances and investments. Saturn is testing all of these things – you might find yourself having to take on more debt or pay more tax. It could also signify coming into some money, but there will be strings attached and/or things may not be what they seem. Be especially careful with any speculative investments during this time. This is especially true while Saturn is close to Neptune in 2025 and 2026.

This is also a time where you might have extra stress, fear and tension around debt and money owed. If you’ve been behind in paying taxes or have made other similar irresponsible financial blunders in the past, Saturn may be coming to collect – but sometimes this won’t manifest in anything more than fear itself.

Libra Rising
(Saturn transiting the Seventh House)

Your marriage, business partnership, and/or other close partnerships are going to be put to the test for the next two years. While this could be a time of stepping into more responsibility with a partner – like getting married or starting a business with someone – it’s more likely that this transit will bring an end to a relationship.

Your partner, whether it’s a spouse, business partner, coworker, or close friend, will likely be the biggest source of stress for you during the next couple of years. Your relationship will feel weighty and oppressive and the next two years will test your resolve as a couple. How you navigate the burdens and difficulties together will determine if you’re going to make it in the long-term – or whether one or both of you will end the relationship and leave.

This is a time where you’ll struggle to find balance between your relationships and the rest of your life. You’re moving into a period where your responsibilities and focus is shifting to more external factors and people, which will bring stress to your closest relationships. This will seem doubly hard because of Saturn’s debility in this sign. Libra rising people are likely to find this transit particularly difficult.

Scorpio Rising
(Saturn transiting the Sixth House)

Take care of all aspects of your health over the next two years, much more carefully than you usually would. Saturn transiting your sixth house often corresponds to new health concerns, or exacerbations of existing health concerns. Issues related to inflammation and/or your bones could be particularly troublesome during this time.

Saturn in your sixth will demand that you practice disciplined routines of all kinds, particularly health routines. Diet, exercise, sleep – these are going to be things that you can’t take for granted or neglect. There are likely to be new or increased responsibilities around these areas. For example, a health condition demands that you cut out certain foods, or add other foods to your diet.

The sixth house also represents drudgery work, like daily chores and other tasks that are a real slog. The next couple of years might feel like a constant uphill battle against a never-ending laundry list of labour, with little to no recognition for your toil. Hopefully you can see some kind of end goal with all this work, but it’s also easy to get caught up in a sense of all work and no play.

Sagittarius Rising
(Saturn transiting the Fifth House)

Saturn will show you the creative things you could put a lot of work into, but it will also come with a lot of soul-searching around what you even like to do. You’ll be evaluating the things you do for fun, and/or the things you used to do for fun might suddenly feel like a lot of work.

You might retreat from the things that you used to take solace in, because they no longer offer the escape that they used to. If you work in a creative field, expect to have to work extra hard for things to turn out well.

Alternatively, you may also experience increased burdens or hardships with your children. Children may become a source of restriction and/or increased responsibility under this transit. This could correspond to having children, or your children’s needs shifting and becoming more demanding.

Capricorn Rising
(Saturn transiting the Fourth House)

You might find yourself doing very literal, physical restructuring of your environment during this transit, like renovating a house. At best, this will be due to a choice you make – just know it will take a lot of hard work and probably last longer than planned. At worst, these renovations will happen out of necessity because some external factor forces them – like flood, fire or other damage to your home that you can’t avoid fixing.

This time period could also represent a lot of responsibility and burden around caring for your parents, grandparents or other close family members. It can be a time where you have to step into a parental role. Parents and family might also become particularly restrictive and oppressive.

There may be a lot of issues related to your home and family life that are murky and hard to navigate during the first part of this transit, which should clear up later in 2026 and into 2027. That doesn’t make them easier to deal with, necessarily, but you should at least be able to name the issues clearly by then.

During this time, you’re laying the foundation for future success, but unfortunately for this particularly transit, the first part of the cycle is especially confusing. It’s not clear what you should actually focus on and what proper foundation you should build upon. Again, try not to rush into anything and be prepared to review and revise things that you have previously built.

Aquarius Rising
(Saturn transiting the Third House)

Saturn invites you to restructure your relationship with your siblings, family (mainly extended family, as opposed to parents), friends and neighbours. There may be stresses or extra responsibilities arising from these individuals, but there’s also an opportunity to rebuild this area of your life with proper boundaries. Often, when we start erecting or enforcing boundaries that were previously flimsy (or non-existent), others will react poorly. This is part of the process; the key is trying to navigate it with grace and finesse (which might be a struggle – so give yourself room to make mistakes, too).

Communications of all kinds will become weighty and potentially strained under this transit. This will tie into your relations with the aforementioned third-house people. You might feel like no matter what you say, you make things worse instead of better. You could find yourself changing the way you communicate and interact with others on a daily basis. This is another form of Saturnian boundary setting and testing, and there’s likely to be pushback from others in response.

You might also find yourself building literal third house boundaries, like a new fence. Watch out for car trouble too. The third house signifies your daily commute and Saturn transiting here can cause challenges in this area; it often indicates problem with your car or main mode of transportation.

Pisces Rising
(Saturn transiting the Second House)

Prepare for a period of strained finances. This is often a pretty literal transit, where Saturn in the second corresponds to financial loss, restriction and hardship. Sudden expenses might crop up that have to be dealt with, and money is likely to be your biggest source of stress for quite a while. This is a good time to make a budget and try to stick to it – though Saturn might force you to do that anyway by taking away your ability to spend money like you want to.

Even if your finances are generally OK, you might feel stressed about them anyway. Insecurity and fear around money is a classic expression of Saturn transiting your second house. It should become obvious if you need to make some serious changes to your money situation. If that’s the case, do it. If not, try to not let money worries take over your mind.

This could also be a period where you quit or lose your job, which usually corresponds to a negative impact on your finances – even if just temporarily.

It can also be a period of reevaluating all the resources that you have, monetary and otherwise. Recall that Saturn is all about boundaries and Saturn’s transit through a house will test the boundaries in that particular area of life. So, you might find yourself needing new resources – often literal physical “stuff” – or discarding old ones.

In ancient times, Saturn was the last planet visible to the naked eye, marking the boundary of the visible cosmos and the realm of the seven wandering stars. It is also the only planet that does not go out of bounds: above or below the outer bounds of the Sun’s path around the Earth, which is 23 degrees and 27 minutes of declination North and South.

Accordingly, a lot of Saturn’s meanings have to do with various forms of boundaries: the delineation of one thing from another. Saturn can be physical buildings, which have four walls and a roof that mark the boundary between outside and inside. Saturn can also be time, which marks the boundary between past, present and future.

Saturn also represents rules of all kinds, whether it’s the rules of a chess game, city bylaws and governmental legislation, or social rules by which we interact with one another. These rules mark the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. They provide a framework for us to order our lives and interact with society.

The rules of the road ensure we can drive safely in traffic. The rules of commerce govern how we buy food and other items we need, how the financial markets function, and so on. Various social rules dictate how to behave in certain situations as opposed to others. For example, the social rules when you’re on a date are quite different than the social rules of your behaviour at work – and when those rules get blurred or broken, that’s often when problems happen. Saturn is not happy when people break the rules.

Saturn also represents death. This is also a boundary, of a sort: the boundary of our own mortality. Saturn is illness and loss, which are related to both death and boundaries – the boundaries of our health and the limitations of our physical body.

Here is a short list of Saturn’s main astrological significations:

• Boundaries

• Structure

• Rules

• Time

• Restriction

• Death

• Illness

• Fear

• Hardship

• Pessimism

Saturn is the greater malefic while Jupiter is the greater benefic, so there is an inherent duality in their meanings: they serve as foils for one another and their meanings often fall neatly along a binary.

Saturn rules the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius. When the Sun is in these signs, it is the coldest part of the winter in the northern hemisphere. This fits with Saturn’s location as the planet that is farthest away from the heat and light of the Sun – so, Saturn is associated with cold and dark.

Saturn is exalted in the sign of Libra, which is a Venus-ruled sign. Libra is all about law and order: balance, justice and fairness. All of this involves rules and laws, and the administration of those rules and laws. As the planet that signifies rules of all kinds, naturally Saturn would find his exaltation in the sign that is concerned with law and order.

In astronomy, Saturn is famous for its beautiful rings: a wonderful visual metaphor for Saturn’s associations with limitations, structures and boundaries. Some other planets have rings – Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune – but Saturn’s huge, colourful rings are much more prominent and overshadows all the others.

Astronomers think that Saturn’s rings are made up of a former moon or moons, which orbited too close to Saturn and were eventually swallowed up by the planet, leaving millions of particles of icy rocks that were shaped into rings by Saturn’s gravity.

Consider that in mythology, Kronos (the ancient Greek name for Saturn) devoured his children to prevent them from taking his power. The planet Saturn is surrounded by rings which are the remains of its former moons – its children, so to speak – who threatened the planet by getting too close and were destroyed in the process.

One of the most fascinating astronomical aspects of Saturn is that it rains diamonds inside the planet. It is estimated that 10 million tonnes of diamond hail rains down within Saturn at any one time, from specks of tiny diamond dust to chunks as big as 10 centimetres (4 inches) across. Saturn is a gas giant and lightning storms rage across it, turning methane gas into carbon soot that falls and is compressed into graphite by the planet’s intense pressure. The graphite continues falling in towards the centre of the planet, where the pressure compresses it further into solid diamonds, and then into liquid diamond rain, where it eventually reaches a vast ocean of liquid hydrogen that scientists believe is at Saturn’s core.

Raining diamonds is a perfect metaphor for the action that Saturn brings in astrology, particularly around one’s Saturn return. Saturn exerts intense pressure and weight on us, restricting us and forcing us to be disciplined and change in the face of these burdens. If we are able to meet Saturn’s challenge and have grace under pressure, hopefully we transform into a sparkling diamond, as it were.

In mundane astrology, Saturn represents the land itself and natural resources, as well as anyone who works with or owns the land: farmers, foresters, miners, oil rig workers, landlords/land owners, etc. Because of the association of Saturn with death and illness, Saturn represents elderly people, infirm people, illnesses and epidemics.

To finish this article off, I offer two quotes about Saturn from a pair of brilliant astrologers.

Charles Obert, Saturn Through The Ages: Between Time and Eternity, 2019:

“Saturn is a border planet at the edge of time and eternity, the unmoving and the moving. You have Saturn as borders, walls, structures, edges, containers, skin. Saturn on the edge of eternity also is the mediator of the eternal law and order of the heavens down into the mutable world. This is Saturn as judgment, related to the modern notion of karma, but also Saturn as wisdom meaning knowledge and understanding of those laws – combine law plus age and you get the wisdom of age. Saturn as the outermost planet is very much the planet of entire cycles, and the wisdom that comes from knowledge of the entire cycles.

As border or gateway between moving and unmoving, time and eternity, Saturn is death – and, as Bonatti pointed out, Saturn marks both the entry into time and the exit from time. This relates Saturn to the after death reckoning, the judgment where our lives are measured over against the eternal law. Saturn also comes to represent Time itself, the overall process, and thus also overall cycles, and the consequences of the passage of time.”

Richard Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche, 2006:

“The principle of limit, structure, contraction, constraint, necessity, hard materiality, concrete manifestation; time, the past, tradition, age, maturity, mortality, the endings of things; gravity and gravitas, weightiness, that which burdens, binds, challenges, fortifies, deepens; the tendency to confine and constrict, to separate, to divide and define, to cut and shorten, to negate and oppose, to strengthen and forge through tension and resistance, to rigidify, to repress, to maintain a conservative and strict authority; to experience difficulty, decline, deprivation, defect and deficit, defeat, failure, loss, alienation; the labor of existence, suffering, old age, death; the weight of the past, the workings of fate, character, karma, the consequences of past action, error and guilt, punishment, retribution, imprisonment, the sense of “no exit”; pessimism, inferiority, inhibition, isolation, oppression and depression; the impulse and capacity for discipline and duty, order, solitude, concentration, conciseness, thoroughness and precision, discrimination and objectivity, restraint and patience, endurance, responsibility, seriousness, authority, wisdom; the harvest of time, effort, and experience; the concern with consensus reality, factual concreteness, conventional forms and structures, foundations, boundaries, solidity and stability, security and control, rational organization, efficiency, law, right and wrong, judgment, the superego; the dark, cold, heavy, dense, dry, old, slow, distant; the senex, Kronos, the stern father of the gods.”