Rocking & Rolling

Astro Notes for Aquarius Season (January 19-February 18, 2026)

Thanks for your patience during my absence for Capricorn season. I was recovering from illness while also working on a longer essay about larger global trends from an astrological perspective (coming soon). These Astro Notes had to be put on ice, but I’m very glad to be back in the saddle for this one.

DN

There’s a heightened urgency, electricity, and momentum to this year’s Aquarius season. Not only is it jam-packed with significant astrological events, it represents the final approach to the exact Saturn-Neptune conjunction on February 20 at 0° Aries — the zero point of the entire zodiac — an extraordinary symbol of both the dissolution of outdated structures and the opportunity for a global reset.

Although we’re at the beginning of the Gregorian calendar year, in nature’s time we are in the final quarter of the astrological year that began on March 21, 2025. In my annual overview, I described the four quarters of that year as follows:

* Q1 (March 21-June 21, 2025): Crowning

* Q2: (June 21-Sept 21): Birth

* Q3: (Sept 21-Dec 21): Mop Up

* Q4: (Dec 21-March 21, 2026): Arrival

With an unprecedented five major planets changing signs between November 2024 and July 2025, we were birthed into an entirely new archetypal landscape. Throughout the northern hemisphere summer of 2025, we were given a glimpse of the shape of the emerging era. In the 3rd quarter (Sept 21-Dec 21), Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus moved back into their old signs one last time, calling on us to complete unfinished business and let go of outdated forms to prepare for the arrival of the new energies in earnest.

Now we’re in the final quarter, with Saturn, Neptune, and (soon) Uranus moving forward again, shortly to re-enter the new signs — this time for good — ushering us into a new era.

This is the broader context for understanding the significance of this year’s Aquarius season, which is always associated with futuristic visions, original ideas, and exciting breakthroughs that liberate us from conventional structures and assumptions.

It’s hard to overstate the power of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 0° 45' Aries, taking place on February 20, just as Pisces season begins. That the cycles of two slow-moving planets like Saturn and Neptune would coincide at the very first degree of the zodiac is highly improbable —indeed, some astrologers suggest this last occurred roughly 9,000 years ago. By any measure, it’s clear that we are at the very tail end of an extraordinarily long cycle of time, which helps explain the power of the disintegrating force we are currently experiencing in relation to forms, structures, and identities that will no longer serve us in the coming age.

Capricorn season was already highly eventful. From January 1-3, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon were all out of bounds— outside of the normal declination of the Sun — meaning that these planets could act according to their own logic rather than follow the usual rules. (It’s extremely rare for so many planets to be out of bounds at the same time.)

The Full Moon in Cancer on January 3rd was lively to say the least — opposite Mars and Venus. Remarkably, it was also exactly conjunct the Sun in the charts of both the USA and Venuzuela on the very day of Maduro’s capture. On January 9 there was a rare triple conjunction of Sun, Mars, and Venus in Capricorn, activating our drive to clarify what we want and how to manifest it in the world. And throughout January, an impressive lineup of personal planets moved through Capricorn, culminating in a potent New Moon in Capricorn on January 18.

Stellium in Capricorn January 16

With so many planets in Capricorn, the first weeks of January were a hard slog for many of us. The energies were heavy, dense, serious — like having the weight of the world on our shoulders. At the New Moon in Capricorn on January 18, this journey may have culminated in a renewed sense of commitment to your path — a new resolve to stay aligned with what matters most to you.

As we move into Aquarius season, this stellium of personal planets shifts from Capricorn to Aquarius — from Earth to Air — offering liberation from the heaviness and moroseness we may have been felt trapped in over recent weeks. Aquarian energies are lighter, faster, and more future-oriented, associated with visionary insights, breakthrough solutions, and never-before-imagined possibilities.

From January 17 to around January 28, this dynamic is intensified by the fact that each of these personal planets forms a conjunction to Pluto at 3° Aquarius. Pluto’s presence adds pressure to the liberating drive of this Aquarian stellium, compelling us to become conscious of where we may be trapped in outdated patterns and applying immense force to push us toward a new paradigm or vision— even if we come kicking and screaming.

At the collective level, we could see intensified expressions of social unrest and political protest as the personal planets activate Pluto’s mandate in Aquarius to bring revolutionary social change. January 25-28 is likely to be particularly volatile when Mars conjoins Pluto.

Meanwhile, on January 26, Neptune re-enters Aries, where it will remain for the next fourteen years. This transit marks the completion of one 165-year Neptune cycle around the zodiac and the beginning of another. The effects of this shift may be subtle at first yet they are profound — Neptune’s rebirth in Aries symbolizes the emergence of a new dream, myth, or guiding vision for human culture. That this epochal event is merely mentioned in passing in these Notes speaks to just how much is going on astrologically this season.

On February 3, Uranus stations direct, beginning the final few months of its seven-year passage through Taurus before it re-enters Gemini for good on April 25. When a planet stations, its archetypal themes intensify for a few days either side of the transit. In the case of Uranus, we may experience more sudden shifts, disruptions, or breakthroughs in areas linked to Taurus: banking and finance, food systems, the Earth’s environment, and our relationship to material resources.

On February 13, Saturn re-enters Aries — another profound birth moment — inaugurating a new thirty-year Saturn cycle of building structures aligned with the emerging archetypal energies. With Saturn in Aries, we’re supported to make bold new beginnings — applying courage and discipline to the long work of giving form to what is now being dreamed.

Then, on February 17, a New Moon solar eclipse in Aquarius, square Uranus in late Taurus, adds yet another jolt of intensity, unpredictability, and revolutionary potential.

Just three days later, on February 20, Saturn and Neptune meet in their historic conjunction at 0° Aries — a world-axis moment that signals the birth of a new imaginal architecture for human civilization.

We’re really rocking and rolling now folks. We’re not preparing for the shift anymore. Aquarius season 2026 is when we start to live it.

Amid the growing chaos and instability in our world, it’s important to recognize that 2026 does not carry the configuration of collapse, but of the first light of a new dawn. While many familiar forms and identities are dissolving — and there is real grief to be honored for what is passing — there is a coherence in the new patterns arising to take their place.

We can each play our part by honoring the grief for what is falling away — and trusting the new dreams now emerging from within.

Enter the Sacred Cauldron

Heat and Grace in a Time of Purification

Astro Notes for Scorpio Season (October 22-November 22, 2025)

by David Nicol

First, a quick recap of the larger arc of this astrological year in order to understand the significance of this Scorpio season. 2025-2026 represents the epic, once-in-a-lifetime birthing process of a fundamentally new era for humanity. In my annual overview in March, I labeled the four quarters as follows:

* Q1 (March 21-June 21) Crowning

* Q2 (June 21-Sept 21) Birth

* Q3 (Sept 21- Dec 21) Mop Up

* Q4 (Dec 21-March 21 2026) Arrival

The first quarter saw the ingress of Neptune, Saturn, and Jupiter into new signs, giving us a glimpse of the shape of the emerging pattern.

The second quarter featured the entrance of Uranus into Gemini — the last of five major planets to change signs since November, completing the pattern and signifying the true birth moment of the new age.

In the third quarter, Neptune and Saturn move back into Pisces, and Uranus returns to Taurus. This is the last time these planets will inhabit these signs before re-entering Aries and Gemini, respectively, in the first half of 2026 — and then we’ll be sailing full-steam ahead into the new era, no turning back. I called this quarter ‘Mop Up’ because it represents the after-birth phase— messy, emotional, cleansing. The universe has delivered something new — and in record time — and now we have to deal with the aftershock, integrate trauma, and shed any residual attachment to old patterns so we can meet the new age with a clean slate when it arrives in earnest in 2026.

This year’s Scorpio season is at the heart of the Mop Up quarter — when the soul enters a bubbling, sacred cauldron to dissolve what cannot be carried forward into the new world. It supplies a potent concoction of searing alchemical heat and extraordinary healing grace — both to surface what needs to be purged and to carry these energies away with sublime compassion.

Scorpio season is always a time of heightened intensity, because it is the nature of the archetype to call us into the immediacy of the moment and to be ruthlessly honest about the truth of our situation. The penetrating Scorpionic gaze places pressure on any misaligned aspects of our lives we’ve been tolerating or hurts we’ve been repressing, forcing them up to awareness for an honest reckoning. We might justifiably be sick and tired of the very word ‘intensity’ given the unrelenting evolutionary pressure we’ve been under for years. But it’s actually the compassion of the universe — the ‘awful Grace of God’ — to sometimes push us past the ego’s capacity for control so that we have no choice but to surrender to the deeper evolutionary current.

Below is the chart for the Sun’s ingress into Scorpio. The dynamics shown in this chart are said to set the tone for the entirety of Scorpio season.

Event chart for Sun entering Scorpio, October 22, 2025

The thin, sharply-pointed triangle indicated by the dotted green lines shows the Sun at the apex of a Yod, or Finger of God, with Uranus and Neptune at the base. A Yod is an intense aspect pattern involving an apex planet (in this case the Sun) in quincunx to two other planets. A quincunx is an aspect between two planets that have absolutely nothing in common with each other — different element, different modality, different polarity. A Yod thus symbolizes an energetic reality that feels something like a conundrum — on the surface it seems impossible to resolve, yet it calls forth inspired, next-level solutions.

The Sun is also in a tight square to Pluto at 1 degree Aquarius. This too is an exceptionally intense aspect, forcing a confrontation with repressed or disowned contents of the psyche and/or misaligned dynamics in our external circumstances. Pluto is the ruler of Scorpio and embodies that sign’s transformative pressure; the square aspect brings friction that forces change — something’s got to give. When we add to that picture the Sun’s broader square with Jupiter (24 degrees Cancer) and opposition to Chiron (24 Aries), we have a Cardinal Grand Cross, one of the most pressurized aspect patterns in astrology, designed to awaken consciousness through the alchemy of conflict and stress.

Finally, the chart shows a triple conjunction of the Moon, Mars, and Mercury in Scorpio, adding intensity, depth, and power to our words, actions, and feelings.

Taken together, the Yod, Grand Cross, and triple conjunction of personal planets in Scorpio turn up the alchemical heat to eleven. It suggests we’re going to cook during this Scorpio season — steeping in a cauldron so the buried poisons of the past can rise to the surface for purification and release.

At the same time, Scorpio season opens a window of truly exceptional healing grace.

The large blue triangle in the event chart above shows the very beginning of a beautiful Water Grand Trine that will remain in effect for the whole of Scorpio season. This auspicious pattern involves harmonious connections between Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Pisces, and first the Moon, then Mercury, Mars, the Sun, and finally Venus in late Scorpio. Water is the healing element, with each water sign contributing a unique aspect of healing wisdom. Cancer brings intuition, empathy, and the ability to feel our feelings as they are. Scorpio supplies honesty, emotional depth, and immediacy of presence. Pisces adds energetic sensitivity and the blessings of the higher dimensions. Working together in a Water Grand Trine, these planets create a sublime and irresistible current to wash clean our wounds, soothe our nervous systems, and open us to inspired flow.

Jupiter in Cancer expands our ability to trust our feelings, while Saturn in Pisces gives those feelings form and direction, channeling compassion into tangible acts of healing. The procession of personal planets through Scorpio intensifies our healing journey, deepening the work into full-bodied purification and rebirth.

It’s a potent one-two punch — first the intense squeeze of the Yod, Grand Cross, and triple conjunction in Scorpio to surface our poisons, then the beautiful currents of the Water Grand Trine to wash them away. It’s all part of our purification and preparation so that we can walk forward into the new era dawning with a balanced stride and an open heart.

Getting Personal

Astro Notes for Libra Season (September 22-October 22, 2025)

We’ve just passed through the first peak of the most auspicious configuration of our lifetimes, a Minor Grand Trine between Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune that will last for three years and shape our civilization for decades, if not centuries, to come. When these forces align harmonically, we can expect a revolutionary period of massive technological and cultural change (Uranus), deep structural transformation (Pluto), and profound spiritual renewal (Neptune). 

From August 20 to September 14, these planetary heavyweights lined up exactly at 1 degree of their respective signs, the first of three precise alignments over the next three years. 

Why then, one might ask, are we not feeling more uplifted? Where are the promised breakthroughs? Indeed, in light of recent tragic assassinations, bitter global conflicts, and cultural fracture, it seems fair to say that rather than excitement about the future, there is a widespread sense of cultural malaise and foreboding. 

One reason for the discrepancy is that the outer planets represent transpersonal influences that tend to operate below the level of conscious awareness. The initial stages of a major outer planet configuration are like the turning of a massive ocean liner — these planets move slowly and their effects take time to seep into the collective psyche. This initial peak has been less about obvious breakthroughs and more about planting seeds of the new ways that will likely flower in the next few years. 

We must also consider that in 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, Saturn forms a conjunction with Neptune, applying a brake to the creative dynamism of the Minor Grand Trine. Saturn is the principle of realism, caution, and constraint, while Neptune symbolizes our dreams and ideals. Together, these forces can manifest as disillusionment and despair — the loss of the dream — before they open the door to new, more grounded visions. It’s a time of testing the emerging technologies, projects, and inspirations to ensure they will be anchored in reality.

We’re also moving out of a particularly intense eclipse season. Eclipses often coincide with a heightened sense of drama and crisis that can register in our nervous systems as alarm, even though their cosmic function is to restore alignment — albeit sometimes in forceful and disruptive ways. The intensity of the eclipse energy can temporarily obscure the deeper creative current flowing underground.

Finally, we need to remember that we’re in the midst of a profound collective birthing process — and birth is often a painful and messy affair. With Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto harmoniously aligned, a cultural renaissance is not only possible, but more or less assured. Yet as the creative power rises, the crust of the old order begins to crack under the strain. The chaos, instability, and sense of disarray are signs that the old world is struggling to contain the magnitude of what is being born.

As the Sun moves into Libra, however, we may start to become aware of the transformative power of the rising energies in a more personal way. 

Libra is centrally concerned with the art of relating, providing the charm, grace, and consideration for others that most of us appreciate in a friend or partner. This Libra season invites us to glimpse the emerging evolutionary potential in the personal context of our intimate relationships. 

On September 24, the Sun moves to 1 degree Libra, forming the base of a dynamic Kite aspect pattern that shines a light on the Minor Grand Trine of Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune. 

Sun Kite -- September 24

The Sun represents the light of conscious awareness. When it activates an outer planet transit, it can illuminate the underlying archetypal dynamics that have been occurring beneath our perception. In the collective sphere, this may be when the evolutionary power of the Minor Grand Trine suddenly comes into focus, e.g., through media or political narratives that highlight the historic and creative significance of what’s unfolding. On a personal level, this transit may help us to see more about our unique role in the emerging cosmic drama – how we are called to channel these world-changing forces into specific forms that express our unique talents and life experience.

In the first week of October, Venus forms a conjunction with the South Node of the Moon. As the ruler of Libra, Venus symbolizes the drive to relate, engage, and harmonize, while the lunar South Node represents old patterns, identities, and karmic imprints that once supported us but now limit our growth. When Venus crosses the South Node, we may become aware of old ways of relating we’re ready to outgrow, perhaps highlighted through an encounter with a person with whom we’ve shared karmic history. Since the conjunction is taking place in Virgo, these limiting patterns could involve being overly humble, self-critical, or even servile in our relationships – a ‘less-than’ posture we’re now ready to release to make room for a new, more balanced style of relating to emerge. 

In the collective sphere, the conjunction of Venus and the South Node could manifest as a deeper reckoning with the toxic nature of public discourse today, and may bring up our collective fatigue with polarization and dehumanization. In the wake of recent political violence, it could result in renewed calls for healthier ways of expressing disagreement in a context of mutual respect and human connection.

Then on October 14, Venus moves to 1 degree of Libra, again activating the Kite pattern with the Minor Grand Trine, but now with the planet of love and beauty at the base. 

Venus Kite -- October 14

Having let go of old relational habits during the conjunction of Venus and the South Node, we are now available to channel the immense creative power of the dawning New Earth energies into bold new possibilities, especially in our relational lives. Existing relationships could be re-invigorated, exciting new ones may begin, and unexpected social opportunities could emerge. On the global stage, we might see diplomatic breakthroughs, the formation of unexpected alliances, or even the signing of peace treaties. World-changing expressions of artistic or cultural beauty could be seeded at this time. A quiet revolution of values may be initiated in the public sphere, inviting us into a more heart-centered and relational future.

Despite the widespread sense of collective angst, the New Earth energies are here – and rising. The birth of an age is never a tame affair. This Libra season may illuminate our personal role in the great unfolding and offer us a direct taste of its liberating possibilities within our most intimate relationships. More than ever, this revolution is rising from the ground up. With joy as our compass, we need only take the next step.