Entering the Rapids

Astro Notes for New Moon in Aries cycle (March 29-April 27)

Firstly, my apologies for posting these notes later than usual. I convened my annual ORACLE event on the day of the new moon in Aries and have since been immersed in a flurry of activities related to the launch of several new initiatives all at once. Such is the nature of this mid-March to mid-April period, one of the busiest and most intense passages of the year. (If you missed the ORACLE event — my highlights of the astrological year ahead — and want to watch it you can do so HERE.)

It’s been Aries season since March 21, so we are in that first phase of the annual cycle associated with fresh starts and new beginnings. Yet this year the feeling is a little different — at least at the beginning of this monthly cycle — because there is just so much happening on multiple levels. We are still catching our breath from an extraordinary eclipse season in March that signified a profound moment of karmic completion. Just one day after the solar eclipse, on March 30, Neptune entered Aries, marking the end of one 165 year cycle of Neptune around the zodiac and the beginning of another. For the last fourteen years Neptune has been completing this long cycle in the sign of Pisces, where it has been deep sea-diving in the infinite ocean of consciousness. For much of this period we've explored expanded states of consciousness, dissolved into something greater than us, opened to big visions -- yet also drifted somewhat on the currents of being. In this light, the movement of Neptune into Aries may feel like we are waking up from a long dream. The consciousness that is awakening in us is much sharper, more defined, more lucid, more action-oriented. We are being called into our spiritual sovereignty, so that we can step into the archetype of the soul warrior and take bold action in alignment with the spiritual truths we have realized.

But while we may sense that an immense shift has just occurred, the changes are not visible yet. Neptune is subtle but profound in its effects. Its entrance into Aries is like a deep ocean swell that is barely perceptible at first but will inevitably elevate everything on the surface.

The fire of Aries season is also muted somewhat by Venus and Mercury moving retrograde in late Pisces, where they meet up with Saturn and the North Node. All this Piscean energy could leave us feeling heavy, water-logged, and exhausted, even while we are also being uplifted by the first intimations of the new energies now coming in. This is especially so because Mars, the ruler of Aries, has been moving through Cancer — another water sign — since early January (much of that time moving backwards) and won’t leave until April 17. This extended odyssey of Mars in Cancer has been quite the emotional slog. For the part of us that likes to move into action (Mars), it may feel like we’ve been running a marathon in water.

At the same time, for sheer density of significant astrological action, the period of mid-March to mid-April is exceptional. Despite our fatigue, we are being called to take a number of important steps in alignment with our soul path and the new codes just arriving. Similarly there is a flurry of activity taking place on the world stage.

If we are tempted to throw up our hands in despair at being able to keep up with all these developments, we would do well to realize that the passage we are going through is not leading to breakdown, but breakthrough. Neptune entering Aries opens the floodgates for the most concentrated period of change in our lifetimes. By July 7, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus all will have changed signs within a little over 4 months of each other, resulting in a cascade of major shifts in the cultural zeitgeist in a cosmic nanosecond. The good news? As these outer planets change signs, they form a rare and auspicious pattern -- known as a Minor Triangle -- made entirely of harmonious aspects. This pattern will form the dominant motif for the next three to four years, indicating that we are now on the very cusp of a period of extraordinary collective breakthrough. (I’ve written about this configuration before and will do so again when it comes closer to full power this July/August.)

One of the components of this Minor Triangle aspect pattern that comes into exact alignment at the beginning of this new moon cycle and will remain a strong influence throughout the month (indeed for most of the next year) is a sextile between Saturn in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus. With all of the dizzying changes occurring in our world this year, this transit brings a welcome balance of stability and innovation. It will provide an important check to the radically new ideas, systems, and technologies that will be coming online, grounding those innovations in reality and testing them for lasting value. It will support responsible experimentation and bring a sense of steady progress. After the intense trials and tribulations of the last several years, we might experience with this transit a sense of hard-won liberation from our suffering.

During the first week of April, Mars joins Saturn and Uranus in a harmonious Minor Triangle, with Mars in Cancer in a trine to Saturn in Pisces, and both Mars and Saturn in a sextile to Uranus in Taurus.

With Mars interacting creatively with Uranus and Saturn, we might receive revolutionary yet practical solutions to upgrade outdated structures in our lives, not by burning them down or making drastic changes but by reconfiguring them from within. We may be surprised by how easily and profoundly we find ourselves elevated, as if we have suddenly jumped back on track with our Golden Timeline after years of struggle.

From April 4-7, Venus joins the party, forming an exact conjunction with Saturn in Pisces, a trine to Mars in Cancer, and a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. This configuration could see breakthroughs (Uranus) in matters of the heart (Venus), especially those that follow the courageous expression of emotional truths (Mars in Cancer) and a soulful commitment to one’s partner or loved ones (Venus-Saturn in Pisces). Take a mature risk with your heart at this time and the Universe may meet you with surprising grace.

On April 7 Mercury comes out of retrograde and on April 12 Venus follows suit. We then have a three-week window from April 13 to May 4 when all the planets are moving forward. By mid-April we may, therefore, finally feel the heaviness and pressure start to lift and be able to move forward more easily. This will especially be the case after April 18, when Mars finally leaves Cancer and enters Leo where it is free to act with much more warmth, positivity, daring, and fun.

From April 18-22, Saturn forms an exact conjunction with the North Node at 26 degrees of Pisces. Saturn in late Pisces is now in the very final stages of a thirty year cycle, bringing closure and completion to a major chapter of our lives and helping us to see how far we’ve come in our evolutionary journey. With the conjunction of Saturn and the North Node, we may be asked to make a substantial soul decision to align with our karmic path and destiny. It is advisable to take this process seriously and to choose the path of the highest integrity, for this decision will have enduring consequences. On April 22, Venus joins Saturn and the North Node in a triple conjunction, suggesting that a beautiful seed can be planted at this time. When Saturn joins Neptune in Aries at the end of May, the new dreams that are currently invisible will start to take form in manifest structures; thus the decisions we make at this pivotal time (April 18-22) will shape what’s possible then.

The last week of this cycle, April 20-27, promises fireworks as it features the last of three Pluto-Mars oppositions we’ve experienced since November last year. Pluto in Aquarius opposite Mars in Leo brings searing intensity, with Pluto having a cosmic mandate to demolish any egocentric expressions of willfulness that do not align with the evolutionary intentions of the universe. This transit could easily trigger explosive events on the world stage as nations and leaders jostle for power in an increasingly unstable global political environment. On a personal front, the best way to approach this transit is to embrace the intensity as a fiery initiation into your next level of power and integrity. We cannot avoid the crucible, but we can sincerely wish to grow in alignment with our soul. In this way, we can welcome the purifying flames when they come and even find enjoyment in their intensity, knowing they are bringing us closer to our essence.

The bottom line: With this Aries new moon cycle, we have crossed the Rubicon. The floodgates of global transformation are opening, the final push out of the birth canal has begun. Yet there is good reason to trust the process. Steady as she goes, following our own guidance as to what brings us the most authentic joy, we can each now start to step more fully into the roles we were destined to play at this historic time of great change.

(Karmic) Endings and Beginnings

Astro Notes for New Moon in Pisces Cycle (February 27-March 29)

I truly feel honored and deeply excited to share about this month’s astrological cycle, initiated by the New Moon in Pisces on February 27. Regular readers of my Astro Notes will know that I have been emphasizing for many months (if not years) the historic nature of the passage we are about to enter. I think the astrology clearly indicates that the next 12-15 months will see the most concentrated and dramatic period of cultural change in our lifetimes, representing our final push out of the birth canal and emergence into a fundamentally new era for humanity.

It could be said that this final push began in November last year, when Pluto entered Aquarius, signifying the beginning of a twenty year period of revolutionary cultural change. But although we have already been experiencing dramatic cultural shifts since then, ‘we ain’t seen nothing yet’ in comparison to what is to come.

From early December through to February 23, Mars was moving retrograde, dampening our forward progress and putting many of our ambitions on hold. (I spent almost the whole of February sick in bed watching re-runs of old tv series! Those last few weeks of the Mars retrograde felt to me like being in a SWAMP.) This long Mars retrograde period has meant that the start of this year has been like the (relative) calm before the storm.

FINALLY, on February 23, Mars stationed direct at 17 degrees Cancer. Then we immediately had a week — from February 23 to March 1 — when all the planets were moving forward (this ended on March 1, when Venus turned retrograde). If you reflect on that week, you may remember noticing a jump start in your projects, as if a window suddenly opened that finally allowed you to move forward on multiple fronts.

(It should be noted, however, that even though Mars has now stationed direct, it will remain at 17 degrees of Cancer until March 11. So it’s not like we’re being shot out of a cannon — it will still take a little time for our drive and momentum to really get going again.)

But with this month’s new moon cycle — and the next — we are now set to truly take the plunge into irreversible systemic change.

On March 30, just after the next new moon, Neptune enters Aries. It’s hard to overstate the significance of this shift. Neptune will be crossing the Zero Point of the whole zodiac, the threshold of creation where spirit becomes matter, when the formless becomes form. It’s a moment of profound spiritual rebirth, signifying the beginning of a new 165 year cycle (the time it takes for Neptune to travel around the zodiac). In the following months, Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus will also change signs, so that by mid-July we’ll be truly in a different world.

So, for me, the ingress of Neptune into Aries on March 30 is the real ignition point of the most concentrated passage of change in our lifetimes.

Between now and then (i.e., during this new moon in Pisces monthly cycle), the overarching theme is a profound process of karmic completion and letting go, in order to make space for the tidal wave of new energies coming in.

Every Pisces season (the annual period when the Sun is in Pisces) is a time of closure. It is the final phase of the annual cycle when we’re able to reflect on our journey over the previous 12 months, acknowledge how far we’ve come, release any attachments we no longer want or need, and come to some form of completion so that we can be ready to begin the new cycle afresh.

During this year’s Pisces season, however, this dynamic of completion and release takes on a much more profound meaning due to there being an extraordinary gathering of planets in late Pisces.

Chart for March 14, 2025, with Saturn, Sun, North Node, and Neptune in late Pisces

With Neptune at the 29th and final degree of Pisces almost throughout the whole month of March, we are talking about completions on a soul level — the closure of cycles we may have been involved in for lifetimes. With the North Node in the mix, it deepens the karmic significance of these endings. We may become suddenly clear that we are simply done with parts of our lives that previously held great interest.

This dynamic may be especially strong from around March 11-20, when the Sun will move through late Pisces, joining first Saturn, then the North Node, then Neptune — illuminating what attachments in our lives need to be released.

During this period, we enter into eclipse season, with a total lunar eclipse at 23 degrees Virgo on March 14. This is the final eclipse season taking place with Neptune in Pisces. The day after this eclipse season ends (March 29), Neptune will move into Aries. The two weeks of the eclipse season are thus something like a cosmic womb for the profound process of karmic completion we will be going through at this time. With the lunar eclipse forming a tight opposition to Saturn and close trine to Uranus, we can expect major structural shifts that, though disruptive, may feel long overdue and ultimately very liberating.

The other significant influences that I want to highlight for this monthly cycle are the Venus and Mercury retrogrades. Venus moves retrograde for 6 weeks, from March 1 through to April 12, moving back from 10 degrees Aries to 24 degrees Pisces. Mercury retrograde is from March 14 to April 6, from 9 degrees Aries to 26 degrees Pisces. These cycles thus overlap in time, and also cover the same territory of the chart.

Venus retrograde is highly personal, encouraging us to be more introspective about our love life and what we truly value. We might find it more difficult to give and receive affection during this period, requiring us to reflect more deeply on our patterns in love. This can include examining any of our limitations in relation to self-love and self-confidence, and connecting more authentically with what we truly desire.

On March 21, the Sun enters Aries, and we begin a new annual cycle. Just as Pisces season and its theme of endings is much more profound this year because of the presence of so many planets in late Pisces, so too is the theme of new beginnings made much more powerful this Aries season by Neptune's ingress into Aries on March 30.

Yet even though there will be a tremendous wave of inspiration coming through, Venus and Mercury will still be moving retrograde at this time. There may be delays or setbacks that require us to slow down, and ensure that the new actions we feel inspired to take are truly aligned with the novel energies coming in, and not unconsciously repeating the old patterns we have just released.

Entering the Slipstream

Astro Notes for New Moon in Aquarius monthly cycle (January 29-February 28)

Yawn. Stretch. Blink blink. For many people, although the (calendar) year begins on January 1, it doesn't really get going until February. This year, January may have felt especially sluggish since Mars, the planet of action and drive, and Jupiter, the planet of growth and expansion, were moving retrograde, correlating with a more reflective period of inward preparation for the momentous changes to come. In the context of this historic year when everything changes, this may have felt for many like a period of (relative) calm before the storm.

Over the course of this month's new moon cycle, we will come out of this extended period of introspection, and enter the slipstream of historic transformation.

To be sure, with Mars still moving retrograde until February 23, the forward momentum we are likely to experience will take place primarily on the level of vision rather than concrete action. But the seeds of intention we plant now will carry the numinous power of the new era dawning. In the months ahead, those seeds will sprout into visible form.

The new moon in Aquarius on January 29 is the first Aquarian new moon since Pluto entered that sign for good in November last year. As such, it represents a launching pad -- an ignition moment -- for the fresh, futuristic energies of the Pluto in Aquarius period (2024-2044). At 9 degrees of Aquarius, it forms a broad conjunction with Pluto (2 degrees Aquarius) and a close trine with Jupiter at 11 degrees Gemini, indicating the presence of powerful and expansive support for the visionary energies of Aquarius, especially in the realm of ideas. It's a seed moment for an entire era -- rather than moving too quickly into action, just pay attention to the quality of the energetic potential you sense at this time, along with any new ideas that come in that carry the vibration of the new energy.

On January 12 this year, the Lunar Nodes changed signs, with the North Node entering Pisces and the South Node moving into Virgo. When the North Node passes through the mystical sign of Pisces -- which it will do until mid-2026 -- the leading-edge of human consciousness becomes connected to Piscean ideals of transcendent love and trust in the divine unfolding.

In the first week of February, the North Node will form a conjunction with Neptune and Venus at 28 degrees Pisces. This transit represents a very profound moment of karmic completion and spiritual renewal. Conjunctions between the North Node and Neptune in Pisces are extremely rare, occurring only once about every 160-180 years. Historically they are associated with movements of spiritual revival and a resurgence of interest generally in non-material dimensions of reality. For example, the last time Neptune and the North Node met in a conjunction in Pisces was 1858, when Transcendentalist thinkers like Emerson and Thoreau were at the height of their influence, and the Spiritualist Movement, involving seances and spirit communication, flourished in England and America. It will be fascinating to observe what kinds of spiritual movements might arise in conjunction with this transit in our times.

From February 1-3, the North Node and Neptune are joined by Venus, the planet of love, making this profound transit more personal to us. Since this triple conjunction is occurring at 28 degrees Pisces -- the next to last degree of the whole zodiac -- there is a theme here of karmic cycles coming to an end. Soul contracts have been completed, karmic debts paid off, and we are now released to explore our next relational adventures from a new place of freedom. Yet, with Venus involved, there are no hard feelings. The sense of karmic completion feels right to all concerned.

On February 4, Jupiter turns direct at 11 degrees Gemini, having been moving retrograde since October 9 last year. Jupiter represents the principle of growth, success, and happiness. During its retrograde period, we may have been asked to reflect on something within us that gets in the way of our fulfillment and success, and we may have been tested to see if we are ready to expand into the next level of our development. By the time Jupiter moves forward on February 4, hopefully we will have examined the relevant issues and are now poised to advance again toward success and happiness. With Jupiter in information-seeking Gemini, this shift may come with a big download that fills us with renewed confidence in ourselves to move forward and go for our highest vision.

Then when Mars finally moves direct on February 23, our energy, drive, and passion will start to slowly return. While Mars has been moving backwards in Cancer these last couple of months (since December 8), we've been swimming in deep emotional waters, bringing healing to those parts of ourselves that get in the way of our ability to take authentic action. When Mars turns direct on Feburary 23, we will be able to put in motion the plans and strategies we've been developing during the more introspective period of the retrograde, but from a place of deeper emotional authenticity.

In the final five days of this new moon monthly cycle -- from February 23 to 28 -- all of the planets will be moving forward. Although this will not last for long (Venus moves retrograde on March 1 and Mercury follows soon thereafter), it will feel like a boon to be carried forward by the universe after such a long period of patient inward preparation. We are truly in the slipstream now, the final push out of the birth canal, hurtling toward the true birth moment of the dawning Aquarian Age.