The zero degree of Aries aligns to the northern hemisphere and its annual rotation of Equinoxes and Solstices where Aries marks the beginning of Spring which is the beginning of Autumn in the southern hemisphere. The wheel of twelve archetypes revolves itself at this degree which initiates new patterns and paradigms. It marks a whole fresh cycle of the hero’s journey so it is like a seed point. Now the stellium on this point is dispersing, it is becoming more evident day by day as we plough through into the second quarter of 2025. For any major conjunction to happen here is highly significant and we need to acknowledge this deeper shift in the collective.
For two giants archetypes- Saturn and Neptune- to meet at the doorway of the zodiac here is a major turning point. This degree point calls for our attention. Saturn-Neptune has a synodic cycle and conjunctions happen every 36.4 years, but we have not seem one at this zero point of Aries for centuries so this conjunction is unique and powerful.
The world axis is a mega restart point in the zodiac. It heralds the new, the fresh, the original. But like all things look harder and you see the shadow and that’s the dark side which is the 29° of Pisces. That’s the loss to the new beginning. The snake has to shed its skin, eat its own tail and go through a rite of passage to be reborn. It’s the Alpha and Omega. So symbolically at least endpoint anaretic degree of Pisces and the beginning degree of Aries have to be considered together as one hybrid gateway point.
Saturn is about hard-core reality and Neptune is nebulous unreality and the dreamworld so when these two planets combine is where all the non-solid elements are given cortico-steroids but at the same time unreality fights back to assert layer upon layer of interpretation. The corporeal and incorporeal fight it out. It is not all necessarily good and we might ask: are the boundaries real or a figment of the imaginary realm, and are our mental structures both growing and receding at the same time, so in a state of oscillating flux?
The scene in Christopher Nolan’s film Inception (2010) comes to mind where in the lucid dream training Dom Cobb (Leonardo di Caprio) instructs architecture student Ariadne (Elliot Page) to enter a version of reality that turns gravity on its head. The facades of buildings alter position. It shifts from perpendicular to a melting wall bending upwards to the power of the mind. This toys with normal perspective. Nolan wrote the script about ‘dream stealers’ -and there are plenty of those around in this era. Yet it also borrows ideas from The Manchurian Candidate (1962) where thoughts can be implanted into sleeper cell types ready who are unconsciously motivated to do the evil bidding of their controllers. These are the ones who work surreptitiously in ‘hidden’ mode. Neptune asks us to watch out for deceptions of this kind at play in the collective as Saturn has a tendency to enforce them.
2: The Timeline
In 2025 if things seem still hidden, it may be a time when revelations shock you. They shift perception sometimes in radical ways, from how life used to be to a fresh perspective. It could be that your world view is melting and in the instinctive effort to hold on to what we knew and relied on, we become even more fixed and blinded to the changes needed.
This is a time when the fundamental building blocks of life and society can be questioned -where the logic of the 3D blurs into a multi-dimensional world requiring a reshuffling and adaptation of beliefs. Morale and energy can be low and hard to diagnose with this aspect and darker thoughts may emerge from nowhere into the collective, weighing people down. It may feel like your energy is slowly being siphoned away without you knowing where it goes. I think that may have been especially true when Saturn-Neptune squared Pluto in 1809-1810, and Saturn, Neptune conjoined with Pluto as it did in 1881-1882. The triple conjunction of Saturn, Neptune and Uranus in 1989 has given that particular conjunction a dose of originality as well.
The focus in 2025-26 is all in Aries at this first degree which is the pioneer sign that wants to be first and foremost. Aries people have courage and energy to burn but often lack caution. We have not seen this conjunction in a fire sign since 1703 when it was in Sagittarius. So already we are seeing a return of a fiery religious warfare of heady belief sets and ideologies willing to fight it out and ignoring all the collateral damage.
Neptune entered Aries on March 30th. Saturn is at 29° of Pisces during May perhaps bringing a final reality check and a few endings of note. Then Saturn follows Neptune and enters Aries on May 25th. Saturn and Neptune then will be within one degree until August when they come within half a minute of each other at 1° of Aries.
Neptune re-enters Aries on January 27th and Saturn re-enters Aries on February 15th. So this is when the conjunction ramps up to its peak. They come close to exact at 0° on February 20th/21st1st. Saturn finally goes one degree ahead of Neptune by February 23rd and by the end of March they are already 3-4° separated but the effect will linger on.
3: The Saturn-Neptune Cycle
The link between the Saturn-Neptune cycle to the history of Russia is known in Mundane astrology, and it certainly seems to be true that the conjunction years coincide with key events in Russian history. That includes before and after the Communist Soviet Union phase where Russia was restructured.
1380
The Saturn-Neptune conjunction was in Aries on the 21st March 1380 which marked the Battle of Kulikovo against the Mongol hordes. Historians don’t always agree and the significance of this date is disputed, but it is generally considered to be the turning point that led to the establishment of Russia itself.
1703 Saturn-Neptune was in Aries again on May 27th of 1703 which marked the foundation of the city of St Petersburg by Tsar Pyotr. The marsh land on the river Neva was won in a war against Sweden. This city was hugely significant as a ‘window to Europe’ with several palaces, museums, theatres and bridges. It has strong links to the work of both Gogol and Dostoevsky who set ‘Crime and Punishment’ in the city. On this day Saturn and Neptune were 5° apart in Aries.
1917 A Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Leo occurred in the year of the Russian ‘Bolshevik’ Revolution which culminated in the ‘October’ revolution of 1917 but it had developed in stages leading to this breaking point.
Kustodiev, the Bolshevik
The Bolshevik Cheka and NKVD were among the most irrational of psychopaths and some of the massacres they committed were horrific. They matched the killings engineered by Robespierre and Marat in the ‘Reign of Terror’ of the Jacobins in France after the beheading of King Louis XVI in 1793. Both movements were intensely ‘ideologically’ driven by an urge to ‘deconstruct’ the old and corrupt system, but they too deprived people of their humanity by using ‘the-ends-justify-the-means’ method which entailed violence.
The combination of Saturn (restriction) and Neptune (deception, lies, mystification) points to the ultra negative side of this aspect. Polish author Lobachevsky compared psychopathic governments such as this one in the Soviet Union to people having a socio-pathic partner -and my sympathies go out to anyone locked in that situation. He called it a ‘pathocracy’. He said that eventually people in such relationships suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome and extreme neurotic conditions. He said also that the machinations of politics and religion are closely linked as tools of social control. It happens most frequently in religious cults, but the psychology is the same in political movements so it can come up as a theme when Saturn co-mingles with Neptune.
Regarding the other players in the Russian revolution as portrayed in Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) there is the pig Old Major (Lenin); and the pig Snowball (Trotsky). Lenin (22/4/1870) a Taurus, incidentally has no direct conjunction between Saturn-Neptune. But his Neptune/Mars is square to Uranus, square to the Moon and trine to Saturn in Sagittarius which can suggest a very resourceful revolutionary leader.
In the same way Trotsky (7/11/1879), a Scorpio, had Saturn and Neptune in semi-sextile aspect, not a conjunction. But his Sun was directly opposite to Neptune, and his Pluto/Mars in the same sign of Taurus were square to the Moon in Leo. This also suggests a propagandist of sharp instincts interested in power. But going by the Saturn-Neptune is linked to the history of Russia theory, this might hint that Lenin and Trotsky -both so tied to the fortunes of Russia, were temporarily outsiders ‘re-implanted’ into Russia to after being in exile in London. This is despite the fact that Trotsky was born in Odessa and Lenin in Oblast. 1952 and 1953.
The Saturn-Neptune in Libra was a three-hits conjunction:
1: 21st November, 1952
2: 21st May, 1953
3: 21st July, 1953
Josef Stalin (6/12/1878) a Sagittarius, headed one of the most tyrannical of totalitarian systems Russia had ever seen, replacing the previous corrupt oligarchy with a new one – ‘rebranded’ as it were. The phrase ‘a single death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic‘ is loosely attributed to Stalin. That coldness about human lives fits the pattern of the psychopath. He died on March 5th, 1953 which links him to this ‘Russia’ timeline. But Stalin’s Neptune was square to Jupiter, not Saturn; and his Saturn was square to his Sun/Venus.
Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, a Libran, was born on 7th October, 1952, just six months earlier. He is still the current leader of Russia and in a strong position regarding gas resources. Opinion however is extremely split as to whether he is a monster or an enlightened leader. Putin has this Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Libra so he belongs with the other ‘leaders’ Tony Blair and Xi Jinping (see Part 2) in this Saturn-Neptune in Libra generation. Perhaps that it was in Libra this time bestowed more balance and legal acumen- and it’s good to remember that Libra wants peace but is not averse to conflict either. Venus in mythology could stir up a lot of trouble for those she hated. So we may have to wait for all the dust from the War to settle before seeing how any geo-political restructuring pans out.
1953 was also the year the Korean War ended (July 27th) and that cemented the division between North and South Korea that exists to this day making South Korea act more like an island than a peninsula. But it highlights this extreme split of ideologies and the tension that comes with this conjunction.
1989
This time the Saturn-Neptune conjunction was in Capricorn. This was the the year the Berlin Wall was dismantled. The wall began its demise on November 9th 1989 and Jupiter played a role too as it was opposite the conjunction at this time but in Cancer. Jupiter enlarges issues good or bad. It was also the year of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing from April. These were highly significant events on a symbolic level marking huge political shifts e.g. how it precipitated the rapid reunification of Germany from its Cold War-style division. Also, it did not take long for the USSR to fall apart from there in 1991 and Russia returned to its earlier borders.
Having outlined all this, it is also good to be aware that history is the version written by the victors. Important facts and interests may be missing from the record books. At the very least, key events can be sidelined merely through a particular interpretation. Nietzsche said the modern concept of history is flawed, as it can can become a kind of fiction used to justify events in the present, so it has to be taken with a pinch of salt. Also, there could be asynchronous events in different parts of the world triggered by the same archetypes but unknown to each other. Richard Tarnas pointed out that the 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty incident that occurred in the Pacific Ocean quite independently of the French Revolution over in France.
4: The Saturn-Neptune Conjunction
So what can we expect in February 2026? The changes we may already be feeling could intensify during August, then recede as Saturn slips back into Pisces at the beginning of September- it goes back as far as 25°. Many Piscean unresolved sensitivities resurface for review- it is basically not over until it’s over. Then it resumes serious business in early 2026 as the conjunction locks into place by February 16th, but becomes precise to the minute at 0°-45′ at 1.30pm on February 20th, 2026.
This is the summit of this cycle and it will bring major beginnings because of the power of this zero-degree point. It will affect everyone regardless of whether you have a Saturn-Neptune conjunction in your chart. But those born in1953 and 1989 may feel it more strongly, even if it does not oppose or square the exact decan of the previous conjunction. They have its imprint in their charts so it resonates more for them.
Saturn and Neptune will both be co present in Aries until 2028 and will not conjunct again until 2061-2 in the Air sign of Gemini when the fusion of the two will conjunct the Sun and Sedna opposite asteroid Urania. But that is a long way off.
Saturn conjunct Neptune (with Urania), February 20th, 2026
The conjunction chart shows that asteroid Urania who represents astrology/astronomy is there in the configuration too. This is not just the prominence of astrology in cultural life, but also that there may be fresh perspectives that arise, mind-altering views of the universe. Perhaps this will be news from astronomers, or perhaps more evidence of how the intergalactic points are influencing the Earth. The Galactic Centre (27° of Sagittarius), the Super Galactic Centre (2° of Libra), the Great Attractor (14° of Sagittarius) and the Shapley Attractor (2° of Scorpio) are all compelling points in the chart worth investigating. They appear to have links to star systems that some feel a deep-seated affinity to without being able to explain why. The Shapley Attractor is for example conjunct asteroid Lillith.
All these points may come into the foreground at this time as anyone with planets at the beginning of Libra will also feel the Saturn-Neptune conjunction as it is in direct opposition to it as well as being bang on the Super Galactic Centre. This is all in addition to all the asteroids, T.N.O.s and dwarf planets that have woven in lesser known cultural archetypes into the ever- expanding astrological narrative.
Asteroid Ceres, the mother of Persephone, for example is conjunct Neptune on May 20th adding to the narrative and emphasis on this ‘creator’ degree. Ceres represents grief, motherhood, and control of the grain and the seasons and therefore provision of food and was a key part of the all important conjunction of Saturn/Pluto in January of 2020 that marked the beginning of his past five years of trauma.
Haumea, now designated as a ‘dwarf planet’, is currently at the early degrees of Scorpio which means it is conjunct the Shapley Attractor and therefore radiating the regenerative power of this formidable archetype. Haumea is the Hawaian goddess of fertility, wild plants, the forest, child birth and fire. Haumea is therefore square to Pluto in Aquarius. It is worth noting that there’s a deep connection between Scorpio and Aquarius that is often overlooked. Uranus is exalted in Scorpio and Uranus rules Aquarius and so rules this Pluto in Aquarius effect, the cornerstone of the whole era. So it is to Uranus we should look for the cold, objective scope of all the innovations and changes to come which could make for a ‘fertile’ era since Pluto will be 20 years in Aquarius. The ‘square’ angle suggests these changes can be disruptive and may not be easy.
Sedna by Anthony Galbraith, Fine Art America
There is also Sedna, goddess of the deep sea, seals, dolphins and whales is at 1° of Gemini and will be conjunct Uranus by 5th August, 2025. This is sextile to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction which is also sextile to Pluto in Aquarius. So Sedna, deep sea renewal, is a thread in the picture too as she is ruler of the seas much like Neptune.
I also feel there is a little hint of Proteus in Sedna. Proteus was a shape-shifting seal herder and protege of Poseidon/Neptune. He never revealed the truth until the questioner had the right question which is a bit like the observer effect. What the seas can reveal at this time may surprise us all. So watch for news of the oceans and seas.
Aries is very forthright and direct- they know no other way. But Saturn in Aries can bring a greater sense of caution to any impulsive plans to take off anywhere so he’s the reluctant pioneer preferring to plan carefully than opt for a spree. Consider how many top actors have Saturn in Aries: Terrence Stamp, Oliver Reed, Sir Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, John Hurt and Guy Pearce- and these are just the ones from the UK. This may have lent them the required ‘controlled passion’ needed to reach the top of their game. But this might come with added caution and the need for hard work to develop their skills as performers.
Neptune in Aries on the other hand brings a breadth of artistic vision, an impulse to write poetry and increase your spiritual vibes. So feeling that impulse to create may increase greatly. It lifts all efforts to a whole new level- and with Saturn there it may help you to take it more seriously and do the necessary labour. Natives with this placement include people like Tycho Brahe, Benjamin Franklin, Grigory Rasputin, William Butler Yeats, Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Gertrude Stein, Marcel Proust and Mahatma Ghandi.
When the two planets mesh together it is good for athletes and yogis and those devoted to their physical disciplines- and to their devotional rituals (Bhakti Yoga) whether that is doing daily offerings, singing, using gongs, marimbas, wind chimes and subtle ambient music or whatever it takes you to that sublime inner space of bliss. They could take these practices to the next level with this conjunction, working on consistency rather than attempting to achieve perfection. Or, it could be that you want to begin such practices more than ever now as this takes place in a fire-starter of a sign Aries which radiates inspiration, dynamism, honesty and authenticity. There’s a ‘Just Do It’ feeling to it.
Also, someone or something spiritual (Neptune) could inspire you take action to be less materially minded, more understanding of others in the world. That includes increased awareness of corrupt practices that may no longer be able to persist. But you build a structure (Saturn) for doing that which grounds it in the real. An example is singer-songwriter Lou Reed himself a Pisces and ruled by Neptune. In his later life , Reed maintained his failing health by practising Tai Chi from a Korean Master, Ren Guangyi who he even took on tour with him. Reed distilled the essence of the graceful physical movements into music in Hudson River Winds Meditations (2007). And I cannot forget that Bruce Lee the master of Martial Arts himself said ‘Be Like Water‘- Neptune and Sedna rule the waters on Earth.
These two planets combine what is known and unknown- the real and unreal. The fallout of that clash may trigger an expansion of the standard world view. We could suddenly be flooded with new perspectives on history and the potential of the universe, and new scientific discoveries. Also, a new type of currency or digital ID may be proposed for use.
Time may feel like it is ‘looping back’ as in begin again as Saturn rules the cycles of Time and death as he wields a sickle which symbolises that we cannot escape the allotted time. Neptune melts the idea of time. We can ask: Is time linear or cyclical enacting an eternal return? Here is where we might think about the Yuga cycles on the timeline that Sri Yukteswar proposed. According to Bibhu Dev Misra we began the transitional shift from the Kali Yuga on March 21st, 2025 and that it may culminate in 2029 and 2036 as the Hopi Indians and Edgar Cayce’s predictions suggest. But nothing happens suddenly but goes in overlapping phases. Whether you believe in any of this or not, at the very least we can sense that all is not right with the world, and begin to feel mysterious deep-sea changes arising within us.
Khalil Gibran’s words are useful to contemplate how time appears to us; it goes by the clock but try to bring it back and it fades like smoke. He said, “Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.”
The recent discovery of what lies under the Khafre pyramid on the Giza plateau already points to this. A construction extending 2 kilometres deep has been found which validates Graham Hancock’s theories that history much much longer and more extended and more mysterious than we thought. Is it even cyclical history? This points back to the Yuga cycle.
Another special phenomenon this year is that the Saturn-Neptune conjunction is also the mid-point between sextiles creating an extraordinary triangle – a grand minor trine between Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini. This connects the energies in a supportive manner in a kind of cat’s cradle. This could prove to be the saving grace of this period of time where the most damaging effects are given an uplift through other worldly kinds of inspiration. This aspect is in action in 2025 and into 2026 and will hopefully bring in fresh input for change from out of the box. Tune in to that and see what solutions arise.
There is radical pioneer energy here for sure. Expect some trailblazing from people who come out of the blue, and a lot of high strangeness – the bending of psychic reality and more people will be able to see the glitches in the matrix – those slight disruptions that allow us to see that the world and how it is constructed could be an episode of The Truman Show. This could be due to a proliferation of approaches to life that could be game-changers helping us to revise our mindsets more easily.
Children born at this time 2025-2026 might turn into Ninja Warriors with a formidable strength generated from that zero degree. They might need help to fully mature into that power. A lot of the established boundaries may just collapse because they were quite often rested on porous foundations.
It was always a good thing to do but the timing is right to get the full benefit from your spiritual practices and disciplines, from any daily rituals, or Yoga, Tai Chi, Fasting, or more detailed journaling, any practice that increases your dream work and propels your intuitive powers to new levels. Be open to new ideas; changing your mind is a sign of intelligence not weakness as long as it does not come with dishonesty.. The idea that kept us stuck in a materialistic model of the world could loosen up and people will begin to consider different ways to achieve success and status that are less about the consumption-driven world, the possessions we own, and more about the psychological and emotional value that our skills and actions achieve for us.
We can guess how the power of these planets might work upon individuals in a more personal way by checking where is the zero degree point of Aries in your charts and by doing that hope to relish or contain, as needs be, some of the world-shattering influence it may have.
The majority of sources are from astrodienst.com, Britannica.com, Wikipedia, Biography.com and biographical videos on You Tube unless otherwise stated and lodged in a hyperlink.
All images from Wikimedia Commons and/or Wikipedia and therefore in the public domain.
Growing, guiding, nurturing, cultivating, encouraging, accepting kindness and truly understanding your place in life and the planetary archetypes and cycles of change.
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The scene in Christopher Nolan’s film Inception (2010) comes to mind where in the lucid dream training Dom Cobb (Leonardo di Caprio) instructs architecture student Ariadne (Elliot Page) to enter a version of reality that turns gravity on its head. The facades of buildings alter position. It shifts from perpendicular to a melting wall bending upwards to the power of the mind. This toys with normal perspective. Nolan wrote the script about ‘dream stealers’ -and there are plenty of those around in this era. Yet it also borrows ideas from The Manchurian Candidate (1962) where thoughts can be implanted into sleeper cell types ready who are unconsciously motivated to do the evil bidding of their controllers. These are the ones who work surreptitiously in ‘hidden’ mode. Neptune asks us to watch out for deceptions of this kind at play in the collective as Saturn has a tendency to enforce them.
Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, a Libran, was born on 7th October, 1952, just six months earlier. He is still the current leader of Russia and in a strong position regarding gas resources. Opinion however is extremely split as to whether he is a monster or an enlightened leader. Putin has this Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Libra so he belongs with the other ‘leaders’ Tony Blair and Xi Jinping (see Part 2) in this Saturn-Neptune in Libra generation. Perhaps that it was in Libra this time bestowed more balance and legal acumen- and it’s good to remember that Libra wants peace but is not averse to conflict either. Venus in mythology could stir up a lot of trouble for those she hated. So we may have to wait for all the dust from the War to settle before seeing how any geo-political restructuring pans out.
Another special phenomenon this year is that the Saturn-Neptune conjunction is also the mid-point between sextiles creating an extraordinary triangle – a grand minor trine between Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini. This connects the energies in a supportive manner in a kind of cat’s cradle. This could prove to be the saving grace of this period of time where the most damaging effects are given an uplift through other worldly kinds of inspiration. This aspect is in action in 2025 and into 2026 and will hopefully bring in fresh input for change from out of the box. Tune in to that and see what solutions arise.
Proteus Astrology 