New Zodiacal Cycle

In historical times, few lunar cycles have been more significant than the current one, which practically coincided with the month of March. Being the Piscean lunation, we were expecting a great number of endings, and none more important than the 165-year cycle of Neptune, as we will see shortly. The new moon in the tenth degree of Pisces (“An aviator in the clouds”) was an accurate forecast for the energies Moon has distributed thus far. We are witnessing a number of endings happening in a typical Neptunian way—suddenly but not explosively—as if hit by a tsunami of acid. Earth’s shadow was seen during a powerful lunar eclipse over North America, so everyone could see the shadow aspects currently symbolized by that region. Indeed, barely a day after the eclipse and in the supposed cradle of democracy, president Trump disobeyed a direct order from a federal judge.

Mercury and Venus

That same day, March 15, Mercury began to move retrograde from the tenth degree of Aries and it now speeds towards Pisces for an important conjunction with Neptune at the end of the zodiac, Pisces 29°59′, just eight hours before Neptune ends its zodiacal cycle and is reborn in Aries. Recall that Venus began its retrograde motion from the eleventh degree of Aries on March 1, just after the new moon, and it will have its conjunction with Neptune on March 27. In the Sumerian myth of Inanna, you may recall, Inanna’s friend, Ninshubur, accompanies Inanna to the underworld for a profound metamorphosis from evening Inanna to morning Inanna, a myth of death and rebirth. As you may surmise, just like Inanna is Venus, Ninshubur is Mercury, both of which are going out of sight as “evening stars”—Mercury much fainter—and will return as “morning stars” after their inferior conjunctions with Sun. That they do their retrograde journey together, like in the myth, is already a bit unusual.

At another quite important level, Mercury and Venus returned from Aries to form exact conjunctions upon entering Pisces with Neptune, which has spent the entire month in the final degree of the zodiac. Both planets return from being in Aries’s first decanate, after having conjunctions with Sun in that sign and bringing Neptune information on what to expect in Aries. The boundary between Pisces and Aries is that of the past and the future, of a cycle that ends and another which begins. Importantly, the beginning cycle must not be saddled with remnants from the old cycle but start anew. Whereas Pisces has all the memories of the cycle that is ending, Aries is a sign without conscious memories, a phase to focus on the future.

Eclipse Portal Equinox

All of this, mind you, is happening after the lunar eclipse that began the eclipses season but before the solar eclipse that will end it, a time period known as the eclipse portal, when events directly connected to destiny and fate, even karmic, are to take place, according to traditional astrology. In particular, the spring equinox occurred during the eclipse portal. I said a few words in the last article about the equinox chart, shown again below.

Venus (Aries 4°19′) and Mercury (Aries 7°53′), found on the left-hand side of the chart, are seen moving retrograde towards exact conjunctions with Sun, shown erroneously at Aries 0°00′ instead of 0°01′, and with Neptune (Pisces 29°37′). We also noted in the last article that Mercury and Venus form Minor Grand Trines with Moon and Pluto, to allow for intensely emotional reflections on our thought processes and our values system.

Sun also forms a similar configuration that will affect us through the year, since the vernal-equinox chart depicts background energies for the upcoming astrological year. The trine between Sun and Moon will create a background of harmony within ourselves, our Yang and Yin may be in balance. Their sextiles with Pluto will inject power to our emotional side and our ego as the center of our conscious mind. All through the year, there will be energy for self-transformation (Sun and Pluto) and immense adaptability (Moon and Pluto) that will come in handy the rest of the year.

Solar Eclipse in Aries

The Last Quarter phase, a crisis of consciousness as we assimilate the full-moon messages, occurred on March 22, the same day of Venus’s inferior conjunction; the symbolic death of Inanna in the underworld. I failed to mention an important detail of Inanna’s myth: on her way down to the underworld, Inanna has to get rid of all her queenly possessions, one by one, and she is completely nude when she sees her sister, Ereshkigal. We should similarly denude ourselves from worldly possessions or earthly attachments that belong to whom we were before the awakening we are feeling, and which was made more intense since the Last Quarter.

The eclipse portal will close with the new moon and partial solar eclipse at exactly Aries 9°00′, as you can see in the chart below. It will occur on March 29 at 3:58 a.m. in California, 4:58 a.m. in Mexico City, or 11:58 a.m. in Central Europe.

This is the third article in a row in which we find a traffic jam in the final degrees of Pisces. The new moon will arrive with a stellium of Saturn at 24°11′, the North Node at 27°25′, Venus at 28°49′, and Neptune at 29°58’—the farthest it has gone into Pisces; Neptune got as far as 29°56′ last July before changing to retrograde motion. Even Mercury, at Aries 0°29, may be considered part of the stellium, for it will enter Pisces a few hours later and immediately be conjunct with Neptune. Importantly, the stellium will form sextiles with Uranus (Taurus 24°39′) and Pluto (Aquarius 3°31′), bringing the other two transpersonal planets on board, plus trines with a protective Mars in Cancer, at 22°47′. Six planets and the North Node are in the delivery room, so to speak, to see Neptune’s rebirth on March 30.

Sun and Moon are too far to be included in the stellium but form an exact semisquare with Uranus and wide sextiles with Jupiter and Pluto, which are made stronger because the Sun–Moon conjunction is within 0°33′ of the Jupiter–Pluto midpoint.¹ Jupiter and Pluto are linked to great wealth and power (oligarchies) and they form a sesquiquadrate aspect between them at the solar eclipse, an aspect for gaining consciousness similar to the opposition. The eclipse’s conjunction at their midpoint is bound to bring events related to various world oligarchies. Uranus in the final degrees of Taurus also refers to sudden jolts against wealth. Uranus will make sure that excesses against Earth, typically to obtain “earthly goods”, are exposed and rebelled against before entering Gemini in July.

Sabian Symbol

In the previous two paragraphs, we can see two major forces at play: one about endings, centered around the stellium in Pisces, and the other about beginnings, dramatically symbolized by a solar eclipse that kicks off the first lunation of the year. The image of the Sabian symbol for Aries 9² is: “A crystal gazer”, expanded as the development of an inner realization of organic wholeness. I emphasize wholeness because this first lunation is about understanding the holistic mindset which, as a bonus, leads to the type of open mind needed to navigate today’s chaotic waters.

The interplay between Pisces and Aries, specifically Mercury and Venus returning to Pisces to form a going-away stellium around Neptune, clearly mark a very important ending. Pluto portends the Age of Aquarius since it entered the sign for good last November while Neptune has been guiding us through the final years of the Age of Pisces. This is why Neptune is in Pisces in the new-moon seed—and solar eclipse, let’s not forget! Thus, we can use the waxing phases to work on individual and collective endings. They must be seen in the context of a new beginning. We must realize that the end of the old and the start of the new are two different views of the same Pisces–Aries boundary.

Neptune in Aries

The step from Pisces 30° to Aries 1° is a symbolic journey through the birth canal to emerge in a new cycle. The Sabian symbol for Aries 1 has the image: “A woman rises out of water, a seal rises and embraces her”, which Rudhyar interpreted as the emergence of a new individual consciousness out of the collective consciousness, which appears to the individual as unconsciousness. The seal represents the weight of the past (Pisces) trying to return the woman to the “womb” from which she emerged, the sea.

One day after the solar eclipse, on March 30 at “high noon”, which may be also interpreted in English to mean a “crucial moment”, Neptune will enter Aries for the first time since April 7, 1875, 150 years ago. As expected, the entrance chart (above) is nearly identical to that of the solar eclipse. Sun will have advanced one degree, to Aries 10°01′, but Moon will be at Aries 24°48′, over fifteen degrees ahead of the eclipse and forming a conjunction with Chiron (Aries 22°13′). Both of them form squares with Mars, bringing some emotional healing to the energy Mars provides to the stellium, and semi-sextiles with Uranus (Taurus 24°41′)—exact for Moon—for sudden or revolutionary energies. In mundane astrology, Moon represents the people of a nation, and these energies speak of making manifest the discontent present by citizens all over the world.

Chaotic Times

Once again, let us ponder on the the astrological times we are living. From November 19, 2024, when Pluto entered Aquarius, to July 7, 2025, when Uranus will enter Gemini, the three transpersonal and the two social planets will have changed signs. After Neptune on March 30, Saturn will enter Aries on May 25, followed by Jupiter entering Cancer on June 9. Sure, Jupiter changes sign every year, but Saturn spends more than three years in a sign, and it takes about seven years for Uranus, fourteen for Neptune and over twenty for Pluto to change signs. Yet all of them are doing it in a span of eight months! So many changes ought to feel chaotic.

New World Powers

Throughout history, empires were born from societies that controlled the oceans, ruled by Neptune in Roman mythology. Often, it seems, empires falter while Neptune is in Pisces and new ones rise when it moves onto Aries, usually after a violent war. Neptune’s 1534–1547 transit through Aries—much of it (1532–1553) with Pluto moving through Aquarius like we have now—saw the consolidation of the Spanish Empire after driving the Moors from their land. However the next transit, from 1697 to 1711, saw the War of Spanish Succession after the childless death of King Charles II of Spain, nicknamed The Bewitched. The empire was torn in Europe and England emerged as the next world power, along with France to some extent.

The last time, between 1861 and 1875, saw not only the US Civil War but also the Franco–Prussian War. Overall, the start of industrialization set us in the path on which we find ourselves today. Undoubtedly, the so-called ultra-liberal capitalism championed by the United States sowed its seeds back then. The question in everyone’s mind is what new “empire” will be born this time, and after which large conflict that will depose the US as the world’s power. I have talked about the similarities of what we are currently living and World War II, especially in the article about trends for 2025, and lately I have come to believe that there will be a worldwide economic confrontation akin to a third World War. Unfortunately, there will be bouts of violence, too, as economic conditions deteriorate, but I don’t foresee a global military war.

Global Implications

Generally speaking, when the slower planets (Saturn and farther) enter the “world axis”, defined as the four cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), we experience events having worldwide impact. Furthermore, the events manifest almost immediately if the sign is Aries. The European Union has a legal case pending against the big US tech companies and the ruling was due on March 25. Since the Trump administration already said it will back the companies, such ruling, expected to order the payment of billions of euros in fines, may trigger the global economic conflict that could likely be fueled by tariffs on April 2.

After Neptune, the next slow planet to change signs will be Saturn, also entering Aries. Incidentally, both planets will return to Pisces this year, adding to the unusual exchange of energy between Pisces and Aries, the signs of endings and beginnings. That said, in most cases having multiple entrances, the slower planets herald an entrance event after the first one and an exit event before the last one. For example, Pluto entered Aquarius three times, the first one coincided with the hoopla around ChatGPT and the last one was a few days after the US presidential election. Speaking of Artificial Intelligence, it will become a great tool to continue the shift from manufacturing to services. The next “empire” will have to dominate a new services sector, and it is unlikely to come from Silicon Valley.

Saturn and Neptune

I will talk more about Saturn in Aries before it enters the sign and forms an immediate same-sign conjunction with Neptune. However, they will have been acting in unison since the new moon of March 29. The conjunctions of Saturn and Neptune happen every 36 years, and often bring a redrawing of nation’s borders, especially when the conjunction is in Aries. Russia is a country traditionally affected by such conjunctions. In 1989, when we had the last conjunction, the Berlin Wall fell which initiated the Soviet Union’s collapse. The one prior (1953) coincided with Stalin’s death, and the one before (1917) with the Bolshevik Revolution. The actual conjunction won’t happen until February 20, 2026, but they will even be in the same degree of Aries this year, so the effects of this conjunction will last a year.

Personal Implications

The final days of the current month (and lunation) are packed with events of global significance, like the total lunar eclipse and the vernal equinox within the eclipse portal, which is why this article has been so focused on our external environment. The star of the show, Neptune, moves so slowly that their position by sign is shared by many people, nearly a generation. In a natal chart, the house where Neptune is posited refers to a field of experiences where we may receive inspiration, which comes from the Latin inspirare: to receive spirit. This is why Neptune is associated with religion (not with church), spirituality and mysticism. The entrance of Neptune in Aries is an opportunity for a spiritual rebirth within ourselves. If you know your chart, the house with the Pisces–Aries boundary, cusp in astrology, represents the type of experiences that may guide us to such rebirth.

As we saw earlier, in this weekend’s partial solar eclipse, the new-moon seed has Neptune in Pisces, so the energies of the stellium, powered by Mars, will bring opportunities and synchronicities to work on our spiritual rebirth, for it will be the final lunation, for at least 165 years, having in its seed the conjunction of Neptune and the North Node in Pisces. Regardless of where Neptune or the Pisces–Aries cusp are in your chart, we will all receive those energies throughout the month. Keep your sixth sense open for opportunities to feel compassion and act accordingly, and use a dream journal to keep track of Neptune’s messages. Mercury and Venus are retrograde but return from their trip to the underworld—Venus will reappear as the morning star the day after Neptune enters Aries—so the next lunation will continue to be a good time to reflect on our thought processes and values system.

Wrapping Up…

Going back and forth between Pisces and Aries may make us feel in a daze these days, as if we are awake within a dream. It may be difficult to sort out what is real and what is imagined. Astrology can help us realize that it is normal to feel buffeted and confused by the external chaos.

Joe Dispenza is fond of saying that our energy will be spent on where we center our attention. This is why we must be focused in our spiritual growth, ignoring what we see and hear in the news.

Being a new moon, we should declare our intentions for the lunation by Friday night. After gaining consciousness about our shadow side since the lunar eclipse, the next lunation has plenty of healing energy to work on it, due to Chiron’s placement.

Always Love. 🌹🙏💖

1. Midpoints are important resonances of two planetary processes, where their energies meet like a weak conjunction. ↩︎
2. The Sabian symbol corresponds to the ordinal degree of a zodiacal position. The first degree goes from 0°01′ to 1°00′, the second from 1°01′ to 2°00′, and so on. Therefore, the ninth degree of Aries will go from 8°01′ to 9°00′, where we find the eclipse’s Sun–Moon conjunction. ↩︎