Dear Friend and Reader:
We are about to experience the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries. Some of the freshmen may be confused because there are two conjunctions happening in Aries. One is the vastly under-reported meeting between Chiron and Eris that I have not been able to shut up about. The other is the conjunction of Saturn and Neptune that came close over the past few months and which is exact one time only, on Feb. 20.
When I was new to astrology, aspects involving Saturn and Neptune were the most difficult to read. Many of my clients had them; quite a few had (and still have) the Saturn-Neptune conjunction of the mid-1950s. A good example of a Saturn-Neptune thing in the world is a lighthouse, a physical structure designed to withstand the ocean, its tides and its storms.
In natal charts, it seemed to present a paradox — the planet of forms taking a conjunction from the planet that dissolves forms. The people had some of that and it was never easy to pin down the elements of their situation described by the conjunction.
In a subtle way, it’s tense. Neptune almost always acts invisibly, makes everything around it a bit (or a byte) difficult to see clearly.
Also, there is some inherent conflict in that Neptune is about inspiration and imagination, while Saturn is about practicality and realism. One result of the conjunction could be getting neither. The practical sense is washed out by Neptune and the imaginal sense is cluttered by Saturn. So special awareness is called for. Which leads to the theme of synthesis.
Synthesis of New Compounds
In addition to reading natal charts, I have a thing for weird historical charts, like nuclear meltdowns, chemical disasters, tests of the hydrogen bomb and various other incidents and accidents. When I started seeing Saturn-Neptune patterns in some of those charts. I came up with the delineation of “synthesis” — the formation of a new compound from previously existing elements or compounds.
Various types of suspensions and emulsifications come to mind. There is lithographic and offset printing, which is based on the idea that oil and water don’t mix. We could include colloidal metals, where solid molecules of silver or gold are suspended in liquid water. It’s about the getting together of anything that would not normally combine.
Saturn and Neptune are probably the planets that give people the most trouble in their charts. Whether the situation is issues with authority or the inability to focus; whether it’s an overly-somber or puritanical quality, or a delusional one, Saturn and Neptune cover much ordinary human territory.
Now they are getting together in rather spectacular fashion in the first degree of Aries. This is also called the Aries Point, a location in the chart that merges the individual into the collective, and vice versa. This of its own is a major theme resounding through the sky. For example, Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius describe the deep impact of the environment on individuals and relationships.
The Synthesis of Self
There is plenty to report about how these various developments describe current world affairs, particularly the impact of technology on people.
(Note, though seemingly over, Pluto in Capricorn was getting one last laugh when Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House two weeks ago, but he’s a little retro, and the effects of these transits do not just end suddenly one day.)
Saturn and Neptune spent much of the year in Aries without making the exact conjunction. Now they have retrograded into Pisces. Later in the year they turn direct, and in February both will re-enter Aries. The conjunction takes place on Feb. 20.
This occurs during what promises to be an exciting Sun in Pisces season. I say that because a month later, right before the spring equinox, we have the other conjunction going off — the third and final meeting of Chiron and Eris. So we have both conjunctions occurring in a narrow band of time, which will concentrate events (and they are already pretty packed in).
If we come from the standpoint of personal astrology, it’s a little easier to read Saturn-Neptune. I see it as providing necessary resources in a time when many people are going through a kind of breakdown and rebuilding of their characters. I am fond of saying that we live in “the golden age of materials,” because you can go to Lowes and buy 10 kinds of epoxy and 20 kinds of deck waterproofing.
Those are actually pretty good metaphors for the qualities of character we will need to synthesize, in order to stand up to various forms of faux-tribal pressures that exist in the digital age.
Deciding Who You Are in the Midst of Psychic Chaos
We are all under enormous pressure to be who we are not and to conform to some invisible, usually brainwashed pressure to to do so. Most people are so accustomed to doing this that they don’t even notice. ‘Who you are’ is not seen as a choice you make but as a fate you were dealt.
The most powerful call to awakening is described by another conjunction in Aries, that of Chiron and Eris — much deeper into the sign.
The Aries Point is where Aries begins. It’s a tiny vortex in the sky (and correspondingly, the chart) where collective influences bear down on individuals, and where individuals can stand up to those pressures. I am sorry to say that you may not know what you’re up against. The same forces that brought us the 2020 drama are back, with new manipulation tools at their disposal.
Five years on, many people are exhausted from the economic disorientation of the ‘pandemic’ era; finances are more brittle; and the propaganda machine is being pumped at high pressure from A.I. server warehouses (‘data centers’).
These are being designed to have the energy and water demands of Manhattan or Las Vegas. And all they will be doing is pushing propaganda into your phone, your computer and your mind.
That’s another fine example of Saturn-Neptune: the experience of delusional, agenda-driven “content,” half of which is A.I. slop.
In this environment, it’s essential to have a sense of who you are, and to stand up to the pressure not to be that person. But it’s also not easy to be in possession of that strength or awareness; the concepts barely exist. The easiest way to con people into out of self-knowledge is to drug them with massive amounts of amnesia-inducing content, truth fog, plus generally rampant frustration and alienation that few have given a name to.
I often ask, how do you know when you don’t know? Today I would ask, how do you know when you’re asleep? How do you know when you’re awake?
Your faithful astrolover,
