Neptune and Saturn into Aries

The outer planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, have much longer orbits, meaning they move slower, and because of that we know their transits last longer and promise sweeping changes. To have all three move into new signs within a year of each other is notable. Pluto started its dance between the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius starting in March of 2023 and now has fully ingressed into Aquarius for its 20 year transit. As of March 30th, Neptune has started its ingress into Aries, and come July, Uranus will move into Gemini. Transformation is coming.

First, the nitty gritty details: Neptune moved into Aries on March 30, 2025. It will turn retrograde (which from our Earth POV looks to be going backwards) on July 4th. It will dip back into Pisces on October 22nd, turn direct on December 9th, before re-entering Aries for good on January 26, 2026. It will stay in Aries until March 24, 2039.  

Let’s look at where Neptune is coming from, or in other words, thoughts on Neptune’s transit through Pisces. Neptune started its adventure in Pisces back on April 4, 2011. Neptune is the modern ruler of Pisces, so there’s an ease in this sign–a coming home. When we evoke Neptune, notice how hard it becomes to articulate or form words. Some of the keywords connected to Neptune are: the search for connection, unity consciousness, Oneness, imagination, compassion, sympathy, empathy, escapism, delusion, illusion, fogginess. In the collective, we may be noticing compassion fatigue or a habit of avoiding instead of engaging in the world. The image connected with Pisces are two fish going in two different directions but connected by a string. Which way are you going? With the flow? Or against it? Look at the Pisces house in your chart. Do you see the connection? You may not be able to articulate the changes, but you feel them. Where has Neptune been traveling in your chart? How has your Pisces house experienced change. Has it been soft and gentle? Or like a large sweeping wave taking things out to sea with it?

How will Neptune work within the Aries archetype? Neptune is connected to water, Aries with fire. These are opposing elements, so there’s a sense of a mismatch here. If there’s been a sense of exhaustion, how do we create a spark? What will it take to get our attention or get something moving in a new way? Metaphorically, what gets the water boiling? What puts it out? How do we keep things at a simmer as opposed to the extremes?

Now let’s turn to Saturn coming into Aries. Here are the details: Saturn will come into Aries on May 25, 2025. It will go retrograde on July 13, 2025. On November 28, 2025 it’ll station to go direct in Pisces. Saturn will re-enter Aries on February 14, 2026 and stay in Aries until April 13, 2028. 

Saturn came into Pisces in March of 2023. Saturn brings a heaviness or weightiness to whatever sign it's traveling through. It’s a reality check. This area of our chart has been receiving a serious, stoic, thorough looking over for the last 2 ½ years. We experience the word “no” in all of its forms. Think of being seaside and working on a sandcastle all day. You leave the beach proud of what you accomplished, but when you come back the next day, the castle has been swept out to sea. We may be aware of a sadness or depression around a structure that has collapsed or has drifted away. What we thought would stand the test of time doesn’t have the staying power and is dissolving. 

No one alive knows what Neptune in Aries is about, due to its orbit, the last time Neptune was in Aries was between 1861-1875. In the US, this was the time of our civil war. Aries has to do with fighting. Combine that energy with Neptune, and we may find the higher potential being the archetype of the spiritual warrior. Perhaps the lower form has something to do with soldiers who are deluded into combat? In the US there has been a reminder by the current administration of a forgotten, gilded past. There is this feeling that we need to get back “there”. Part of Saturn’s archetype is Father Time and the scythe he carries, so perhaps a cutting away from this image is needed? However, once we disconnect from this past orientation what does the future hold? There’s Neptune–uncertainty. Its presence also reminds us that there is a force larger than ourselves at play, so perhaps a pervading feeling of a loss of control comes seeping in.

Saturn can also want to logically and systematically figure something out. We create a container of time or a system to address an area of focus. Neptune could give two wits about time or structure, it wants to take up space, which may feel like being taken over. Look at the time lapse of a riverbed to see who will “win” this match up. The river (Neptune) is within a stream bed (Saturn), and it seems like that river bed is containing the water, but you’ll see that over time, water is moving the boundaries of what seems to be containing it.  

The image or scenery that comes to mind is the vast ocean (Neptune) and a fisherman casting a wide net (Saturn) from the side of his boat. What will he catch? There are sure to be more than just the fish he intends to catch. There are bound to be surprises. Maybe even random items: a boot, tangled fishing line, other marine animals. The net won’t be able to hold everything–like a sieve, there are some things that will fall through the cracks. There are many things he may throw back into the sea. He may decide to haul the detritus back to shore. More than likely he will need to cast his net over and over taking in a certain expanse and then pulling the nets back in. Expand, contract, expand, contract. Look at the Aries part of your chart. Like the fisherman you’ll be casting your nets wide and pulling them in. We may not find what we are looking for or get waylaid. 

What is one to do with so many different impulses from these archetypes? Neptune wants to envelop, Saturn wants focus and constrict. Aries wants to begin or start in some heroic or courageous fashion. Neptune and Saturn have yin qualities while Aries has yang. Paradoxes abound–flexibility and firmness, stillness and movement, softness and hardness. In some way, we are being encouraged to unite the yin and yang energies. Which feels connected to Wu Wei energy. Wu Wei is about non-action or effortless action. How do we take action but go with the flow? We know that aggression and the way we want to go after something is under scrutiny, and we may get blocked continuously. How do we deal with the word “no”?

We know that we will have lots of time (Saturn) to work with this “non-action” energy. Saturn will be in Aries for 2 ½ years and Neptune for 14, so let’s consider how we want to try or test things out. Can we hold a sense of curiosity here instead of letting our ego take over and try to force its way in? It probably will get frustrating pretty quickly if that occurs. Practice patience. Discipline is needed. We are in new territory, and as such, it doesn’t help to be impulsive (Aries) even if we are feeling eager or raring to go. Cultivate restraint and even-temperedness. There is a larger process under development here. Forcing or strong arming isn’t part of the procedure.

Ever planned a vacation? This is the energy of Neptune and Saturn—making dreams into reality.  A reality check is needed for our ‘blue sky’ fantasies. What is it going to cost? How are we going to get there? What is the necessary structure? Who’s going to do it? You are…if you’re asking that question.This is a time of potentials…and, agency is essential. You are in the driver seat. Step up and into this energy, because no one else will do this for you.

I leave you with the image attached to this post. This is a ceramic vessel that Sophia Naves, the very talented artist that helps me with the artwork, created. The vessel itself represents Saturn, the energy of trying to contain something. But, look at the lip or the rim of the vessel, and you will see that Neptune has started to do it's work, that of dissolution. I love the colors of the red seeping throughout the container which reminds me of when water and color meet to create a whole new hue. This connotes Neptune working with Aries. Those spikes remind us of Mars, the ruler of Aries, as well as the seashells we encounter seaside. Safron Rossi gave a fabulous lecture (available on Astrology University) about Saturn and Neptune coming into Aries. The title is fitting with this image: How To Vessel Celestial Fire. How does this image help you imagine into these spaces? Like the fisherman, what did you catch in your net? What do you want to keep? What do you want to toss back into the tides?