Neptune in Aries 2026: Conjoined by Saturn
Neptune in Aries: 165 years in the making
After a brief Retrograde back to the Anaretic degree of Pisces, Neptune again ingresses into Aries on January 26. This transit will span through the late 2030s, and marks the first time Neptune has transited through Aries since 1861.
Neptune’s transit through Pisces (2011-2026) spaced us out completely with doom-scrolling rising to an unfortunate peak. The boundaries around religious influence on public institutions have become entirely blurred. A rise in drug addiction clearly correlates with the rise in pharmaceutical sales. Online spaces matured in their ability to earn profits, and with that came influencers who made advertising a way of life. Lines previously drawn between the digital and so-called “real world” disappeared completely. Social media absolutely boomed.
Towards the end of Neptune’s transit in Pisces, Saturn made its way into the domain of Mutable Water in 2023. Saturn’s co-presence with Neptune emphasized people’s fears of inferiority, instability, and being unsafe, which was then projected through spirituality and suspicion. It is largely why we saw a rise in cultist mentality.
At precisely 12:38 p.m. EST, Neptune moves into the domain of Cardinal Fire. A bloody, brutal war in the United States kicked off the last time Neptune progressed into Aries. At the same time across the globe, Alexander II abolished Russian serfdom. Neptune’s transit began in 1861 and spanned until nearly the end of the Reconstruction Era.
The Spiritualist movement peaked during Neptune’s previous transit in Aries. Women led the movement, in which mediums both naturally gifted and trained through study conducted spirit communication. These practices generally focused on working with spirit guides, a concept that modern mediums still use to this day. However, modern mediums typically do not use seances to make contact—which was quintessential for the time. Eventually, an over-saturation in the community killed credibility, as fraudsters mimicked the work of prominent spiritualists. Almost all practitioners and supporters of the spiritualist movement doubly supported women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery.
It is interesting and important to mention U.S. legislation around national birthright citizenship, due process, equal protection of laws (the basis for Brown v. Board of Education) were all passed during this time. These same legal protections are under fire as Neptune returns to Aries in 2026. Voter suppression and reparations for enslaved people was a significant issue, and violence was rampant. De ja vu?
Other notable events during the previous Neptune in Aries transit include the creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Secret Service (under the Treasury Department). Across the U.S. and Europe, railways expanded, perhaps fueled by the quick-fire pace of Martian-ruled Aries energy. Will the feasibility tests for high-speed rail in the U.S. set us on a path for progress today? By 1870, Rome was named the capital of Italy, the first underground tube railway opened in London, and baseball was officially dubbed America’s pastime.
An incredibly underrepresented story of this era is that of the Native American people. This includes the Sioux, whose treaties were violated, and their people starved and brutally assimilated. During the late 1860s, government-funded boarding schools began violently forcing religious conversion on countless Native children, all stolen from their homes and families. The torturous practices that occurred in these boarding schools lasted at least 100 years; their impact and physical evidence continues to surface to this day. Neptune in Aries articulates the spiritual abuse of Native people perfectly; its alignment with the initiation of unspeakable policies can’t be overlooked.
Saturn joins the party (again and again)
As was the case during the Pisces transit, Saturn will sync up with Neptune during their respective transits in Aries. In fact, the two will be in this tango through 2027. Saturn and Neptune in Aries form an exact conjunction at 0 degrees on February 20. In the early months of these transits, the two planets will form Sextile to Pluto at the earliest degrees of Aquarius. The first comes for Saturn on March 28 at 5 degrees, and the first for Neptune on July 25 at 4 degrees (during a Pluto Retrograde). Pluto has an all-or-nothing energy, and in Aquarius has a vision of transformation for the collective. This is a time to question whose vision is unfolding into our reality. What is our power in this process?
Saturn’s last transit through Aries was 30 years ago, meaning 1996-1999 babies are entering their first Saturn Return! These were the last individuals born before the turn of the millennium, during the time of the “dot-com boom” when everyone was DM’ing their besties (and strangers, let’s be honest) on AOL. Saturn also transited through Aries during the summer of 1968; the year Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, and Nixon won his presidency under a campaign promising “law and order” amidst nationwide protests. Once again, de ja vu?
Our experience of these planets unfolds whether or not we’re reflecting on history or preparing for the future. I admire how astrology illustrates cycles in humanity and its pitfalls. Things aren’t exactly the same as they’ve been before—and they’ll never be the same as this moment again. Here we sit on the precipice of a once-in-a-lifetime transit, which will usher in a new era and inscribe repercussions that endure. Just as our past echos back to us now.
