Tracing Over 2025 Pt. 1
The Outer Planets
After 2020, the eyes of astrologers have been looking at 2025-26 as the next major turning point in world history. André Barbault, the French astrologer who correctly predicted a global pandemic would happen in 2020, thought that 2026 would bring “a splendid relaunch of civilization.”
There’s plenty of reason to think that this won’t be so simple or easy, though—that this relaunch might happen after or amidst extraordinary chaos or collapse. Simply looking at the geopolitical setup could suggest this—we’re very clearly on the doorstep of WWIII—but we could also surmise this by looking at the precedents set by a couple of other astrological rhythms that are coming forth.
The first of these is the Neptune-Saturn conjunction, which won’t technically be exact until the spring of 2026 but will be tangible this coming year, especially after the two of them enter Aries in the spring. The last Neptune-Saturn conjunction took place in 1989, alongside the fall of the Soviet Empire—a very literal expression of the Neptune, oceanic archetype washing away a grand Saturnian structure. We might expect something similar to happen in these couple of years, especially as Saturn enters his fall in Aries—a place in which authority, structure, and tradition lose status and strength.
With Neptune moving into Aries, there will likely be an idealization of war-like themes. Neptune has been moving through Pisces since 2011, and this has brought a resurgence of interest in spiritual and esoteric themes, even bringing topics like meditation, manifestation, and psychedelics into the mainstream. By contrast, this Neptune in Aries period will redirect fascination and imagination towards the fiery and lively parts of experience—towards competition and heroic figures. Importantly, the last time Neptune moved into Aries coincided with the US Civil War—and the US Sibley chart has 1° Aries at the IC, the bottom of the chart, which has to do with home and family. At the very least, this should bring a lot of concern to borders and concerns about what’s going on within the country itself. Interestingly, this Neptune in Aries period (which lasts ~14 years) has also brought a new focus on sports, with the first professional soccer clubs and baseball leagues being set up and college football games being played.
The Saturn-Neptune conjunction, more broadly, has to do with a sort of spiritually serious vibe, which has also been expressed through Saturn’s presence in Pisces over the last couple of years. Neptune has to do with our connection to the dreamy and blissful parts of experience, but there are also immense shadow sides to Neptune—addiction, escapism, and delusion. As Saturn transits Neptune, there’s something of a cleanup coming for these nightmares and foggy realities. Especially after Saturn gets weakened as he enters Aries, it may be difficult to keep a solid grip on these Neptunian problems as we might like to. Collectively, things may also feel quite blustery, as if it’s even harder to get a good sense of what’s going on, with mysterious phenomena becoming more and more regular.
Regardless, this conjunction between Saturn and Neptune is taking place in the first degrees of Aries—the start of the zodiac and a place associated with new beginnings. Truly, it should be the beginning of an era.
Uranus and Pluto are two other major actors this year, and not in a separate way at all—Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune will all be aspecting each other (Neptune sextiling Uranus and Pluto, who are in a trine). This is the aspect pattern that led Barbault to make his strong statement about 2026. In the summer of 2026, the aspect pattern will be elevated, intensified, and made more broad-reaching by Jupiter entering the early degrees of Leo, a pattern similar to what happened in the spring of 2020 with Jupiter joining the Saturn-Pluto conjunction and taking the limited COVID exposure and accompanying lockdowns worldwide. After Pluto entered Aquarius in the spring of 2023 and dipped back into Capricorn a couple of times, they are now solidly in Aquarius till 2044. On top of Neptune, another slow-moving outer planet changing signs next year (which will last till 2039), Uranus enters Gemini this coming year, where they’ll be until 2033 or so—altogether, more firm indicators for a moment of momentous change.
Although Uranus doesn’t have a traditional dignity scheme like the seven traditional planets, there’s consensus that Uranus could be seen as being in detriment in Taurus—i.e., a weakened position—and dignity or even exaltation in Gemini—a very strong position. Thus, the themes that Uranus deals with—ingenuity, revolutionary thinking, and inventiveness—will take a big jump forward. Since 2018, it’s been radical to deal with Taurus themes—to be vegan or carnivore, to move out to the country and grow your own food, to invent meat alternatives or biohack. All of that is pretty pale to some of the expressions of Uranus we’ve seen in world history, and Uranus in Gemini, in particular, takes us back to some of the most extreme expressions. Uranus was in Gemini during the American and French revolutions, as well as the start of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the printing press. Uranus will also only be in and out of Gemini this year—entering in July and heading back to Taurus for one last go in November—but the themes are clearly crystallizing. The more I study outer-planetary dynamics like this (in individual charts as well as the collective), the more it becomes clear that there’s a foreshadowing or pregaming that happens before a planet actually enters a sign. It’s what gives some credence to the idea of cusps, especially the end of a previous sign blending into the next sign.
Importantly, the Uranus-Pluto trine is itself an important aspect. Uranus and Pluto can be tracked toward some of the most major shifts in human history, with the roughest bits occurring during their hard angles, like conjunctions, squares, or oppositions. Our most recent square between these two was between 2011 and 2015 or so, and the square before that happened in 1964-1967. This trine indicates a period of radical change happening quite quickly, in an accelerated manner, and although trines aren’t “of the nature of Mars,” the sextiles between these two and Neptune in Aries does suggest that this change will come with its fair share of friction and strife. It’s not all happening in a lofty, intellectual sphere, but will come down violently into human affairs, roughly and rudely shaking things up. It’s a good time to be on your toes and ahead of the times.
Also crucial is the fact that Uranus in Gemini is not only the Uranus Return for the US Revolutionary War but also the Civil War and WWII. This ±84 year cycle is something that the normies have caught onto in their own way through the book The Fourth Great Turning, which tracks a roughly 80-year or four-generation cycle in determining the major historical events. This Uranus in Gemini falls in the 7th house of the United States, which is the house of enemies (and lovers)—and this strong sense of an opponent has been a defining feature of American history. I hope we don’t decide to make that China and instead focus on something like poverty, care for the environment, or public health. Hell, I’d take a battle with the cartels in Mexico over trying to defend Taiwan so we can have AI supremacy.
This is the time period when science fiction stuff is going to accelerate into manifestation. Pluto’s move into Aquarius coincided with AI’s big splash into public view, and Uranus’ entry into Gemini will likely intensify those developments. Very quickly, a lot of jobs are going to start getting replaced by AI agents, and we’re likely to have breathtaking inventions of the like of the printing press. I’m hoping that some sort of new political technology like Liquid Democracy takes center stage. I also wouldn’t be surprised if gene editing and nuclear/fusion energy take a jump forward.
This is also a time in which our own personal geniuses, as represented by Uranus, will feel more free in coming forth. As opposed to Uranus in Taurus, Uranus in Gemini is a lot less tame in expressing electrical brilliance. Especially in the light of the heroic Aries archetype getting idolized by Neptune, this is a time period in which we’ll likely see many great personalities shine in unbelievable displays of genius. Likewise, our individual geniuses will also need to come forth, and that means that some of the cozy indifference of Taurus will stop being so safe. It’s time to flow to the peculiar and particular beat of our inner guides, of whom we are just priests and priestesses—otherwise, we risk getting swallowed up by the quickly shifting tides.
If y’all are intrigued to learn more about these big historical, archetypal shifts, I can recommend Austin Coppock’s recent H1 2025 forecast, Maurice Fernandez’s exploration of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, and World Astrology Report’s series on “New Age 2026” (ya boi gets a call out for research help on episode 8).
This is just the first trace of the year to come - I hope to do a couple more in the coming days.
And - if you want some help dreaming into 2025, please reach out for a reading!
Warmth,
Charlie
A note for the paid subscribers - I’ve decided to stop doing the fine-grained forecasts, at least for a while, in order to see what creative space is opened up. I’d really like to be doing more of these focused musings and to continue to develop the artistry around them, as well as giving more reports from my studies in medical astrology. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with the paid subscription structure yet - I’ll let y’all know when I do!