We made it!
We made it through the eclipse portal, Autumn Equinox, Mercury turning retrograde, Venus turning retrograde and Neptune’s ingress into Aries.
We made it, so where on Earth are we?
Solar Eclipses like the one we experienced together on last Saturday’s New Moon in Aries take about six months to ‘land’. Something has begun in the shadows and is working itself into a mystical manifestation. We may have an inkling of what is taking shape and we may not, it doesn’t make any difference and we don’t have to ‘believe’ in Astrology to ‘get it’. It’s coming whether we are ready or not.
The US administration is releasing it’s much anticipated tariff regime today, right on the Neptune ingress into Aries. Neptune has a wide set of representations and they include a lot of great spiritual and artistic qualities. Aries too has a wide variety of significations; instinct, leadership and action to name a few. I’m not convinced that our global superpowers present leadership is taking us to a place of enlightened spirituality however. I rather think that we will be working with the Neptunian shadow politically through this period; confusion, deception, lies, dissolution and loss.
But we don’t have to go there in our personal lives. We have agency, we have choice about how we play with these energies in our own lives. It’s also important to note that this ingress itself is just part of a bigger celestial picture.
It’s a flow - check this out ...
ASTRO NERD TIME … ( skip forward if the astrology details are not your thing )
Saturn and Neptune have been gathering with the North Node in Pisces and are presently departing Pisces and heading to Aries in single file.
First Neptune entered Pisces in 2011/2012. Can you remember what changed for you then in the Neptunian realm of music, art and film, spirituality, escapism, addiction, divine love and illusion? Don’t forget illusions of divine love or any other combinations like that too.
Saturn first entered Pisces in March 2023. How did that hit for you? Think boundaries, structures and restriction and include the dissolving and/or confusion of these areas.
It’s helpful if you can refer to your birth chart and the houses with Pisces and Aries on the cusps.
So the present story is that first Neptune moves into Aries on March 31st . Followed by Saturn on May 25th
In early August they conjunct, but do not form an exact conjunction.
Then Saturn retrogrades back into watery Pisces on September 1st followed by Neptune’s retrograde on the 23rd of October where he basically just sits on 29 Pisces until Jan 26 2026
Neptune returns to Aries on the 27th Jan 2026.
Saturn follows on the 23rd of February.
And THEN they form a conjunction in Aries at 0 degrees. The very first degree of the Zodiac. You can’t make this stuff up.
“Saturn can bring surmountable difficulties and restrictions / pessimism while Neptune can bring confusion and romantic idealism.
Most things will be indicated in the first set of eclipses but will be much stronger in the second set of eclipses later in the year where things will be stronger and more definitive” paraphrased quote from Chris Brennan of The Astrology Podcast.
OK! So after that word from our sponsors, a.k.a the Planets, we return to our story narrative ....
Neptune in Aries offers us the perfect blend of archetypes to step into Spiritual Leadership in this world. With Pluto in Aquarius, the sign of the collective, we are not expecting one person to take this role. Actually we should be very careful that we don’t project our aspirations onto a single person. This is time for collective evolution and self responsibility. We are learning to work together.
We each have a role to play. We came into this life with a purpose. For some of us it is to continue something from a past life, and for others it’s an ancestral journey handed down from the family lines.
However it’s not everyones path to follow in the footsteps of past lineages. The Progressed Moon phase in our natal birth chart helps us to reflect on this through an Astrological lens.
It helps us explore how some are here to give birth a new idea, to strive, to struggle or to peak. Others are exploring sharing, letting go, and also experiencing the spiritual lessons of loss. By this I mean they are teaching us all how to let go by dissolving into their own experience. Loss is part of our journey here on Earth and we will all lose everything one day. There are many brave ones amongst us who are showing us how to BE with loss. We, in turn, are learning to show up and BE present to their pain.
Neptune’s ingress into Aries heralds a time to reflect upon this spiritual journey, on the bigger picture and on the beginning of a new phase of walking our talk.
The recent Eclipse portal has closed now but the seeds we are germinating will be coming to fruition within the next six months. It is clear that many projects are wrapping up and new ideas are seeding.
Completions
During this eclipse portal my community came together to celebrate the completion of many years of NZSpirit Events as that team turn to new pastures. Our community can now regroup and redistribute our energy in a different direction.
Earthbeat Festival is also not sure if it will run next year, or if it will be able to continue at the Atiu Creek regional park venue as its lease has completed.
Homegrown Festival held at the Wellington Waterfront annually since 2008 has completed it’s run there and is now looking for a new location.
Shihad, New Zealand’s much loved hard rock band, held their final tour and completed the project on the opening Virgo lunar eclipse after a 36 year run together with a virtually unchanged line up. (I caught the Powerstation gig in Auckland and it was a lesson in majesty. So much respect)
Talk about a manifestation of Neptune ( Music ) and Saturn ( Structure ). 36 years ago there was another Neptune / Saturn conjunction. So this is a total maturation cycle for Shihad as well as for New Zealand Rock.
Each one of us undoubtably has our personal stories of completion and letting go. It’s important to allow some time before starting new projects. Especially if we feel we need to push hard just to get something going. If there is new growth happening organically that is exciting and inspiring, then of course, we follow that impulse.
However there is no need to expend a lot of energy getting a new project new off the ground. It’s more appropriate at this time to listen to the wind in the trees, the waves on the beach and the birdsong in the morning.
When we plant, we water and we wait patiently.
In Aotearoa the seasons continue to turn and our Earth clock shows that we are past the March Autumn Equinox now. There are things to put in place for the Winter period, for Matariki and the next Solstice. We can reflect on what we have achieved, even if we just made a huge mess, there are lessons in messes too.
For those who waded through the list of retrogrades and ingresses above, you might like to reflect on any initiatives put in place before the final conjunction of Saturn and Neptune in February 2026 as these will be reworked and refined until that date.
So these global tariffs, wars, boundary lines, threats, elections, and other political machinations will likely be therefore reworked over and over again during this period.
Prayers for the ones who are suffering in this moment. The people of Myanmar and survivors of the horrifying 7.7magnitude earthquake that occurred on the Solar Eclipse. I send prayers to those living in war zones, those living on the streets and in cars, those who are under resourced, living in fear of people in authority, those who have to hide their pain for what ever reason and those who are hungry and without their basic human needs being met.
Io kei roto,
Io kei waho,
Tihei Mauri Ora.
Events and offerings
Now that the festival season is complete for me this year I have begun my Autumn Equinox to Spring Equinox programme for 2025.
I am available for Astrology Readings and Music lessons online or in Auckland. My speciality with the music lessons is Guitar and other fretted strings and also Voice and Songwriting or Chanting. More details including my fee structure are here.
I’ll be travelling up to Whangarei and Kerikeri on the weekend of April 12th and 13th to offer Astrology Workshops and Mystical Sound Journey’s. Details and tickets here.
I’ll be over in Thames and Tauranga on the weekend of May 17th and 18th. I haven’t made those ticketing pages yet but the details will be similar to the April ones.
Not quite sure where I’ll be going in June but in July there will be a series of Astrology workshops and Sound Journeys at a family home in West Auckland I have the use of for a month. I’ll get some details up asap but in the mean time you can contact me and let me know what you’d like to discuss in the workshops to seed some themes.
The accompanying podcast at the top of this post has my release Mud and Rust from my ambient release Soul Whispers playing behind it. It’s so perfect! Recorded live for Heidi Monks Soul Whispers show in 2016.
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