Neptunes realm and the New Moon.

A large watery flotilla in Pisces gathers while Mars stations.

Here’s an audio version of this piece if you prefer to listen ( I improvise a bit here too )

Kia ora !

Our life giving Sun ingresses into the mutable water sign of Pisces on Wednesday Feb 19^th. Happy Birthday Pisces people! Your solar return for 2025 calls you to take control of your lives! It’s a powerful moment for earth dwellers and you will carry the signature of these transits all year.

By the upcoming New Moon there will be a massive gathering in Pisces consisting of; Sun, Saturn, Mercury, North Node, Ceres, Neptune and the Moon. This watery stellium squares Pisces’ ruler Jupiter in Gemini and trines Mars in Cancer.

Mars stationed in Cancer

Mars has been hovering on one degree since the 12^th of February at the 17th degree of Cancer for a whooping 27 days before slowly starting to move forward on March 10th. This eventual forward movement occurs after a brief Lunar conjunction. The Moon activates whatever it touches and this will be particularly significant if you have points or personal planets in the middle of the Cardinal signs of Cancer, Capricorn, Aries or Libra. It will also be felt by people with strong Mars energy in their natal charts. As this also includes anyone with Aries or Scorpio Sun, Moon and rising / ascendant, a lots of people are affected.

Two contrasting experiences

On one hand the retrograde Mars gives a sense of skidding, holding back, low energy, illness, injury and stasis. The other hand holds the building energy in the mutable signs of Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo and Pisces. In contrast this feels like a huge acceleration of possibility, experience and accomplishment. It’s incredible to witness the two occurring simultaneously.

If you’re a ‘Martian’, try to become aware of the divine inspiration that is available by allowing spaciousness and mystery. Things are very quiet and slow, so quiet and slow that we can receive messages from our ‘future’ selves. Instructions are being delivered by way of dreams and intuition. The retrograde Mars slows our experience down to almost complete stillness. To a point of reorientation. It’s very beautiful, but our younger selves might feel stuck in mud.

If you’re having the experience of high output recently then now is a great time to allow yourself to consolidate what you’ve learned and tidy up any follow up tasks. Every out breath is necessarily followed by an in breath. This is a great time to take one before getting a second wind.

New Moon in Pisces

The New Moon on February 28^th will be at 9 degrees of Pisces. The sabian symbol for this degree is ‘An aviator in the clouds’, invoking the image of a small plane flying so high above the earth its view is obscured by cloud cover.

The message of this degree suggests we are able to maintain perspective by focusing on our own true life direction. Things are quite gritty and raw for many people at the moment and we must set our unique flight path on a point of equilibrium and harmony. We each have metaphorical wings capable of carrying us to our intended direction. We must use the technologies available to us, calmly consult our navigational equipment and keep focused.

Cloud Shadow

The shadow side of the Pisces archetype is also present. It’s easy to become lost in the clouds when we lose concentration. With so much misinformation being thrust at us constantly it’s imperative that we keep informed but not overwhelmed. This is not a good time to ‘check out’ with party drugs and excessive drinking. There are many other more subtle addictions to watch out for too for example ; unethical sexual encounters, infatuations, shopping, scapegoating, blaming, self righteousness, forming factions... ‘othering’ groups of people for whatever reason...

There are so so many shadows lurking beneath these clouds….

Neptunes touch locally in Aotearoa -

+ Hundreds of dead eels washed ashore in Orakei basin in Auckland.

+ Destiny Church violently protests a Rainbow Pride Children’s story telling event in a library... because Drag Queens.

Neptunes touch Internationally -

+The U.S.A administration releases a flurry of delusional and / or deceptive foreign policies including; turning Canada into a 51^st state, invading Greenland and taking the Panama canal, transforming the Gaza strip into a U.S.A owned Riviera and expelling the Palestinians, carving up Ukraine’s resources with Russia as a ‘Peace Plan’ to end the war, defunding the largest aid agency in the world, renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, slapping punitive tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada and this list is growing by the day.

Think global, Act Local

I think we can be forgiven for assuming that this 24/7 reality show news cycle is a kind of chaotic brainwashing... so

... so do we ignore what’s happening all over the world because it’s so complicated? What capacity do we have remaining for compassion? What agency do we have? Are there grass roots local initiatives we can support where we are?

Jupiter and Neptune in the house

The traditional ruler of Pisces is Jupiter which is square the new moon from 12 degrees of Gemini. The modern ruler of Pisces is Neptune, ancient god of the ocean, the divine spirit and the existential mysteries.

Both Jupiter and Neptune are all over this New Moon. Neptune is at 28 degrees of Pisces and is very powerful here, offering both divinity and inspiration but most definitely also illusion, deception, lies, and escapism.

Jupiter in detriment

Jupiter squares the entire Pisces stellium as well as the New Moon from Gemini. It’s an opening square between Jupiter and Neptune which is a tense, conflicted aspect demanding action and awareness. Jupiter is not able to do its altruistic benevolent work from this position. It is more likely to manifest in shadow. Jupiter in shadow represents egoistic self righteousness, authoritarian domination and overreach as well as dogmatic and ineffective religious intervention.

+ For example, The Pope, who recently strongly condemned the U.S.A administration’s deportation of asylum seekers, has been admitted to hospital with a respiratory infection.

https://apnews.com/article/pope-trump-migration-09a89091f8e7dc3270099f0947d04e90

Needless to say, Neptune rules music and stringed instruments and these are also great transits for playing the guitar. My fingers are strong and hungry and my lyre is at the ready.

Thanks for reading, I wish you all the best for negotiating your way through the present transits. I find less time online and more time singing and visiting people in person to be great ways to keep myself a float.

If you’d like an Astrology reading or a Music lesson with me you can reach me on karen@karenhunter.com. I can offering both of these services online and all the pricing and logistic information is here www.karenhunter.com

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Kāren Hunter’s Upcoming events:

Earthbeat festival – Eclipse Astrology workshop

NZSpirit North – Musical set

Friday April 11 – Sound Journey - Mt Eden Auckland

Saturday April 12 – Astrology Workshop and Sound Journey - Whangarei

Sunday April 13 - Astrology Workshop and Sound Journey - Kerikeri

All available details are here and will be updated regularly.

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A Neptunian song to close – Mr Whippy Rides Again

A true tale delivered in Spoken Word over a bed of pure jazz. Mr Whippy describes the Piscean flavoured, Neptunian initiation of growing up in Auckland in the 70’s when Bourbon & Coke flowed like a waterfall collecting in sticky puddles under the coffee table.

Featuring Aaron Coddel on Bass and Ron Samsom on Drums.