Grounding the Flow: Full Moon in Taurus 2025

Full Moon @ 13 degrees Taurus 23'
November 5, 2025
5:19 AM PST
8:19 AM EST

November’s Full Moon and Supermoon occur in tropical Taurus just before Mercury’s retrograde station. It brings some collective energy and events to a critical fulcrum before we plunge deep into this highly revisional and improvisational phase. Mercury’s retrograde through Sagittarius and Scorpio begins Nov. 9 and lasts through Nov. 29 (though there is always roughly a week on either side for the shadow stage of the cycle).

This strong and powerful Full Moon in Taurus is a solid grounding point amidst the building Saturn-Neptune and dynamic water sign energy. Much of the current moment is imbued with a deep sense of ambiguity, mystery, or a feeling of being carried away by larger forces. With this Taurus Full Moon, we can grasp onto whatever is culminating here—a solidifying new skill level, valued resource, or grounding physical or spiritual practice.

A Taurus Full Moon brings something tangible into form and within reach, where we can feel and interact with the results of something we’ve worked for or strongly desired. The paradoxical aspect of this Full Moon is learning to walk a tightrope while balancing both simplicity and complexity—finding peace and acceptance despite our inability to control everything or resolve every crisis, whether in our own lives or in the broader world.

Mars’ opposition to Uranus alongside this Full Moon adds a chaotic element to the mix, where actions and desires can shift and change course. So, there is another paradox here: we can feel grounded and secure in what is developing, while also feeling some excitement about taking off on a new path or adventure. Of course, given Mercury’s retrograde cycle, practice non-attachment to ultimate outcomes or end results. Flexibility and course corrections are required.

For personalized astrological and spiritual guidance, book an astrology reading or counseling session with Chad at Kosmic Mind Astrology. I offer natal, forecasting, and focused question readings to support clarity, grounding, and intentional decision-making.

Crossing the Liminal Threshold: Saturn, Neptune, and 2026

An archetypal view of astrology conceives the movements of the planets and their highlighting of specific archetypes during key alignments as brief subjective encounters with a particular frequency of reality and the universe. Each frequency is real in its own right but only represents a part of the whole despite its potentially all-consuming and possessive power. The melding of Saturn and Neptune in early 2026, via their rare conjunction, is creating such a time, a distinct archetypal resonance that permeates our collective and personal psychological landscapes.

Especially during Saturn-Neptune's peak alignment over the following six months (and rippling through the following year), we will be immersed in the Saturn-Neptune archetypal field. For a while, we might be convinced that it represents how things will always be. Yet one of astrology's primary advantages is knowing that certain phases and periods of our lives have a specific duration, whether expansive or contractive (or somewhere in between). Life will change, and the archetypal landscape will evolve into something entirely new. Another lies in at least symbolically understanding the archetypal quality, nature, and, on some level, intent of any particular cycle.

The Ancient Crucible

When Saturn makes significant alignments in the individual natal chart —or, more collectively, when it aligns with the outer planets —its archetype is magnified (and filtered through the contacting planet). Saturnian periods of our life can often feel like being in a crucible. They're sometimes painfully constrictive, presenting us with a myopic or suffocating view of things. With Saturn, there can be a more pronounced encounter with limitation, pain, or suffering, though that is not the whole picture. There can also be more willingness (or incentive) to take on daunting challenges or step into a hard-earned position or role. These can be incredibly constructive and growth-promoting times.

We can ripen and blossom alongside Saturnian turning points, but we are ultimately outgrowing something (or many things). What we're experiencing is the painful (or at least uncomfortable) aspect of that realization and the process, as well as the awkwardness of transitioning to a graduated way of life and being. Saturn can grant us more freedom, but also some burden and responsibility. There is also often grief, as we move beyond the past and an old order and structure of life.

That Saturn's cycle closely corresponds to various biological and developmental stages of our lives is one way to understand this. Phases such as puberty, the end of adolescence in our early 30s, midlife, and, for women, more specifically, the menopausal process, all deeply reflect this symbolism. Profound changes and adjustments occurring biologically at these times compel us into entirely altered ways of being and engaging with the world. Such phases not only change how the body functions, but also our very pursuits, focus, desires, values, and perception of reality.

The process — the liminal stages of those transformations — is not actually the new normal to come, but it is the most critical, since it shapes the new era. Anyone who has lived long enough to reach the other side of some of those phases knows that we eventually figure it out and reclaim stability and ease in who we become. Yet the liminal part of the process can be frightening and uncomfortable — imbued with uncertainty and the terror of the unknown. And truthfully, until we get to the other side, there is no way to know subjectively what it'll truly be like, because of its radically graduated level compared to where we were before. While in it, the other side is unknowable, and the permanent nature of these transitions makes them more threatening to the personal ego.

Neptune and the Daimonic

Similar to the transition from 2019 to 2020 (with the alignments of Saturn, Pluto, and Jupiter), the alignment of Saturn and Neptune represents a crucible we're collectively and personally experiencing —a critical stage and threshold we're crossing. We've outgrown something, but the most challenging part of this particular cycle is not knowing what that is. Enter Neptune. The Neptunian archetype is infamously foggy, deceptive, and ambiguous. As mentioned, it represents encounters with the numinous, with "higher powers" and overwhelming forces of nature.

That Neptune is a "transpersonal" planet is a somewhat general statement. Still, it's a critical piece because it speaks to one of the primary ways we experience its cycles and placements in the natal chart. While we spend most of our days in our ego-centered identities, we all have a transpersonal dimension and experience layers of our lived environment that are invisible to us. Neptune deals deeply with this fact.

We don't even need to get metaphysical to understand this. It is an established aspect of even materialist metaphysics, with numerous invisible forces intersecting and influencing the material universe. Biologically speaking, forces are steering us with quite separate agendas from those we consciously identify with. Countless biological processes operate totally outside of our awareness and control, from the immune system to the vital flow of blood throughout our bodies. Sexual and erotic desires commonly diverge from our perceived morals, ideals, and identity, impelling us in ways we might not relate to as coming from "ourselves." Neptune's own discovery resulted (and was predicted) entirely from its mysterious, gravitational pull on Uranus, like a hidden hand working from some yet unseen place.

The Neptunian archetype points to aspects of our reality and even aspects of ourselves that, because they lie outside of our conscious awareness and outside of our ability to completely hold, contain, and understand, we often experience as a vague hint of something "other," alien, or distant from the more conscious center of our beingness. And that doesn't discount its power and influence. What is unconscious can exert significant influence. A gut feeling, intuition, or a vague voice "in our head" can lead to profound, life-altering choices. The ripples of such experiences can reach far and wide.

Those with strong Neptunian symbolism in their astrological makeup often lead their lives in this manner, guided by the various vague hints and suggestions they receive from the transpersonal layers of their being. In ancient times, the daimon was a concept that well encapsulated this experience and dimension of reality. This spiritual, guide-like being kept us aligned with our fate through subtle nudges and external experiences (some good, some seemingly ill-fated) that later seemed perfectly orchestrated to help us fulfill our destiny. Christianity bifurcated this concept into "angels" and "demons," though many religious traditions have similar concepts. Modern new-age conceptions of spirit guides also draw on this very ancient idea.

We can equate Neptune with encounters involving entities such as daimons, spirits, fairies, and, as mentioned, UFOs/UAPs, aliens, or any noncorporeal being. In addition to its more mundane significations related to overpowering natural forces (such as a hurricane, tsunami, or viral plague), Neptune, as a transpersonal force, also exists within ourselves and our very reality — something we can experience but not fully know or understand.

Patrick Harper's "Daimonic Reality" is a helpful framework here—a realm that intersects with our own, inhabited by shapeshifting, intelligent beings who appear in a range of guises across history and cultures but who ultimately share the same archetypal ground of being and emergence. From a Jungian point of view, Neptune is a construct that connects us more deeply into the collective unconscious itself, a bridge into the transpersonal and from where it emanates, and a place inhabited with intelligences more conscious than we are. Thus, whether a vision of Christ, Buddha, or a UFO, the visionary, archetypal, or "projected" thing is not any less real but derives, actually, from the greater reality —the more conscious and transcendent layer of it.

Reality Check

Saturn, however, is not at all like Neptune, though both archetypes develop and impact our sense of what's real. They touch archetypally and deeply on the nature of reality, and that blends into all dimensions of knowledge, whether derived culturally, scientifically, or mystically. Saturn is our "brick wall of reality," as coined by astrologer Steven Forrest. It is "plainly and clearly the way things are" or "the way things have always been." Though again, for anyone who's lived on Earth long enough, it should be well known that the subject of those statements can and often change.

Saturnian reality is not always what's actually true, but what's conveniently true, what's true enough, what needs to be true to get along with the broader social, cultural, or moral order. In medieval Europe, the idea that tiny, microscopic organisms cause much disease would have been considered crazy and heretical. How strange and outlandish one would look for obsessively washing their hands or boiling their drinking water. Fast forward to 2020, and how radically such a basic concept had shifted and impacted the whole of the modern world and its consensus rationality.

Scientific and cultural shifts can profoundly change the Saturnian "reality" and ontology. Saturn's reality today will not be the same a few centuries or millennia from now. Neptune's alignment with Saturn on the AP foreshadows such a collective shift — ontological, cultural, political, or otherwise. Though this shift in particular may be more rapid and shocking than perhaps the last closest alignment over 2,000 years ago (in 594 BCE), alongside the "dawn of Greek philosophy," Western "rationalism," and the "Axial Age". As a simple (and deeply naive) mythos, this rationality that paved the way for modern science, materialism, and the Industrial Revolution has reached a critical turning point and a much-needed revisionary phase. Perhaps the synchronicity of this alignment suggests that we are at another turning point in redefining what "rational" and, by extension, "reality" truly are.

The Wisdom of Letting Go

More subjectively, encounters with Neptune, especially in that liminal, crucible stage, can feel paralyzing and overwhelming. The enormity of a revelation, realization, truth, awakening, or simply being in contact with the archetype of eternity can make it feel impossible to move. Encountering the vastness of the whole Self and all its shadow complexes, unknown potentials (and vulnerabilities and evil) is a lot. It's too much for a single ego to process and grasp at once.

Yet, for a while, that is how it might feel, because the Saturnian structures, authorities, "the way things are and have been," many of them, are dissolving, losing their power, falling helplessly into the unknowable abyss, all while things seem to be going on as they always have. There may be only vague hints, suggestions that something is not quite right. Meanwhile, the overwhelming reality is seeping through the cracks and holes. The Saturnian ship is really sinking, overcome by a larger surreptitious force.

Learning the value of letting go, surrendering, being okay with not knowing, or letting yourself get lost in the fog are all wise approaches to navigating a Neptunian period. In the real world, getting lost without a clear directive and strategy is sometimes a worthwhile (though frustrating) experience. Sometimes, in not knowing, we eventually come to know. And sometimes, in the absence of a clear sense of Self, purpose, or dream, we awaken to what we truly are, to what lies beyond the facades and illusions of culture, family, tribe, and egoic perception and expectation. Something reveals itself to us from beyond the confines of our conditioned limitations and preconceptions.

We are all outgrowing a previous vision and faith, and maturing into something new. To describe this alignment as a personal and collective visionary reset (and, more broadly, a civilizational one) is fitting. Disillusionment is also a significant part of it, and its accompanying grief. To describe it as a personal and collective awakening to the transpersonal is even more so. We are getting closer and closer to the edge of that threshold between what we know and what we don't know, but on the other side lies what we will eventually come to know, grow into, concretize, and develop (or at least a larger portion of it).

To get there, we have to trust the process, because, even if bizarre and terrifying, it's a deeply natural and ancient one. Awakening to ourselves—or merely to a profound truth about ourselves—is a significant step. Still, it reveals more of what's there —or what's always been there —more of the vastness of what we truly are. And from there, we have more ability to choose and maneuver our lives. We become freer and more autonomous, gaining a deeper understanding of the Self, the universe, and whatever lies beyond it.

Subjectively, this period will bring a lot of uncertainty, as if the ground beneath us is crumbling, shifting, or dissolving. Disillusionment represents the cognitive dissonance we experience as we come to terms with deception and become aware of our ignorance. Still, it's a critical piece of any awakening process because the old reality must die to make way for the new one. It is deeply liminal, imbued with death and new birth. Even more so as this process is occurring, astrologically, on the point of the vernal equinox, a powerful archetypal symbol of a new beginning, budding potential, and blooming.

As an inherently "fated" process, one that is supposed to happen at a specific time and stage, it begs the question of the purpose behind its uncomfortable and painful aspects. Is there a purpose to the labor pains? Is there a purpose and meaning in the crucible? Is it possible to make it to the other side of such a process without some level of suffering, confusion, and terror? I hesitate to say no, but there's a lot of wisdom and humility in admitting that.

We need pain to grow, and if we don't grow, we die. This is a truth of both archetypal Saturn and Aries. Birth can be a beautiful and miraculous event, but it can also be horrifying. There is a struggle in all birth —a fight to claim life —and that struggle is a deeply ancient and transpersonal one, well etched in all of us by billions of years of evolution. The struggle pushes the new and helpless thing into life. The same is true of growth, of the biologically ingrained growing pains that provide the incentive to push through to the other side — to make the old way so unbearable that we have no choice. Sometimes we have to meet this face of Saturn, and in the foggy depths of Neptune, pushing through into an unfathomable unknown provides no clear or rational incentive.

The Purpose of Delusion

I want to wrap up with a quote from astrologer and Jungian psychologist Liz Greene, because she encapsulates this more painful aspect of the Neptunian archetype that the heroism and narcissism of the Western mind and culture deeply struggle with. In her book, The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption, Greene argued,

"…there is often profound meaning in what is conventionally called pathology, addiction, or madness; and the individual in the grip of Neptune's peculiar form of breakdown may ultimately see further, and more, than the doctor who is treating such a patient. What is deception, and what is illusion? Who is deceiving whom, and about what? And where, as any Neptunian might well ask, is the rule-book which offers us a definition of reality so unshakable that we know with certainty at least whether that Other, which is the object of our longing, is merely the opiate of the masses, or alive and well in the great transcendent unity we call life, or just another word for Mother?" [1] [emphasis added]

We can well associate Greene's "Other" on one level with the daimonic and transpersonal, but, as Greene's larger argument takes us, also into the watery and placid depths of biological gestation, a ground from which we all emerge (and at least symbolically, will someday return). Greene intertwines this longing for redemption with the primal longing to return to Mother and womb, and with the more transcendent longing of the religious, spiritual, and transpersonal, whether through a God, Goddess, or universal consciousness. From this, we can equate both ends of the archetype with the sense of a "hidden hand" at play in every human life, from the unseen forces of biological evolution to the mysterious and daimonic — guiding and directing, yet also beckoning us to return to the ground of emergence.

Neptune touches deeply on this dimension of every human experience: having to submit, let go, and surrender to this hidden hand, letting it have its way with our lives. Both the historical and archetypal Christ, and its inherent martyrdom, are deeply involved in this, as were many mythological, Christ-like progenitors. Whether in the throes of love and infatuation, carnal passion, ecstatic mystical union with the divine, a compulsion toward some higher calling, or in the depths of so-called "madness" or "pathology," where do we ultimately draw the line? Saturn is our means of distinguishing between those acceptable and unacceptable means of madness, but as Greene ultimately invites us to question, where "is the rule-book which offers us a definition of reality so unshakable" that we at last have certainty about it all?

Further, is there a purpose to our delusions? Without them, there would be no awakening. Without being given only part of the picture or story, we would never discover anything, and perhaps, we would never take critical steps toward our destiny. There are destinations in life for which we cannot fully know, otherwise we wouldn't consciously move toward them. There would be no genuine revelation and or transformation of consciousness.

And the same is true of pain and suffering, light and dark. As Jung famously stated, "There is no birth of consciousness without pain." [2] For Jung, the psyche — and, by extension, our whole subjective experience of life — was a struggle to integrate and come to terms with our own inherent paradoxical nature. Denial of this truth of reality leads us only deeper into delusion, madness, or evil.

The most mad and evil among us are those who believe they're immune or cleansed of such pathologies. Yet, there is much growth and beauty in embracing our madness, confusion, and mystery. We exist in a whole culture that tries to pathologize and thus control everything--medicate, cleanse, and fix via every conceivable positive affirmation or antidepressant, to even out and make smooth the mess and confusion we sometimes find ourselves.

Does anyone really know what's going on anyway? Saturn's role is to convince us that someone or something knows, yet, on a bigger, cosmic level, there may be no rule-book after all. There may be no one with any ultimate control. Yet, that doesn't discount the notion of fate, a larger plan, or a hidden hand with its own agenda and directive. A plan can exist without ultimate control. We may only know that a larger plan exists, or that some other force beyond the biological and evolutionary does.

We may never get closure on any of this in our embodied experience. Our human tendency is to construct some grand narrative (via worldview or cosmology) to make sense of it all, to ensure that it'll all be okay in the end. Anyone deeply entrenched in shadow possession may well believe that such is true for the chosen, for those most rational, pure of heart, intellect, or bloodline to discern the bigger plan, or for those who leaped to the "right" timeline.

Yet the actual, more uncomfortable reality is that we're all in this together, whether we like it or not. There's no way out alive, with ultimate certainty, or with clarity. Will we ever know the ultimate purpose of our life, or any life? These are uncomfortable daimonic and thus Neptunian questions. They bring us to the layer of our lives and experiences that seem unconcerned with our petty, egoistic needs and problems (and their limited perspective).

Extrapolating to the level of humanity, civilization, and its real but ultimately petty problems (at least from the perspective of billions of years of biological evolution), what is the purpose of any of this, the whole arc of so-called "progress" we think ourselves to be on? I don't think anyone knows, and if Neptune has a say in it (which, at the moment, it very much does), it would suggest that purpose is not at all what we think — or would like to believe.

So what do we do with that? Jung would argue that we do our shadow work, get on with waking up and individuating, and allow the inner work to shape our destiny. With that, I wholeheartedly agree. I also suggest that we humbly surrender to the transpersonal hand doing what it wills, because, aside from the painful aspect of the process (which we cannot fully escape), there is still the possibility of awe, wonderment, and enchantment on the other side. It's possible the plan, no matter how crazy we might think it is, is a good one. Life may all be a paradoxical mess, but there's always that end to any Neptunian experience, always the hope that something beautiful awaits us beyond the liminal threshold if we can merely let go and trust the wisdom in the process.

Footnotes

[1] Liz Greene, The Astrological Neptune and the Quest for Redemption (Boston & York Beach: Weiser Books, 2000), p. xv

[2] In "Marriage as a Psychological Relationship", Jung stated, "there is no birth of consciousness without pain," in reference to the (mostly) inevitable crises he argued were inherent to any relationship--describing marriage as a catalyst for individuation, involving the complex confrontation with one's shadow unconsciously projected onto one's partner. Elsewhere, in Contributions to Analytical Psychology, the phrase "there is no coming to consciousness without pain" is translated and commonly quoted.

For more on the unfolding Saturn–Neptune cycle, explore [From Disillusionment to Global Awakening] and [The American Dream and Other Delusions]—two earlier essays that trace this alignment’s historical roots and collective psychological impact.

To explore how the Saturn–Neptune alignment—or any major planetary symbol—speaks to your personal chart, book a private consultation or reading with Chad Woodward of Kosmic Mind Astrology. His sessions blend evolutionary and psychological astrology with spiritual insight, offering grounded guidance for navigating cycles of change and self-realization.

Seeing the Other Side: New Moon in Libra 2025

New Moon @ 28 degrees Libra 22'

October 21, 2025

5:25 AM EDT

8:25 AM PDT

October's New Moon in Libra forms the head of a yod formation involving Saturn-Neptune and Uranus. The combination of quincunxes is commanding--they direct us and compel us toward higher goals. Yods give our activities a sense of mission and purpose, but they also imply some level of sacrifice or inconvenience.

Archetypal Libra is the sign of relationship, involving our willingness to understand others, find common ground, and compromise. It represents putting some of our needs and preferences aside for the sake of union or agreement. The grand cross involving the New Moon amplifies those qualities of Libra that are more difficult for the personal ego.

The New Moon's grand-cross with Pluto, Jupiter, and Chiron can represent a collision with wounds, residual trauma, and various insecurities, all of which we can feel stuck with, inhibiting our ability to connect, reach out, or put ourselves out there. Yet the conflicting elements here can also serve as catalysts for awareness, and thus for healing and breakthrough.

The New Moon ruler, Venus, is in her own sign, so there's a way to find peace, agreement, and allies. This New Moon reminds us about all that we're connected to, and the necessity of interdependency, collaboration, and working together. We can feel a lot of weight and pressure with this lunation, but also gain the needed incentive to change, find help, or make some shift that can break us through to the other side.

A Way Forward: Full Moon in Aries 2025

Full Moon @ 14 degrees Aries 08'

October 6, 2025

8:48 PM PDT

11:48 PM EDT

October's Full Moon (and Supermoon) in tropical Aries frees us from the shadowy depths of eclipse season, representing a powerful break with the past. In fire sign Aries, and with Mars in its ruling sign Scorpio, this Full Moon can catalyze more directness and assertiveness, which can help establish clearer boundaries and make progress toward objectives.

As October hangs in the balance between eclipses and an impending Mercury retrograde cycle in November, this is a time in which we'll have more direction and influence, so October is a month for making some vital headway. Also, as a Full Moon, the effects and reverberations of past actions and efforts can manifest strongly here, mainly involving past collaborations or relationships.

The tension in this Full Moon lies in the strong sense of purpose that it can ignite, which can conflict with more immediate or personal interests. There is a transpersonal pull here, reflected in the rough yod formation created between the Moon, Venus/North Node, and Mars. Additionally, the Sun in Libra's pull is also present, revealing the balance and tension between personal and collaborative interests.

This energy is less about achieving personal fulfillment and more about submitting our will to a higher order or a more complex social need. Still, there is something in this Full Moon that ignites or excites our passion and willingness to more seriously accept or pursue a personal (or transpersonal) purpose.

Making it Real: Partial Solar Eclipse in Virgo 2025

New Moon/Partial Solar Eclipse @ 29 degrees Virgo 05'
September 21, 2025
12:45 PM Pacific
3:54 PM Eastern

September's New Moon in tropical Virgo is the final solar eclipse of the year and stimulates the Aries Point (AP) axis and Saturn-Neptune conjunction. Also, it occurs just before the equinox on the anaretic degree of Virgo (29 degrees). Symbolically, this eclipse suggests a major push forward or even an explosive type of energy that will infuse itself into this dynamic transitional point in the year. 

There is a notable line-up of objects happening here: Sun, Moon, Earth, Saturn, and Neptune form a direct alignment in the solar system. This planetary chain also coincides with the peak of the current solar maximum cycle, characterized by dynamic sunspot activity and intense space weather that generates significant energy in the planetary sphere, manifesting in critical social and natural events worldwide. 

Planetary alignment occurring as part of this partial solar eclipse (Image created with SolarSystemScope).

There is definitely a level of conflict inherent in the Saturn-Neptune and Sun-Moon opposition, especially when it occurs on the boundary-pushing AP axis, reflecting a struggle to overcome certain barriers or restrictions that limit the concretization of a desired reality. There is also a visionary, spiritual, and transpersonal dimension to this eclipse that we can implement powerfully in creative ways.

The Virgo archetype reflects idealism channeled through concrete service, self-improvement, and the pragmatic embodiment of a transcendent vision. Virgo is about walking the walk and living true to one's morality, ethics, and highest vision. With Virgo, we bring down to earth and attempt to implement what can never be fully realized or known, but the effort gets us part way, imparts some imprint into the physical world of something beyond. 

There can be some structures dissolving here, and even some disillusionment in relation to certain beliefs, ideals, or idealized figures. The Neptunian archetype's transpersonal dimension suggests a level of fate and contact with aspects of life and reality we have no control. Yet, all of this opens up space for something new, especially a new vision and dream, pushing the boundaries of what's possible for ourselves and the world we inhabit, allowing us to move on to the next level. 

A solar eclipse is a powerful starting point, initiation, and transformative portal. As a south nodal eclipse, we must release and let go of some baggage and limitations to move ahead, and with Neptune involved, perhaps also some delusions and false perceptions. However, there can be a positive uplift from this eclipse that can set us further toward perfecting our vision and gaining more competence and skilfullness to make our vision real.

Pushing the Boundaries of Reality: A Conversation with Chad Woodward of Kosmic Mind Astrology (Podcast)

I recently had a conversation with astrologer Kristine Backes over on The Natural Wisdom Podcast. Kristine and I delve deeply into the Saturn-Neptune alignment over the Aries Point, but inevitably expand into its broader implications, encompassing consciousness, the nature of reality, science, and the current paradigm shift. It was a lot of fun. I also recommend checking out Kristine’s Substack and writings as well!

You can watch or listen to the whole podcast discussion here

Deep in the Flow: Total Lunar Eclipse in Pisces 2025

Full Moon @ 15 Pisces 23'

September 7, 2025

2:09 PM EDT

11:09 AM PDT

September's Full Moon in tropical Pisces is a total lunar eclipse, pulling us deep into 2025's final eclipse season. It also occurs alongside Uranus' retrograde station, amplifying the archetypal qualities of the liberator and change-maker, infusing some instability and creative spontaneity into this eclipse. Combined with the lunar eclipse's spacious trine with Jupiter and its placement in Pisces, this eclipse opens new perceptual and psychic horizons.

Lunar eclipses usher in highly potent Full Moon energy, indicating that we're approaching a climax and resolution of some critical dynamics in our lives. Lunar eclipses represent powerful collective and personal fulcrums that help to settle and conclude longstanding issues or challenges, offering a transformative potential that can inspire hope and a fresh perspective.

This lunar eclipse offers a much-needed break in our focus, allowing us to see ourselves or our circumstances from a broader vantage point. With that, it is much like coming to the surface to catch your breath, to take in something new, and find some relief from the repetitive mode of action and day-to-day processes.

Jupiter rules this lunar eclipse and receives a harmonious trine. Exalted in Cancer, Jupiter brings with it gifts and blessings that have been concealed from view. Although fleeting, this eclipse brings forth a powerful new perspective or emotional release that can provide some hope or inspiration.

Of course, there is also a powerful feeling-based current here that could open up psychic and emotional floodgates. There is an unsettling potential, especially when there has been emotional or intuitive stagnation and an excessive focus on the rational or intellectual plane. However, it creates and opens up much-needed space in the collective, and there will be much to reflect on further over the following months.

Intentional Refocusing: New Moon in Virgo 2025

New Moon @ 00 Virgo 23'
August 22, 2025
11:07 PM Pacific Time
August 23, 2025
2:07 AM Eastern Time

August's New Moon is the first of two New Moons this year to occur in tropical Virgo, the second being a partial solar eclipse on September 21, occurring on the Aries Point axis and opposing the Saturn-Neptune alignment. The solar eclipse represents a more powerful transition, starting point, and restart in the year, but August's New Moon is our gateway to this transformative lunar cycle.

August's New Moon may be a rather abrupt transition from the delayed and potentially stagnant energies of previous weeks. It cuts through much of our routinized approaches and guides us (gradually) to a new vision we can practically implement in our lives. However, two quincunxes to the New Moon from Pluto and Saturn-Neptune also reflect a frustrating crossfire between a desire for liberation and larger societal or transpersonal forces that impede quick results.

Uranus' square to the Virgo New Moon suggests we're challenged to initiate a fresh start in several endeavors, especially those that involve a fine-tuning of details, gaining greater competence and proficiency, and humbly updating skills, workflow, health, and self-care. With Virgo, there's always room for improvement, and Uranus suggests that something has to give. 

Be conscious of the likely unpredictable directions that new endeavors will take from here, and the dramatic changes they'll endure over the following month. Embrace more spontaneity and creative detours with this energy rather than a straight and stable path to your goals. While there may be more to work through and resolve, with some extra focus and effort, we can push through to new ground. 

Surrender to the Flow: Full Moon in Aquarius 2025

Full Moon @ 17 Aquarius 00'

August 9, 2025

3:55 AM EDT

12:55 AM PDT

August's Full Moon in Aquarius occurs just days before Mercury's direct station (end of the retrograde cycle) and Mars' opposition to the Saturn-Neptune alignment. Additionally, Venus and Jupiter will soon meet up in Cancer, making this Full Moon alignment a bitter/sweet paradoxical mix.

The Full Moon always reflects a crescendo in our lives and in world events, a culmination of efforts and energies, sometimes resulting in a critical, decisive point. However, with this Full Moon, there is a lot of ambivalence mixed in here, especially in relation to our actions and ultimate end points.

Mars' opposition to the Saturn-Neptune alignment (and its crossing the Aries Point or AP axis) suggests major global shifts (literally and symbolically). This means a significant amount of energy is being released in the collective. Yet, we might feel confused or uncertain about where to direct it or make use of it because there is much that has not been settled or fully resolved.

Mercury's direct station, while ending the retrograde, can overwhelm us with a lot of data, dialogue, and options. Also, delays and technical issues can still cluster here, so it's best to plan for extra time and needed flexibility.

The Full Moon itself is almost lost in the mix of other alignments, but the Aquarian symbol is still relevant, directing us to the larger collective or greater impact. It is a forward-thinking sign, concerned with what lies ahead, and that brings plans and objectives more solidly into focus, a solidifying of our past efforts and their greater effect.

This Full Moon is not a time to keep forcing our will or desires especially if encountering resistance or pushback. Venus-Jupiter in Cancer reflects a need to soften and receive what's coming now, take a step back, wait, pause, and retreat. There will be an acceleration of energy in the coming weeks, so take your time and let go of the need for a clear view or directive.

Grim Awakening: Israel, Genocide, and Enantiodromia

 IDF Spokesperson's Unit; via Wikimedia Commons.

While researching a book project and teaching a pilot course based on the concept, I rediscovered an astonishing passage in astrologer and Jungian analyst Liz Greene's book, The Outer Planets & Their Cycles: The Astrology of the Collective. Greene has had an impressive career, distinguished as both an astrologer and Jungian analyst, and more recently, an academic, publishing two extensive works on the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. She has been highly influential in the development of modern psychological astrology and its offshoots.

Outer Planets contains lecture transcripts that Greene gave at a Wrekin Trust conference in the early 1980s, addressing the topic of mundane astrology and collective psychology. The book was published in 1983 and reissued in 1996. The latter edition is the version I'll reference here. The passage serves as an example of a poignant prophetic insight that was more true than Greene could have probably imagined when she said it, drawing from her integration of modern astrology and Jungian psychology.

Additionally, Greene's insights demonstrate the usefulness of cyclical cosmology, the study of history alongside the cyclical alignments of the outer planets to make predictions about future historical trends. This approach was pioneered by the French mundane astrologer Andre Barbault (1919-2019). Barbault's work significantly changed mundane astrology in the late 20th century.

I discovered Green's book over fifteen years ago in a used book section of a San Diego bookstore. I remember reading this specific passage then, but having little understanding of the situation involving Israel and the Palestinians (I was really quite ignorant, actually), I didn't grasp the broader significance of Green's larger point and warning. Interestingly, though, I flagged the page because it was my first introduction to the concept of enantiodromia, a term that Greene referenced as a Jungian coinage. Enantiodromia is a concept that goes back to pre-Socratic philosophy, specifically the work of Heraclitus (which influenced Jung and much of the Hermetic philosophy that Jung also drew from).

When I came back to this passage earlier this year, I was astounded by its relevancy regarding the plight of the Palestinians following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks against the Israeli state. I disucussed the issue in my second Saturn-Neptune essay, published October 2024, because I believed it deeply reflected the symbolism of the Saturn-Neptune alignment and that the grim reality of the subsequent genocide (vield as Israel's "right to defend itself") would became more upfront and mainstream by the time of its exactitude in early 2026 (specifically February). I refer readers to the section of that essay titled "The Genocide in the Room" for additional commentary and context.

When I published my second Saturn-Neptune essay, the issue of labeling the Israeli response to October 7 a genocide was highly controversial within the mainstream media and the political establishment (it still is, though the media blackout appears to be somewhat dissipating). In my article, which I intentionally published a week before the US Presidential election in November, I highlighted the profound symbolic reflection of that election, illuminating a deep spiritual and moral void at the heart of the American political establishment. The genocide was central to this.

For me, the choice between two brands (left or right) of US-sponsored genocide was more than deeply problematic; it was outright horrific and reflected the narcissistic and psychopathic underbelly of the US empire. Taking a "lesser evil" stance in that election wasn't an acceptable political strategy since both parties were complicit in not only allowing but participating in the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Gaza and occupied West Bank regions (through the constant flow of taxpayer funding and US weapons sent to the state of Israel).

This underbelly is nothing new: the horrors of America's founding were predicated on the enslavement and abuse of African people and the slaughter, displacement, and intentional cultural degradation of Native Americans. The previous war crimes perpetrated by the US (especially numerous following the September 11 terrorist attacks, and of course, the Vietnam War) included. In relation to the Israel/Palestine conflict, war crimes have become so blatant and deeply normalized within the machinations of politics, media, and cultural influence, America has devolved into something even more overtly insidious. The uniqueness of this conflict is not merely that it's happening but that it's happening in the light of day, in the social media era, where the evidence of genocide is instantly available via any mobile device. The images and the numbers of casualties are there for all to witness.

Denial of this reality (or worse, support for it) can be understood, in large part, via the dynamics of group psychology, a feature of Greene's book and conference lectures. However, she addresses the topic exclusively through the Jungian and astrological frameworks. On the political level, there is an obvious occurrence of groupthink happening (this is a well-accepted conception of what led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003). On a broader public level, Belgian psychologist Mattias Desmet's "mass formation" hypothesis is also worth contemplating, especially in understanding the mass of Israeli citizens, IDF soldiers, and a whole segment of US representatives who fully support the Israeli government's current strategy and policies. I'm not sure if this is Desmet's personal or professional view, but his work helps contextualize this kind of mass mobilization of evil. Desmet's work, The Psychology of Totalitarianism, focused on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response, so it still stands as hugely controversial (and largely ignored and dismissed). His broader historical reference point and parallel was the symptomology that led to the Holocaust during World War II, which he saw as driven by the dominant materialist worldview above all else. I'll discuss this more in my conclusion.

As Greene would argue, Jung's model of the psyche, his concepts of the shadow and the collective unconscious, also allow us an understanding of the Israel/Palestine conflict (in addition to numerous similar incidents). This is what allowed Greene to make the following insight regarding the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. Of course, Greene is not alone here. Numerous individuals have taken note of the potential dangers and irony associated with the founding of Israel in light of the conflict and tension it created with the regional Arab population. Notably, German/American historian Hannah Arendt, who expanded upon the concept of totalitarianism in the aftermath of the Holocaust, wrote about these dangers, especially in relation to the rising tide of Israeli nationalism, in her essay Zionism Reconsidered.

Greene's observations begin in "Lecture Two," in which she addresses some audience members' questions but primarily focuses the lecture on Saturn's conjunctions with the three outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto). At this point, Greene segways into the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in tropical Leo, which occurred at the end of World War II. She brings up the fascinating observation that many of her clients born at this time (the time of the conjunction at the end of the 1940s) consistently revealed dreams involving the Holocaust (despite being born after it ended). Reincarnation is discussed as a possibility, but Greene perceives the Holocaust as a symbol rather than a literal image. Greene argued that while the reincarnation perspective may be valid, the symbolism of the dream says more about the client's present condition. Following this, Greene shares this insight:

"If you really want to get a strong taste of what Saturn-Pluto feels like, then you must look at the images of the last war [World War II], because the last war is a paradigm of Saturn-Pluto. It's a powerful symbol of what I feel this aspect is about, including the overwhelming Plutonian dictatorship and the crushed scapegoat that is hunted and persecuted, which is also in a strange way Plutonian. All the sexual sadism and dreams of racial purity and supermen are bound up with Saturn-Pluto...."

"Oddly, Israel was born as a state under that same Saturn-Pluto conjunction that followed the Holocaust. This is either a piece of immense cosmic irony, or it's something very profound. Unfortunately the behavior of this very great and dedicated new nation sometimes verges horribly close to the very thing that engendered its birth.* This suggests something very paradoxical, which Jung called enantiodromia. That means that if you polarize very violently against an opposite, you have a tendency to secretly become that opposite without realizing it. I feel this is the danger of polairsing with any of the outer planet conjunctions with Saturn. If you fight too hard against one side, you wind up being taken over by it unconsciously. The same danger lies in Saturn-Uranus and Saturn-Neptune. If Saturn tries to fight too hard against Neptunian idealism and romanticism by attempting to be incredibly practical, it tends to secretly behave like a religious fanatic bringing the kingdom of heaven down to earth, without even being aware of its messianic aura. It works the other way, too. Saturn-Uranus may polarise on the Uranian side and talk about freedom and change of the educational system and overthrowing of conventional authority, but unconsciously it will be as authoritarian and rigid and tyrannical as the very thing it kicks against."(emphasis added) [1]

In the 1996 edition, Greene added this footnote connected to the asterisked line about how Israel sometimes "verges horribly close to the very thing that engendered its birth":

"This comment was made in reference to the situation in the Middle East in 1980. The present situation between Israel and the Palestinians in the summer of 1982 tends to make me wish to repeat that comment even more forcibly."[2]

Greene was likely referring to the Sabra and Shatila Massacre in 1982, following the Lebanon War in which over a thousand (or several thousand) Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were killed by Israeli allies aided by the Israeli military. The event is only one of many to come involving the gradual displacement and elimination of the Palestinian people since the founding of Israel. The state's nationalistic Zionist pursuits have evolved into a colonialist project that has persisted for decades, a project that's now reaching a gruesome endpoint just three years following the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of early 2020.

The founding of the state of Israel, May 14, 1948, 4:00 PM EET, Tel Aviv, Israel (Rodding rating A). Note the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in tropical Leo (circled in red). Note also that Pluto in tropical Aquarius is currently about to transit into opposition to the nation’s natal 10th house Moon (ruler of the Midheaven) and later in 2031-2032, to the 10th house Saturn-Pluto conjunction itself. This reflects an intense exposure of the nation’s underbelly (4th house), challenging its public/global persona (10th house), revealing its highly polarized collective shadow in the first opposition to these placements from Pluto since the nation’s founding in 1948.

Greene's statements today would be considered antisemitic by many within the US political establishment and media, and of course, the Israeli government itself, which claims that any criticisms against its policies are an attack on all Jewish people. Of course, this is a ridiculous attempt at deflection, and I discussed the issue more in my second Saturn-Neptune essay, notably that numerous Jewish people throughout the world, and Jewish organizations, have denounced the Israeli government and it's genocide against the Palestinians. As if that should matter, since criticism of any nation's government is never conflated with criticism of all citizens of that state (nor their religious beliefs).

Greene's comments here are complex, and she covers quite a lot, including some insight into the current Saturn-Neptune alignment. Her latter insights could apply as well to many modern attacks against astrology and astrologers made by devout materialists, such as many atheistic academics and scientists who come off just as dogmatic and authoritarian as the religious zealots they oppose. The dominant faith in materialist metaphysics (which is built upon numerous assumptions and much philosophical shoddy ground) is equivalent to any religious or spiritual belief.

Scientism, the ideology that science is the only valid tool for understanding all aspects of reality, also verges on the very thing it claims to be countering in the world, that is, the dangerous authoritarian tendency of religious fundamentalism. Enantiodromia is an illuminating concept here. As Desmet's book showed from this perspective, the enantiodromia-fueled shadow of scientism was revealed during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, showing just how incredibly vulnerable any ideology (especially the more extreme and polarizing) is to the very thing it vehemently seeks to displace in the world. In the early 2020s, science was grossly distorted into a dogmatic code of conduct, and anyone who questioned "the science" was quickly scapegoated and ostracised. My essay on Pluto in Aquarius discussed this at more length. The true lesson here is that every human being is vulnerable (especially those who really believe they've transcended evil). No ideology is immune, especially the more polarizing and divisive it is.

As for Israel, Greene used this insight into the Saturn-Pluto conjunction to give a prophetic warning about the shadow that was festering beneath the veneer of Israel's more visible collective persona. That shadow has reached the maximum end of the polarity as entantiodromia would suggest. As I write this piece, a final solution much like the 1940s Holocaust is being implemented on the Palestinian people, ironically, much like the Jewish people themselves endured in Europe. Anyone left alive in Gaza and the occupied West Bank regions (from the incessant bombing that has endured since 2023) are being intentionally starved to death. For nearly five months now, Israel has deliberately cut off humanitarian aid to the region (which includes food, medical care, and, grossly, even baby formula) for what it claims to be a move to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages. For months now, there has been an increasing amount of media coverage of the situation, clearly showing its reality. Daily, images of babies and children dying of disease due to malnutrition emerge. Even more revealing, journalists have been banned from filming Gaza from the air, with the Israeli government threatening to cut off or delay air drops of food as a consequence (the air drops have only recently been allowed due to increasing media and international pressure). The Israeli government clearly doesn't want the world to see how utterly horrific the situation truly is; in fact, not many words are adequate enough to describe it. Genocide is the only appropriate term, a term many in the media still hesitate and avoid saying directly.

A young girl inside Gaza walks to get food; Jaber Jehad Badwan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

To give a sense of what those behind the right-wing Israeli government are really up to, recently, Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, had this to say about what Israel is currently doing to the Palestinians:

"The government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out. Thank God, we are wiping out this evil. We are pushing this population that has been educated on Mein Kampf."

The irony of this statement just reeks of enantiodromia, as Elijahu and the numerous members of the Jewish Power party believe it's the defenseless people of Gaza currently being sequestered like cattle with nowhere to escape, mutilated by bombs, and systematically starved to death, who are the Nazi's. This level of total psychopathic delusion reveals the intense denial of shadow (and its subsequent projection) that has overtaken the Israeli political factions, which have become incapable, at this point, of self-reflection (and I'm sure many leaders within these factions never were capable of such to begin with). This is a dangerous groupthink and mass formation that will result (as it has already) in the ultimate tragedy that historical depictions will eventually plainly document.

I want to pivot with two other passages from Outer Planets, because I feel they further contextualize this concept and Greene's argument further. They also carry this discussion a bit deeper into a broader authoritarian crisis of the modern era. The first occurs in "Lecture Three," in which Greene discussed the birth chart of philosopher Karl Marx, one of the authors of The Communist Manifesto. Here is Greene:

"I find this chart very interesting, because you cannot separate a philosophy or a psychological system from the person who propounds it. I am also very interested in the way in which Marxism is interpreted. Whatever Marx meant by his vision, it has certainly taken on some strange forms in the twentieth century. Most Marxists I have met are very annoyed if I suggest that their political system is really a religious vision, because the Marxist is supposed to be militantly atheistic. But militant atheism is, in American jargon, a dead giveaway, because if a person is really an atheist, he simply doesn't care. If he's militant, he's trying to stamp out something in himself."[3]

Greene elaborates more here on the enantiodromia concept, the transformation of an extreme one-sidedness within the psyche to its antithesis. As Greene argued, in relation to Marxism and atheism, it's the militant nature of one's position, the drive to stamp out the perceived threat to the larger utopian project, that, from a Jungian perspective, reveals the true motivation that lies in shadow (lies outside the threshold of conscious awareness and thus out of sight from the conscious portion of the Self).

The attempted eradication of one group of people and their beliefs (whether through literal genocide as in the case with Israel, or merely verbal and political as with the scientism vs. superstition conflict), according to Greene, reveals an unconscious pursuit of one's annihilation, or a part of oneself that has become deeply unconscious due to the overidentification with the extreme end of the archetypal polarity. As with scientism, the denial of one's creative, intuitive, spiritual, and "magical" nature (which has been ubiquitous to humanity for tens of thousands of years) means that this archetypal dimension will be expressed somehow. The more it lies in shadow, and the more rejected it is, the more possessive it becomes, and the more aggressive, divisive, and potentially violent. From Jung's ultimate point of view, this is all a byproduct of the possession of the ego by unconscious archetypal energies. Enantiodromia is a primary way in which this happens, and in the case of Israel and the Palestinians, it's one of the most dangerous and deeply paradoxical. This brings me to the last quote from Outer Planets I wish to share. Greene made the following statements regarding Pluto and the synchronicity of its discovery. Earlier in "Lecture Two," Greene shared this insight:

"Pluto is also very interesting to consider in terms of what was happening in the world at the time of his discovery. Pluto's finding coincides first of all with the rise of the Third Reich. I will be referring again to this connection, because I feel there is a good deal we don't understand about Pluto and I am convinced there is a relationship with the psychological phenomenon of Nazi Germany. What happened in World War Two is still a great mystery. It cannot be explained away by economic and political analyses. Something very archaic and dark erupted into society. We now have a tendency simply to blame Germany, but I am not convinced it's that simple. Something was unleashed around the time of Pluto's discovery which I think has something to do with the collective shadow. Obviously there have been other eruptions of this kind in history. There have been massacres and witch hunts and genocide in every country in the world. But this latest version of it also contained a successful manipulation of those more bestial or archaic forces, and I think the issue of power over these energies is connected with Pluto."[4]

This discovery of Pluto, February 18, 1930, 4:00 PM MST, Flagstaff, AZ.

Greene goes further:

"There have always been mad dictators, but I think the Third Reich was a first because it used psychological knowledge to further its ends. Dictators usually dictate with armies, not with the power of hypnosis over the masses. I am sure that the positive features of this kind of insight are very bound up with the development of psychotherapy and analysis, but so far we have really seen primarily the worst of Pluto. Every planet has its dark and its light side. Perhaps the darkness of Pluto has as much to do with his repression as it does with any innate malevolence on the part of the planet. But I feel the kind of power issues that emerged in the 1930's are very relevant to the meaning of Pluto."[5]

Greene's observations here are in agreement with Arendt's primary argument regarding the phenomena of the Third Reich and totalitarianism itself, that it represented a new kind of authoritarianism made possible by the scientific and industrial revolutions, namely the complex web of bureaucracies and the technological capacity to further surveillance and domination. Also, the alienation of the individual due to capitalism (drawing from Marx), a changing worldview, and increasing globalization play a significant role in making such collective mass movements more alluring. Totalitarianism, as defined by Arendt, was indeed a novel means of social control that aimed to control every aspect of social and private life, down to every citizen's perception of reality. The incessant lying and gaslighting of the public is a hallmark of totalitarian movements and their leaders, and it points to its psychological dimension, especially to its insidious manipulation of truth and reality. Philosopher Michel Foucault and novelist George Orwell also illuminated this new dystopian potential that emerged in the mid-to-late 20th century through their various groundbreaking works. Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 are iconic pieces that contain numerous examples of this kind of psychological control and manipulation that are more relevant today than ever.

More recently, Korean/German philosopher, Byung Chul-Han, expounded on many of these earlier theories into his concept of psychopolitics as a more unique form of totalitarianism in the digital age, in which the citizen now actively desires and consents to surveillance, domination, and control as the authoritarian apparatus is fully installed and internalized on the unconscious level. Psychopolitics hits closer to what Greene was alluding to as Han suggests it's the ultimate mode of authoritarian mind control. See my Saturn-Neptune essay for more on Han and how his ideas relate to specific alignments in the early 1980s (interestingly, at the time of Greene's referenced lecture).

I am not arguing that Israel is a totalitarian state per the specific parameters, though it shares many characteristics, especially the intensive surveillance and subjugation of the nation's perceived scapegoat (the Palestinian people and other Arab ethnic groups). However, how an atrocity very similar to that of the Holocaust could occur today (and even be supported by segments of the world population), I think, points clearly to the psychological dimension of this new form of societal control, however you might label it. More so, this equally sheds light on the silence and complicity of the US over the genocide and the ability of a small segment of influential state leaders to gaslight the public over the reality of the situation, perpetuating a media blackout for nearly two years while the genocide is broadcast via social and alternative media. In that sense, the elements of totalitarianism are certainly at play. Lastly, Desmet's work is illuminating here too, as a central piece of his argument pointed to the Enlightenment and the materialist worldview as having paved the way to the mass formation phenomena. The loss of collective contact and valuation with the inward and thus unconscious leaves the masses vulnerable to such mass movements and the collective mobilization of evil. From Desmet's conception, much like Jung, this works via a compensatory psychological drive.

As for Greene's observation of the synchronistic rise of the Third Reich (and its totalitarianism), the developments of the psychoanalytic movement, and the discovery of Pluto, the archetype of this cold and distant planet may point symbolically to this very crisis among humanity, which is, at the core, a spiritual one. In other words, it suggests that the terrifying developments which seem to emerge during these Plutonian times reflect our collective detachment and disengagement from both the personal and collective unconscious. As Jung would argue, what happens "out there" reflects an internal condition, and especially a collective level problem, reflects a collective critical mass of this detachment. I think this is what Greene was getting at, in addition to suggesting that the atrocities of the Holocaust had a more psychological explanation.

Therefore, the problem of Israel and Gaza, on the one hand, has a clear origin in a polarizing ideology (that of some extremist offshoots of Zionism and their accompanying enantiodromia), but the broader support of the US government and the whole of the media blackout reflects this larger totalitarian phenomena which is, at the root, a totalizing control of the individual and its perception of reality, a very real problem we are currently faced with collectively. This is ironically the antithesis of the freedom the Enlightenment project sought and fought so hard for (and which America was in significant part founded on, if not more so, for the economic freedoms it gave to a wealthy elite as it still does today).

It is a tragedy that Gaza serves as part of an awakening among the collective regarding the totalizing control of perception that is sought by the current powers that be. Many will be awakened by this event, especially as its reality becomes more mainstream, as politicians and media pundits who previously looked the other way, or even championed Israel's "right to defend itself," attempt to backtrack and save face as the harsh truth of the genocide comes to the surface. This is the season of Saturn-Neptune, and as I have argued, more awakenings are to come, especially leading to immense disenchantment and disillusionment with certain authorities and systems of power that have perpetuated such atrocities and delusions.

Yet, my broader point (not to detract from emphasizing the horrors happening in Gaza) ties in with much of what Greene and others have pointed to about the times we live in and what I believe astrology also synchronistically reveals to us. This awakening is bigger than surface-level events. It's about an awakening to larger forces and processes within the universe and within ourselves which our current materialist worldview denies, obscures, and vehemently tries to blind us to. Jung's larger objective was to show that the psychological was also the cosmic. The Self is embedded in a larger, interconnected whole. This means that we are all in this together, and we are all, on some deeper metaphysical level, complicit in the collective shadow. That is to ultimately say that we can't simply see the evil in the world as only belonging to some fringe group of people, to do so would be to fall prey to the same entantiodromia that led to such evil. There is nothing special about the right-wing Israeli government or the Nazis other than the psychological polarization they fell into, the same risk we all carry, especially the more we believe ourselves as having transcended our human condition.

Ironically, we live in an age in which freedom is touted as the ultimate achievement of modern democracies, and yet more and more, the people of these very societies appear to seek and actively demand more control and authoritarian leadership (in fact, openly consent to it). The current situation in the US, but also that during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (and many events leading up to it), suggests this clearly. The nightmarish dimension of Pluto and the polarizing crises that erupt during these alignments between Saturn and the outer planets reflect our own cultural and collective psychological polarization. As Greene also alluded to, Pluto is not an inherently bad planet, but one that seeks to make us more conscious of ourselves and our blindspots. As an evolutionary astrologer, that is my position on astrology, though I don't believe the planets are ultimately intelligent agents but synchronistic reflections of deeper, archetypal energies which exist behind the curtain of waking consciousness.

In that sense, there is a purpose to the madness of the world, which is to awaken us to our own inherent madness (whether that be personal or collectively experienced). Yet also, I think Pluto and the other denizens beyond it, suggest there is always a bigger hand at play in the world and within ourselves. That was, of course, Jung's argument. Just when we think we're in control, or that we're free and enlightened, there will surely be a reminder of our proper place in the scheme of the cosmos (as long as we exist as limited egos). That can be terrifying, but also liberating in the acceptance of our flawed human nature and taking some pressure off our backs. We are all works in progress. We all fuck up. The genocide in Gaza is a horrific event that reflects something in which humanity has time and again forgotten, that it's just human, good, evil, and everything in between.

My heart goes out to those who are dying and suffering in Gaza and the surrounding regions. I pray their suffering will be quickly alleviated and those responsible for it will be brought to justice. No matter the bigger picture, we mustn't allow such atrocities to persist in the world and must do our best to liberate all beings from suffering. That is my moral position, and one I hope we collectively get closer to someday.

Page references

1. Liz Greene. The Outer Planets & Their Cycles: The Astrology of the Collective (Sebastopol: CRCS Publications, 1996), p. 51.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid., p. 64

4. Ibid., p. 31

5. Ibid., p. 31-32

Shadow Play: New Moon in Leo 2025

New Moon @ 2 degrees Leo 08'

July 24, 2025

3:11 PM EDT

12:11 PM PDT

July's New Moon falls in tropical Leo, striking a dynamic opposition to Pluto in Aquarius and a square to Chiron in Aries. Alongside Mercury's retrograde cycle, this lunation is a time for more careful planning and consideration, particuarly when implementing big moves or new endeavors. In this dark of the Moon, it's wise to practice more consolidation, contemplation, and reflection.

Pluto's opposition reveals a destructive rather than constructive dynamic, as does Mercury's retrogradation, a time for making revisions, adjustments, and space for reconstruction. This clashes with the creative and playful nature of Leo, and we can feel that tension in many ways, as a desire to keep things light or positive amid heavier or daunting truths or realities.

The nature of Pluto, especially in oppositional tension, is to bring to the light of consciousness a more shadowy underbelly to the world around us. From a Jungian perspective, this equally reflects our shadow--our own denied, repressed, and rejected nature, which resonates heavily with the Plutonian archetype.

However, there is greater power and freedom in facing this dimension of ourselves and the world. In doing so, we lessen the more destructive and harmful expression of it, either through greater awareness that helps mitigate its impact or by transmuting its energy toward more constructive purposes.

Here we find the true creative power of this New Moon, in looking into the more neglected aspect of something to bring forth vital sources of energy and power. To make use of what might otherwise be ignored or denied, and to surrender to the wisdom of the unconscious more than emphasize the rational and heroic dimension of ourselves and external world.

Reset and Refocus: Full Moon in Capricorn 2025

Full Moon @ 18 Capricorn 50'

July 10, 2025

1:37 PM PDT

4:37 PM EDT

July's Full Moon in tropical Capricorn culminates alongside Saturn's retrograde station and a week before Mercury's retrograde cycle begins. Saturn, as the ruler of this Full Moon and aligned with Neptune, is a dominant symbolic reflection point, suggesting this Full Moon serves as a transitional stage for focusing (or refocusing), reflection, and slowing down.

As we especially head into Mercury retrograde (July 17/18-August 11), this is a good time to pause and consider more carefully areas of focus and expansive activity. We are entering a brief period of revision and alteration, which can be optimized now with careful planning and specific attention, all things Capricorn excels at.

Saturn's station in its near conjunction to Neptune carries tremendous personal and collective meaning. On one level, there can be a sense of certain dreams coming true, the culmination of a vision, fantasy, or ideal manifesting more tangibly, especially with anything well-planned and grounded. In another layer, there can be a harsh coming to grips with reality, becoming more conscious of certain limitations or restrictions that we overlooked in favor of a dreamier or loftier version.

Paradoxically, the two can occur side by side, presenting a push and pull between the ideal and real and a more focused look ahead for the next major moves. Yet, whichever side of this Full Moon we experience, there is likely a sense of a new stage we must now enter, especially regarding the concretization or realization of whatever we aspire to achieve and make real. This is a core aspect of Saturn-Neptune and a higher end we can take advantage of.

Across the Threshold: New Moon in Cancer 2025

New Moon @ 4 degrees Cancer 08'

June 25, 2025

6:32 AM EDT

3:32 AM PDT

June's New Moon in tropical Cancer aligns with Jupiter and falls onto the Aries Point Axis, squaring the Saturn-Neptune alignment. This is a heavy New Moon packed with symbolic signification on a collective and geopolitical level. And it leads us to the first prominent peak of the Saturn-Neptune dynamic over the next few months.

As I've written about at length, the Saturn-Neptune alignment is a significant transit like the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020. Of course, we are dealing with very different correlations (and not as heavy and dystopian as the 2020 era). Still, as far as the historical significance of this period goes, there will be parallels.

On a personal level, this New Moon is one in which we are invited to push through some critical thresholds. The "boundary-pushing" theme of the Aries Point will be dominant, suggesting that much of what we are seeding, initiating, or embarking upon now has tremendous power to lead us to breakthroughs in our lives, especially involving the concretization and realization of certain ideals, dreams, and aspirations.

The challenging dimension of this lunation involves hubris and the conflict between what we idealize and the reality of cultural and biological barriers. Jupiter in Cancer is a powerful auspicious symbol of emotional, psychic, and domestic expansion. In square with Saturn-Neptune, this can reflect a higher-than-usual idealism, but paradoxically, a current of disillusionment or confusion can accompany it.

We will be wise to check any overconfidence here, especially involving risky actions or choices. However, if our ideals and objectives are firmly grounded in reality and we are highly conscious of our limitations, this is a powerful New Moon for making a big push into new landscapes and ways of being.

Lastly, another paradox of this New Moon lies in a conflict between a genuine awakening to new possibilities and conceptions of reality and an equally genuine struggle to cope with or manage seemingly oppressive or limiting circumstances. There is likely to be a lot of restlessness here, but that can also catalyze a push to challenge those boundaries holding us back from greater and more expansive possibilities.

Into the Shift: New Moon in Gemini 2025

New Moon @ 06 degrees Gemini 06'

May 26, 2025

8:02 PM PDT

11:02 PM EDT

This month's New Moon in Gemini has extra Gemini potency, conducive to the emergence of new and stimulating pathways, experiences, and conversations. When Gemini season is in full force, especially for those with strong Gemini placements, life can feel especially stimulating and sometimes over the top with activity.

This can be a welcome relief following months of stagnant astrology that forced us to clarify our perspectives and priorities. So, here, with this New Moon, at least there will be more green lights and movement. Of course, our individual experiences will vary.

Overall, the combination of the Gemini New Moon and its ruler, Mercury, in its home sign, there is lightness and a quickening of the pace that can help us get a lot off the ground to move in a more steady flowing direction. Look out for new ideas or interesting conversations and grab what you can since much of it is likely fleeting.

The big picture with this new moon is that a change in perspective here can help us start on a new path to see something from a new point of view. What we are planting now could blossom (at some future point) into something exicting, interesting, or help integrate us more within the local community. There is often an urge to reach out and indulge our curiosity with Gemini. Follow those callings and see where you land.

Taking Shape: Full Moon in Scorpio 2025

Full Moon @ 22 Scorpio 13'

May 12, 2025

9:56 AM PDT

12:56 PM EDT

A wave of change comes alongside this Full Moon in Scorpio, though not of the sort we have been used to with the earlier eclipse season and retrograde overlap this year. This change is more within our power to direct and focus, though it is still somewhat volatile and unstable where things can feel in flux.

Uranus' alignment with the Sun and opposition to the Scorpio Moon represents one significant piece of this symbolism. There is a deep and emotionally based urge to move on from the past and take on something new, whether that's through innovation (like spicing up our work or lifestyle routines) or literally breaking away from a situation that no longer suits our growth. The restraints of last month are freeing up now, so paradoxically, this feels like welcome and fertile energy.

We might begin to see some of the fruits of past efforts coming into view, or some may even be harvestable. Yet, Jupiter and Chiron's quincunx to the Full Moon can feel a bit like a snag, as if we're still waiting for the pieces to fall into place or for that final element to take center stage.

There is a lot that is pending here, but also a breakthrough that can bring in much-needed new life and energy, especially on the creative front. Scorpio, as a watery and therefore more psychic and intuitive archetype, invites more of the emotional component to what's happening now, embracing and grounding our feelings and intuitions into more tangible shape and form.

Grounding Point: New Moon in Taurus 2025

New Moon @ 7 degrees Taurus 47'

April 27, 2025

12:31 PM PDT

3:31 PM EDT

This month's New Moon in Taurus is a solid grounding and starting point in the year, especially in contrast to the instability of past weeks (with the eclipse season/retrograde overlaps). Hopefully, you have come out with some vital revisions and reconceptions, fresh ways of approaching plans, projects, and objectives.

With the fixed nature of Taurus and its ruler, Venus, still slowly moving through the Saturn-Neptune alignment, this New Moon does not bring about a strong sense of certainly in relation to tackling our goals or desires. There is likely some heavy ambivalence or even a strong sense of restrictiveness around what's possible.

This New Moon will likely feel like a sobering assessment of the current circumstances and issues we're faced with. It can prompt us to continue with the trend of reflection and reassessment. There is also a highly practical side of this lunation that can be useful for tightening up a financial situation or more carefully strategizing a project or health goal.

There is a deeper glimpse in the broader Saturn-Neptune era coming more intensely into collective focus that may involve a harsh look at our ideals, dreams, and spiritual beliefs. Yet also, there is a level of awakening to something vaster and more true, but we can also feel that on a soul level as a mix of excitement along with fear or even grief.

The paradox of Saturn-Neptune can require reconciling our resentment of certain limitations in the world alongside an appreciation for how they contain truths and realities that may be too much to process or manage. Certain boundaries need to dissolve now, but also, we may realize how vital and important others are.

Pluto and Mars' opposition also forms a t-square to this New Moon, so there is a level of conflict and tension here, but ultimately, it gives us a green light for action, especially with anything we've had to backtrack with earlier this year. Amid some of the constrictive side of this lunation, keep your eye out for more open space and resolution regarding how to move ahead with specific goals. This is fertile ground, and we can mindfully and carefully seed new potentials. We might overlook that if we're too focused on the limitations and restrictions we may be more aware of.

Illuminating Vision: New Moon/Solar Eclipse in Aries 2025

New Moon/Partial Solar Eclipse @ 9 degrees Aries 00
March 29, 2025
3:58 AM PDT 
6:58 AM EDT 

March's New Moon in tropical Aries is a partial solar eclipse, most visible over portions of north-eastern Canada and Greenland. Following the equinox and occurring in the cardinal and catalytic sign of Aries, there is a definite new beginning occurring here, but one that's complex in the dark of the solar eclipse archetype, Mercury and Venus retrograde, and Neptune's impending ingress into Aries.

The overlap of eclipses and inner planetary retrograde cycles directs us to subtle and inward dimensions. Of course, anything we've already put in motion and carefully and strategically worked through should see results and progress despite these dynamics. However, the most powerful shifts and changes are less likely tangible. There can be a strong sense of waiting for things to settle or emerge from hibernation, even though it feels like so much is happening. 

This gives this New Moon/solar eclipse a paradoxical energy with a desire for movement and action but also some ambiguity and delay. However, the more inwardly we are attuned, the less these dynamics will frustrate us. The sky urges us to reflect and revise, giving us more insight (and ultimately an advantage) into what we are doing or attempting to do. Also, valuable solutions and pathways are opening, especially in places we might not typically look or expect. Sometimes, an inconvenient redirection aligns us with more authentic priorities. 

The good news: we will progressively enter more fertile ground in the weeks following this New Moon/solar eclipse (most definitely by the Taurus New Moon April 27th), and one high note of Neptune into Aries is the coming into focus of a powerful vision, one that we can implement and realize with the proper determination, focus, and discipline. That is the Saturnian factor (Saturn's alignment with Neptune over the following year or so). Neptune and Saturn on the Aries Point (first degree of tropical Aries) are pushing us through a critical threshold in actualizing what was previously a conceptual fantasy. 

We can set our sights on a more graspable vision with this New Moon, a looking ahead to what is possible and within reach. While the intensity of the eclipse can feel like there is a lot to take in or deal with, there are some breaks in the clouds and amore straightforward path through if we widen our perception and flow with the rapid changes within and around us. 

Mindful Observing: Total Lunar Eclipse in Virgo 2025

Full Moon/Total Lunar Eclipse @ 23 Virgo 57'

March 13, 2025

11:55 PM PDT

March 14, 2025

2:55 PM EDT

This month's Full Moon in tropical Virgo is a total lunar eclipse, visible over North America (the U.S. and Canada) and western portions of Greenland and South America. It is the first eclipse of 2025 and will be followed by a partial solar eclipse on March 28 in tropical Aries.

Mercury also stations retrograde while in near conjunction with Venus in Aries. Both Venus and Mercury retrograde cycles overlap with this eclipse season. Very broadly speaking, especially between this Full Moon and the New Moon/solar eclipse in two weeks, this is a time for laying low and being particularly mindful of impulse decisions, actions, and reactions.

There are a lot of "shadowy" aspects to the astrology of the moment, areas in which blindspots are being revealed to us. This is not a time that favors egoistic hubris or attempts to assert too dominance over circumstances. It is best to be in a state of receptivity rather than aggressive pursuit of desires.

Virgo highlights an archetype that, on one level, connects to humble service and a focus on inward growth and personal clarity. If we are to see some blossoming or fruits emerging, it would be in that realm, in areas in which we've been dedicated to assisting others or in which inward work has been consistently attended to. The positive yields of this eclipse are likely discreet but still profound, likely hidden from most of the world but significant from our point of view.

Yet, as a south nodal eclipse, there is more release here and letting go rather than getting and attaining what we want. Here is an important warning about whatever we're mired in at the moment, that we should practice less attachment to what shows up and what we're involved with. While the eclipse portal can be a period of rapid inner and outer changes, it is a time of shift and fluctuation, so it is wise to observe more, contemplate, reflect, and make those bigger moves when the dust has settled.

Subtle Emergence: New Moon in Pisces 2025

New Moon @ 9 degrees Pisces 41'

February 27, 2025

4:45 PM EST

7:45 PM PST

This month's New Moon in tropical Pisces occurs at a unique transition between interplanetary retrograde cycles. Both Mars and Venus are stationing (appearing to stop in their usual west-to-east motion), with Mars' retrograde cycle ending and Venus' beginning (shortly after the New Moon on March 1st). Mars passes the retrograde baton to Venus (and Mercury in just two weeks).

Yet, with both planets stationing alongside a watery Pisces New Moon, we are likely to feel the emotional and feeling dimension of life becoming amplified, as well as some interesting "turning points" and transitions in our personal life histories. We can anticipate some serendipity to play a role here, such as meeting with "soul mates" or reuniting/rekindling powerful karmic bonds.

There is also the dramatic feeling-based nature of the Mars and Venus archetypes and their connection to feelings of deep love, passion, sexual/romantic desire. But also jealousy, hatred, or aggression. Falling in or out of love (literally and symbolically) is a theme to pay attention to, which can relate to human relationships and creative and spiritual experiences.

In its most ideal expression, Pisces is an archetype of transcendent ideals and lofty human and cosmic unity desires. It can be a very glamorous and numinous archetype, especially with this New Moon dynamic squaring its ruler Jupiter (and the Mars-Venus station situation). So, we should be extra conscious of our ideals and how well they match (or don't match) with reality and an accurate assessment of matters.

Yet, with that said, Mars' direct station and trine to this New Moon is like a green light for a whole lot of things to begin to shift and change, even if that might feel like we're having to slog ahead or tread lightly rather than sprint. However, remember that we still have a Mercury retrograde cycle and eclipse season beginning in just two weeks. So, rushing ahead with specific plans and ambitions won't be without some delays.

However, suppose we use this New Moon as a starting point or launching pad to work out an ideal or vision more carefully. In that case, there is plenty of support. Venus retrograde can deepen our heart connection and help us attune with the layers beneath the actualization of our dreams and spiritual aspirations. Much of what is shifting may be more internal or less visible. Still, trust that and keep working out the details and intricacies; more clarity and solidly supported momentum will arrive in the latter part of April.

Creative Release: Full Moon in Leo 2025

Full Moon @ 24 Leo 06'

February 12, 2025

5:53 AM EST

8:53 AM PST

This month's Full Moon in Leo forms a t-square with the planet Uranus, the liberator, revolutionary, and sudden change-maker of the planetary pantheon. With the Leo archetype embodying playfulness and self-expressiveness, this Full Moon can creatively inspire and correlate with the spontaneous emergence or release of restless and innovative impulses.

Mercury's conjunction with the Sun in Aquarius also reflects communicative breakthroughs, novel insights, and an influx of ideas, solutions, or perspectives that can open creative or intellectual pathways. The t-square itself can also reflect a challenge to certain routines, structures, and habitual inclinations.

The more difficult side of this Full Moon might reflect Leo's shadow tendency for myopic subjectivity, stubbornness, or aggrandizement. The Moon's contact with such a tension-filled aspect structure subjects such inclinations to radical external input, feedback, and alternative points of view. For most of us, this may be experienced as a slight break in our subjective train of motion, allowing us to glimpse a new perspective or integrate a change in our point of view.

In other ways, the sudden emergence of such changes can be threatening or destabilizing. Still, this alternative pace and dynamics is something to get used to as we will continue to move through some significant boundary-pushing astrology over the following months (and, truthfully, the next two years). When it comes to a Leo Full Moon/Uranus combination, it is wiser to learn to playfully dance and creatively improvise with what shows up than fight or resist the current.