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History’s in the making — and brimstone’s on the horizon.
On Friday, February 20, Saturn, our planet of karma, responsibility, reality, and limits, will form an exact conjunction with Neptune, our dream-weaving planet of fantasy, spirituality, and escape.
This conjunction is a rare phenomenon that occurs only every 36 years — making this transit pivotal and its effects enduring.
These two luminaries make for strange bedfellows: Saturn is essentially the dad/dictator planet, looking to maintain order through control and command, while Neptune is a junkie wizard, made of ghost farts and invisible ink, who doesn’t subscribe to boundaries or reality as we know it.
In kind, and not-so-kind, this conjunction can lead to inspired revolution and/or the crushing realizations that our ideals are misplaced, our idols are false, and our dreams are built on seriously shaky ground.
In astrology, planets form a conjunction when they are within 9 degrees of one another, wherein their essential energies merge and amplify.
In an exact conjunction, like the one we will witness this week, the planets will occupy the same precise degree, representing the most powerful expression of this merging.
We’ve been under the influence of Saturn and Neptune’s meet-cute since last April, when the planets were tongue-kissing in the considerably less combustible sign of Pisces.
However, now the planets have moved into the war-path paving sign of Aries.
Because Saturn and Neptune will meet at 0 degrees of Aries, the first sign in the zodiac and one associated with bold action, initiation, force, individuation, and the unprecedented, the amplification of merged energy gets the kerosene and match treatment.
The two planets will remain in close proximity to each other through the end of March.
Historically, Saturn-Neptune conjunctions coincide with quantum technological advancement, collective resistance, border disputes, heightened fear, propaganda, and the reshaping of society.
Saturn and Neptune will meet at 0 degrees of Aries, the first sign in the zodiac and one associated with bold action, initiation, force, individuation.
While Saturn and Neptune have had many conjunctions over the centuries, their meet-up in the creation point degree of Aries is the FIRST TIME IN RECORDED HUMAN HISTORY, suggesting we are witnessing the messy, live birth of a new era.
“We as individuals, but even more so as a collective, are waking the f–k up, but also entering into entirely uncharted territory. For better or for worse, the world as we once knew it is gone,” said astrologer Joshua Pingley, AKA Spiritual Weatherman.
As we face an uncertain future, let us look back on an incendiary past.
1989 Saturn Neptune Conjunction in Capricorn
The last time Saturn and Neptune tangoed was in 1989 in Capricorn, a Saturn-ruled sign synonymous with the status quo, ROI, tough love, and patriarchal systems of power.
In terms of tech, the year brought the development of the World Wide Web, which has effectively dissolved (Neptune) communication blockades.
On November 9, 1989, the world watched as the Berlin Wall fell, dissolving a more tangible barrier. The fall of the Wall also effectively ended the Cold War, diffusing decades of tensions between the US and the USSR.
In another kind of liberation, Nelson Mandela was freed from prison during the last Saturn-Neptune conjunction. In the wake of his release, South Africa ended apartheid (which literally means ‘apartness’ in Afrikaans).
After nearly a half-century of brutal, colonialist separation, the country was desegregated, further proving the power of this conjunction to dissolve what is built to oppress.
In terms of collective resistance, the First Intifada and the Tiananmen Square protests coincided with the last Saturn-Neptune conjunction, demonstrating the potential of this transit to illuminate authoritarianism, oppression, and occupation, and to incite conversation about a future free of them.
As the brilliant writer Grace Emilie reminds us, “Neptune rarely brings tidy solutions or clear outcomes, and Saturn–Neptune transits can carry an element of deception, disillusionment, or uncertainty, which can ripple many years down the line.”
1952-1953 Saturn Neptune conjunction in Libra
Saturn-Neptune conjunctions can make it increasingly difficult to parse out fact from fiction, an atmosphere that allows paranoia, fear, and propaganda to run roughshod over reason.
Case in point, during the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Libra in the early 1950’s, Joseph McCarthy’s fear-mongering “Red Scare” smear campaign was operating at full force.
As Libra is the sign of partnership and the proverbial “other,” it tracks that the dark expression of this conjunction would be the targeted tearing down of those perceived as outside of or counter to the mainstream agenda.
In terms of tech, television surpassed radio as the most popular form of media consumption, allowing people to see firsthand, rather than hear, world events, further dissolving barriers between news and audience.
1917 Saturn Neptune conjunction in Leo
Saturn–Neptune transits ain’t all dissolving boundaries and clouding judgment. The conjunction is also associated with war and revolution.
Saturn and Neptune joined forces in 1917 in Leo, a sign associated with creativity, the world’s stage, royalty, and rulership.
At the time, World War I was raging, and the impact of new battle technologies, including advancements in machine guns and chemical weapons, intensified the devastation.
The conjunction also coincided with the Russian Revolution, wherein, according to Emilie, “The old guard of the monarchy (a long-standing, Saturnian structure) was revealed to be a myth (aka a Neptunian illusion) that could be dispelled, and the dream of a more equitable world picked up steam.”
What to expect from the 2026 Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries
While with Aries in the mix, we are in uncharted territory with this conjunction, astologer Mike Mayes, AKA The Bluecollar Astrologer, shared that there are a few things we can expect under these strange skies.
- Distorted reality and the feeling of living in a waking dream/nightmare
- A dissolution of structure around thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, alliances, agreements, and obligations, and/or a dissolution of structure within the ruling government
- Shifting power dynamics within society, families, and personal relationships.
- The dissolving of boundaries and limits around oppression or strict authority, resulting in lawlessness or the abuse of power and authority
- Spiritual challenges that fortify or deepen your character, a devotion to ‘fighting the good fight.’
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.
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