Planetary Quickening 2025-2028

To begin with...

We are seeing astrological alignments today that haven’t happened for at least 12,000 years and maybe even more than that, and the astrology world is aflutter with the auspicious nature of such rare alignments and what they mean for humanity.

Anyone who studies through observation and correlation, whether believer or open sceptic, eventually concludes that astrology is a very useful tool for decoding metaphysical evolutionary flows of energy that appear to drive human experience. This might explain why the ancients were so interested in astrology, developing systems that form the foundation of modern astrology today.

So what’s the bid deal?

In 2020 there were 3 significant cycle changes:

• Saturn made conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn on 12th January

• Jupiter made conjunction with Pluto in Capricorn 3 times throughout 2020

• Jupiter made conjunction with Saturn at 0˚ Aquarius on the December Solstice of 2020 

This initiated a real shift toward a breakdown of our existing reality. These three evolutionary cycles have reasonably long time spans:

• Pluto/Saturn cycles every 28-33 years, governing the evolution of society

• Pluto/Jupiter cycles every 13 years, governing the evolution of beliefs and leadership

• Saturn/Jupiter cycles every 20 years, governing the evolution of financial systems and the way our belief systems define what we create

Most significantly two conjunctions took place in Capricorn, directing a great deal of transformative energy into the evolution of culture and society, and by extension to all our global systems e.g. governance, law, financial, law enforcement, education, healthcare, media and so on. 

Most of us can agree that 2020 was host to a significant degree of social change, namely through the propagation of the idea of a deadly pandemic, and subsequent lockdowns and vaccination enforcement that arguably changed everything; above all, some of those that didn’t question before 2020 began to question.

In late 2024, Pluto moved into Aquarius full-time (the ingress began a year before, with short retrogrades back into Capricorn), marked by Donald Trump being elected into office for the 2nd time. In the last 6 months the Trump administration (expressing the Aquarian impulse) has initiated changes that are rippling throughout the world. As Tulsi Gabbard recently stated, choosing Trump was effectively a choice to return to the American constitution, which is in itself an Aquarian ideal.

All the collective planets in the early degrees of signs

In early 2025, Neptune made his ingress into Aries, soon to be joined by Saturn a month later. By July 2025 Uranus moved into Gemini and into a harmonious trine aspect to Pluto. As it did so, Neptune and Saturn made simultaneous sextile aspects to both Pluto and Uranus. This stunning alignment occurs at the very early degrees of the signs, an event we haven’t seen in thousands of years. This rarity makes the alignment more significant, auspicious and powerful in terms of how it impacts our reality. Furthermore, because the planets involved are all slow moving “outer-planets”, which govern collective shifts in evolution, this energy dynamic will remain in place until 2028.

During that time we are going to see the faster moving planets activating this evolutionary dynamic from time to time. The first primary activation occurs on August 8th, when Mars activates a Grand Kite dynamic for about 2 weeks. This coincides with the 8:8 Lions Gate Portal - the heliacal rising of the star Sirius celebrated by the ancient Egyptians for at least 4000 years and probably longer, which is tied into the story of Isis, Osiris and Horus. The 2nd will be at the Libra Equinox on Sep 22nd, when the Sun will activate a Grand Kite - I'll be covering this in more detail in an equinox special forecast soon. Any activation serves to invigorate the evolutionary impulse and anchor it more into the personal level. With Mars it will enable a flow of activity in accordance with the soul evolutionary intentions toward awakening, leadership and sovereignty in service to one's personal life mission.

August 9th 2025 Grand Kite

For a guide to the astrological symbols click here

When the collective evolutionary archetypes align in trines (120˚) and sextiles (60˚), it represents evolutionary forces working in a harmonised way through resonance rather than dissonance. The archetypal energies become more of a synergy with an amplified effect expressing in generative ways.

The image below gives us a visual sense of how resonant energies generate an amplification effect, each one enhancing the others.

The simplest way to describe this effect is as a planetary quickening toward evolutionary change.

What does this mean?

To truly understand this requires a collective effort; I am sure many astrologers will be sharing insight on this alignment in the coming months. In this post I will offer the insights of my current contemplations:

Uranus & Pluto

The Pluto-Uranus cycle is well known to drive planetary change - the book Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas (he considers this book his life’s work) powerfully demonstrates how the unfolding cycle of these two planets corresponds to sociopolitical evolutionary change. 

To better understand the current Pluto-Uranus cycle, we must look to its beginning when it re-birthed in Virgo in 1966, making the archetype of Virgo the root of this cycle, which in the broadest sense means we are evolving toward natural law principles through the revival of the Divine Feminine, expressing initially and in a raw unrefined and rebellious way, through the hippie movement. Timothy Leary popularised the counterculture phrase “turn on, tune in, drop out” in 1966, which captures the essence of what was seeded at the Pluto-Uranus conjunction in Virgo.

To ‘turn on’ meant go within to activate our neural and genetic equipment; to become sensitive to the many various levels of consciousness. ‘Tune in’ meant interacting harmoniously with the world around us; externalising, materialising and expressing our internal perspectives. ‘Drop out’ referred to an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious patterns to become self-determining and self-empowered. Above all, this was a process that needed to be worked on repeatedly in order to live a life of growth. In essence we saw the birth of the self-development movement, and the innovation and subsequent proliferation of holistic therapeutic modalities, many of which are becoming mainstream today.

Planetary cycles unfold through geometry in the sense that as two planets move away from the conjunction they will at times make specific geometric alignments, which describe how the waveform archetypal energies interact with each other to create resonance or dissonance. In particular, Tarnas in his book Cosmos and Psyche, highlights how the key challenging aspects (conjunctions, squares and oppositions), which represent degrees of dissonance, induce the most seismic global shifts, often through challenge and struggle. The struggle occurs because of the polarisation between the existing status quo and the evolutionary opportunity to grow.

The mythic image of Prometheus as a complementary symbol for Uranus

The Pluto-Uranus 1st trine represents a fruition stage of the Virgo process, which began in 1966. We went through the 1st quarter squares (there were 7 in total) between 2012-2015, and these felt much more stressful and conflicting - remember Occupy Wall St 2011-2012?. 

The 1st trine represents a peak harmonious expression between the core evolutionary impulse of Pluto and the core liberating impulse of Uranus; these 2 energies now work together releasing the Virgo wisdom toward self-improvement into the collective field in a focused and powerful way. If Timothy Leary’s catch phrase “Turn on, tune in, drop out” captures part of the essence of the Virgo evolutionary impulse driving individuation, then this means many more people world-wide may find themselves ejecting out of the False Matrix reality to awaken and stabilise a personal spiritual path.

Saturn and Neptune

A pivotal part of the current alignment is the rare Saturn-Neptune conjunction at exactly 0˚ Aries (the 1st sign) in Feb 2026. Saturn is currently culminating the previous cycle with Neptune, and so for the moment we are still wrapping up old evolutionary themes and lessons.

Saturn and Neptune are an unusual pair: Saturn pertains to the realms of the finite, while Neptune corresponds to the domain of the infinite. The Saturn-Neptune cycle speaks to the evolution of space-time reality through the imaginal. In natural law: spirit precedes matter, which means causation occurs in the spiritual planes and then expresses in manifest forms; consciousness does not arise out of matter, it gave birth to matter.

When Saturn and Neptune come together in conjunction, a powerful seed moment occurs where information from the higher planes of existence ‘downloads’ into space-time reality. Its a time when inspiration most readily impacts the manifest plane, and when spiritual guidance and insight can generate completely new life journeys lasting many years.

On another level, Saturn and Neptune speak to the spiritual path itself, one that must be worked on steadfastly, earned over time through discipline and at times adversity.

The old Saturn-Neptune cycle

If we look back to Nov 1989 when Saturn and Neptune were last in conjunction in Capricorn, there was an exact opposition to Jupiter in Cancer, Pluto was in sextile, and Venus was close to the conjunction as well.

At the time, Pluto in Scorpio was calling for more depth and transformation in life, and asking us to evolve beyond current limits through shadow work and depth work. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Capricorn set the tone for spiritual development through a reliance on past spiritual traditions; we went looking for authority figures in all the traditions, and we looked to the past for tools and disciplines.

Many were attracted to structured teachings, and needed someone with more experience to guide the spiritual process via gurus or spiritual teachers. While this might have been a purely masculine approach i.e. intellectual, goal orientated, and technical, the presence of Venus opposing Jupiter in Cancer challenged us to bring the feminine aspects into play as well, and this we did indeed see with the revival of goddess imagery, and devotional practices involving Mary Magdalene, Kuan Yin, and Neo-pagan goddess worship to name a few examples. 

While this Capricorn cycle provided structure, it also tram-lined us into potential limitations of the mind, since defaulting to old spiritual texts as a means to move beyond a stagnant and dogmatic western-christian framework, although providing foundation, also drew us away from true gnosis; we can so easily get lost in the techniques and practices - meditation generates meditators, yoga creates yoga practitioners, and so on. 

With the Saturn-Neptune conjunction we are seeing the dissolution of obsolete structure, and given that Saturn has also most recently been transiting Pisces (ruled by Neptune) the dissolution of structure has been active for just over the last two years already, and will continue until mid 2026. Neptune energy can literally wash away psycho-emotional structures, and when this happens it alters how we engage reality. The dissolution of a value system for example would have significant knock on effects, as would the dissolution of trauma memory. 

I myself have been observing personal dissolution cycles in recent years, and how its like an erosion process that slowly alters us layer by layer. Past judgements soften, forgiveness suddenly happens and a lightness arises.

The new Saturn-Neptune cycle

The coming Saturn-Neptune cycle, which will last until 2061, will initiate through the sign of Aries at exactly 0˚. In terms of the structures we build in order to provide a framework for ultimate meaning e.g. the beliefs, ideas, philosophies and disciplines that we engage in order to experience a meaningful connection with the transcendent, we are now departing from a dependence on past spiritual traditions and beginning to move into new territory, where the onus is less about defaulting to perceived spiritual authorities, and more about personal discovery, exploration and innovation. We are moving away from a reliance on established methods and techniques toward new ones, where the evolutionary intent is to re-vision what it means to have a spiritual life, and to break free from past limiting patterns of conditioning, in order to experience a freer more spontaneous relationship with Logos, God, the One Creator or the Higher-Power.

The Fool captures the essence of 0˚ Aries

Like the Fool in Tarot, it looks like we are heading for a significant leap into unchartered spiritual waters, and this will apply to each of us at an individual level, and will express relative to where we are, and how conscious we are.

For example, for an atheist, the leap may feel like an 'Alice in Wonderland' joy ride; whacky, weird and wonderful all at the same time. For the more spiritually conscious traveller this might feel like a call to go off piste, like riding a bike without the training wheels, or it might be experienced as a radical departure from prior practices into something more freeform.

We may be called to pioneer, teach, lead or innovate, and we might find ourselves tapping into new frequencies that expand and redefine the spiritual journey itself.

On a macro level, we can interpret the Saturn-Neptune cycle as the way the causal planes of existence inform manifest realities, and from this perspective the implication is that something entirely new is being seeded now. If Neptune inspires us to imagine all possibilities, Saturn asserts predictable and limited notions of what is possible based on past experiences. This sets up an inherent challenge between these two archetypes, which is then expressed through the Saturn-Neptune cycle, where the squares and opposition will highlight times of resistance and crisis. 

How do we turn dreams into realities?

This is the crux of Neptune’s relationship to Saturn, and the exact conjunction at 0˚ Aries on the very first degree of the zodiac, emphasises the new evolutionary imperative as one that moves away from past ideologies and philosophies as a primary foundation for the way we imagine what is and is not possible, and to instead put more attention into what is possible beyond what we already know; to overcome anti-curiosity so that we actually pioneer and try out new things instead of talking ourselves out of them.

This then heralds the coming era as one that requires greater courage and heroic trust. For those of us awakening to our spiritual heritage, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction marks a distinct change in the way we walk the spiritual path; for each of us we can expect a new orientation to emerge.

In order to understand something more about the structure of this new emergent reality, we can look to the Sabian symbols (contemporary images assigned for every degree of the zodiac much like a Tarot pictogram).

The Sabian symbol for the 1st degree of the zodiac is:

"A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her."

What this implies is a tentative emergence of a new way of being coming into the world through each one of us, and when collectively applied, representing a fundamental turning point for humanity. To arise from the sea is to separate and become individual, but the feminine nature of this image suggests the impulse to be, rather than an impulse to do. We might even go as far to say that we are on the cusp of a profound feminine resurgence, but in its very early stages. 

How might this look in the coming years?

What would your life be, if the foundation of your life motivation wasn’t to do stuff but was centred around the quality of your being? How different would your day to day choices be, and what world would that subtle change create in the world?

What if this became a collective movement? We would see a general slowing down, and a move toward a more cooperative relationship with life, one that is not rooted in a compulsion to control in order to stay safe.

We would want less in the external world and put more energy into how we feel inside, and instead of seeking comfort and the idea of happiness through more and more stuff, we would be more inclined to reach for more joy through love in the little things, and through deeper and more authentic relationships with others, borne out of a richer relationship with ourselves.

This new Saturn-Neptune cycle represents a tentative turning point, because the symbol of a seal embracing the woman speaks to the vulnerable nature of new beginnings; how easily new dreams and impulses can stall, and how a greater step into individuation can be lost simply because we get sucked back into social conditioning, conformity, and the False Matrix reality. 

We could be seeing the birth of a new humanity and the beginnings of a 'New Earth', which will be diametrically opposed to the old order of things. It’s true to say that a proportion of the population are feeling more and more disenchanted with the current systems dictating life on this planet, but in this new alignment we are seeing an underlying shift of the energy now supporting the manifestation of a New Earth or “game B”; there will be a growing impulse to be the change we want to see in the world, not necessarily through aggressive forms of activism, which I consider to be part of the old system, but through genuine lasting changes in the way we choose to live our lives.

Neptune in Aries 2025-2038

At the lower level of expression, Neptune in Aries will inevitably generate spiritual fundamentalism, which has become a more salient issue in recent months. Top of the list is the rising threat of Islamic fundamentalist ideology on the world, as Ayaan Hirsi Ali suggests: certain Islamic groups have intentions to coerce the world into an Islamic state.

But this isn’t the only expression, we are also seeing a silent migration of secular atheists toward Christianity, with the most poignant being the recent shift within Silicon Valley from “Burning Man” freeform improvised mysticism to a form of Christianity more in keeping with Jesus as a gun toting radical.

This is somewhat inevitable because its easier to go back to an existing structure and revitalise it rather than create something entirely new. While Saturn is still completing the old Capricorn cycle this is to be expected because as we approach the threshold of the new cycle, the resistance rises and we fall back to old forms that used to work in order to find a solution.

My proposition is that although this may be a helpful first step toward a revitalisation of life meaning at the personal level, all these traditions are rooted in the past, and suffer with natural law distortions related to the passing dark age cycle. (See The Cycle of the Yugas for an overview of this concept)

I suspect we will need new expanded spiritual systems if we are to forge a world that is more peaceful, abundant, and equitable in the future. Neptune in Aries will also energise the projection of the ideal into zealotry and assertion as the answer to current problems; if only we all believed in the one true way, then the world would be a better place; looking to strong leaders as saviour figures etc

My sense is that we will have to collectively work through this shadow side until we awaken to new productive possibilities that transcend the mental myopia that leads us to conclude only we know the truth. Another way of seeing this is the process of collectively purging the over-shadowing demons driving human compulsive behaviour, whether we call them dark principalities, fallen angels, the super-egregore, Ahrimanic/Satanic influences, or the False Matrix.

At higher levels of expression the Saturn-Neptune conjunction can give birth to new teachers and teachings, a new peaceful spiritual activism, a more individualised process of spiritual awakening, more spiritual autonomy free from dogma and control, and the seed inspirations that can carry us forward on the spiritual path, where self-discovery supersedes adherence to past traditions and spiritual dogmas.

The alignment

With all this in mind, lets finally have a look at the complete alignment and how all these themes come together to generate a powerful opportunity for collective awakening.

The Pluto-in-Aquarius era drives personal evolution toward liberation and awakening; it generates an underlying evolutionary motivation toward breaking free from all and any structures of the mind-body-spirit that have outlived their use or are limiting human potential. Central to this process is the intensification of de-conditioning from social norms, programming and group think.

Uranus, the ruler of Aquarius, is the planetary archetype associated with awakening, and as Uranus moves into Gemini, the emphasis on awakening will be through the liberation of the linear left-brain mind and freedom from ideology. The trine to Pluto offers an intensified potency aimed at throwing off the mental chains of social conditioning, and a push toward individuation. This is a very powerful synergy that will quicken our personal evolution through stunning breakthroughs of the mind, which will also occur collectively within the domains of science. 

• Pluto sextile to Saturn in Aries indicates how the evolutionary impulse toward personal liberation and awakening will be supported by growth lessons that task us with breaking free from the patterns of the past; we are stimulated to become more heroic as we break free from past patterns of control, repression and stagnancy. 

• Uranus in sextile to Saturn adds powerful disruptive energy within the status quo, at times potentially shattering fixed ways of being, especially in the way we think. Shocks may be induced periodically if patterns of the past are too rigid and fixed. The sextile nature of this aspect though does tone down the intensity of Uranus, so this shouldn’t be trauma inducing.

• Pluto sextile to Neptune in Aries shows how liberation processes will assist spiritual awakening at the individual level; there will be at times powerful breakthroughs that provide us all the opportunity to more deeply connect with the Living Field Matrix.

• Uranus sextile to Neptune indicates how a freer mind opens the way to more spiritual connection, and this is a time period when communications from the unseen realms e.g. angels, spirit guides, extra-terrestrial intelligences, inner-earth beings etc will be stronger than usual; we can enjoy a constant flow of guiding impulses and inspirations.

Uranus and Pluto act as a crucible or container for the Saturn/Neptune process. The Saturn/Neptune conjunction is exactly at the midpoint between Pluto and Uranus, emphasising powerful evolutionary energies activating consciousness on the planet. This is hard to fathom at this point, but the overall sense is one of profound change. 

We could think of Saturn and Neptune as a version of the Sacred Marriage; an alchemical moment in time where opposing forces: spirit and matter (fire & ice in the old Norse tradition), collide or merge at 0˚ Aries to give birth to a new evolutionary path for humanity. 

Numerous thinkers, in recent years, like John Vervaeke, Daniel Schmachtenberger, Jordan Hall and Jamie Wheal, have been contemplating notions like “game B” and the “3rd attractor”, what we might think of as the optimal timeline for human evolution, ultimately bringing us into a more benevolent world situation, and what many now refer to as “New Earth”. This alignment might just represent the evolutionary inception point for the underlying ‘energetic’ for this to occur. Like a grand portal opening before us, channeling powerful evolutionary light energy (information codes) in ways that activate consciousness and alter DNA.

In this sense we are in a corridor of time that is critical for the way humanity evolves into the future. This energetic opportunity is something each one of us must respond to; we can either accept the invitation to co-create New Earth, or we can resist in fear. While we may find it easier to think of this as a collective shift, it is also a very personal one; it is up to us as individuals to embrace the ascension opportunity with radical open trust, for we know not where it will take us, just that it will move us out of the current and now declining paradigm.

Trust is a key: trust in yourself; trust in the universe

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