the dawning of the age of aquarius
special guest chris gabriel discusses what the stars portend for the coming year
My dear friend and sometimes astrological, Chris Gabriel gave me a rundown of the portentous celestial movements of 2026. Subscribe to his Substack below:
2026 astrological forecast
January 26th—Neptune enters Aries
February 13th—Saturn entered Aries, conjoining Neptune
February 17th—Solar Eclipse in Aquarius
April 25th—Uranus enters Gemini
If one wants to understand cultural movement, one has to zoom out. Most people are familiar with sun sign astrology, they know the day they were born falls into one of 12 signs, this is useless for understanding trends and greater cycles, for that purpose we must look at the “Outer Planets”, the three slowest in solar system: Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (it is a planet!)
Uranus is electricity, radiation, technology, revolution, and shock. While the 7 traditional planets bear a marked resemblance to their mythic namesake, the new planets relate moreso to the environments and dynamics at play in the myth. Uranus is the first Sky Father, his name literally means Sky, he was married to Gaia, Mother Earth, but angered her when he trapped his monstrous children underground, Gaia had her son Saturn castrate and murder Uranus. As such, planetary Uranus is about revolution and overthrow, rather than the sky.
This year, Uranus returns to Gemini. It dipped into Gemini last year, from July 7th to November 7th, but after April 25th, it will be there until 2033.
This is particularly significant for the United States, which was “born” under Uranus in Gemini, as such it tends to play a significant role for the country: Uranus was in Gemini from 1859-1866, coinciding with the Civil War, and again from 1941-1945, coinciding with the second World War.
Gemini is the sign of duality, the Twins. Though this is by no means a sign of simple brotherly love, here the brothers can in fact be Cain and Abel, as with the wars Uranus Gemini has influenced.
Neptune is dreamy, confused, delusional, and vast. Where Neptune the God is angry, Neptune the planet is his domain itself, the Waters. When we think of Neptune we should think of the Odyssey, of strange islands and monsters, confusion and misdirection. It entered Aries on January 26th and will be there until 2039. This is the second time in United States history, the previous being from 1861-1875, which again, coincided with the Civil War.
Aries is the sign of aggression and war, as such this is confused anger and violence.
Pluto is extreme, destructive, primordial and terrible. While Pluto the God is solemn and sad, the Planet is Hell itself. Pluto started dipping into Aquarius in 2023, but fully entered toward the end of 2024 and will be there until 2043. This is the first Pluto return for the United States. Pluto was in Aquarius throughout the American and French revolutions.
Aquarius is the collective, the mob, and the people, whereas Leo is the Monarch and individual. Pluto radically transformed and enraged the people.
All of this is to say this is a year where immense, long term changes are beginning. All of the outer planets are in new signs, with a particular relationship to the United States.
In the shorter term though, let’s look at Saturn’s entry into Aries which occurred on February 13th, conjoining Neptune at 0*. Saturn is labour, work, difficulties, and material reality itself. Both Neptune and Saturn were in Pisces the last several years, under which we saw the dreamy moralistic nature of Pisces flood out into the world, Social Justice, New Age spirituality, digital religions, and extreme politics all began to spread under Neptune in Pisces, as Neptune travels through Aries, we will see spiritual and ideological conflict come to a fever pitch, and with the help of Saturn, come into reality, if I were a betting man, I would bet on war.
On the 17th we will see a Solar Eclipse in Aquarius, far from Pluto which is only at the 4th degree, this Eclipse is at the 28th degree, which places it in square with Uranus in Taurus It is going to show us about the next few years and the influence of Saturn and Neptune in Aries.
the eclipse, the age of aquarius, and what comes next…
The following is a transcript of our conversation, edited for brevity and clarity:
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