Just after the Sun ventures into the cardinal fires of Aries on March 20th, Mercury’s retrograde will conclude. On April 9th Mars will arrive in Aries, its domicile, as Mercury exits the shadow zone of the retrograde, at 22° Pisces 34′. Matters that emerged during that retrograde, which began late on February 25th, and that have been swimming in the ambiguous waters of Pisces since, are ready for resolution. During the 2026 Aries solar cycle a massive six-planet stellium will form around a powerful new Aries Moon on April 17th, in the buildup to April 19th’s consequential Mars Saturn conjunction. In short, the period of contemplation and completion is yielding to a time of inception and initiation.
Before the ferocious fires of intrepid Aries are fully lit, there is some watery wisdom to be gleaned from Mercury and Mars in Pisces and Jupiter in Cancer, as well as some solid support from Venus in sturdy Taurus. Insight flows on March 21st under a Mars Jupiter trine and especially under April 3rd’s Mercury Jupiter trine. Imagination and innovation are on tap on April 8th when Mars sextiles inventive Uranus and on April 14th under Mercury’s Uranus sextile. Also, April 13th’s Venus Jupiter sextile is a sweet-spot for a sense of safety and security. In fact, the harmonizing planet will be in the fixed earth sign from March 30th until April 23rd, making her homecoming this cycle’s most stabilizing transit. Otherwise, the planets will be in instigation mode or adding fuel to already burning blazes.
As the Sun, Mercury and Mars conjoin Saturn and Neptune, they will add resonance to February 20th’s Saturn Neptune conjunction. These incoming Aries connections can serve as starting points for plans that began percolating when Saturn and Neptune met or to fortify endeavors undertaken since then. This trend will start on March 22nd when the Sun conjoins Neptune, followed by its Saturn conjunction on the 25th. A Mars Neptune conjunction will take place on the 12th. under an eventful Aquarius Moon. From the 10th-13th, the Moon will reconnect with Pluto, sextile the Sun, Mars, Saturn and Neptune and square Venus and Uranus. Mars and Saturn are astrology’s malefic planets, a designation suggestive of misfortune, and their conjunction is set for April 19th at 7° Aries 52′. That meeting will take place two days after a new Moon at a potent 27° Aries 29′, as the Aries Sun reaches full strength, one day ahead of Mercury’s Saturn conjunction and six days before erratic, game-changing Uranus enters the unstable air of Gemini, for a seven-year stay. At its best, Aries is bold, direct and independent, and at its worst, rash, reckless and inconsiderate. With a precarious Mars Saturn conjunction inbound, while the skies are aflame with provocative Aries impulses, now is the time to define purpose, to master passion and to explore new paths and potentials.
