The Sun may feel more waterlogged than usual when it enters the dreamy worlds of Pisces on February 18th. It will find itself in the company of Mercury, Saturn, Neptune and the Moon’s North Node in the mutable water sign, a drenched Mars retrograding the cardinal water sign of Cancer and a newly arrived Moon in the fixed water sign of Scorpio. Pisces is astrology’s domain of artistic creativity. psychological healing and spiritual development. Its psychic abilities, flexibility and nebulous nature make it one of the grooviest spots on the wheel. As the final sign of the zodiac, its space supports rest, integration and preparation for the next spin. Its gentleness renders its productive value subtle and its assertiveness seemingly nonexistent. None the less, its soft power is always influencing the shapes of things to come. Pisces also has a visionary quality. That vision, or at least a strong sense of direction, will prove important. The sign’s mesmerizing, meandering energies will be infusing an entire stellium of planets, while simultaneously, the comings and goings of Mercury, Venus and Mars, along their retrograde paths, will contribute their share of confusion to the atmosphere.
Way back on October 4th, Mars crossed the shadow point of its present retrograde at 17° Cancer 01′. The passionate planet will backtrack to that degree on February 23rd, marking the end of the retrograde, as it stations and goes direct. On May 2nd, he red planet finally will move beyond 6° Leo 10′, where its retrograde started on December 6th. For the brash planet with a perpetual foot on the gas, seven months is a long time to spend idling. Retrograde frustrations are further compounded when so much time is spent in domestic-oriented Cancer. That said, examining which emotional buttons were pushed during this cycle may indicate which patterns are obsolete and which experiences are ready for transcendence. Even if Mars has to begin making forward progress under the sign of the sideways moving crab, it will begin revving its engines back up as it prepares to re-enter fiery Leo on April 18th. Salves for any of the uncomfortable feelings unearthed during this retrograde arrive via two supportive trines from empathetic Pisces. The first is from Mercury on February 23rd, as Mars stations direct, and the second from the Sun on March 7th.
Complementing Mars, Venus and Mercury are set for their own retrograde dances between water and fire signs. Venus’s retrograde will take place between March 1st and April 12th, spanning from 10° Aries 50′ to 24° Pisces 38′. Mercury’s will run between March 15th and April 7th with the Messenger planet moving from 9° Aries 36′ back to 26° Pisces 49′. It’s extraordinary that the two are traveling nearly the exact same degree paths. Zooming out, Neptune will venture into Aries on March 30th and retrograde into Pisces on October 22nd, and Saturn will follow suit from May 24th through September 1st. The current Pisces stellium offers an opportunity for deep immersion into the sign’s intuitive powers. The forays of Mercury and Venus into intrepid, instigating Aries present avenues for exploration, with the foreknowledge of Pisces retreats. In short, it’s time to test new waters.
Insights will be heightened throughout this Sun cycle courtesy of a series of Pisces conjunctions. They include Mercury Saturn on February 25th, the new Pisces Moon at 9º 41′ on the 27th, Mercury Neptune on March 2nd, a Sun Saturn one on March 12th and a magnificent Sun Neptune one on March 19th. If meditating one’s way to enlightenment isn’t a good fit, other options for guidance are in the offing. Mercury will square a newly direct Jupiter in mental Gemini on February 20th, followed by a Sun Jupiter square on March 2nd. Ingenious Mercury will also sextile Uranus on the new Moon of February 27th, and the Sun will sextile Uranus on March 14th, the date of the lunar eclipse and full Moon in practical Virgo. The squares to Jupiter and lunar-laced sextiles to blockbusting Uranus indicate strong potential for a-ha moments if not full-on breakthroughs. Yet, not unlike the seductive siren songs of mythology, some Pisces traits can send life plans overboard. Prone to escapism, the sign’s bottomless capacity for distraction and earnest desire to live in a world free of friction can be destructive. To outwit the sirens, Odysseus strapped himself to his mast, stuffed his ears, and those of his sailors, with beeswax and firmly fixed his mind on beloved Ithaca. In 2025, that’s not a bad strategy for navigating the plethora of Pisces seas.