“Gods always behave like the people who created them.”
(Zora Neale Hurston)
On March 7, 2023, Saturn, our definer of reality, entered Pisces, where it remains until February 2026. The Saturn cycle describes a lifelong process of continually shaping and redefining personal reality as life experiences compel us to evolve. The archetype of “The Inner Authority”, Saturn symbolizes that mature character within who has the capacity to take responsibility for a personal definition of reality (internal understanding), rather than try to live according to external “rules of society”, and to gracefully navigate those situations in life when the two conflict. Saturn also rules the life structures we create (career, lifestyle, social affiliations, etc.) to support our personal definition of reality, and for which we seek respect from the outer world.
Saturn by transit delays and postpones gratification of desires in favor of building a solid foundation to support them, or sets limits to test one’s ability to obtain them. It manifests and gives form to visions and goals which one has worked hard to achieve (i.e. done the homework, prepared the foundation, etc.), and can coincide with great rewards for effort, patience, and hard work done. Saturn matures and more fully develops one’s sense of personal responsibility and often inspires us to use our skills and abilities in service to the larger whole in some capacity. Transiting Saturn emphasizes issues of respect or disrespect as a reflection of one’s level of personal mastery and earned authority. We are often called upon to consolidate resources and make better use of energy in the areas of life ruled by the house being transited and with the planetary characters being aspected by transiting Saturn. For the sake of comparison, previous transits of Saturn through Pisces occurred from January 1994 – April 1996 and December 1964 – March 1967. Although you are older and (hopefully) wiser, the same experiential patterns were in play during these years.
Neptune, our search for redemption/forgiveness and “spiritual” understanding of this crazy journey we call life, entered its own sign of Pisces in February 2012, and continues its journey through the last degrees of that sign this year, entering Aries in March of 2025. It is during the last few degrees of an outer planet transit that the lessons of its lengthy transit manifest most potently. Unlike Saturn, Neptune inhabits the realm of the intangible, the ineffable world of imagination and dream vision, undefined symbols, mysterious synchronicities that are far too easy to ignore, and “other dimensional” experiences, be they of a mystical nature, or the product of mental instability. Soul-searching, our desire to make sense of the world, and our place in it, runs deep and is never ending, in that the purpose and meaning of life continually changes as we live it. Neptune communicates in nonverbal ways in a language unique to our personal vibration that only we can learn and translate. It is difficult to communicate Neptune’s experience in traditional ways, which is a source of great pain and suffering for strongly Neptunian people. They often become the great artists, the poets, the songwriters, and the story tellers of the time. When a Neptune transit awakens the soul, we become “the seeker” in search of some vague, unknown something needed to feed the emptiness, which is caused by yet another vague, unknown something. This yearning for higher purpose is sometimes rewarded with a mysterious transcendence of painful past patterns, renewed inspiration, a stronger connection than ever with “The Force”, and the motivation to serve the higher good in selfless ways. As Neptune transits the last few degrees of Pisces, and Saturn moves ever closer, the need to give form and structure to the spiritual journey/process/lessons intensifies. Magical realism is afoot!
Since Neptune entered Pisces, I think most sane people would agree, there’s been a whole lot of crazy going on! Suffice it to say, some of the most important things happening in our lives and on the planet at this time are not registering with the five senses, but are being felt at the deepest level of our intuitive awareness. Logic and reason have “left the building”, and it has grown increasingly difficult to “make sense” of this crazy world in the same ways that used to work. Fake news, deep fakes of the dark web, and the disturbing potential of AI generated visual/auditory falsehoods are forcing us to learn new ways to receive and process information. Our illusions about reality continue to tumble by the wayside on a daily basis. The struggle to make sense of an increasingly nonsensible world becomes ever more challenging. The confusion and chaos of the outer world have increasingly driven many to go inward and place a greater value on inner reality (body wisdom, intuition, instinctual knowing) for accurate and valid information. We are increasingly called upon to become the authority of our own psychic/intuitive experience and to give greater credence to information gleaned from our other dimensional wanderings, like dreams and the visions that push into consciousness when we quiet the mind through meditation or wide awake revery.
Traditionally, astrologers often consider Saturn-Neptune connections to be challenging due to the incompatibility between Saturn’s emphasis on “reality” and Neptune’s preference for the ineffable, intangible realm of dreams and imagination. The same can be said of their ruling signs, Capricorn and Pisces, in spite of the fact that they are sextile by aspect, and share the feminine/receptive mode of expression. Perhaps this interpretation is based on a lack of understanding of, and appreciation for, feminine energy in general. I think it’s time to rethink the interpretation of these astrological characters, and many others, based on greater awareness of The Divine Feminine, now rising in collective consciousness. Some of the most important work over the next two years will be to infuse our social/cultural systems, now being newly created, with greater awareness of the value and power of feminine energy. It is not by accident that this alignment of two powerfully feminine archetypes, Saturn and Neptune, are coming close enough to kiss in the powerfully feminine sign of Pisces at this time.
Saturn infuses Neptune with a certain level of practical reality, at the same time that Neptune infuses Saturn with imagination and ethereal possibility. The desire to create a reality (Saturn) “on Earth as it is in Heaven” (Neptune) intensifies, as does the urge to “make dreams and visions (Neptune) become reality” (Saturn). “Practical Pisces” becomes less of an oxymoron as we strive to give form and structure to our fantasies. Many will experiment with new creative ways to “harness” the imagination, without stifling it; to give our imaginings a vehicle of expression that can be shared with the world. A renaissance of artistic innovation is sure to flourish under this influence as the latent artist in each of us is awakened.
With any planet traveling through Pisces by transit, we are almost always confronted with the inscrutable workings of a “Divine Plan”, as situations arise to shatter our illusions about reality, expose our vulnerability and “smallness” in the Universe, teach us to surrender, annihilate illusions of control, compel us to find meaning, force us to become more aware of synchronistic realities, discover the sacred in the mundane, and test our faith in ourselves and the divine forces at work in our lives. The need to give form and structure to our spiritual lives is strong under this influence. The urge to practice our belief systems in more fundamental ways may result in the creation of rituals and more conscious practices, like meditation and yoga, to ground and anchor the spiritual process. The desire to experience the sacred in the mundane action of living everyday life intensifies. As our faith is tested, and it is sure to be tested, our spiritual resolve either fails us or grows stronger. We will be seeing many examples of both extremes.
This “shattering of illusion” process is sure to happen as Saturn’s love for the concrete and “the real world” comes up against Neptune’s preference for the magical realm. Healthy or not, it never feels good to experience the loss of a cherished belief, betrayal at the hands of a trusted friend, or the realization that some precious dream can never come true. Unfortunately, this is a necessary process in life, and the means by which we achieve maturity and wisdom. Many a “sacred cow” will fall by the wayside over these next two years, and it is important to properly mourn the loss in order to move on to the next possibility.
Unfortunately, Human Beings do not usually learn Pisces lessons of vulnerability, surrender, forgiveness, compassion, and understanding willingly, of their own accord. These are more likely to be learned through hard times and life’s trials, when we have no choice but to simply “give up and give in”. Transcendence, the ability to accept what is and rise above it to choose life and move on, is Neptune’s greatest lesson. Escapism is its most common solution to confusion, uncertainty, and feeling out of control. Saturn’s close proximity makes us more aware of the dangers of destructive escapism, like drugs, alcohol and addictive/obsessive/compulsive behavior, and inspires us to create more avenues of “healthy escape”, like making art, consciously engaging in creative fantasy, and spending time with Nature.
Pisces rules the hibernation process, where we need to periodically retreat in order to digest life experience and make peace with the new awarenesses that have been born of it, to prepare for the next new beginning in our Earth walk. In nature, this process is symbolized by Bear Medicine, or the cocoon phase of Butterfly. Mythically, this process is described by The Dream Lodge, Brahma’s Cave, Christ’s “40 days in the desert”, the Valley of the Shadow”, the womb space of The Sweat Lodge, and many other symbolic journeys of the Seeker into the unknown. The urge to create an inner sanctum, where it is safe to experience our own vulnerability, is Pisces’ most sacred work. It is here that we tap into our “inner knowing”, that place where all answers reside. It is a place of infinite potential, where we access information from other dimensions and discover new possibilities as alternative pathways emerge in consciousness. It requires a special kind of courage to consciously surrender to this “void space”, to step bravely into the unknown and confront the initial chaos of infinite possibilities that are sure to shatter the secure illusions of our current reality. If not done willingly and with consciousness, it is often thrust upon us by life experience, or the overwhelming ache of meaninglessness and despair that comes over us, spurring the question, “Is this all there is?”
If we have been doing the Neptune in Pisces work of the past 12 years, we have learned about the importance of clear, well-defined boundaries and how to honor them. We have a greater awareness of inherent dualities and the ways and means by which to more effectively integrate them within the personality and the psyche. We have grown increasingly dependent on the sixth sense for survival, and developed greater respect for that way of knowing that is instinctive, visceral, and based on information that cannot be proven or substantiated in traditional ways. We have learned/are learning to trust what we feel, respect and honor the “inner voice” where true knowing resides, follow our intuition, and let our “spidey sense” prevail. We are growing more adept at recognizing synchronicity in our everyday lives, and more willing to accept it as a source of important, even divinely inspired, information to be taken seriously and consciously applied to the decision-making process. With Saturn’s passage through Pisces, we can expect these Neptune lessons to be given more form and structure, and become more “real” as we are more willing and able to apply principles of practical reality/manifestation to dreams, soul yearnings, and our experience of other dimensional realities.
For many, there has been an intensification of a sense of duty/obligation and responsibility to serve others, especially those disenfranchised or powerless members of a larger Humanity who are in need and cannot care for themselves. For those so inspired, it is imperative that we learn the difference between bondage/sacrifice and willing service from a place of compassion and empathy, and a full cup, where the reward for good work is in the doing of the work.
The systems and technologies used to measure intuition and “psychic” abilities like telepathy, channeling, remote viewing, ESP, etc., are being revealed, proving the existence of these phenomena and giving society permission to give them more credence. As the “psychic experience” becomes more accepted, more people will own these abilities, more authentic gifted practitioners will emerge, and more quality instruction/guidance in their development and use will result. We might even see the beginnings of regulatory legislation to enhance professionalism and protect the public from charlatans in these areas.
Although Saturn and Neptune will travel closely together in Pisces over the next two years, they will never reach the exact conjunction until both planets enter Aries. In February 2026, they will join exactly at the very significant critical degree of 0 Aries 44’. Although that’s a tale for a future musing, the process over these next two years will certainly determine how this significant conjunction will play out, both globally and personally. Meanwhile, we will continue to learn how to flow in murky waters, when circumstances and situations lack logic and feel chaotic and uncertain. Resist the urge to control things when they cannot and should not be controlled, as this will make you crazy. It is time to finally make peace with the reality that control, like security, a “sure thing”, or the “one truth”, is an illusion. As we redefine, integrate, and embrace a new version of the Archetype of The Spiritual Master Within (Guru, Sage, High Priestess, Compassionate Healer), magical realism is a way of being with which we are likely to become increasingly familiar over these next two years.
“I’m letting go, coming unbound,
‘Til there’s nothing left holding me down.
Higher and higher, hopelessly rising,
I’m giving up gravity for grace.”
(Gravity for Grace by Heather Rigdon)
Kim McSherry
