February 17: Aquarius New Moon solar eclipse
The change we have been longing for is here, but the map is not clear. The Aquarius New Moon solar eclipse on February 17, is ruled by a historic world-building-empire-dissolving conjunction of Saturn with Neptune that peaks on February 20th. This is a week of revelation. Endings come and beginnings start without warning, and yet we have felt them rushing towards us on the wind for quite some time. Aquarius asks, what paradigm is shifting for you?
Life can be categorized into experiences that teach us about ourselves, those that enhance our comprehension of the world, and revelations that grant insight into the nature of spirit/divinity. This week delivers–all at once. The action is happening in the Aries and Aquarius areas of life, but Leos and all cardinal signs (Libra, Cancer, Capricorn) will be feeling it as well. If you're not aware, consult your local astrologer for where the stars are popping in your chart.
Saturn entered Aries at 7:11PM ET on February 13, and over the next two years will bring structure, order, and purpose to an area of life that hasn't had such an overhaul since the late 1990s.
The New Moon solar eclipse at 28°49 Aquarius at 7:01AM ET on February 17, begins an eclipse cycle along the Leo-Aquarius axis for the first time in nine years. From now until January 2028, there will be an activation every six months that will draw us deeper into the lessons of Pluto in Aquarius.
Solar eclipses blot out the Sun, which is our source of vital energy, so it's a good idea to take it easy and not push yourself for 3 days around the New Moon (before, during, and after). It's normal to feel tired and even require more rest. I recommend taking an epsom salt bath if the vibes are funky and you want to cleanse your aura. The lunar North Node is conceptualized as the head of a dragon that is ravenous and always seeking more, more, more. Eclipses are portals. The dragon's mouth opens and fire pours out.
This lunation is squaring Uranus in Taurus, amplifying the revolutionary and unstable energy. It's not a good day for manifesting magic because of its unpredictable nature, but you can see and understand things that are normally obscured. The Sun has been squaring Uranus since Valentines day so whatever was popping over the weekend now lands on a body and emotional level. Opportunity may drop into your lap that you never saw coming or something you imagined to be permanent could unexpectedly get sucked into the void. Eclipse season lasts for a month and it's a deeply meaningful time to be mindful of any disrupting, unexpected, or strange matter that may materialize. The next eclipse is the Virgo Full Moon on March 3rd.
The Leo-Aquarius axis is about the relationship between leaders and the people they govern. Aquarius represents the populous, the collective that consents to the regulations of the governing body. Adults are expected to participate in society by respecting the customs and rules of the land they dwell within. Leo is the figurehead that unites everyone around a central banner or core values. In ancient times, Leo was the king appointed through divine decree. This title was granted through birthright or the conquering glory of war. Traditionally, the ruling class had control over the land and laborers lacked rights or even the power to dictate any conditions of their toil.
Aries and Libra have an important relationship with the individual and society. The justice of Libra says that everyone is supposed to obey the same rules and receive similar consequences when they break them. Royalty and nobility were class distinctions that created hierarchy and justified inequality. The movement towards democracy is the recognition that, on a fundamental level, humans are actually all the same and therefore deserve equality.
Aries as the warrior defends the leader and maintains law and order, but what about when the law is unjust? What happens when the leader is corrupt? The people must rise up. As Martin Luther King wrote in Letter from a Birmingham Jail: "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
Historically, the Saturn Neptune conjunctions have been watershed moments of great social and political change. Cruelty and repression was challenged by heroic unique individuals, such as with the democratic movements of Tiananmen Square student protests and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The bonds of Saturn represent chains that can bind us, but, when we struggle, it's important to have a vision of what we are moving towards.
The conjunction of Saturn and Neptune at 00°45 Aries at 11:54AM ET on February 20, is a turning point catalyst igniting democratic impulses towards freedom and self-determination. We haven't had such a meeting for 36 years, and the flame that is lit now will burn brightly for decades to come. Neptune entered Aries on March 30, 2025, bringing a beautiful ideal for the Aries area of life and Saturn intends to realize that vision over the next two years.
The Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn in 1989, also included Uranus in the mix, and is definitive of the millennial generation. The aspect peaked several times in '89, activating widespread movements for freedom and human rights: the end of the Cold War era and collapse of the Soviet Union, increased activism and access to life saving medicine in the AIDS epidemic, and reforms that began the end of apartheid in South Africa and release of Nelson Mandela from prison.
We can feel echoes of these themes today with the rise of fascism and totalitarianism of the Trump administration that is scapegoating immigrants and transgender people as it destroys social services for the most vulnerable working families. Saturn in Aries represents the degradation of structures, unjust authority, and the incompetent masculine. The solidifying of power through billionaire tech cronies that have bought the elections and are turning the world into a surveillance state, and collaboration with the most vile and repressive regimes globally, such as Putin and Netanyahu.
As we move towards the 250 anniversary of the US, the question of democracy is central to the explosive Mars-Uranus conjunction in Gemini on July 4, 2026. Greed, power, and control are at the heart of this evil and we must continue to ask who is profiting and who is paying.
Saturn and Neptune have not met at this degree point in recorded human history, but they have come close at key times. Saturn and Neptune conjoined at 02° Aries on March 11, 594 BCE, during a time of great political reform in ancient Greece. Laws were established to settle disputes between city states, but in the 7th Century, the codification of laws brought about unequal access to knowledge for the aristocracy and the exploitation of the legal system (sound familiar?). The first legislator of ancient Greece, Draco, was incredibly cruel and revised the constitution to benefit the ruling class during a Saturn-Neptune square in 621 BC. Draconian laws were excessively harsh and meted out the death penalty for most offenses. The result was widespread serfdom, slavery, and debt for the majority population.
These laws were overturned during the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in 594 BC, when the philosopher, poet, and politician, Solon, brought in widespread democratic reform. Aristotle called him the "first people's champion." Solon laid the foundations for democracy by overturning the death penalty in all cases but homicide. He is credited with starting a golden age by initiating debt relief, celebrated amongst Athenians as "seisachtheia" shaking off of burdens.
We are again in a time when the wealthy are using their power and access to skew the legal landscape in their favor. The ideal of democracy is a government that uplifts the people and improves our lives through structure and support. The Saturn-Neptune conjunction is exposing the greed, megalomania, and downright evil at the center of many political agendas. This will be a year of reckoning.
The Saturn-Neptune conjunction will be activated when the Sun enters Aries at the Equinox on March 20th, and, again when Mars transits its home sign and sparks a confrontation from April 9-30th. More will be revealed about the current administrations ties to the sexual abuse cases within the Epstein files when Venus goes retrograde in Scorpio-Libra in October and November. These will not be easy periods but they will bring about change and we each have our important role to play.
Aquarius is the thoughtful, unique, individual considering how to evolve and improve the structures we live within. In tarot, Aquarius corresponds to the Star card, which is the perfect guide through eclipse season.
The light of the Star illuminates our path out of darkness. It encourages each of us to be a beacon for those struggling. We can not trust on authority to save us, but we can connect deeper with our own inner knowing. If we listen to our body, pay attention to our mind, and learn to read the signs of the external world, we will know when it is time to pause and contemplate, and when it is time to act.
Blessed be the path of peace.