Saturn and Neptune Stationary Retrograde

I can't remember if I've commented on this before but both transiting Saturn and Neptune will turn stationary retrograde in July. Here are the details along with some other relevant astrological factors:

• On July 4th 2025, Neptune turns stationary retrograde in 2º10' of Aries
• On July 12th 2025, Saturn turns stationary retrograde in 1º56' of Aries
• On July 7th 2025, Uranus enters Gemini

These positions are almost exactly conjunct my natal Mercury in 2º14' of Aries. As Uranus enters Gemini it will form an exact square with my natal Saturn. During this period from early to mid-July, Ceres will pass over my natal Sun, Chiron is close to the natal North Node of the Moon, Venus passes over my natal Moon and Mercury passes over my natal Ceres-Pluto conjunction. However, it is the big three (Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) that carry most of the weight. The faster moving planets will determine the timing. The timing of what is the big question both personally and on a global level.

It's interesting that Saturn gets to within 0º14' of Neptune before turning back. An exact conjunction will not occur until late February of 2026 in 0º43' of Aries. By that time, Uranus will have retrograded into Taurus (27º34') and will be moving toward another conjunction with my natal Moon. Chiron will still be on my Ascendant and joined by Ceres. Incidentally, the celestial latitudes of Saturn and Neptune at the time of their near conjunction are not far apart (-2º15' versus -1º19'). Once Uranus enters Gemini, it will advance to 1º27' before turning stationary retrograde on September 5th of 2025.

Overload

Desy slipped on the steps outside our bedroom. Water had leaked onto them and they were slippery. This was about 2:15am. Figure 1 shows the transits to her chart at the time of the accident. 

Figure 1

We see that the Moon, Ceres and Neptune are all conjunct in the second degree of Aries very close to her Ascendant. The transiting Sun, on the cusp of the third house, is in the second degree of Gemini and thus in sextile aspect to this conjunction. The transiting Sun forms a sharp square to her natal Sun in 0º of Virgo.

Fortunately the fall doesn't appear too serious but it would seem that the Moon hitting the already overloaded second degree of Aries triggered the accident. Of course, Saturn is also headed to the second degree of Aries shortly to join up with Neptune. Looking back, we see that the previous passage of Saturn into the first degree of Aries occurred in April of 1996 but later, having entered Aries, the planet turned retrograde and stationed in 0º36' of Aries on the 4th December 1996.

Saturn in Aries: A Personal Overview

With so many planets and sensitive points in Aries, the 29.2 year cycle of Saturn through this sign should have a major impact on my life. Let's look back and review. In my lifetime, Saturn's first entry into Aries occurred on March 4th 1967 which would have close to the time that I started my University education at the University of Queensland. See Figure 1.

March 1967 to April 1969

Figure 1: Saturn enters Aries 1st cycle

This was obviously a big deal. Saturn left Aries on April 30th 1969. A year later I would be in the army but that period, covering my initial two years at University, was very important to my growth. I made new friends and enjoyed novel experiences even if my academic performance was woeful.

Saturn's next entry into Aries occurred on April 8th of 1996, soon after I arrived in Singapore. This was a major turning point in my life as I embarked on a new life abroad. See Figure 2. Saturn later turned retrograde in Aries until it stationed in 0º36' on December 4th 1996. It did not reenter Pisces and left Aries for the final time in that cycle on March 1st 1999. The next year my new life in Jakarta would begin.

April 1996 to March 1999

Figure 2: Saturn enters Aries 2nd cycle

As Saturn leaves Aries, if spends the next two and a half years in my first house. The passage of Saturn through Aries seems to usher in a new era that sweeps aside the old way of life and thus makes way for even bigger changes less than a year later. To go back to April of 1969, it clear to anyone with eyes to see that I was not going to graduate from the teacher's training college at Kelvin Grove. I was still sleep-walking through life. My transition from school life to a leisurely and lazy lifestyle was drawing to a close. I was on a collision course with the Army and we would collide a year later. Going back to March of 1999, I knew my life in Singapore was coming to an end and I was preparing for a transition. I didn't know where but eventually I was to land in Singapore in early January of 2000. 

Of course I won't see another cycle of Saturn but if things follow the same pattern then there should be significant changes coming up for me in the next couple of months. What sort of changes remain to be seen. We are already contemplated visiting Melbourne in June but we've done that twice before so that's hardly something new. See Figure 3. This time around Saturn only spends a brief amount of time initially. On July 13th, it stations in 1º56' and then crosses the First Point of Aries again on September 1st before returning, moving forward, on February 14th 2026. Saturn leaves Aries on April 14th 2028.

May 2025 to April 2028

Figure 3: Saturn enters Aries 3rd cycle

Neptune and Saturn Stationing

Figure 1

Today, Sunday the 18th of May 2025, we have (see Figure 1):

• transiting Sun (27º25') conjunct transiting Uranus (27º18'), very close to my natal Moon (29º25' Taurus)
• transiting Venus (12º22') conjunct my natal Sun (12º47' Aries) and closing
• transiting Mars (13º51') conjunct my natal Pluto (14º16' Leo) and closing
• transiting Chiron (25º01') conjunct my Ascendant (24º27' Aries) and separating 
• transiting Moon passing through my 10th House
• transiting Jupiter (24º56') is conjunct my natal Uranus (26º22' Gemini) and closing

Overall it's an active time with a lot more activity coming as Saturn moves into Aries in a little over a week and comes closer to transiting Neptune. Ceres (0º25') has already entered Aries and will team up with Saturn and Neptune is a stellium that is right on my natal Mercury. 

The midpoint of transiting Chiron and Jupiter is close to both transiting Uranus and my natal Moon. If there is to be a health crisis, then I'm trying to look at precipitating factors. So far I've focused mainly on the exact conjunction of Uranus with my Moon in late June but this is just the first of three contacts, the others occurring in November of 2025 and April of 2026. There are no stations of Uranus on my natal Moon similar to the station of Uranus on my Ascendant when I had my gall bladder crisis.

Looking at planets stationing on sensitive points of my chart, I have Neptune turning stationary retrograde in 2º10' of Aries on July 5th of 2025 (see Figure 2). Soon after this, on July 14th, Saturn will turn stationary and so this might be the critical time period for some crisis: July 5th to July 14th. I hadn't noticed this before but now that I have, I can't un-notice it.

Figure 2

With the involvement of Mercury, any health crisis would likely be neurological or pulmonary. Natal Mercury and natal Uranus are in a square aspect in my chart, although the separation is about 5º22'.

My Fourth House

Figure 1 shows the transits to my chart as of the evening of May 7th 2025. I'll display it in monochrome as I think that's easier to read.

Figure 1

As transiting Mars rapidly approaches my Ceres-Pluto conjunction in Leo in the Fourth House, I got to thinking about this conjunction as it played out over the course of my life. The mid-point of these two bodies in around 12º30' of Leo which places it in trine aspect to my natal Sun and sextile aspect to my natal Neptune. 

For the first twenty years of my life, I'd say my domestic situation was quite stable. I moved from grandparents' house around age 2 and from then to age 21, I lived at 21 Mayneview Street, Milton. There were no disruptions. Of course, I was uprooted at age 21 when I was conscripted. On May 5th of 1970, almost exactly 55 years ago, transiting Saturn in my First House was square this midpoint and my misery had already begun. Saturn then swept through Taurus, stopped and then retrograded to become stationary direct in 15º42' Taurus on January 17th 1971, very near the time I was liberated. This was a pivotal point in my life. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

For the next two years, I was back at Mayneview Street until finally leaving the nest in December of 1973. Thereafter there was never any residence that was permanent until finally settling in Maleo in late 2005. Even then however, I was uprooted by needing to work in Shanghai and then needing to stay in Australia for two years after my retirement. With Desy trying for her partner visa we were back and forth between Brisbane and Jakarta until early 2020. After Covid, we have been back and forth to Australia and that continues to the present day. Now Mars is approaching the Ceres-Pluto conjunction but interestingly Saturn is also closely sesquiquadrate (135º) aspect to this midpoint. It's a turbulent time and the aspects reflect this.

I'm being a bit superficial by focusing on my place of residence because the Fourth House, more deeply, represents the foundation of my psyche and this is certainly being shaken up by my forced preoccupation with death and dying. The foundation proved solid and I was able to build a stable and functioning ego with which to navigate life but it has really served its purpose now. However, I'm stuck with it along with all the habit patterns and entrenched modes of thought that go along with it. Perhaps an NDE is what is needed to really shake things up.

Chiron Active

Over the next week, Chiron will move to an exact conjunction with my Ascendant. It will reach exactitude on May 7th when it will also be joined by fast moving Mercury. See Figure 1.

Figure 1

Now Chiron has an orbital period of 50.71 years but, because its orbit is highly elliptical, the time it spends in the various astrological signs varies considerably. It spends the most time in Aries (about eight years) and the least amount of time in Libra (less than two years). This conjunction with my Ascendant is the second such conjunction during my lifetime. The last occurred in July of 1974 (before Chiron's discovery) when it turned stationary retrograde dead on my Ascendant. After retrograding into Aries it crossed again in late April of 1975 when it was also conjunct Ceres. This period, from July of 1974 to April of 1975, marked my transition to life in Sydney (in late April 1974 Raelene and I moved from Adelaide to Sydney).

This time around transiting Chiron will continue to move forward until it turns stationary retrograde in 27º10' of Aries in late July of 2025 before retrograding and crossing my Ascendant again on October 22nd 2025. It will turn stationary direct in 22º36' of Aries and then cross my Ascendant for the last time on March 9th 2026 with Ceres again close by. However, even in January of 2027, it will be conjunct the North Node of my Moon. Chiron is important in my chart because of the very close trine that natal Chiron forms with my natal Mars-Venus conjunction. It is also closely sesquiquadrate my Ascendant (less than a degree) and it is located firmly in the centre of my eighth house. Suffice to say that this astrological body will be influential over the coming year and even beyond.

Looking at late May there are some interesting aspects in addition to the previously mentioned Chiron. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

We see the following:

• Transiting Chiron is conjunct my Ascendant and sesquiquadrate its natal position
• Transiting Mercury, the Sun and Uranus are very close to my natal Moon
• Transiting Jupiter is conjunct natal Uranus
• Transiting Venus in Aries is trine transiting Mars that is conjunct my natal Pluto
• Transiting Moon is conjunct transiting Saturn in 29º Pisces close to transiting Ceres and Neptune in 1º of Aries conjunct my natal Mercury

This looks like a very active time with nearly all transiting planets active. I've tended to fixate on June 22nd because that is when transiting Uranus will be exactly conjunct my natal Moon but really Uranus even now (May 1st 2025) is only two degrees away from the Moon's position. Uranus will retrograde when it passes into Gemini and then it will pass over my natal Moon twice again during the coming twelve months, once when retrograde and once again when moving forward. 

The Callippic Cycle

In my Mathematics blog I posted about The Callippic Cycle of 27759 Days and I won't repeat what I wrote there. Suffice to say how very lucky I was to discover this cycle serendipitously on the day previous to its completion. Figure 1 shows the remarkable return of the Sun and Moon to their natal degrees 27759 days following my birth, counting the day of my birth as DAY ONE rather than the DAY ZERO system that I use when counting the days following my birth.

Figure 1

Thus turning 76 has a very special significance when viewed in the light of the Callippic Cycle with its rich historical associations. The Sun and the Moon return to their original positions and so one cycle ends but a new one begins. I have the opportunity to begin again and to do things differently this time around. The cycle is complete on the day before my birthday and the new cycle begins on my birthday. It marks no less than a rebirth.

The chart shown in Figure 1 should give me an idea of what this new cycle might look like. Let's look at it more closely. I notice that Saturn is in 24º35' of Pisces and Uranus is in 24º48' of Taurus with my Ascendant right smack at the midpoint in 24º27' of Aries. Mars in 23º52' of Cancer aspects all three (my Ascendant by square) and is conjunct my Nadir. The planets near 24º of various signs and my Ascendant are shown in Figure 2 in red. Clearly the Ascendant is the focus.

Figure 2

Aries Action

On March 1st 2025, transiting Venus turned stationary retrograde in 10º50' of Aries, very close to my natal Mars - Venus conjunction. It will continue to move backwards through Aries, meet the Sun in 2º Aries on March 23rd and then enter into Pisces over the course of the next month or more.

Transiting Mercury follows a similar pattern. It will station in 9º35' of Aries on March 15th and then move backwards through Aries, meeting the Sun in 4º Aries on March 24th and then moving back into Pisces. These conjunctions of planets with the Sun are apparently called cazimis. I'd not heard the term before. Both the Mercury and Venus cazimis are inferior conjunctions meaning the the two planets will be between the Earth and the Sun.

Equally importantly however, there is a partial solar eclipse in 9°09' of Aries on March 29th and this is right on my Mars-Venus conjunction. This will be impactful, coming as it does just a few days before my birthday. I'll have more to say about this when I return to Jakarta tomorrow and can make use of my Astrolog software. I'm handicapped by having to rely on the web-based Astrotheme.

Uranus Station

Shortly before midnight tonight, 30th January 2025, in Jakarta Uranus will station in 23º26' of Taurus and then begin its steady movement toward my natal Moon in 29º25' of the same sign. This is the first passage of transiting Uranus across my Moon so I don't know quite what to expect. Figure 1 shows the situation.

Figure 1

Of course, as Uranus moves toward my Moon it will aspect other sensitive areas of my chart including:

• Semisextile natal Ascendant in 24º29' of Aries
• Conjunct midpoint of natal Ascendent and natal Uranus in 25º40' of Taurus
• Trine natal MC in 25º40' of Capricorn
• Semisextile natal Uranus in 26º52' of Taurus
• Trine natal Jupiter in 28º47' of Capricorn

These are just the major aspects. Uranus will reach my Moon around the 22nd June 2025. I've already written about that and the aspects to my chart on that date (in my previous post: Dream Predictions). Anyway, the journey (of Uranus) has begun so let it all unfold.