In December and early January, I’d been feeling enthused about reviewing this year’s energies. There are some major changes, with outer planets switching signs, North Node entering mystical, magical Pisces, and Jupiter leaving hyper Gemini for fertile Cancer, Jupiter’s sign of exaltation. The year’s numerology of 9 spotlights alchemy, while the Solstice Sun—the astrological New Year—made a semi-sexile to Pluto, indicating that gifts from the past can support the evolutionary processes wrought by the dark lord’s definitive ingress in Aquarius.
Anyway, I’m not feeling quite so buoyant now. The Los Angeles fires have put a painful spin on the year’s energies. The fires began just as warrior Mars—still in opposition to formidable Pluto—backed into Cancer, sign of houses, real estate, family, and home turf. The destruction went beyond anything an astrologer would have wanted to foresee. (In our November predictions, we did mention changes in the housing market triggered by a similar configuration then and applying into the new year.) Pluto is in Aquarius, an air sign; the winds associated with the disaster were described by news outlets as, “dangerous”, “damaging” and “chaotic”.
Our hearts and prayers go out to all the people, animals, plants and trees affected by the blaze. When faced with the fires, the wars in the Middle East, and extremist Republicans controlling the White House, Senate and the Supreme Court, we can definitely use some solace and spiritual power.
North Node of the Moon in compassionate Pisces helps us get them. The North Node symbolizes a new and beneficial direction, while the South Node is something we’ve done before, a point of departure. South Node in Virgo means we’ve been working on healing, habits, service, daily tasks and responsibilities. But now we can leave behind some of Virgo’s lower vibrational patterns: drudge, repetition, excessive detail, paralyzing perfectionism, and critical states of mind.
Both Virgo and Pisces relate to devotion, and this will be one of the themes of 2025. Since South Node was last in Virgo nine years ago, we’ve “put in our time” with a certain earthly level of reality. Now, we’re freed to reconnect with our dreams, our magic and our faith (Pisces). But beware. Pisces may make us feel like we can simply float calmly along. We mustn’t let ourselves be lulled—it’s important to make a leap onto the carousel. The nodes move quickly and this current waterfall of energy from beyond will last only a year and a half.
As we leap, we still need the positive lessons that Virgo has taught us: humility, persistence, organization, and diligence. Such attributes are decisive to be able to ground the opportunities that flow during the current modality. (I know this from experience, having lost opportunity the last time North Node was in Pisces, after taking things personally and getting into a struggle with the controlling Virgo who got manipulative after having opened the door in the first place!)
The nodal shift can be very freeing, favoring all things spiritual, and combining with the mystical aspect of 2025’s numerology of 9 to spotlight altruism and transmutation. It supports us in finding our inner center, deepening our spiritual or intuitive work and our connection to the Infinite, to the ineffable, to Love or to whatever the higher reality and power is for each of us. Pisces also rules creativity. This includes film, so we can expect this industry to be renewed in some way, as will vocations and businesses involving spirituality, hypnosis, dream work, channeling, and angels.
To see how these energies work for us personally, we can look at the last time North Node was in Pisces, from mid-2006 through early 2008, along with the houses activated by Pisces and the placement of Neptune in our natal chart.
Combining with the activities of Neptune and Saturn, this transit empowers practical magic. The pair traverses the Pisces-Aries cusp, a point where imagination joins audacity, compassion joins confidence, and dreams are infused with the will to do something. The magic intensifies in February, as North Node in Pisces joins Pisces’ ruler, Neptune. It’s a great month to reconnect with our dreams and creative projects, connect with spirit guides, and fuel the spirit of compassion. For those who like to call on light beings, some archetypes of this spirit are: Kuan Yin, Jesus, and Archangel Zadkiel. One’s guardian angel and spirit guides can light the way towards our dreams.
2025’s Saturn-Neptune conjunction is imbued with the energy of the critical 0 Aries degree, giving it a dynamic flavor and moving us to awaken from the sweet somnolence of Neptune’s transit through Pisces, an influence that’s prevailed since 2011. Since then, many things have seemed to flow, and boundaries, in our minds, lives, relationships, and society have been eroded, as seen in the use of plant medicine, the growth of spiritual healing and inspiration, the expansion of channeling, and mass movement of immigrants.
From blissful miracles to disappointing fantasies, Pisces’ magic covers a fascinating and sometimes foggy spectrum. As first Neptune (end of March), and in May, Saturn, emerge from Pisces’ watery depths into the restless fires of Aries, we get clarity about the last 14 years. Which developments were truly divine? What dreams have been addictions or escapist fairy tales or that ultimately led to self-sacrifice? We can look especially at things involving substance use, distraction, romance, codependence, healing, spiritual powers, creativity, social media, artistic expression, compassion, and manipulation. What treasures can we retrieve and carry forth? These will come more clearly into relief in February. Inspiration will be high and support can surface.
We can gather and grab onto our gifts in February-March, as dreamy Neptune and strict Saturn will be knocking the teddy bears out of our arms when they ingress to Aries. Like a sergeant screaming at a sleepy soldier (or a new politician making a fascist salute), this shift will shake us into action.
Neptune’s entrance into Aries is exact at the end of March, making for an energizing Spring. In some ways Neptune in Aries will come as a relief. We can get our boundaries back, pick up the part of our dreams that proved to have been real, and take inspired action. We can find a balance between our ideals of compassion and what actually works for us as individuals.
But watch out, this doesn’t mean that manipulation has come to an end. Aries rules leaders and promoters, and some pushy individuals may try to hold us in the Neptune victim mode. We can keep our eyes open about ourselves and our situations, as the master-slave dynamic can surface in numerous subtle ways. If we can stay in touch with our feelings, we shake off some of the confusion wrought by Neptune in Pisces. If a dream turned out to be fantasy, if it got entwined with the dreams or manipulation of others, if we’ve slipped into an addiction or a real or imagined victim trip, Neptune in Aries be like, “Get TF out of there!”
At the same time, we get a spurt of initiative related to our dreams. We can more easily disengage from the collective stupor or the inertia of passive people around us, and get moving on our vision. We can get clearer about our individual creative and spiritual identity. By checking Neptune’s placement and rulership in one’s natal chart, we can shake off that icky-sticky substance called toxic guilt and allow ourselves to direct and express this energy.
During the first months of the year, these processes will involve some push and pull. Aries’ ruler Mars is retrograde through late February—our actions may not feel effective. After turning direct, the red planet spends almost two more months in Cancer, where his heat may seem attenuated. In April he approaches his final opposition to Pluto, an aspect that was triggered at the presidential elections in November and was again in orb during the LA fires. Ugh. This last hit will perfect in late April, after the red planet enters brave Leo. During these months, we may feel challenged repeatedly, and slip into doubt about our pathway. At the same time, by continuing to release fantasies, recover from addictions, sharpen our spiritual gifts, and hone our creative works, we’ll be gathering inner strength.
Staying on track with our purpose will put us in a place to receive the help (and not the hindrance) of the year’s first two Eclipses, both coming in March. The first of these is quite intense: a Total Lunar Eclipse at 23° Virgo, exact on March 14. Some of us may already be perceiving this push to release old habits, stale patterns, pickiness, limited thinking and beliefs, and ways in which we put ourselves and others down.
Two weeks later, on March 29, we get a Partial Solar Eclipse at 9° Aries that reaffirms the strength to set limits and reconnect with the independent hero within. Energizing the North Node in Pisces, it resonates with the themes of Pisces/Aries that flavor 2025.
Saturn in Pisces through mid-May will strengthen us on the journey. In orb of a conjunction with sweet Venus as he joins North Node in late April, the planet of work will bring a long-awaited opportunity to make a dream come true. In May Saturn will approach Aries, activating the critical zero degree and making his full entrance into the of action sign on Sunday, May 25.
On the one hand, this transit can be frustrating. Aries rushes ahead, and Saturn likes to pace himself. However, in view of Neptune’s emergence from Pisces, we can welcome the surge of assertiveness brought by Saturn, planet of authority, in Aries, the sign of the boss. Saturn rules time, discipline, and mastery. In the house of our natal chart it visits, it moves us to build self-reliance. We’ll be able cut off distractions, define our schedule, and set limits that support our progress.
There may be a sense of grief and loneliness as we release the warm cozies of shared fantasies and forge ahead with an independent spirit. Saturn is a builder; in Aries he will glance around, see what materials are left after the deluge, the romantic pilgrimage, or the hibernation of Pisces, and grab whatever’s on hand to start building.
The red (no pun intended) flag: Saturn in Aries can be patriarchal and severe. The upside: not only autocrats will get revved; the placement will strengthen whoever chooses to use it. So pay attention and avoid victim traps. Fortunately, Pluto in Aquarius has sounded an irrepressible cry for freedom that will remain loud. perhaps including activism from jail. Saturn and Neptune both In Aries, sign of “I am,” will press hard for our experience of self, while Pluto in Aquarius, coruled by Saturn, pushes us to cast off whatever veils our authenticity.
From the time Saturn enters Aries through September when he retrogrades back into Pisces, the planet of work will be in orb of conjunction to Neptune. In a way, these planets will be dancing throughout the year. Both go retrograde in July. That same month, Uranus leaves the conservative soil of Taurus to fly into the breezy airs of Gemini, where this planet of revolution can more easily proceed with its mission to change things up. There will be brilliant journalism, a boom in ecommerce and in general, a sense of relief once the planet of surprises leaves Taurus, the sign of security, to her own devices. With Uranus in mutable Gemini, the changes that come will be easier to adapt to.
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will all retrograde back into the signs they left. Uranus reenters on Taurus on November 8, which happens to be a day of power. In October, mystical Neptune follows Saturn back into Pisces. The pair will be dancing back and forth over the Aries cusp from late May on, giving us a stark, impatient look at our dreams, defining those that were fantasy versus those that were real and worth continuing to build on. The footwork of these two planets, around and on the Aries point, will trigger dynamic waves of new action. And as they dip back into Pisces’ pool of inspiration, they will fuel our creative and intuitive work. We are apt to see some new paradigm of spirituality, and perhaps a major East-West gathering of some type.
Saturn is a teacher and a judge. Politically speaking, the energies of Saturn in feisty Aries and Pluto in rebellious Aquarius are apt to play out in schools and courts. From January through early May, while Jupiter is in its detriment in Gemini, we can expect squabbling to diffuse some of the resistance. By mid-May, we’ll be feeling a special sensitivity as the planet of expansion moves towards ingress to Cancer, on what has been called “the cusp of magic”. On June 10, Jupiter will roll into Cancer, sign of its exaltation, where it exerts an expansive, protective effect on the housing market, compassion, families, the nation, abundance, emotional healing, and positive growth in general. This kind transit can offset the harsher tone of Saturn in Aries, and their combination can support self-care. Politically speaking, the lower and middle courts and NGOs will become protagonists in protecting the people.
We can set our sights on September to launch a project, present a case, buy a home, or make some kind of key move, as Jupiter, planet of prosperity, will be trining fortuitous North Node. This is a stellar month for activities such as: promoting, investing, going on a spiritual retreat, campaigning and starting something.
On Sunday, September 7, we get another Total Lunar Eclipse activating the North Node. The 15 days before and after this lunation are great for consolidating a dream or an achievement involving spirituality, compassion, romance, creativity, intuition, devotion and/or something related to the area (houses, angles, planets) of your natal chart activated by 15° Pisces.
The fourth and last Eclipse of the year will be on Sunday, September 21, one day before the Fall Equinox. It’s one of the those peculiar lunations that mixes old and new energies. As a Solar Eclipse, it comes with a New Moon, favoring beginnings. However, at the last degree of Virgo, it triggers the South Node, supporting us to move on something we had going in the past, perhaps a karmic situation related to work, service, health, and daily habits. We can readjust practical situations in support of our spirituality, intuition and our dreams. This grounding influence can help us close the year with tangible results.
If we have things to promote, share, publicize or expand, it’s best to get them going while Jupiter continues direct in Cancer and before Mercury enters pre-retrograde shadow on Thursday, October 21. On Monday, November 10, Jupiter will turn retrograde. His station will make a loose sextile with surprising Uranus, who by then will be retrograding back through Taurus. Jupiter and Uranus are both future-oriented planets. The latter rules powerful Pluto in freeing Aquarius. In what began as a challenging year, their harmony shines a ray of hope.
As 2025 winds down, life continues and opportunities flow to review and retrieve situations connected to our progress—as dreamers, as doers, as bosses of our own direction and as implacable agents of positive change.
Crystal Pallas Pomeroy, Maya’s daughter and astrological protégé, offers in-depth astrological consultations from her home in Mexico, in person or via Skype. She is a noted author as well as a regular radio and television commentator on esoteric topics, and leads a spiritual and healing ministry in Mexico City. Crystal offers workshops on astrology, the sacred feminine, indigenous spirituality, and the goddess in beautiful locations throughout Mexico. Her book Angels & Goddesses (Llewellyn, Spring 2022) is available now. Reach Crystal by email here.
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