Highlights of Winter 2026 | Dawn Beyond the Wall
Winter 2026 opens like a dawn long prepared—
the final breath of the Wood Snake, the first tremor of the Fire Horse.
The air hums with thresholds: structure softens into dream, and dream begins to take form.
Saturn and Neptune gather in Aries to redraw the architecture of belief; Uranus and Saturn exchange blueprints for a more humane future.
It’s a season of reorientation—of myth becoming matter, of silence preparing to speak.
Highlights of Winter
Potent Transits
Saturn ⚹ Uranus
Neptune & Saturn in Aries
Saturn ☌ Neptune
Mythic Field of the Ruling Planets
Saturn and Jupiter
Potent Transits
The old and new sit at threshold moments in the major transits of winter
Saturn ⚹ Uranus
January 20, 2026
The Saturn–Uranus cycle is a 45-year rhythm of tension between structure and freedom, old systems and new ideas. It often tests societal systems—how can we responsibly evolve beyond brittle structures? The current cycle, seeded in philosophical and expansive Sagittarius in 1988, began as the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall fell. With the recent “Black Monday,” this time became a catalyst for global trade and the capitalist agenda (at odds with conservation efforts that seeded in with the previous cycle in Taurus), while rising tensions between the West and the Islamic world were marked by the emergence of Al-Qaeda.
Over the decades, this visionary Sagittarius seed has been tested by crises such as the dot-com bubble, the 2008 financial collapse, and the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which have placed pressure on our societal structures.
In January 2026, an approaching sextile between Uranus in Taurus and Saturn in Pisces offers a rare window for breakthroughs, where innovation meets responsibility and long-tested visions can finally take practical, lasting form.
With a new cycle on the horizon, seeding in 2032, we are beginning to integrate the lessons of the current cycle—wisdom arises from vulnerability, from accepting help, and from creating space to dream and aim toward new goals that balance structure and freedom.
For those who love astrological history, Richard Tarnas’s Cosmos and Psyche explores these great cycles in depth, including this one. Jessica Davidson’s work provides extensive historical context and insight into past Saturn–Uranus cycles.
These two planets rarely see eye to eye, and even in moments of harmony, synthesis can feel awkward or challenging. The upcoming sextile will be a fascinating test of how these energies can cooperate—and what new possibilities might emerge.
*I went down a bit of a rabbit hole to try and see the bigger picture of the Saturn-Uranus relationship and its impact on us. Instead of trying to consolidate and write about what I unpacked (as it would be a very long article), I created a conversation with AI to try and capture the essence of what I was finding. If you are interested in a deeper dive, I’ll provide a PDF of that conversation below that you are welcome to download.
Neptune in Aries
January 26, 2026 - March 23, 2039
Neptune briefly dipped into Aries last year, but now begins its longer, more permanent transit. In Aries, Neptune blends raw reality with idealism and myth, glamorizing both. Historically, this placement has influenced fashion toward utilitarian or uniform styles, while art has alternated between masculine heroism—war photography and the archetypal “Hero” of Mars—and blurred, impressionistic depictions of reality.
Neptune in Aries is pioneering. During its last visit, modern motion pictures were introduced; in an earlier cycle, the printing press appeared—highlighting Neptune’s connection to media and cultural dissemination.
Spiritual crusades, as well as volatility in markets, inflation, and fluid resources, can also be pronounced.
At a collective level, identity may feel fluid or unsettled, as nations and communities explore new ways to define themselves and project their image into the world.
Saturn in Aries
February 13, 2026 - April 12, 2028
Saturn enters Aries, bringing the weight of structure, discipline, and responsibility into the realm of action, identity, and pioneering initiative. Here, the archetype of the Warrior meets the Elder: bold ambition is tempered by restraint, courage is measured by accountability, and new beginnings must prove their endurance. Saturn in Aries asks us to take ownership of our independence, balancing impulsive drive with strategic patience.
Historically, Saturn in Aries cycles have coincided with moments of disciplined innovation, when bold leadership and systemic reform emerge together. Think industrial expansion guided by calculated risk, the professionalization of armies, or political movements where charismatic leaders are held accountable by institutions.
On a personal level, Aries’ fiery energy demands that individuals confront fears of failure and prove themselves through deliberate, tested action.
Collectively, nations and communities may feel pressure to redefine leadership, assert identity, and take responsibility for their ambitions. This period favors initiatives that combine courage with careful planning, where speed and boldness are grounded in sustainability and long-term vision.
Saturn ☌ Neptune
February 20, 2026
The Dawn Beyond the Wall
In February 2026, Saturn and Neptune will meet in Aries. It’s been a long time since meeting up here, with their most recent unions in this sign being in 1703, 1380, and 555 AD.
These two slow-moving planets are among the most mythic in astrology: Saturn builds form and structure; Neptune dissolves boundaries and dreams new realities. When they meet, civilizations recalibrate. What we believe and what we build must again find common ground.
Since 2023, Neptune and Saturn have been very close to one another. The breaking down of one myth between them has been in full effect, not only because what they’ve previously constructed is now brittle, but because this has been in the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces, where things dissolve, and we are flooded (metaphorically and literally)—the collapse of form when spiritual legitimacy becomes nebulous. All the signs of cohesion between these two planets are there (structure and cosmic moral order): corruption spreading, natural disasters, rebellion, and legitimacy dissolving. I understand why a lot of people are grasping to make religion a forced structure again. But, how it’s being done is brittle and grasping at straws. It’s not anchored in actual spiritual compassion.
Every conjunction of Saturn and Neptune begins a 36-year cycle — a seed moment for collective myth. The 2026 meeting is extraordinary, not only because of its celestial geometry, but because of how history itself echoes this pairing. The astrological conditions around the conjunction in 555 AD are almost exact to the coming one.
Every nation expresses the Saturn-Neptune fusion differently. China and India had interesting reorientations taking place around the 555 AD conjunction. In China, Buddhism had penetrated culture, and monasteries rivaled the state. Metaphysical questions overtook bureaucratic certainty. New spiritual territory was being pioneered, but it would take until a later conjunction to fold the flood of spirituality into the structures of law, building, and legitimacy.
In India, similarly, there had been a dissolution of the empire (Gupta). Dharma and Brahmanical Hinduism re-consolidated. Rather than an organized empire, a shared cosmology brought things together. Law internalized as dharma rather than imposed as bureaucracy. The Aries style Saturn-Neptune comes through new visions rather than inherited form. New and emergent versus established and strict.
The US has some distorted shadows when it comes to Saturn-Neptune energy, where performance of belief replaces faith. Patriotism as aesthetic, freedom as a slogan, democracy as a spectacle, and morality as branding = Neptune without transcendence and Saturn without reverence. This can result in cynicism, hyperreality, culture war as myth substitute, and law without moral consensus. We are at a threshold, somehow functioning after a shared dream has ended. We need to move from our parallel with the fall of Rome, wanting to rule bodies, to the way Byzantium ruled meaning. Right now, we try to rule belief itself, but belief has eroded into something mushy and murky.
We need small, symbolic, persistent subcultures that bring myths without literalism, understanding through re-sacralizing language, and building coherence without coercion.
Russia’s Saturn–Neptune Signature
Few nations are as entwined with Saturn–Neptune history as Russia.
For over a thousand years, pivotal moments in its story — from empire to revolution to reinvention — have coincided with these conjunctions. Even its great writers, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Gogol among them, expressed the tension between Saturn’s moral gravity and Neptune’s mystical yearning: suffering and salvation, law and faith, dream and duty.
Vladimir Putin himself was born under a Saturn–Neptune conjunction in Libra — the very polarity opposite the coming Aries meeting. An echo from another time that this exact axis was activated, in 555 AD, another ruler, Justinian I of Byzantium, was born with Saturn and Neptune also conjoined in Libra. Both men stand as embodiments of empire attempting to reconcile the structure and spirit of crumbled empires— order and vision — at a turning of ages. Justinian I fortified the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) after its western sister fell. Putin has evoked the battle of Kulikovo as a symbol of Russia’s historical power and status (a moment when "the light of freedom began to dawn," as they experienced an initial defeat of Mongol rule and the Golden Horde, at a Saturn-Neptune conjunction). Putin seems hellbent on retaking/creating their power at the expense of anything. Will this conjunction bring new developments in his aims?
Echoes of 555 AD — The Eastern Dawn
The parallels between 555 AD and 2026 are striking. Both conjunctions occur in Aries, both are sextile Pluto in Aquarius, and in both charts Mars, ruler of Aries, resides in Aquarius.
In 555 AD, Mars and Pluto stood together — empire remade through force and vision.
In 2026, Mars is not conjunct Pluto, but the Moon joins Saturn and Neptune in Aries, suggesting a more populist and emotional awakening — the people’s fire rather than the emperor’s decree.
Draconically, both alignments are also in Aries, reinforcing the archetype of beginnings, courage, and ignition. And historically, 555 AD marked a reconfiguration of the known world:
The Byzantine East consolidated power as the Western Roman legacy faded.
Eastern philosophies and faiths — from early Buddhism’s eastward spread to nascent cross-cultural transmissions — began shaping new spiritual geographies.
When Saturn and Neptune seed in Aries, history tends to tilt toward the East, the zodiacal direction of dawn. The 1380 and 1703 conjunctions, both with strong Aries and eastern resonances, similarly aligned with pivotal Eastern renaissances — from Mongol decline and Russian emergence to the cultural flourishing of Eurasian centers.
2026 may echo that theme: the rise of the East not only as geography, but as consciousness — innovation, spiritual renewal, and new world philosophies arising from outside the Western paradigm. I’ve heard it said that in modern times, the East is more pragmatic, while the West is Idealistic. We’ll see what happens.
*As a side tangent, I had to dig a little around the way astrology seems to work with our abstract geographical lines of east and west. While I need to contemplate it a little more, when I drew up a chart for 0° of Capricorn in year 1 (what I consider as the start of the Age of Pisces), the western coast of Britain is aligned with the Sun at the IC position—the foundation of the Age’s light, and part of the axis separating east/west. That’s very fascinating!
The 2026 Chart: Vision Incarnate
Saturn–Neptune conjunct in Aries:
The fusion of structure and spirit at the edge of a new world. Collective imagination finds a body; ideals seek implementation.Sextile Pluto in Aquarius:
Structural innovation — systems remade through networks, science, and social metamorphosis. Power decentralizes.Mars (ruler of Aries) in Aquarius:
Action through design, activism, and intelligence — the warrior becomes an engineer.Moon near the conjunction:
The collective psyche joins the myth. Change feels personal; global events resonate in the emotional body of humanity.Uranus in Taurus sextile Neptune:
Material reality morphs — new currencies, resources, ecological systems, and technologies redefine “value.”
Together, these patterns speak of construction through inspiration rather than dissolution through collapse. The last Saturn–Neptune conjunction in 1989, in Capricorn, coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the USSR — an epoch of endings and dismantling. This time, in Aries, the tone shifts: the new fire kindles. It’s not about dissolution, but inception. Not walls falling, but worlds forming.
A Turning of Ages
555 AD rebuilt Byzantium’s spiritual architecture in the East. China gestated, then unified. India spiritualized rather than centralized; 2026 may rebuild the world’s consciousness through connection.
The East rose then through faith and continuity; it may rise now through innovation and meaning.
We might call this cycle The Dawn Beyond the Wall —the moment when the boundaries of the old world, visible and invisible, begin to melt into light. In this round, it feels like the question is “Where can meaning survive after consensus reality dissolves?”
If we look at the success Byzantium had in the past with this seed, compared to the conditions of today, where does success lie?
Archetypically, Byzantium was bureaucracy infused with cosmology. When the world became incomprehensible, it made meaning administrable. The parallels between late Rome and the West today are potent: consensus unraveled, institutions have lost moral legitimacy, reality fragmenting under information overload, politics/economics/epistemics persist without belief.
A new ephemeral structure: Nation-State is too brittle, Big Tech lacks cosmology, Religion-State strangles Neptune’s compassion. We need open mythic frameworks that explore symbolic language, Cultural Custodians who are systems thinkers and designers of symbolic coherence, and language as infrastructure (metaphor and interfaces). In Aries, we need prototypes, risk, and non-legitimized beginnings. Byzantium didn’t look inevitable in 555 AD.
We need people who make meaning legible in a post-truth world. Myth-literature that encodes ethics into systems, embeds myth into technology, and translates chaos into usable story: Myth without authoritarianism, structure without dogma, and patterns as orientation (not control).
Essence
Aries awakens what has slept in dream.
Saturn gives it bones; Neptune gives it breath.
The East rises — not to conquer (fingers crossed!), but to compose.
Humanity steps into its own myth of creation once again.
In a broader exploration of this seed, many themes recur around the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. If you are interested in a deep dive, I suggest this 8-hour episode of The Astrology Podcast. While I have my own take (above) in examining the most similar conjunctions to this one, it’s worth considering all the themes that are possible (which aren’t always positive). Sometimes Neptune and dissolving energy have the upper hand, while at other times, Saturn wins with building energy. There can be swings between things coming apart or coming back together. I’ll list some of the themes this podcast’s deep research dug up (it’s worth noting that Saturn and Neptune have been near conjunct all of 2025, so these may already feel resonant):
Communist Manifesto in 1800’s —>USSR dissolved and the Berlin Wall came down/Tiananmen Square protest
Spiritual paranoia - witch hunts (McCarthyism, Satanic Panic, book on how to identify a witch); Fears amplified by Neptunian illusion - paranoia.
1988 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change established as part of UN - report assessing environmental and global warming; Oil spills; Plagues/pandemics; Chemical/biological warfare (WWI, Huessain, MK Ultra, Siege of Caffa); Vaccines (global polio eradication initiative, measles to 2 vaccines, and anthrax vaccine); Drug initiatives: DARE, drug czar; Prohibition
TVs ‘52 - Queen Elizabeth II Coronation and Eisenhower sworn in. TVs suddenly went from novel elite to common
Shift in the value of things
"Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One" (Ben Franklin hits a common Saturn/Neptune theme on the head); Collapse/dissolution of empires (USSR, Ottoman, Byzantine, Sack of Rome); Fall of great cities (Constantinople, Rome, Athens)
Setting up/breaking down of walls, borders, boundaries - even World Wide Wed, standard time zones (invisible boundaries)
Unification or reunification of separate things (Yemen, East/West Germany, Portugal/Spain)
Popular uprising, ideological struggles, political instability, repression: revolutions Eastern Bloc, Tiananmen Square, Spanish American colonies declare independence, 1st Infanta, Boston Tea Party, Macadan in Judea)
Peasant and working-class revolts
Establishing rules/laws/structures that we cannot see - gravity, Einstein's theory of relativity, germs/microorganisms, chemical structure of DNA
Secret pacts that change the history of the world - the triumvirate in Rome (to take over empire - democracy to empire), the secret founding of oil trust; Secret societies or attempts to suppress them (Knights Templar destroyed, 1738 Pope banned free masonry and pops up again 1917 reaffirmed, 2023 came up again and reaffirmed), Sons of Liberty, People’s Will (assassinated Czar); People working behind the scenes to overthrow a ruler - Agrapina poisoned emperor/husband to install her son Nero, the assassination of Roman Emperor Severus by his own Army, and Galerius was assassinated by his own officers; Ideological assassinations; Death of a ruler under mysterious circumstances; Death of a ruler that throws the kingdom into disarray and creates a power vacuum.
Attempts to study paranormal - MK Ultra
Directionality altering - started praying in the direction of Mecca (Also like the East rising/falling as West does opposite)
Religious persecution fleeing - Puritans (Massachusetts established - throughline as then the Tea Party also in Boston); Establishment of theocratic state/govt: Brigham Young arrived in SLC in 1847; Religious schisms - religion breaking or re-merging; Religious repression - witches burned and killed; Establishing new religions.
Exploring/settling unknown lands (Greenland, the earliest euro presence in North America/Viking, Marco Polo; Crossing an ocean to enter a new world/society; Immigration, migration, and border issues.
Women in leadership (ascending or passing away to leave roles); Women voting; Gender/role blurring/dissolving
Fluctuation of Markets & inflation
There does seem to be a correlation between the Saturn-Neptune seed and the ethereal fluidity and fluctuation structures of financial markets. Going back just two cycles, there is a trend (I haven’t investigated further than that). Saturn is said to rule financial markets, while Neptune rules over things with fluctuations, such as inflation. Together, it’s like they seed new ephemeral or fluid structures.
In 1952/53, Saturn and Neptune met up in Libra, aligning with Modern Portfolio Theory (transforming investment strategies) and a consumer boom with the end of consumer credit regulations that were combating inflation. About a year after their opposition, when they were stretched to their max, we saw the 1973 market crash—the Nifty Fifty bust and the collapse of the Bretton Woods System. These two met up again in 1989, seeding new ephemeral structures in Capricorn, with the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA—to address the savings and loan crisis) as well as the Basel accords (to help with growing international bank competition and standards). About a year after the opposition at their full stretch, we saw the 2008 housing bubble burst.
It seems like long-range market regulations/strategies tend to seed around the conjunctions to help fix brittle/troubled aspects of a current market. The elasticity of market trends tends to burst or pop just after the opposition, once that stretch has gone too far.
What is established at the seeding times that could point to the chain of events leading to the bursts is above my pay grade. There does seem to be a lot of correlation, but I’m no economist, so I don’t dare try to explain. If you do understand the markets and look into the correlations (1952 seed to 1972 bust OR 1989 seed to 2008 bubble), I’d love your feedback in the comments!
For sure, other market bubbles have burst that don’t seem to align with the Saturn/Neptune cycle, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Saturn involved in some way. For instance, the dot com bubble in 2000, I wonder if there was a Saturn-Uranus (technology) association. I haven’t researched it, but bring this up to distinguish the specifics of financial markets and elasticity or ephemerality between Saturn and Neptune. I also know that a lot is being played with right now around inflation/currency/markets/crypto… It will be interesting to see what new elastic/ephemeral financial structures seed due to some brittle conditions.
The Mythic Field of the Season’s Ruling Planets
Just as the Solar Season gives us a sense of becoming and quality of life, and the moon colors it in with emotion and mood, the ruling planet of a season animates it with an archetypal energy—the agenda of what we are doing with all of this quality and mood.
Let's take a broad look at winter's archetypes for insight into how we might be moving the energies in our lives. Both Capricorn and Aquarius Seasons are ruled by Saturn, but the Architect archetype varies slightly between each. Saturn's Architect is more about what it's building in a tangible sense, whereas Aquarius's Architect is a Social Architect, more engaged in establishing networks and causes.
Saturn in Capricorn Season
While Saturn sits at the ending degrees of the zodiac this season, there is pressure to let go of things already dissolving. Saturn isn't great at letting go, but in hidden ways, Saturn is ready for new chapters and challenges. Heliocentrically, it has moved into Aries, and Draconically, it is also in Aries. It may feel like there's a new blueprint in the corner of the room that you can see and sense, that you know is coming—a new thing you want to build—and yet, you are stuck in a mess that needs sweeping up in the other corner of the room, that you can't just abandon. Saturn is too responsible to walk away from duties, even if those are simply tying up loose ends.
This year's Saturn Journey (The Initiate's Journey) is about healing. Maybe that mess you are stuck in has to do with healing your skeletal structure, your skin, your ability to make long-term plans, have foresight, patience, focus, and executive function. Whatever it is, whatever shadow you've seen, you are now being pushed into understanding and acting in new ways based on the understandings ringing through. You can do hard things, especially once you've seen, accepted, and loved your shadows.
To Capricorn, Saturn in Pisces is in the 3rd house, and so there is an underlying desire to communicate and touch into complex ideas, community messes, and nebulous mental health.
Saturn in Aquarius Season
Until the last four days of this season, Saturn is still in Pisces. This Saturn is more concerned with the future and the groups it's structuring than with the personal legacy it is building in life. It's a little more detached under Aquarius. But, similar to Capricorn Season, our Social Architect may feel like there are new initiatives, causes, and energy stirring in the background of life, but current social tangles are still keeping it busy with complicated endings.
The good news is that the Aquarius New Moon, which will set the agenda and seed for Aquarian energy, will take place in those last four days of the season, when Saturn finally moves into Aries and gets a clean slate and fresh passions to follow. It's still complicated for our social networker, though, as it is now in the 30° behind the North Node. Endings and complexity still rule over the year for our Aquarius energy/house, even with some new initiatives gaining traction. One part shadow work, one part new paths. One foot on each side of a threshold of endings and beginnings when it comes to our futuristic, collaborative, innovative side. I still feel like the energetic shift of the archetype from Pisces to Aries will help us make lemonade out of lemons.
To Aquarius, Saturn in Pisces is in the 2nd house, bringing an underlying complexity around the self-worth of our originality, our experimental voice feeling complex or dissolved, and our new age values confused.
Jupiter in Pisces Season
The first week of Pisces Season is nebulous, right behind the North Node, where endings and beginnings are taking place, well into eclipse season in the most complex sign of the zodiac—the shadows of shadows coming out. By mid-season, things look up as new possibilities and fresh starts capture our attention. Over the North Node, the new wishes we capture now will unfold over the course of the year.
We look to Jupiter to see how we are directing all of this energy, and we have beautiful guidance on our side. In Cancer, Jupiter's sign of exaltation, and newly in its Cancer Journey, our dreamer is receiving inspiration, aid from out of nowhere, and dreams swirling in beautiful ways. Whatever is ending and beginning, we have tenderness for. We are tuned into self-care, care for others, and what makes life deep and stable.
I feel like the narrative will be one of recycling past hurts and complex illusions into new soils of shared care. I think we are going to see through some of our fragmented understandings with more sensitivity and a willingness to see each other with more human eyes (at least I hope).
With Jupiter in Cancer in Pisces' 5th house, there is the real possibility of inspiring more unity and creative dreams. I have a feeling that compassionate leaders are going to be coming out of what seems like nowhere.
The Quiet Before the Fire
By the end of winter, something ancient stirs beneath the frost.
Saturn steps into Aries, and the mythic becomes practical—vision finds its bones.
The lag in our knowing is patient; the lunar tides pull with thoughtful responses.
The year ahead belongs to builders of new realities—
those who listen at the edge of endings and dare to name what’s next.
