Things heating up
Following on from the move of Neptune into Aries, now we have the second ingress, Saturn moves out of Pisces and enters Aries next Sunday morning. Saturn spends about three years in each sign and so changing signs often heralds a new zeitgeist. Certainly, the move from slow, dreamy, mystical and romantic Pisces to fast, furious and dynamic Aries is a sea change.
The last time Saturn was in Aries was 1996-1998, and before that, 1967-1969. Both those eras were times of rapid change and high energy. In 1996, the first cloned sheep (Dolly) was born. The IRA bombed Docklands and Central London, the first rail franchises sold, there was the Dunblane massacre, the BSE crisis and Ketamine was legalised. In 1997 Tony Blair was elected PM, Diane Blood is given the right to use her dead husband’s sperm for a child, the UK won the Eurovision Song Contest and the first Harry Potter book was published. Hong Kong was handed to the Chinese, Princess Diana was killed, the first woman to sue her husband for rape won damages and Elton John released Candle in the Wind as tribute to Diana. The Southall rail crash happened and the British Library opened a public reading room. In 1998, the last working tin mine closed in Cornwall, the Good Friday Agreement was signed marking peace in Northern Ireland. DVDs came on the market and the £2 coin came into circulation. ASBOs were brought in to solve petty crime and the Welsh Assembly was inaugurated. The Omagh bombing in Ireland caused massive loss of life. The Chilean dictator Pincochet was arrested in London and the Human Rights Act passed into UK law.
So, we have peace and war, violence and firsts. Notice, too that Saturn applies to a trine to Pluto in Sagittarius and a sextile to Uranus in Aquarius in the 1996 chart. Reminiscent of this year’s Saturn where it will sextile both Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius. The first year’s of Tony Blair’s government was the time of Cool Britannia and the Spice Girls, a very upbeat and ‘can do’ atmosphere where it was felt that there was hope (Pluto in Sagittarius) and a new beginning (Saturn in Aries).
The 1967 chart, by way of contrast had Saturn making no aspects to any of the major planets, except for Jupiter when it moved into Leo. Neptune in Scorpio was sextile the Pluto Uranus conjunction in Virgo. 1967 had another Labour government (Wilson), it was when we applied to join the EU, the first North Sea Gas was pumped ashore, British Steel was nationalised, Jimmy Hendrix set fire to his guitar in a London gig, the first Black police officer joined the Metropolitan Police. The Beatles’ Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band was released, the first Spring Bank Holiday was fixed. Contraceptives became free on the NHS including for unmarried people. The first colour TV broadcasts went out on BBC 2. Homosexuality was de-criminalised. Radio 1 started, abortion was legalised. There was the Hither Green rail crash, the £ was devalued, Foot and Mouth disease broke out. The first Concorde supersonic plane was launched, St Christopher’s Hospice for the terminally ill was opened. In 1968, the first Ugandan Asian refugees arrived in the UK. It was a time of economic crisis and the ‘I’m backing Britain Campaign’ to stimulate growth.
What can be said about this year’s ingress chart? The first major aspect Saturn makes is a sextile to Uranus in Gemini, on August 12th, it does not catch up with Neptune until February 21st 2026. Saturn is in the 11th house of groups and certainly, with the advent of political organising on social media, people can see and respond to atrocities and corruption and mass movements are easier to organise. Economic hardship and rampant inequality has coalesced into popular movements for a fairer distribution of wealth. Saturn Uranus in soft aspect suggests the growth and change will be radical but not too disruptive or violent.
However, as we saw above Aries is the sign of accidents and bloodshed, as well as peace treaties and coming together. With warmongers still in the ascendancy we can expect a tussle between the corrupt status quo and new thinking (Aries and Uranus in Gemini). The next three years will be a time of change and radical beginnings.
I will be speaking about Saturn, especially the Second Saturn Return at the Festival of Mind, Body Spirit on May 24th at 15.00 There is a discount code for tickets to the festival here use the code: BELTANE20.
Last couple of places for Greek Is;and Summer School details here and here
Joanna Watters founder of the Greek Island Summer School has a weekly Astrology blog, you can subscribe here
Elisabeth Brooke 