In our personal lives, the unsettled energy of the next few months will impact us all differently. Look to Pisces in your chart. It is the “epicentre” of the change to come.  Consider the house it is for you, any planets resident, any aspects it receives. Jupiter, lord of Pisces, also offers clues according to its placement, its dignity, its involvement in yogas. Many are the factors to consider and synthesise in order to understand precisely how this shifting energy could impact you. But most of all, do not fear, do not worry. Breakdown provides opportunity. This spring is the ideal time to reassess what truly matters in your life, let go of the old and stale, of whatever does not serve your higher vision, and embrace the challenge of finding a fresh ground to stand upon. 

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A tight configuration of planets gather in Pisces for the Solar Eclipse. Sun and Moon share the same degree exactly at the centre of the Pisces, 14°47’ at 10:58 am GMT, Lahiri ayanamsha.  Venus is exalted and retrograde, but challenged because placed between the malefic planets Rahu and Sun in a papakatari yoga. Mercury is debilitated, also retrograde, but redeemed by exalted Venus offering a neecha bhaga effect. Venus in Pisces and Jupiter in Taurus exchange signs in a Parivatana Yoga, and so Jupiter too becomes directly involved in the configuration. These six planets together form a complex amalgam of different energies with much inherent conflict, but also an auspicious Saraswati Yoga, with the three natural benefics conjoining through Pisces. Then less than twenty-four hours after the New Moon, Saturn also enters Pisces, adding further complication to an already complex configuration and casting his malefic aspect upon Jupiter in Taurus, mitigating the natural beneficence of Jupiter’s light. 

Though the powerful energy of the solar eclipse amplifies creativity through the Saraswati Yoga, each natural benefic, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, is also weakened by some challenge. Mercury facilitates clear communication, intellectual astuteness and adaptability, but when compromised descends into wrong judgement and duplicity. Even in the best of circumstances, an exalted Venus has a degree of fragility. Its capacity for unconditional love—at odds with harsh reality—creates vulnerability, easily exploited by those driven by personal advantage. A compromised Venus is even more vulnerable, and during Venus’s long exaltation period this spring, malefic influences continually compromise him. It’s a good time to reassess your relationships, letting go of anything toxic and nurturing those who nurture you. Jupiter’s natural optimism and expansiveness will be curbed by Saturn’s aspect, not necessarily a bad thing. The tumultuous energy coming this spring is no time for naive and foolhardy confidence. Rahu’s shrewd gaze provides balance and out-of-the-box thinking. Those attributes are best to cultivate in your personal life as we watch them play out dramatically upon the world stage.

With Saturn joining the configuration, and Neptune also present if you consider the outer planets, this lineup of seven planets in Pisces is extremely rare, not seen for centuries. Pisces is a watery, mystical place, the end of the zodiac. Its expansive, visionary energy provides the perfect medium for transformation. A place of endings and preparations for new beginnings, it serves the creative impulse, applicable to all areas of life—science, art, politics, community planning. Despite the challenges each of the natural benefics carries, the auspicious Saraswati Yoga they form graces the coming months with opportunity, inspiring artistic endeavours and bringing creative projects to fruition. Occurring in Pisces, the constellation aligned with the cosmic realms, this yoga becomes visionary. Creativity will flourish in unexpected and unusual ways, reinventing ways of living and inspiriting innovations of all kinds. Yet most of all, this energy released through Pisces serves our spiritual development. In a radical way, the unsettled energy of this spring can accelerate our spiritual growth.

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With so much energy released in a water sign, and with Mars debilitated in watery Cancer for much of the spring, major water events could create problems in the months to come. Floods, droughts or tidal waves could create disasters in certain areas of the globe. However, water activated is a powerful catalyst for inner transformation. Substances dissolve in water. Water cleanses and purifies, Water pulses through all living forms, facilitating fertility and abundance. Over time, water can wear away even stone. This spring is an ideal time to connect with the water in your life. If you are lucky enough to live by water, by the ocean, a lake or river, bring the quality of fluidity into your spiritual practice. Allow yourself to dissolve and merge into the quality of water as it arises for you. This year, Mercury retrogrades in water; so not just the oceanic expanse of Pisces, but the murky deep pool of Scorpio and the rushing rivers of Cancer will be activated. In India, all rivers are considered sacred, not just Ma Ganga. They are the body of the goddess, Devi, whose many forms are the multitudinous faces of the Mother. Pisces is water as the sea, reigning supreme this year — vast, ubiquitous, mysterious as it merges into an ever receding horizon. Breakdown is opportunity for rebirth, and water shows the way. When tears arise, allow them to flow. Their water too belongs to the Mother, embodiment of Infinite Compassion.

SATURN-RAHU CONJUNCTION

With Saturn and Rahu conjoined in Pisces, their malefic energies compound. This conjunction occurs every eleven years (approximately), but in Pisces it is quite rare. Only once in the last one hundred and fifty years has it happened, and that was in 1968. Those who can remember that era know well that it was quite a tumultuous time. Many historians interpret 1968 as the year that changed the world. A revolutionary spirit dominated the zeitgeist, and sudden shocking events rocked the world. In the USA, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. The Vietnam War was escalating, setting off riots across the country. In France, student demonstrations turned violent, with the city of Paris becoming like a war zone, shaking up the Fifth Republic. Unrest spread across France and other European countries. The Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia, putting an end to Prague Spring, a detente of the Cold War. In the background, technology was advancing. The first human spacecraft, Apollo 8, reached the Moon. In short, warring ideologies clashed in violent episodes, some short and sudden, others protracted. But out of the chaos and confusion, something new emerged. Milestones of both innovation and breakdown were reached, and the world was never quite the same again.

It doesn’t take astrology to see the striking parallels between 1968 and today. Though the events are different, a revolutionary spirit has shifted long entrenched global certainties and alignments. The dramatic changes President Trump has initiated in the USA have galvanised resistance from those outraged and opposed, as well as emboldened leaders of other countries to make similar moves. On his first day in office, Trump withdrew the USA from the World Health Organisation. Weeks later, Argentina’s president decided the same, citing the WHO’s mismanagement of the Covid pandemic, calling the forced lockdowns “a crime against humanity” which created one of the “biggest economic catastrophes in world history:” Robert F. Kennedy entered the presidential race in 1968 stating that America was on a perilous course, critiquing USA involvement in the Vietnam War as well as racial inequality and poverty. He envisioned a radically transformed society. This year, his son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was chosen by President Trump to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr. also envisages a radically transformed society. He is committed to tackling the epidemic of chronic disease in the USA, the toxics in the food supply, the corruption and corporate interests behind the ultra-processed food and pharmaceutical industries. His strong anti-war and anti-censorship stance align him with the ideals of his father. The movement he has initiated, along with that of other controversial members of President Trump’s team, could make 2025 another year that historians will cite as world-changing.

Rahu and Saturn form an exact conjunction on April 14th, and they stay together until the end of May, when the Nodes change signs. The Nodes represent everything alternative. Considered outcasts in Indian cosmology, they are forces outside the mainstream, counter-culture elements that bring about sudden events, radical surprises, fresh vision. They operate through breakdown and breakthrough, two sides of the same coin—with one’s personal perspective determining which side one sees. With the Nodes powerful, truth can be elusive. They are slippery and shadowy by nature, obscuring and confusing wherever they are prominent. Rahu has a driven quality, obsessive desire fuelled by astute often manipulative intelligence. Coupled with Saturn— who is indicative of control, authority, structures and contraction—Rahu will become even more unpredictable. Saturn’s harsh influence brings out his ruthless streak. The impact upon some lives will be cruel. However, even though many will feel pain with the coming shakeup, I do believe in the end we’ll find ourselves in a more harmonious and just world, particularly as Jupiter moves into exaltation next year.

Shortly after the exact conjunction of Rahu and Saturn, a Kalasarpa Yoga forms. Saturn moves deeper into Pisces as Rahu, who transits retrograde, moves towards Aquarius. Except for Moon’s fortnightly exit and entrance into the arc of the Nodes, all planets remain between Rahu and Ketu until the end of July. The inherent imbalance of Kalasarpa adds confluence to the tumultuous energy we can expect this spring. A realignment is ahead, with all the major, slow moving planets changing signs this spring. As the year progresses, a new dynamic will be operating in the world and our personal lives.