As observed through a telescope, on the news, or in the quotidian drip of daily life, 2025 marked a period of epochal change. A new era is upon us. Astrologers look to the outer planets—those farther from the sun, whose orbits last years and decades—to understand where the collective consciousness is headed. In 2025, Uranus—planet of progress and backlash—entered jacked-up Gemini for the first time since the 1940s. Saturn and Neptune—two dark masters that address addiction and accountability—both restarted the zodiac in the propulsive fire sign Aries. Last year, these powers staged preview exhibitions in their new signs.
In 2026, the new age begins outright. The shift to fire and air signs signals initiation, renewal, and the conflict necessary to catalyze reinvention. The missions, allegiances, and career paths that defined us now feel like relics from a life before the crash.
The supervillains of the age have declared themselves, and we enter this new cycle with more self-awareness than the last. With bold Jupiter in Cancer, the sign of gestation and legacy, and with so much propulsion in Aries, the questions become immediate: What do you want to do? Who are your people? What is your fight? What is absolutely none of your business? You’ve spent the last few years processing, grieving, and looking back. Now comes the messier work of choosing a path and facing the consequences.
ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19)
For the first time since the late ’90s, Saturn, planet of authority and accountability, is in your sign. Meanwhile, Neptune, the god of dreams and delusion, hasn’t been here since 1875. The two planets make a historic conjunction in your sign on February 20, spelling out an epochal clash between your inner overlord and stoner, a reconciliation of the rules which govern life and the passions which give it meaning. You have the opportunity to start anew, to choose the incarnation, style, sensibility, and occupation which suits you. But to nail the landing of a new beginning, you’ll have to cultivate both optimism and pragmatism, catch yourself when you’re playing victim, and call out your own childish behaviors.
TAURUS (Apr. 20–May 20)
Since 2019, Uranus, the planet of change, has been in your sign—a revolutionary period which you’ll experience only once in this lifetime. On April 27, Uranus finally leaves Taurus for good, ending a seven-year maelstrom of extremes. It may have felt like it’s always something, like just when one arena of your life settles, another falls to pieces. The first four months of the year represent the last bang of this chaotic period, and on the other side you start to see what’s possible when all the disparate pieces come together. Ride out the last stretch of the phantasmagoria to see the culmination of your efforts take shape. In October, Venus and Mercury retrograde in Scorpio, your opposite sign, reconciling the others in your life to your new status quo. Be patient: you’re only now finding your place.
GEMINI (May 21–June 21)
On April 27, Uranus, the planet of progress and backlash, enters your sign, where it will remain until 2033. (Uranus released a brief coming attraction last year, dipping into Gemini from July 7 through November 7.) Uranus delivers new technologies and ideas, often before we’re ready for them, and Gemini, the sign of experimentation and versatility, has a fixation with extremes. You are uniquely equipped to ride the jagged surges of change. While your friends lament the rise of new technologies and the fall of old industries, you are well suited to study, play and see what new platforms suit you. But to channel lightning, you must find stillness, locking down friends or sponsors or coworkers who can keep you from trying too much, too fast, and losing yourself along the way. You’re in an epic period of advancement, but it’s up to you to ensure that your progress is sustainable.
CANCER (June 22–July 22)
Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system, spends about a year in each sign, and from June 10, 2025 through June 30, 2026, it blasts light and momentum on Cancer. Yours is the sign of motherhood, of nourishment and building a home (be it familial, creative, or spiritual), and with Jupiter’s embrace, you’re encouraged to build your garden and invest in your future. As Jupiter leaves Cancer come summertime, Mercury will retrograde in your sign from June 29 through July 23. Take this mid-summer dip as a time to recalibrate. Spend the first half of the year firing on all cylinders, then use the retrograde and its aftermath as a chance to lower the frequency and find a stable pulse.
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22)
2026 begins a new cycle of eclipses between Leo and its opposite sign, Aquarius, with a total solar eclipse in Leo on August 20. If you have played a role in your relationships, or fixed yourself to a certain “brand,” or swum desperately to remain the big fish in a small pond, these eclipses will likely blow your world open and challenge you to think bigger—putting your gifts to a more selfless, expansive service. On June 30, the gas giant Jupiter enters your sign for a brilliant year of embodiment. Jupiter commands wisdom, synthesis and mastery, and inspires you to elevate the impact you have on others, to really try for what’s important to you. To fully embrace your power and take the lead as you’re destined to do, you’ll have to let go of what’s become comfortable, stagnant, and stultifying.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept.22)
Since 2024, eclipses have raged in Virgo and Pisces, two perfect opposites which deal with control and surrender, boundaries, and union. With a total lunar eclipse on March 3 in Virgo and a partial lunar eclipse in Pisces on August 28, there’s still more to be revealed about the roles you’re playing: interpersonally, communally, and in the story of your life. Next year, 2027, promises propulsion for Virgos, but right now there’s more release to be done. Take account of what feels boring and burdensome in your life, and what needs to be removed—either by a peaceful release or aggressive confrontation. This is a flush and a deep release that lets you feel unencumbered when the momentum picks up.
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 23)
Who is in your way? Who is your worst enemy? As Saturn and Neptune—two planets that force bitter sobriety—enter Aries, your opposite sign, they initiate immediate confrontations with lovers, bosses, frenemies, and mentors. Anyone you’ve set on a pedestal or as your inferior will force you to take a balanced accounting of yourself, stripping away the funhouse mirror projections you’ve lived by. Get a balanced sense of who you are, and you’ll encounter figures who can really help you move forward. Venus retrogrades into your sign on October 26, not resuming direct course until November 14. Count on accursed exes and ancient crushes to rear their heads, all forcing you to level up. That was then, that was you, and now here we are. It’s time to level up.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24–Nov. 21)
Over the next two years, Jupiter, the planet of expansion, blasts through your career domain, firing up the momentum whether you’re ready or not. So take this year’s Mercury retrogrades in the water signs—Pisces (February 26–March 20), Cancer (June 29–July 23) and Scorpio (October 24–November 13) as moments to take a breath and get clear on what you want to learn, what you want to create, and what you want to wear while you’re doing it. With Venus retrograding in your sign from October 3 through the 26th, it’s likely that you’re in for a major makeover montage. These pauses for reinvention ensure that you’re the protagonist of the new story.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov.22–Dec.21)
From December 2025 through September 2026, Lilith, the dark avatar of exiled sexuality, feminine revenge, and bad-girl retribution, is in your domain. Meanwhile, Uranus, planet of promethean reinvention, enters your opposite sign, Gemini, in April, where it will remain until 2033. Lilith and Uranus align with mythic figures who sought freedom at all costs—themes that should be familiar to the Sagittarian optimist. This year commands a redux, a shredding of outdated moralisms and restrictions, and a leap to fulfill liberatory impulses. You must identify which relationships, career dynamics, and family-prescribed restrictions make you feel like a prisoner, and most importantly, how you’ve made yourself the warden of your own dungeon. It’s frightening to let the she-wolf out of her cage, but you must accept being resented or becoming unrecognizable if you’re to embrace your full potential.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan. 19)
Everything you fear in relationships—codependency, weakness, compromise—gets kicked up this year, as the vast planet Jupiter lights up your opposite sign, Cancer. Great opportunities for sex, love and support await you if you can allow yourself to ask for help and break the shell you’ve built up around others. On September 15, Lilith, the dark avatar of repressed sexuality, enters your sign, inviting you to explore all the ways you’ve held yourself back to hide yourself or protect others in relationships. Let yourself get ugly and be exposed as never before. The people in your life should be so lucky.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18)
Welcome to the Aquarius-Leo eclipse saga, beginning February 17 with an annular solar eclipse in your sign, and exploding on August 20 with a total solar eclipse in your opposite sign of Leo. In correspondence with the body, Leo rules the heart, and Aquarius the circulatory system—two sides in a conversation about how we lead and what causes drive us. These eclipses have the potential to make your life feel real and meaningful if you can cut the noise out of your life. To return to the beating heart of your passion and purpose, you will have to confront those dead constellations of relationships, those stale ways of presenting yourself, and those platforms and streams that prove dissociative rather than embodying.
PISCES (Feb. 19–Mar. 20)
Since early 2023, Saturn, the planet of limits and sobriety, has put you through a trial, calling out your martyrdom and self-sabotaging behaviors. This February, Saturn exits your domain, not to return for another 28 years. You’ve learned about your weaknesses and worst behaviors, but it’s finally time to move past recrimination and look ahead. How do you want to operate in the day-to-day? Unburdened by sagas of operatic suffering, what are the steps required to stay healthy and reasonably happy in the micro? From February 26 through March 20, Mercury retrogrades in your sign, helping to identify the small-scale issues that need repair, and inviting you to start small in your major reinvention.
David Odyssey is a writer, astrologer, and longtime OutSmart contributor. His book When Saturn Returns: Surviving Your Astrological Coming-of-Age is out now. Find him—and your forecast—at davidodyssey.com.
