Put a Pin In It

Mars in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius oppose one another tomorrow, January 3rd. This is the second in a trifecta of Mars/Pluto oppositions, the first of which occurred on November 3rd when Mars was in Cancer and Pluto was in Capricorn. The third will play out on April 27th.

Mars/Pluto oppositions are typically a one-time event with the energies unfolding for a few days and then we’re done. This one, however, due to Mars being retrograde, is an almost six-month-long affair, and when I say “affair” I don’t mean the fun kind.

Conflicts will be highlighted and magnified, so if you can put a lid on it today, tomorrow, and the next day, you’ll probably be glad you did as what was boiling inside of you will come back down to a simmer. It won’t calm completely, these times we are in, they do not induce calm, but whatever it is will feel less intense and more manageable. Temporary solutions will arrive, and more permanent ones will show themselves at the end of April.

Personally, I am headed into my second Saturn Return, and not only do I get a return, but I also get a triple header with Saturn returning to the place it was in the skies when I was born on April 20th and October 15th of this year, and then January 9th of the next. The first of the three will happen after our first two eclipses this year, a total lunar eclipse in Virgo on March 13th and a partial solar eclipse in Aries on March 29th. My second return point happens after the fall eclipses play out, a total lunar eclipse in Pisces on September 7th and a partial solar eclipse in Virgo on September 21st.

After all the massive change I experienced in 2024, 2025 does not look like it will be letting up for me. In fact, it’ll be pouring on the gasoline, and you all will get a front-row seat to watching me navigate my second Saturn Return, paired with the eclipses, with the added element of the third Mars and Pluto opposition in April just days after my first return event.

Faeries help me!

My first Saturn Return happened on March 11, 1996, setting off a cascade of events that included a breakup of a long-term relationship, a sudden move to a new home, and the resigning of a theatre job I had been in for years after almost being promoted to Artistic Director and then not getting the promotion. I was thrown into a sea of loneliness with no sense of my identity until late one night in November of that year when I established conscious contact with my guide, Mirando while sitting on the floor of my dear friend, Amy’s apartment, setting my path for the next twenty-nine years. I’ll be having lunch with Amy in just a few hours. Here I am, back in Chicago, hanging with Amy as my Saturn is returning once more (coincidentally, or not, so is hers).

I don’t know yet what it will all look like, but I do know that things will be different for me one year from now. I also know that the more flexible, open, self-accepting, and honest I am, the more gently this will all flow for me as I step into whatever new version of me exists on the other side of January 9, 2025.

I knew nothing of Saturn's returns when I experienced my first one. I like to think that if I had I would have not stubbornly tried to hold onto that which was shifting beneath my feet. I like to think I would have handled it all with more grace instead of creating the dramatic shitshow I created back then. I don’t know if knowing would have made a difference. What I do know today, that I certainly did not know back then, is that I am most empowered when I recall that my responses to my situation or the actions of those around me are where I hold my greatest power. This is something else to remember during this Mars/Pluto opposition, as the people around you may go off with no knowledge of timing or choice.

Whatever conflict resolution skills tend to work for you, today/tomorrow/and the next are wonderful days to remember the strength in them. Also, applying the tools I’ll be working with all year, flexibility, openness, self-acceptance, and honesty while holding a state of grace for yourself and others will be helpful.

Ursula just reminded me to play with the element of Surprise as a joyful adventure with wonderful outcomes. So, this too.

If Pluto’s opposition to your plans fueled by Mar’s energy alters your path, take a breath and look for the happy surprise.

If you’d like to know when your Saturn Returns will be happening, this is a good online tool https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/saturn-return-astrology-calculator

If you’re not a paid subscriber to my Substack and would like to support my ad-free and independent writing, you can use the donate button here, or consider becoming a paid subscriber if you’re reading regularly and enjoying it. Every little bit helps.