Welcome to the Halftime Show: 2025 Astrology Forecast

Welcome to the halftime show of the 2020s. Things are about to change radically.

Not only is 2025 the chronological centre of the decade, it’s also the second-most astrologically active year in the 2020s, after 2020 itself. It’s another period of peak change.

Before you start panicking, note that I said “active” and “change” – not “good” or “bad.” 2025 promises a lot of activity and changes. It will be bad for some and good for others, as it always is. Periods of extreme change often feel more difficult for society as a whole, as we have a tendency to fear and reject change when it first occurs. But on an individual level, many people will thrive during these times.

Before you read any further, please go read my overview of the entire decade of the 2020s if you’ve haven’t already. This will give you a good bird’s-eye view of the major astrological movements during this span of time. It’s so useful to have that context in the back of your mind when you zoom in on the specifics of a certain year.

2025 brings several major astrological shifts in short succession. We begin the year with Pluto having recently ingressed Aquarius, where it will be for the next 20 years. Saturn and Neptune will make their first ingress into Aries in the first half of 2025. Not to be outdone, Uranus will finally exit the fertile fields of Taurus and enter the cerebral realm of Gemini, where it will form an immediate trine with Pluto in Aquarius. This trine between Pluto and Uranus will be in effect throughout the latter half of the 2020s, from 2025 through 2029.

This is a lot of competing energies and forces suddenly coming into play all at once, at the midway point of the decade.

Here’s a list of the major astrological events of 2025:

Abbreviations:
-> : ingress
Rx: retrograde

Q1 2025: Fire and fate

2025 begins with an intensely pressurized, combative mood thanks to retrograde Mars in Leo opposing Pluto in Aquarius.

Mars is cranky during his retrograde periods. Mars is the planet of forward movement, conflict, anger and aggression. He wants to go forward, fast – so he gets surly when he has to go backwards, slow.

Complicating this even more is Mars’ ingress back into Cancer on January 6. Cancer is Mars’ least favourite sign in terms of his ability to accomplish what he wants to do, so this puts Mars into an even worse mood. Things are likely to get particularly snarly in the martial realm in the early part of 2025.

Common things that occur during Mars retrograde periods, especially in Cancer, include a lot of sabre rattling – that is, threats of violence and maybe even some skirmishes, but nothing that really amounts to anything major. It’s a heightened period of conflict with a much greater chance of things blowing up – particularly with that opposition to Pluto – but things tend to fizzle out fast and not go anywhere. The vibe is very much: “I’m going to take my ball and go home.”

Recall that the sign of Cancer is symbolized by the crab, who moves sideways. Sideways aggression is likely to be on display in January-February 2025. Think proxy wars or other forms of indirect violence. On a personal level, passive aggressive behaviour is likely to be on full display throughout the first couple months of the year. Conduct yourself accordingly.

The last time we had Mars retrograde in Leo was in December 2009 to February 2010. Think back to this period in your life for some insight into what might happen related to Mars’ retrograde journey.

Mars retrogrades are also correlated to natural disasters, particularly earthquakes and volcanoes. Given that the bulk of this retrograde is in Cancer, perhaps we’ll see some undersea eruptions or earthquakes. This works on a personal level too – look back at what was going on at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 for some insight into what might happen in your own life that’s related to Mars’ retrograde journey.

The other big event in the first quarter of the year is the lunar Nodes shifting from the Aries-Libra axis to the Virgo-Pisces axis, on January 11. The Nodes open up new eclipse portals along whichever axis they inhabit. We will see an end to the events they brought up for the last 18 months that the eclipses have been in Aries-Libra, and the beginning of a new set of events related to Virgo-Pisces.

Eclipses signify government and leadership changes of all kinds. Old leaders will fall, new leaders will emerge, and there will be a lot of confusing, crazy things that happen which will take months or years to sort out. In 2025, the eclipses will also occur closely conjunct or opposite Saturn-Neptune in Pisces, which muddies the water even more. These will portend major moves that are obscured at first or otherwise impossible to understand their full implication, at least at first.

Also recall that in 2024 we had a visible comet that was golden in colour, which suggests it was related to leaders/leadership. This is just another omen suggesting an ongoing, widespread and enduring leadership crisis, particularly when you layer in the eclipses as well as Saturn’s ingress into Aries (more on that below).

On the geopolitical level, the eclipses might bring some kind of conclusion to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The Aries-Libra eclipses really pinged Israel’s chart, so having the Nodes shift out of that axis is a good thing. In particular, Benjamin Netanyahu will likely cease to be the Prime Minister of Israel over the next 18 months; probably more towards spring-summer 2026. Perhaps the end of his reign will be what brings a conclusion to that conflict.

That said, I am not seeing widespread peace in the Middle East anytime soon. The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction at the end of 2020 signalled our entrance into a decentralized Age of Air. When one conflicts ends, another is likely to pop up. The Middle East looks to be one of the global hotspots for this, as it has been for basically its entire existence.

Russia and Ukraine are also strongly impacted by the Nodes moving into Virgo and Pisces. Russia has the Moon and Jupiter in Virgo while Ukraine has the Sun and Mars in Virgo. I could see some major developments in this conflict. The leaders of either country might change. God willing, we’ll see an end to the violence – but not before the eclipses disrupt things even more.

This new eclipse cycle is also big for Canada, because this will be a reverse Nodal return for this nation. Canada has the natal South Node and Jupiter in Pisces, and the North Node and Mars in Virgo. 2025-26 will be a peak period of change for Canada. You don’t have to be an astrologer to know that Canada will get a new government in 2025, as a federal election must occur on or before October 20, 2025. But, with the Nodes shifting signs and the eclipses falling across the Virgo-Pisces axis, I think there will be even more unexpected disruption coming.

Finally, Brazil is another nation heavily impacted by Virgo-Pisces eclipses. Brazil has the Sun and Mercury in Virgo in its original independence chart. The capital city, Brasilia, has the North Node in Virgo and the South Node in Pisces, just like Canada, so it will also experience a reverse Nodal return. It also has Pluto in Virgo and the Sun, Mars and the Midheaven in Pisces. So, the next year or two should be very important for Brazil.

March Madness

March 2025 is easily the most intense, chaotic month of the entire year. So many things happen this month that it’s difficult to offer any kind of specific prediction other than: “Things are going to be absolutely crazy.”

March brings us a Venus retrograde and Mercury retrograde that happen practically in the same place at the same time. Venus stations retrograde at 10 Aries on March 10 and stations direct at 24 Pisces on April 12. Mercury stations retrograde at 9 Aries on March 15 and stations direct at 26 Pisces on April 7. With Mercury so close by, that means this Venus retrograde will be particularly confusing. Venus retrogrades challenge the Venusian areas of life: love and relationships of all kinds. It will also more heavily impact people with a strong emphasis on Taurus and Libra in their chart. (I am one of these people, sigh.)

On a geopolitical level, Venus retrogrades are not good for diplomacy and foreign relations, so I’m expecting new flare ups in that realm.

March 2025 also brings us the year’s first set of eclipses. It begins with a lunar eclipse at 23 Virgo on March 14, just a few hours before Mercury stations retrograde. This is followed by a solar eclipse at 9 Aries on March 29. That solar eclipse heralds Neptune’s first ingress into Aries, which occurs on March 30, just a few hours after the solar eclipse.

With all this activity in March, that means 2025’s Aries ingress chart is particularly intense. Below is the chart for the ingress in Canada, though the US’ Aries ingress chart is almost identical given the proximity of Ottawa to Washington, DC. This means all my comments below will apply to both Canada and the US.

Pluto in Aquarius on the Ascendant of this chart promises that 2025 will be an intense year in history. All those planets in the second house indicate that world leaders are going to be preoccupied with finances and economic affairs throughout the year. With a retrograde Venus and Mercury close to the Sun, leaders are not going to be cooperating well; diplomatic relations will be troubled throughout the year.  Meanwhile, the people (Moon) are focused on their governments and leaders, but they are having a hard time sorting out what’s true and what isn’t thanks to the Moon’s next aspect being a trine to retrograde Mercury.

Q2 2025: First glimpses of the future

The second quarter of 2025 will bring us the first glimpses of the future. Recall that Neptune ingresses Aries on March 30.

One of the biggest stories of 2025 is the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. The two dance together all next year, remaining excruciatingly close yet never fully perfecting their conjunction until February 20, 2026.

I recently wrote an overview on the 2020s decade and went into detail on the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. Read that for additional context.

Saturn is attempting to manifest Neptune’s dreams and illusions into physical reality, but it’s a frustrating process. Saturn represents materiality while Neptune is immaterial. 2025 will give us a dizzying array of false starts and broken dreams. There will be some tone shifts as the two shift from Pisces to Aries and back again. This will be in effect throughout 2025 and 2026, with a peak happening from March through October 2025.

If the past gives us any indication of what this conjunction might bring, we could see redrawn national borders. The prime areas of the world for this are the Middle East and Russia/Ukraine, but we could even see it in other parts of the world too. I doubt Canada will actually become the 51st US state, but there has been enough strife and division that we might see another Quebec referendum – and maybe this time it will actually pass.

Saturn is fallen in Aries, so the Old man is pretty inept and unable to accomplish what he would like to do. This is not a good indication for leadership of all sorts. Indeed, I think this will be a period where many leaders around the world fail and/or are otherwise ineffectual, particularly when you layer in the impacts of the eclipses.

Other Saturn-Neptune topics and events could include new rules and restrictions around drugs, both legal and illegal. Everything is on the table, but I could see a tightening of laws around opioids like fentanyl and other street drugs that are at the heart of major social crisis and disorder throughout North America.

New rules and restrictions around vaccinations are also on the table in 2025. However, I think this particular area might not come to a head until 2028-29 as that’s the opening square of the Saturn-Pluto cycle that started in early 2020.

The best astrological news of 2025 is Jupiter’s ingress into Cancer on June 9. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and his entrance here will form a square to Saturn-Neptune in Aries. Jupiter will attempt to smooth over whatever fires and confusion those two are causing. Jupiter is also conjunct Mercury when he enters Cancer, so Mercury will act as his mouthpiece; I am expecting some pretty obvious news related to Jupiter in Cancer around this time.

Jupiter is going to attempt to help whatever Saturn-Neptune is doing at this time, and he has a lot of power to do so. It might start off a bit jarring due to the square relationship, which suggests more conflict. However, as time goes on and Saturn-Neptune moves back to Pisces while Jupiter moves further into Cancer, their aspects shifts to a trine and should become more productive. I’m hoping for some humanitarian outcomes in the last quarter of 2025 (more on that below).

Q3 2025: Let’s get our cyberpunk on

As we move into the third quarter of the year, we move into a full-blown Age of Air cyberpunk dreamland. Uranus ingresses Gemini on July 7 which puts it into an immediate trine with Pluto in Aquarius. This trine will be in effect for pretty much the next four years, until 2029.

Uranus and Pluto will collaborate on the invention of new exotic technology, on the level of both human and non-human alike. They promise great innovation, disruption, destruction, revolution and evolution in these areas.

Artificial Intelligence will be certainly part of this, though it’s not going to look like it does now. There will be other technological developments we haven’t even thought of yet. Our digital footprint/ID will likely be one of main targets for various tech developments during this period. Wearable/implanted technology, mystery drones, aliens and other science fiction headlines will be commonplace. Things are going to keep getting very weird.

To put this in perspective, the last time we had a Uranus-Pluto trine was during the early part of the 1920s – the Roaring Twenties, where the world went through rapid social and technological change. Coming out of that period, suddenly exotic technology that was rare or nonexistent just a few years earlier was now everywhere: cars, electricity in the home, radio, Hollywood movies.

Uranus in Gemini will bring revolution to all our communication, particularly telecommunication. I think we are on the precipice of a revolutionized media landscape. With the mainstream media experiencing a slow collapse over the last several years, I think we’re in the end stage where those TV channels that have aired for decades will cease to exist. These will be replaced by online networks of streaming videos, podcasts and the like. The details are still in development and I think the end result will be similar but different than what we’ve seen so far.

Similarly, social media is also ripe for change, and there will be major changes here as well. The way we communicate with each other, particularly en masse, will be the site of revolution in 2025 and beyond.

Uranus and Pluto being in a trine relationship for the next four years means that we will get a Grand Air Trine whenever any planet moves through Libra. This will happen every month during the couple of days that the Moon is in Libra.

In 2025, it also occurs when Mars passes through Libra in August, then Mercury and the Sun in September, then Venus in October. These successive Grand Air Trines will emphasize airy, decentralization topics and themes. These might also be points where the new technology makes a sudden jump forward, particularly around telecommunications, transportation/travel (self-driving cars and drones, among other things), digital finances/Bitcoin and energy tech. These may also be periods where the UAP/alien narrative gets some big developments.

Also in the third quarter of 2025, we get the year’s second set of eclipses. There’s a lunar eclipse at 15 Pisces on September 7, followed by a solar eclipse at 29 Virgo on September 21. These eclipses will build upon whatever happened in March 2025. Also note that these eclipses straddle the fall equinox, just as the March eclipses straddled the spring equinox. As these are critical moments for the passage of time, it adds extra emphasis to these historical turning points.

The solar eclipse on September 21 is visible only in New Zealand, so I wonder if there will be some big developments in that part of the world at this time.

Finally, watch out for Mars square Pluto around September 24. This will bring up themes, topics and events that were present during the Mars-Pluto that kicked off the year. We saw exploding cybertrucks and terrorist attacks at this time, so it could bring more of these types of literally explosive events – especially because of the proximity to the eclipses.

Q4 2025: Watery catharsis

The final months of 2025 see the astrology hit the pause button on all the rapid change. Saturn ingresses back into Pisces on September 1 and Neptune follows on October 22. Uranus ingresses back to Taurus on November 22. With Saturn and Neptune in Pisces, and Jupiter in Cancer, this means that we get a sustained Grand Water Trine from mid-October through November 2025, as all of the inner planets move through Scorpio.

First, we get Mars and Mercury in Scorpio between October 21 and November 5. Mercury is retrograde between November 9 and 29, so we get another Grand Water Trine on Mercury’s second pass through Scorpio. Mercury will be joined by the Sun and Venus during the latter part of November.

While the third quarter’s Grand Air Trines will bring an intensification of airy themes and leaps forward in intellectual innovations, these moody Grand Water Trines at the end of 2025 will bring an emotional catharsis. This will be a time of deep rumination on all the craziness that the year has brought us. It will be a good time to process what we’ve experienced thus far and try to integrate all the new developments.

All this watery energy might end up playing out very literally, with big developments concerning oceans, rivers, waterways and anything related to water in general. One of the areas is likely to be in the Far North, where melting ice is opening up more passages for ships and fuelling tensions between Russia, Canada and other nations laying claim to this area.

I also think about the network of deep-sea internet cables, which are critical to our digital infrastructure. Developments related to these cables would be a very literal manifestation of 2025’s astrology.

Starting in 2025, particularly in the last part of the year, I think we might see people rejecting all the changes that have occurred. Alongside all the tech advances that the Uranus-Pluto trine will bring, I could see a rejection of these advances. In my 2020s decade overview, I mentioned that the Luddite riots occurred during a previous version of this cycle (from 1809-12).

Something similar could very well start in 2025 and bring a violent rejection of new technology. This may lead to legislation protecting technology, just like what happened in response to the Luddites. It will be very interesting to see if machines end up with similar rights as humans.

Overall, the end of the year seems like it will be a very moody meditation on the changes that occurred thus far and the ones that are coming in 2026. It may seem like we took a step back to where things were at the end of 2024, but this will be nostalgic at best – we can’t go backwards, only forwards.

And that brings 2025 to a close. As always, thanks for reading. I wish you all the best in 2025 and beyond.