Hello everyone, and Happy September. I hope you are enjoying the last days of Summer. I’ve been home reorganizing my art and astrology ideas and goals after a busy time of creating a larger painting series during an arc.hive Summer Residency in July/August. It was a fantastic time to explore, experiment and go big with the gallery all to myself as a studio.
(At some point, I’ll need to write a blog about the process.)
It all culminated in a show of my work, as I packed up the studio and transformed the space back into a gallery. It was a valuable experience to see an art series through the planning, creating and installing phases on my own.
By the time I was ready to show, it was the August long weekend, so not many people were around to see what I created. That said, the folks who did show up did so thoughtfully and reflectively, which was what I hoped for.
A panoramic shot of “The Cosmos Within” at arc.hive.
I learned a great deal along the way, and it confirmed to me that I’d like to find another venue for a longer showing of the work. Eventually, I will need to find a long-term studio space too.
Meanwhile, this Summer project inspired me to start incorporating my artwork into my astrology work, creating what I can from home. Stay tuned for what unfolds.
After this point, I am considering taking a break from in-person visits through the late fall and winter, as I will be taking on more TA hours at the Fundamentals of Astrology School from November to March.
If you’ve been meaning to have a local reading with me, consider booking soon :)
I will continue with limited online hours moving forward.
August 22: Virgo Season begins, and a New Moon in Virgo @ 0°
On August 22, the Sun left glorious Leo for demure Virgo. Virgo Season spans the last month of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, a mutable/earth passage that mixes the previous waves of Summer heat with the imminent cool stillness of fall.
Virgo Season is a time to tend and mend, turning our awareness to what needs healing, soothing, sorting and restoring. A time to bring Summer’s jubilant swirl of activity back into order, making the most of the ever-shortening days by refining our rhythms and routines.
This year, Virgo Season is unique, as two New Moons bookend it. The first occurred at the opening of Virgo Season at 0°, and the latter, also a Solar Eclipse, will appear on the second-to-last day of Virgo Season at 29°. Midway through the season, we’ll also have a Lunar Eclipse in Pisces @ 15° coming up at the end of the week.
These dark lunations invite us to nurture what is already within our grasp, rather than continually overextending ourselves to gather the new. What can we create from what we have? Virgo consciousness inspires us to be resourceful, working within an enclosed garden, tending to a self-sustaining ecosystem.
Of course, to tend a garden, we must always be cultivating and watering to foster new growth, while weeding, clearing and composting what’s overgrown or has come to the end of its cycle. While the following month is a generative time, in line with the eclipse energies, it’s also a period of purification, shedding, and letting go.
August 25: Venus enters Leo until September 19
Venus leaves tender Cancer for proud Leo on August 25. Until September 19, romance and creativity become bolder, as the planet of beauty beckons us to pursue what we love courageously.
From my “Neptune in Pisces” series, acrylic on canvas, 18” x 18”, D. Stapleton, 2025
September 1: Saturn rx re-enters Pisces
September begins with the planet of duty and limitation retreating into Pisces for one last time. As we re-immerse ourselves in this Piscean ocean, Saturn in Pisces presents us with an opportunity to revisit and recommit to the dreams of the previous two years. Here, we may find loose ends to be woven and integrated as a central work for the remainder of 2025.
Saturn’s initial tour of Pisces started on March 7, 2023, and ended on May 24 this year. As Saturn retreats from hot, impulsive Aries back to the two-fishes’ imaginative sign today, we can reflect on what we were building during these two years.
Is there a final duty to perform before moving on?
Until February 14, 2026, we’ll now have the opportunity to refine and complete this chapter before embarking on what Saturn in Aries introduced us to this Summer.
September 2: Mercury enters Virgo until September 18
Today, messenger Mercury enters his sign of domicile and exaltation, leaving bold Leo for detail-focused Virgo. Since Mercury is the ruler of Virgo Season, this shift bodes well for translating/decoding, writing, communicating, refining routines and building systems until September 18.
Since Mercury’s power is so strong during this fleeting yet crucial period, make the most of these two weeks by drafting plans, making lists and honing your message.
“Selene/Luna” from “The Cosmos Within”, acrylic and metallic thread on canvas, 30” x 30” D. Stapleton, 2025
September 7: Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse in Pisces @ 15°
September’s Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse in Pisces may feel like a cresting wave of intuition and emotion—liberation and release, which opens blocked passages, allowing energies and feelings to flow freely again.
An essential expression of Piscean consciousness is surrender, and so this eclipse invites us to let go and merge with the psychic waters irrigating our lives.
September 13: Mercury conjunct Sun (cazimi) @ 21°
The message you begin honing on September 2 comes to a fine point when Mercury merges with the Sun for an illuminating and clarifying conjunction. Called the “cazimi,” it’s the moment where Mercury flies into the heart of the Sun, emerging on the other side, baptized by fire and reborn.
This phenomenon marks a new cycle for Mercury, and so, wherever Virgo is in your birth chart points to a rebirth in the area of life indicated.
September 18: Mercury enters Libra until October 6
After a short but potent tour of Virgo, messenger Mercury enters the sign of justice and equilibrium until October 6. During this time, we may notice a shift in the focus of our communications, moving towards a balance of resources, verbal agreements, and collaboration.
Mercury in Virgo’s time may feel intensely focused, so Mercury’s time in Libra will offer an opportunity to take a mental break, regulate and enjoy speaking, reading and socializing for pleasure.
“Aphrodite/Venus” from “The Cosmos Within”, acrylic and metallic thread on canvas, 30” x 30” D. Stapleton, 2025
September 19: Venus enters Virgo until October 13
Virgo Season’s last days are graced by Venus leaving brazen Leo’s stage for Virgo’s hidden garden. Our sense of beauty and aesthetics shifts toward lovingly attending to the fine details of life, becoming more attuned to our emotional vocabulary and love language.
Considered the “fall” of Venus, Virgo’s cool, dry, and perfecting consciousness may limit or challenge Venus’ splashier tendencies, offering a reflective, contentious kind of love, and a yearning to heal and mend matters of the heart.
September 21: New Moon/Solar Eclipse in Virgo @ 29°
As Virgo Season’s chapter comes to a poignant close, we have the season’s second New Moon in Virgo. This dark lunation is also a Solar Eclipse, a portent of change and release. Similarly to how we entered Virgo Season quietly, under shadow, we leave it much the same, but this time shedding a husk of old energies and identities that no longer fit our new, refined form.
We can take this time to tune inward and appreciate all that we’ve attended to during Virgo Season, harvesting these fruits as we prepare to enter fall.
From my “Neptune in Aries” series, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 24”, D. Stapleton, 2025.
September 22: Mars enters Scorpio until November 4
The last significant shift of Virgo Season is Mars’ exit from Libra into Scorpio, his sign of nocturnal power. Until November 4, we have the opportunity to wield a strong, strategic and stealthy force. This passage is an excellent opportunity to explore, build, and embody strength, especially where we’ve been feeling weak, devitalized, and disempowered.
The house Mars is transiting in your birth chart indicates where to harness and apply the flowing yet penetrating forces of Mars in Scorpio, bringing an unwavering focus to the tasks at hand.
How you’ll experience and receive these martial energies depends on your own relationship to Mars’ themes of combat, competition and conflict. Mars’ time in Scorpio is an excellent chance to commune with the Red One, attuning to his guidance to help us find our strength, resiliency, and ability to tolerate and navigate conflict cleanly.
Well, that is all for now. Get lots of rest, and make room for a slow, contemplative focus through Virgo Season, now that Saturn is back in meditative Pisces, and September’s soli-lunar energies cast their evocative, yet complex, glow.
Hello everyone. Happy Leo Season! I hope this bold season of passion, creativity and celebration is off to a good start for you all. Before I share the Leo Season astrology update, I’m excited to report what I’ve been up to and invite you to interact with my work.
The Cosmos Within
On June 23, I began a Summer Art Residency at the arc.hive artist-run centre and gallery in Victoria, BC, where I’ve immersed myself in creating larger-scale paintings devoted to the seven classical planets. In these “planetary portraits”, I’ve incorporated colours associated with each of these to evoke their mood. I’ve also sewn metallic elements into the canvas to illuminate the pieces, giving them a precious and hallowed presence.
Inspired by religious iconography, Tantric meditative drawings, Bauhaus design, and colour field painting, it’s my intention that the pieces will draw the viewer in, inviting them to gaze at each in turn, reflecting on and attuning to what each planet/archon (Greek: ruler) evokes within. I am curious to see what observations and experiences arise.
I know it’s a bit short notice, as I’ve been busy experimenting, creating, and now installing the paintings on a tight deadline. Still, I hope that enough people can visit and explore this work, as I’d like to document various viewers’ experiences for a special astrology project.
If you’d like to come participate, I’m hosting two viewing parties:
Wednesday, July 30, 7-9 pm
Saturday, August 2, 7-9 pm
There will be ambient sound, with wine and other light refreshments served.
I’ll also be hosting these open studio times:
Monday, August 4, 11 am-7 pm
Thursday, August 7, 11 am-3 pm
There will be ambient sound while I work and host visitors.
Arc.hive is at 770B Hillside Ave. between Douglas and Blanshard. I’ll have a sidewalk sign out to guide you. There is free, unlimited street parking available nearby on Nanaimo Street and Market Street after 6 pm. There is also a shopping plaza lot across the way where you might park briefly.
I look forward to seeing you ☀️
Leo Season Lunations, Stations and Ingresses
July 22: Sun enters Leo (until August 22)
The bold and proud mid-summer phase of the Lion is lively, inviting us to take heart, be seen and express ourselves with vigour. This energizing season is the time of the Sun’s greatest power, as Sol rules over Leo. Use this month to recharge your energy and visualize what you’d like to put out into the world.
July 24: New Moon in Leo
This dark lunation seeds new possibilities, charged by a potent opposition to Pluto in Aquarius. This luminous depth unearths hidden truths.
July 30: Venus enters Cancer
Venus leaves kinetic and crystalline Gemini for nurturing Cancer’s flowing, balmy waters. Venus restores our sense of home and belonging, beckoning us to nurture our deepest, most empathetic connections. Venus is in excellent company, as she joins Jupiter, who is exalted and extra abundant, in Cancer this year. To have Venus and Jupiter together in this sentimental sign brings good luck and cheer to our lives amid edgy times.
July 31: Mercury rx conjunct the Sun (Cazimi)
While retrograde, Mercury enters the forge of the Sun, purifying and clarifying our thoughts and intentions. Since Leo and the Sun rule the heart, the organ of central awareness, it’s time to be courageous and authentic in what it is you need to say. If you’ve encountered some difficulties in planning and paperwork during Mercury’s retrograde journey since, you may start to notice the tangles beginning to iron out from here on in.
August 6: Mars enters Libra
Mars, the warrior planet, enters the sign of the aesthete and diplomat on August 6, prompting us to find equanimity amid the need to fight and assert ourselves where necessary. Mars will engage in an intense opposition with Saturn in Aries on August 8. Around that time, we may notice that our assertiveness comes up against some strict limitations that need to be respected. However, I should note that Mars and Saturn are in signs of each other's dignity, which helps shift this opposition from a showdown to a tense negotiation. We will likely see these themes arise in our lives and the world around us during this time.
August 9: Full Moon in Aquarius
The Aquarian Full Moon illuminates the wee hours of Saturday morning with an ethereal glow. As a counterpoint to late July’s New Moon in Leo, this bright lunation shows us where our cups are full, and where we are about to make a harvest of the fruits of our efforts from an idea seeded in late winter. Notice how much you have grown and have learned from dedicating yourself to what was a mere glimmer of vision at the dawn of the New Year.
August 11: Mercury stations direct (rx ends)
Mercury’s retrograde period ends, and we begin the work of picking up the pieces, tying up loose ends, and revisiting conversations that we started earlier this Summer. As Mercury continues on course and picks up speed, we will become increasingly emboldened and clear about our authentic message by mid-August and beyond.
Well, that is all for now.
May you find moments of leisure and splendour as Summer’s remaining days unfold.
Happy Summer Solstice to you all. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve sent out a newsletter and astrology update, so I thought I’d share an overview for this special new solar season.
I’ve been busy with work, teaching, and, as I mentioned in previous updates, I’ve also been creating art. I’m working toward combining my painting practice with my love of weaving and fibre art, and am coming up with some interesting results. I’m on Summer break from June 23 to July 7, pausing online readings so that I can enjoy creating, experimenting, and recharging during the long Summer days.
I look forward to connecting with you online again during the second week of July.
June 20: Sun enters Cancer/Summer Solstice
At 7:42 pm PT, the Sun leaves kinetic Gemini, and Cancer Season begins. It’s the longest day, and the shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, a time of exuberance, high energy and celebration. The Sun’s journey through Cancer beckons us to tend to our sense of home, family and belonging, while relaxing into Summer’s new warmth.
Jupiter in Cancer
Cancer Season may feel especially buoyant and hopeful this year, as the Sun and Jupiter will be together in the sensitive sign of the crab. Jupiter entered its exaltation in Cancer on June 9, where it will stay for one year, bringing healing, nurturing and bounty to our lives amid fraught times. Sun/Jupiter, as a combination, blends illumination with Jupiter’s affirming presence, helping us to perceive and nurture opportunities in our lives and restore our hope.
Jupiter in Cancer Horoscopes
Read for your Rising Sign primarily, or your Sun and Moon signs, for other layers of resonance and to see where the focus of Cancer Season is for you. Here, the Sun and Jupiter are shining their combined healing glow in your life:
Cancer: You’re embarking on your year. Jupiter moves through your first house, bringing renewed confidence, healing, and magnetism. Reclaim your identity and let others witness your inner glow.
Leo: A cycle of deep reflection begins. Jupiter lights up your 12th house of solitude and inner work, encouraging emotional healing, spiritual retreat, and letting go of burdens you’ve carried too long.
Virgo: Your 11th house of friendships, allies, and dreams is blessed. New communities may emerge, old friendships deepen, and your work may finally reach its right audience.
Libra: Jupiter elevates your 10th house of career, calling, and public image. Recognition, meaningful opportunities, and support for your work may flourish. It’s time for others to see your gifts.
Scorpio: The 9th house is your realm of vision, study, and meaning. This transit supports travel, learning, teaching, or reconnecting with purpose. Let your worldview expand.
Sagittarius: Jupiter moves through your 8th house of shared resources, debts, and deep bonds. Financial healing is possible. Vulnerability becomes a strength. Emotional intimacy grows.
Capricorn: In your 7th house of partnerships and collaborations, Jupiter brings renewal and expansion in your relationships. Trust, balance, and the possibility of new or deepened bonds arrive.
Aquarius: Jupiter’s grace touches your 6th house of health, daily work, and rituals. Focus on well-being, manageable routines, and purpose-filled labour. Let care become devotion.
Pisces: The 5th house of joy, creativity, and romance opens up. It’s time to fall in love, make art, play more, and trust in your uniqueness. Fertility—literal or metaphorical—is high.
Aries: Jupiter blesses your 4th house, which represents home, roots, and family. The following 12 months invite you to create a sanctuary, emotionally or physically. Ancestral healing and nesting themes arise.
Taurus: Your 3rd house of communication, learning, and short journeys receives an upgrade. Strengthen your voice, foster sibling and local ties, and speak your truth.
Gemini: Jupiter now brings blessings to your 2nd house of money, possessions, and self-worth. Security grows when rooted in care. This year calls you to build sustainable abundance.
Key Dates for Cancer Season 2025
Cancer Season holds a multitude of powerful cosmic shifts, including three retrogrades and a significant sign change for Uranus, the planet of invention and revolution. It’s a season of fertility, momentum and shake-ups, while also offering a chance to refine and review our path so far.
June 25: New Moon at 4 degrees Cancer
Cancer Season’s New Moon occurs at 4 degrees. This New Moon is an especially magnetic one, as it is conjunct Jupiter. With the combined energies of the Moon in its home sign and Jupiter exalted, this dark lunation kicks off a potent, fertile seeding of new beginnings. Though it carries the promise of abundance and hope, these are in a germination phase with a slow unfurling to come over the next six months. This evening is an ideal time to look within and visualize what you truly yearn for.
Take note of promising new feelings or beginnings starting to blossom from this day forward within the house/life area mentioned in the above horoscopes.
June 26: Mercury enters Leo
Around noon, Mercury leaves tender Cancer for proud Leo, where the messenger will stay until September 2. Mercury’s longer tenancy in Leo this year is due to its upcoming retrograde journey. Mercury in Leo ignites bold, forthright expressions, a time of speaking from the heart courageously and passionately. Take note of the plans, conversations, written projects, and designs you are currently undertaking, as you will likely revisit these soon.
These projects will be on your plate for the next two months, so take your time, being careful not to bite off more than you can chew and digest.
July 4: Venus enters Gemini, and Neptune stations retrograde
Venus leaves grounded Taurus for lively Gemini, stirring up restlessness and curiosity while filling our social calendar until September 19. On the same day, Neptune’s tides begin to turn in Aries as the planet of dreams stations retrograde. Neptune is due for one more immersion in oceanic Pisces in October, so it’s now a time to dive back into familiar imaginative waters to recover any treasures left behind.
July 7: Uranus enters Gemini
One of 2025’s more epic transits occurs today, and that’s wild-card Uranus’s initial ingress from the stalwart bull’s sign into shapeshifting Gemini. Similarly to Neptune, Uranus will retreat into Taurus late November. For now, we’ll get our first glimpse of this electric transit, which is sure to be instrumental in the reinvention of our social and technological landscape over the next several years.
Notice where restless urges, bold new insights and departures from your norm are occurring on and after this date.
July 10: Full Moon at 18 degrees Capricorn
The Cancer Sun comes into perfect polarity with the Moon in Capricorn on a Thursday this year, casting its luminous glow upon themes of structure, building and commitment. Here we may be reaping the fruits of our labours and intentions set back in the Winter, when we were deep in contemplation within a protective cocoon. Take note of what is brimming in your life now, while daring to feel a cautious optimism and a renewed sense of foundation and purpose.
This Full Moon will occur in the opposite house indicated by your Cancer Season horoscope above, so look across the zodiac wheel to see what house/area of life is mirroring and supporting the fertility of Cancer Season for you.
July 12: Saturn stations retrograde
Sober and structured Saturn stations retrograde today, after giving us our first taste of the cosmic elder in the gladiator’s sign since May 24 this year. Similarly to Neptune and Uranus, Saturn is due to re-enter its previous sign this year, retreading Pisces’ protean waters once again on September 1 until early 2026. Saturn’s shift in direction eases the tensions and restrictions it has been applying to Jupiter in Cancer through an overcoming and frictional square aspect.
Moving forward, Jupiter begins to break free from Saturn's strictures as Saturn starts slowing down and turning in the opposite direction. This course shift allows us to relax into a greater sense of ease and optimism, thanks to Jupiter’s exalted promise. Notice if a particular area of life feels less pressured from this day forward and into the Fall.
There may also be a sense of checking foundations in this area of life before making more progress next year.
July 17: Mercury stations retrograde
The final major shift of Cancer Season occurs when Mercury stations retrograde in Leo. The passionate and bold proclamations that commenced on June 26 begin to cool and turn backward, illuminating areas we need to refine. Have we skipped any steps in our enthusiasm? Are we perhaps becoming a bit self-absorbed in our brazen narrative, alienating others whom we need for support? Are there any loose threads of communication we need to reconnect?
Many questions come up now as we follow Mercury on a circuitous underworld journey until August 11.
Well, that’s all for now. Solstice Blessings to you all, and enjoy the dive into Summer!
red blossoms exploding in your yard, photo by me, 2025
Spring Updates
Hello everyone. I hope this newsletter finds you well and that Spring is renewing and vitalizing you. As usual, my many activities and projects have had me spinning, searching for the right time to sit down and send out a monthly update.
We’re entering vivid, unprecedented times with some of the most profound cosmic shifts and themes I’ve seen in my three decades of living with astrology. I typically need to take a lot of nature walks and contemplate in silence how exactly I’d like to phrase and comment on what the skies promise.
It’s an ever-evolving art of interpretation and translation.
The distance, the pause, the contemplation, all of this is taking more time than ever as the wheels in the sky keep turning, and I continue to find my stillness, root and meaning amid it all. I feel like I’m always trying to keep up, but at the same time, I am living with the cosmic forces on a deeply intimate level, somehow always right where I need to be.
Aries Season 2025
Aries Season brings the Sun to my 10th house of career and higher calling. As the vibrations of the last Aries Eclipse of March 29 settle and the mystifying forces of Neptune in Aries rush in, I realize more than ever I need to live as an artist. I’ve been recalibrating and discovering that art in many forms is at the center of my life and is not a peripheral side hustle.
As my time and energy become more precious in mid-life, I’m ready to claim that without fear.
Though I continue to write, consult and teach astrology, I am moving ever into a phase of wanting to make art inspired by astrological concepts first and foremost. I want to realize my creative vision and capture the spectres of my imagination, ever louder and insistent on having their life in colour on canvas and other textile projects.
My watercolour work is expanding into larger formats almost faster than I can keep up with renewing my materials! I invite you to check out my Gallery on my website to see how it’s going so far:
I would love to start selling some work so that I have the resources to keep making art, so feel free to inquire if you see anything you like. There’s much more to come.
Neptune in Aries, ink on canvas, d. stapleton, 2025
March 30: Neptune enters Aries
At 5:00 am PT Sunday, we rose to the dawning of a new era as Neptune, the planet of dreams, left protean Pisces to enter trailblazing Aries, ushering in a transcendent wave of bold imagination.
This initial ingress will last until October 22 this year when Neptune returns to Pisces, while retrograde, for one last time, returning to Aries to stay on January 26, 2026, until 2039. This passage provides an initial toe-dip into the turning of the cosmic tides and a preview of some of the crucial collective themes upon us for the next 14 years.
Navigating Neptune’s Pisces/Aries Transition
This year, as this 14-year era of Neptune in Pisces begins to close, we reflect on what this period highlighted: a dissolution of boundaries around the Piscean concepts of belief, philosophy, inner vision, creativity and consciousness expansion. As Neptune enters Aries, the sign of individuality, our personal and collective Neptunian explorations and expansions shift from a receptive inner landscape to an active, propulsive external quest.
Dissolution and Reimagining
With its immense power of dissolution and reimagining, Neptune brings numinous energy to Aries, a sign-consciousness known for its spontaneity, action and uncompromising autonomy. In Aries, Neptune’s myriad ideals converge around a more focused, singular vision, inspiring us to reimagine our lives. Boldly.
This reimagining shifts our perceptions. Our goals, aspirations, paths, and, in many cases, very identities disintegrate, making way for new forms and possibilities.
Collectively, we are entering an exciting and incendiary time for zealous convictions. Urges to enforce grand ideals inflame the social landscape, uniting us in a shared sense of purpose and passion or marooning us in our immersive daydreams and escapism.
Of course, the wisdom we must cultivate through this Neptune in Aries era is the ability to intuit the difference.
Dare to dream
On a personal level, Neptune in Aries calls each of us to take a gladiator-sized risk and go all in on making a big dream into reality. If there is a great dream you’re kindling in your heart but have not dared to realize for fear that it’s not practical or attainable, now is the time to feed the fire.
A Crisis of Imagination
Aries is the sign of the first responder, fearlessly rushing to the rescue. While Neptune in Aries’ higher potential invites bold new imaginings, it also rings a psychic alarm that calls us to meet a crisis of imagination. It’s never been more urgent for us to collectively and actively redeem our humanity and save our souls from the fires of reductionism and fundamentalism or the psychic depletion of outsourcing our creativity to technology.
How fine is the line between inquisitive and inquisition?
We must guard the spiritual and emotional nuance Neptune in Pisces taught us from backlash, keeping our cups full amid the parched, embattled landscape of our times.
Neptune in Aries: Rising Sign Horoscopes
Read for your Rising Sign to see what area of life is awash with Neptunian forces. Read for your Sun sign to understand how these forces will impact your energy and conscious awareness. Read for your Moon sign to know how Neptune will infuse your emotions, attachments and instincts.
Aries: AsNeptune in Aries moves through your first house of self and embodiment for the next several years, a new era begins for dissolving your old identities. This transcendent shift invites you to actively reimagine who you are becoming, which may initially feel disorienting if you’re used to being in control. Neptune has a way of dissolving what we’re used to, revealing new growth edges. Lean into the ambiguity and uncertainty. Neptune’s shift into Aries will help you realize that control was always an illusion, allowing you to get comfortable with the idea that forces greater than you are making and unmaking you in every moment.
Taurus: As Neptune begins to flow through your twelfth house, you enter a dreamier, more liminal chapter. The practical world loses a bit of its grip. What once felt concrete begins to dissolve, not to confuse you, but to call you toward rest, reflection, and the mysteries within. You may feel a deep undertow, drawing you away from society to retreat. Here, you can create behind the scenes and surrender to the moment. Chances are, with all the unrest in the world, you’ve been yearning for some sacred solitude. Let your soul wander. Let your imagination take the lead. Neptune beckons you toward a spiritual homecoming that requires social sacrifice and a rediscovery of self that endures without external validation.
Gemini: On March 30, Neptune began flooding your eleventh house with dreams of calling in like-minded friends and patrons to witness your brave new offerings. You’re no longer satisfied with surface-level social circles or transactional friendships. You yearn to dissolve the boundaries of perception that impede the avenues of soul connection and the realization of a shared bold vision. It’s time to imagine new allied futures and to weave psychic tapestries that bind you to a collective narrative. Waves of idealism awaken a longing to create what’s missing, to be the change you’d like to see in the world. Just be mindful not to lose yourself in group illusions. Stay tethered to your truth as you dream bigger than ever.
Cancer: As your tenth house of vocation, reputation, and higher calling becomes a Neptunian dreamscape, it may at first blur the map of your career path. Your goals and plans may begin to dissolve, freeing you to reimagine the journey you are on and what you’d like to do with your one precious life. On a soul-deep level, you know you’re here to inspire, to channel extraordinary forces into vibrant, expressive work. This transit beckons you toward a calling that may not be linear but deeply felt, navigated by a finely honed intuition. Trust the pull. Whether you become a public voice for beauty, a healer, an artist, or a quiet visionary—let your profession become a form of poetry. Let your presence ripple outward, and trust you’re making an impact only dream logic can decode.
Leo: Your worldview begins to dissolve and melt under Neptune’s influence in your ninth house. Old beliefs no longer hold the same weight, as this cosmic shift calls you to explore mystical philosophies, spiritual practices, or far-off landscapes that stir your soul. Neptune in Aries is a pilgrimage of meaning, not of achievement. Open your mind to the numinous. Travel, if you can—not just physically, but through books, dreams, and sacred conversations. A teacher may appear, or perhaps you are the teacher, learning to speak from the heart, moved by the wonder of life. Since the ninth house also includes publications and the dissemination of knowledge, Neptune in Aries may offer a profound opportunity to share your ideas and voice with the world.
Virgo: With Neptune infusing your eighth house with transcendent energy, your most vulnerable soul terrain becomes the place of profound unmaking and reimagining. Control begins to slip through your fingers, but a different kind of power emerges in its place. Moving through your eighth house, Neptune asks you to trust the unseen—to let go of rigid boundaries around interdependence and energy exchange. This passage is not a time for pure strategy but invites surrender to unknown frontiers. It’s a new era of envisioning possibilities by pooling your resources with others to realize a shared dream. Spiritual and financial entanglements may blur, but if you let your intuition lead, you may find new forms of intimacy—ones rooted not in possession but deep soul-level trust.
Libra: Neptune moves into your seventh house of partnership, casting a rosy glow over how you connect and commit. You may find yourself yearning for more romance, magic, and depth. Or, you may suddenly see through old illusions, letting past relationship patterns dissolve like fog in the morning light. This transit asks you to explore love as a spiritual practice—not perfection, not fantasy, but a sacred mirror. You’re learning how to meet others soul-to-soul. Consciously manage your boundaries and commitments, practicing flexibility and reciprocity that’s not leaky or indiscriminately porous. In short, let love teach you to merge without losing yourself. Neptune’s passage through Aries potentially invites a soul mate into your life, but first, consult your heart and clearly envision who you’re calling in.
Scorpio: The realm of work, wellness, and daily rhythm becomes a sea of possibilities as Neptune slips into your sixth house. How you manage your duties and obligations is entering a time of sorely needed reimagining, especially if you are feeling an endless grind with very little return. The structure of your days may begin to soften—perhaps your routines feel too rigid, your body more sensitive, your spirit a little untethered. However, within this shift is an invitation to bring more meaning, creativity, and gentleness to how you move through the everyday. Your health may call for your awakened attention. Your work may become more healing and more imaginative. Flow, not force, is the new way forward. Let intuition shape your habits. Let grace shape your labour.
Sagittarius: AsNeptune enters your fifth house for the next 14 years, creativity, romance, and joy take on mythic proportions. They become all-encompassing conduits of communion—with the divine, your inner child, and beauty. Neptune, through Aries, brings an uplifting force into your life that spirits you away. Over the next several years, this phenomenon may sometimes feel disorienting, but if you remember to carve out dedicated time to create from your soul above all else, you’re never lost and always right where you need to be. You may fall deeply in love with someone, an art form, or life itself. Since the line between illusion and inspiration may blur, balance openness with clarity, honesty and grounding practices. You’re on the brink of a transcendently creative era.
Capricorn: Your fourth house—the deep root system of your life—is typically a source of ballast and support for you. These days, it seems flooded with ambiguity and possibility as Neptune moves in. You may feel a quiet undoing of your former sense of home, family, or emotional foundation. But this is not a collapse; it’s an opportunity to reimagine a fluid sense of security that transcends a material or traditional sense of home. Neptune in Aries calls you to take shelter in your ability to adapt and invites you to identify with a sense of home and belonging within. This new era also invites you to tend to old familial or ancestral wounds, surrendering psychic weapons and softening into forgiveness. On a more concrete level, this cosmic shift urges you to expand, improve and realize your dream home. Transforming your space into a sanctuary becomes an immersive project for several years.
Aquarius: With Neptune now wending its way through your third house, your former ways of communicating and connecting with the world around you begin to unravel, coming back together in a softer, more poetic form. How you speak, write, and make meaning is shifting into an intuitive, imaginative terrain. Literal thinking may give way to metaphor. You may begin to perceive new layers of beauty and meaning in everyday exchanges—a neighbour’s smile, a line of text, a fleeting thought. As a logical Aquarian, the mundane made mystic may initially seem destabilizing, as you pride yourself on your mental clarity and crisp ability to discern. Allow the Neptunian expansion of your awareness to augment, not cloud, your perceptions, and be curious about what this expansion reveals. From these perceptions, you can dream up new creative collaborations in your local community and with your siblings and kinfolk therein.
Pisces: Since 2011, Neptune turned your first house of self inside out, transforming your identity with ego-dissolving trials and conscious expanding experiences. Now, the planet of dreams turns its powers of dissolution and reimagining toward your second house, initiating a period of similar work on your sense of value, money and how you gather necessary resources in this material world. It’s only natural that if the Neptunian waters have washed you anew, you’ll need to recalibrate your relationship with wealth. It’s time to seek the right livelihood that aligns with the renewed soulful creature you are. You may earn in more unusual or intuitive ways now—or reevaluate what abundance truly means. You’re gradually learning your worth is not transactional. It is soulful. Draw your livelihood from this ever-renewing spring.
April Astrology Highlights
April 7: Mercury stations direct
After retreating from Aries to wade back into oceanic Pisces, Mercury stations direct at 4:08 am PT. Mercury’s retrograde began on March 14, coinciding with a time of reevaluating our ideas and projects, making time for us to refine what we’d like to express. Stationing direct today in Pisces, we move forward with a renewed sense of empathy and compassion, drawing from a deep, soulful emotional intelligence to guide our message.
ink on paper, d. stapleton, 2025
April 12:Full Moon at 23° Libra, and Venus stations direct
On Saturday at 5:22 pm PT, the exalted Aries Sun and Libran Moon come into perfect polarity in the sky, forming April’s Full Moon lunation at 23 degrees Libra. This Full Moon is brimming with creative potential, cultivated by balancing our need for inner harmony with what we offer to the world. The harvest of this Moon is recalibrating our energy exchanges, taking time to meditate on what true reciprocity looks like for us.
Take note of what house this Moon illuminates to see what area of life its glow calls us to harmonize now. Also note any planets or points in your chart that are near 23 degrees Libra, by conjunction, or any other major aspect, to see what energies are uniquely activated within you.
Shortly after, Venus, who also retreated from Aries into Pisces, almost hand in hand with Mercury, stations direct at 24 degrees of the two-fishes sign. Similarly to Mercury, Venus has retrieved lost jewels from the Piscean ocean, treasures of deep creativity and elated love that we may have forgotten along the way. Venus stations in conjunction with Saturn, which has a steading, tempering effect on Venus’ expansive love.
Around this time, we may renew our commitments to our creative expression and relationships, acknowledging essential limitations on our reserves and resources.
April 15: Mercury re-enters Aries
The third week of April heats up with action and intensity as Mercury re-enters fervent Aries. Aries’ speed, drive and ability to cut through distractions allow us to focus on charging ahead on various projects and conversations. One of Mercury’s first connections as he advances through the ram’s sign is a conjunction with Neptune, a new inhabitant to Aries, on April 16.
This conjunction between the messenger and the transcendent planet of dreams will likely coincide with many of us catching our first glimpse of a fiery vision we’d like to carry passionately forward into the bold new era upon us. Take time to jot down insight flashes as brave ideas form out of the molten forge of our imagination.
ink on paper, d. stapleton, 2025
April 17:Mars re-enters Leo
The cosmic weather of the third week of April heats up even more as Mars re-enters proud and regal Leo. We are entering the final phase of a long Cancer/Leo retrograde journey that Mars began in early September. Mars is on the final leg of his path today, revisiting Leo and reactivating themes we may have started grappling with from November 3 - December 6, 2024, when the warrior planet was originally in Leo.
Back then, we may have taken some initiative and felt resolved about expressing our needs boldly, courageously, and maybe a bit indignantly. When Mars went back into Cancer in early January until now, we may have felt wounded emotionally and a bit defensive, retreating to lick our wounds and restrategize.
With the emotional insight Mars in Cancer offers, we advance more clearly, with what we feel is worth fighting for and protecting blazing in our hearts. We prepare to fight cleanly and righteously to regain ground and momentum until June 17, when the Mars story finally shifts into new territory.
ink on paper, d.stapleton, 2025
April 19:Sun enters Taurus/Taurus Season
On Saturday, April 19, at 12:56 pm PT, we leave the initiatory flames of Aries’ Season to enter the splendour of mid-Springs fertile pastures. At the same time, Taurus Season 2025 packs a wallop, opening with many potent and activating planetary connections. While we celebrate the beauty of nature’s renewal, we’ll also need the strength and grounding of the bull to steady ourselves as the late April/May cosmic energies bring change and transformation.
ink on paper, d.stapleton, 2025
April 27:New Moon at 7 degrees Taurus
April’s dark lunation occurs at 7 degrees of fertile Taurus, drawing our energies inward and downward and asking us to recharge by rooting deeply into our earthly intentions. Amid the swirl of Taurus Season’s dynamic creative energies, this New Moon asks us to slow down and luxuriate, catch up on sleep, and allow our projects to sit unfinished for a while.
Though the cosmic forces propelling 2025 into a new era compel us to act urgently, this Dark Moon reminds us to take action, grow, love, and create from a steady, stable perspective. All good things take time.
ink on paper, d.stapleton, 2025
April 30:Venus re-enters Aries
April closes with Venus re-entering Aries’ forge. With the ruler of Taurus Season spending most of her time in the martial ram’s sign, we can expect mid-Spring to be boldly creative and romantically dynamic. Similarly to Mercury, Venus forms a luminous conjunction with Neptune within days of her entry into Aries on May 2.
Here, the planet of love and sensuality merges with the planet of dreams, ideals and fantasies, creating a tempestuous mood. May opens with collective yearnings to realize incandescent visions, following the promise of love and unfettered desires into unknown frontiers.
This planetary union can ignite and inflame, spreading in all directions like a gas fire, so we must proceed knowing what we open and release now cannot be reigned in. Perhaps this is the medicine needed if we feel stagnant in life, clinging to comforts that deaden our senses and anesthetize our souls.
Refer to the Neptune Horoscopes above to see what area of life is ablaze with the combined idealistic forces of Venus and Neptune.
Well, that’s all for now. Enjoy the Spring energy of renewal and longer, brighter days.
At 2:07 am PT, the Sun leaves crisp, mid-winter Aquarius to enter fluid Pisces until March 20. This transition marks the beginning of Pisces Season, which illuminates the 12th and final zodiac sign. Pisces consciousness is one of deep meditative awareness and spiritual fulfillment.
In watery Pisces, we dance with the images appearing on the dream plane, emerging from our soul’s oceanic depths.
The Sun joins Saturn, Mercury, the eclipsing Lunar North Node, and Neptune in the two fishes sign, illuminating a well-populated space and underscoring Pisces Season's potency and immersive activity.
Already, I have been experiencing a loss for words and a desire to stay in a dream state. Communicating on a sublingual level with images to say more than words ever can is calling my attention. I’m receiving a massive download of images and doing my best to pour them onto the canvas.
February 23: Mars stations direct at 17 degrees Cancer
Just as Mercury forms a trine with Mars, the planet of combat and confrontation grinds to a halt and prepares to move forward again at 6 pm PT Sunday, retracing its steps back through sensitive Cancer. This shift in Mars's direction provides an opportunity to regain momentum lost in early December.
If you’ve been feeling devitalized and rudderless, prepare to begin getting back on track. Mars’ direct motion may also rouse deep, self-protective feelings and raw sentiments accumulating under the surface this Winter. Be gentle with yourself and others as you find the emotional vocabulary for the storm within as Pisces Season unwinds.
2025, d. stapleton, acrylic on canvas
February 27: New Moon in Pisces at 9 degrees
The night skies on February 27 will be deep and dark under the Pisces New Moon. It’s a perfect time to withdraw into an imaginary world and embrace the potential for new beginnings. Notice if your dreams are particularly evocative around this date, and keep a dream journal close by.
March 1: Venus retrograde
Venus, in passionate and forthright Aries, moves retrograde until April 12. This period of Venus retrograde carries us back to what our hearts left behind, allowing us to refine a new creative endeavour or revisit a love pact, transforming an ideal love into an actual bond tempered in the flames of honesty and fierce devotion.
2025, d. stapleton, acrylic ink on canvas
March 3: Mercury enters Aries
Mercury leaves poetic Pisces for pyrogenic Aries on March 3, putting a point on everything we need to say and igniting a spark in our minds. This ingress shifts us into the ground upon which we will experience the first Mercury retrograde of the year in a cycle that blends fire and water signs during Mercury’s journeys.
Mercury will return to Aries on a direct course on April 15, so if any ideas ignite now, we will revisit them later in the spring.
March 13: Lunar Eclipse/Full Moon in Virgo at 23 degrees
On March 23, we have the first eclipse of 2025 at 23 degrees Virgo. In the botanical sign of the Virgin, this Lunar Eclipse/Full Moon emphasizes unearthing and uprooting energy, where forces of tremendous change will produce unusual fruit. Note if you have any planets or points at 23 degrees of the mutable signs in your birth chart, and check what house this eclipse is taking place to know where changes and transformations will occur this year.
March 14: Mercury retrograde
Mercury comes to a halt and begins to fly backward in the sky on March 14. The messenger planet’s pivot emphasizes a time to go back and refine agreements and conversations that began earlier in the month and retrieve information or details that we may have missed during Mercury’s initial entry into trailblazing Aries.
The details may become more apparent on March 24, when Mercury enters the molten forge of the exalted Aries Sun.
Consider the house Mercury is going retrograde in and back to when it returns to Pisces on March 29 to gain insight. This story is interwoven with Venus’ narrative, making it complex and heartfelt.
That is all for now as I dive back into a world of dreams.
