Photo by Krystle Merrow
Happy Aries season!
Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac, is a cardinal fire sign: Cardinal signs begin, and fire signs energize. This first month of the zodiacal year is about new beginnings, new energy, new opportunity, and doing it all first. Aries is a newly lit match, ready to turn into any multitude of possibilities.
This year is a major, major, major year for Aries as a sign. At the end of March, Neptune moves out of Pisces, where it has been since 2012, and into Aries, where it will stay until 2038. This feels unfathomably far to me, but I guess that’s just as long as it’s been since 2012. Neptune was in its ruling sign in Pisces, so a move into Aries brings us out of that home territory. Neptune rules mystery, spirituality, consciousness, and dreams. In dysfunction Neptune can be escapist, and (as is Pisces) is associated with addiction of any kind. Under Pisces we saw a tremendous surge in the legalization of mind-altering substances, and pandemic lockdowns that saw a lot of people drinking and using drugs more than they normally would. I remember a New York Times article about a trend of people microdosing MDMA in their homes on weekday afternoons just for something to feel. This energy was extremely Neptunian, extremely Piscean.
Moving out of that and into Aries, we get the devotional energy of the gas giant occupying the identity-driven and competitive energy of the teeny baby ram. I think we’re going to see a tremendous rise in individualism, as well as the potential for hero-worship (frankly, as someone who reads a ton of science fiction, I would love a hero figure to emerge any minute now).
The journey of Aries doesn’t end with Neptune this year, though. For my first horoscopes of the year I shared how all the outer planets would be changing signs this year (following Pluto having already done so in November of last year). Saturn will also move into Aries this Spring, in May, joining Neptune and kicking off the Saturn-Neptune conjunction, one of the big astrological stories of 2025-26. These occur approximately every 36 years, so it’s the first time many people alive will be experiencing this as the last such conjunction happened in 1990. Saturn builds while Neptune dissolves, so this is the kind of astrology where our dreams meet our realities and vice versa.
All in all this points to a big year (and coming years) for Aries and all the Cardinal signs, and for anyone who has these signs at an important point in their charts. Given how many people that is, it’s a good example of the way that global transiting astrology (the state of the world) has effects on our own charts (our individual lives).
Dear readers, I wish we were in easier times. Our astrology describes the tumult and constant change we are facing. I want (us all) to experience joy, calm, ease, but I also need to experience and express anger at the world preventing those things. Ruled by Mars, Aries is a sign of anger and of immediate expression. These horoscopes are related to anger, and how I might suggest you express it. You can read for your Mars sign as well.
These words by Aisha Sasha John help me when I need to let anger steam and erupt out of my body:
My anger is hope for my own righteousness.
I have to be angry to have any hope of being good.
For anything to mean I have to
Be angry, i.e., sad
I have to
Weep so I don’t
Die
Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation. Specific calculations are made for the rising signs, but if you don’t know your rising sign, you can read for your sun. You can access your birth chart at astro.com, café astrology, or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. You can also find out lots of personal information by booking a reading with me here.
Aries Rising
Anger for Aries is quick, and like an instant valve that releases the pressure inside this Mars-driven mind. For Aries the immediate expression of anger is like the immediate expression of anything else: I’m hungry, I’m tired, I’m angry. This can be really challenging for people around Aries who don’t experience anger quickly.
As we approach these years of Saturn and Neptune in your sign, I’ll ask: what are you angry about, Aries? These planetary movements could coincide with feeling misunderstood, feeling like you efforts aren’t making progress. This is anathema for any fire sign.
You have a good opportunity, on the other hand, for discipline, diligence, and also opportunities you might not have considered at first. Let some things dissolve while others build, Aries.
Taurus Rising
For Taurus Rising, Aries sits on the 12th house of your mental health, dreams, and solitude. This can be expressed as wanting your own mental health to move quickly, and not having patience for it. You may also become angry at yourself often. Taureans generally have a slow, steady, and immovable kind of anger, one that may not express itself immediately but certainly will get its point across.
Moving into these years of intense Aries energy, think about how you may be rushing your dreams. You’re a Taurus, you naturally move more slowly than the other signs, but the Aries side of yourself wants you to hurry up, get over and on with it, do it now.
Remind your inner voice that you move at the speed of yourself, and that no one else sets the pace.
Gemini Rising
For Gemini Rising, Aries rules the 11th house of community and friends, which includes coworkers, clubs, unions, and any other organized groups of people. Gemini people are naturally socially conscious, concerned with their friends, so the 11th house is an important area of the chart for you. With so much new action happening in this area of the chart, this is at the very least potential for Gemini’s favourite thing: interesting information.
With Aries on this part of the chart you also have the capacity to get angry and impulsive when it comes your social circles—not a hard state for Gemini to reach, anyway! My suggestion for you this month is to think about how anger plays into your relationships to groups of people. Do you express your anger quickly and deal with the consequences? Do you let things fester and never wind up admitting anything? (The sign your Mars is in will have a big impact on these topics).
With so much huge astrology happening in this area of your chart, I encourage you to consider the relationship between your style of expressing anger and how that plays out in the large social groups you are a part of.
Cancer Rising
Aries Rising rules the 10th house of career and public profile for Cancer rising people. Recently Chani Nicholas posted a reel predicting that Neptune moving into Aries would coincide with “fame” for Aries and Cancer Rising people, because of the planet of ~glamour~ being in such a visible place for your two signs.
Not to disagree with one of the most famous astrologers in the world but… Neptune rules disillusionment as much as it rules glamour, and Saturn coming along for the beginning of this ride can mean a lot of blockage. I’m not saying it’s terrible, but I am saying these are things you’re going to have to work for. Saturn in your tenth house is going to be much more palpable on the day to day, and Saturn rewards hard work. He also, thankfully, gives us quite a lot of discipline.
All this to say, Cancer rising, this is a good year for dreaming about what you want your career to look like and putting in the work to make it happen.
Leo Rising
Aries rules your 9th house of growth and learning, Leo rising. This fellow fire sign on a fire house means this is an area of life where you are likely to be passionate and quick tempered.
The ninth house rules religion, travel, and higher learning, so these are areas of life you are likely to be quick tempered and passionate about the sign your own Mars is in will have a big impact on this (so if you have, say, Mars in Pisces, you probably won’t be too quick tempered about anything), but consider how anger and impulsiveness figure in to your relationship to growth.
Consider how anger can fuel your desire to grow and expand, and how anger can teach us that something needs to change.
Virgo Rising
Aries rules your 8th house of intimacy and entanglement, Virgo Rising. This area of the house is about sex, death, and taxes – the ways that we are spiritually, physically, and practically wound up with the people we are close to. This part of the chart rules transformation, and the way those close entanglements transform us.
With Aries on this part of the chart, you might be prone to wanting your transformation to happen quickly. Virgo people are certainly the martyrs of the zodiac, and will quietly work on the sides making things happen for other people without taking care of themselves. We all thank you for your service, Virgo, but would also all be better taken care of if you took care of yourself.
Let your Aries side dictate that. Let your Aries side demand the spiritual, physical, and practical intimacies that you need. Express your needs and desires, Virgo, because in doing so you let us help you the way you help us.
Libra Rising
Aries rules your 7th house of one on one relationships, Libra Rising. This is a very important part of the chart for your sign that is all about the one-on-one connection. With Aries in this part of the chart, the balance between your one on one relationships and how they impact your identity is a big part of your life.
This describes a challenging dynamic for Libra rising people: Libra as a sign wants harmony and connection, while Aries wants self-determination. These are hard to have co-exist. I invite you to consider how expressing your anger in your closest relationships can actually create harmony. While Aries does have a tendency to yell without thinking of the consequences, your Libran nature is always thinking about what someone else is thinking.
Letting someone know you’re angry is an opportunity to fix the problem you’re angry about. This can actually bring you closer to your closest people, one of the most important pieces of the Libra journey.
Scorpio Rising
Aries rules your 6th house of day to day labour, Scorpio rising, the part of the chart that describes your every day tasks as well as your health. Scorpio has an interesting relationship to anger, and while in Modern astrology your sign is ruled by the deep and transformative planet Pluto, Ancient and Traditional astrology uses Mars as the ruling planet of your sign. Aries expresses Mars energy quickly, immediately, and brazenly, whereas Scorpio expresses Mars energy slowly and with calculation.
This is like the stereotypes of a viking vs. a ninja. With Aries on your 6th house, some of that raging warrior energy has the possibility of being expressed in the day to day. Maybe the people you work with see it, or maybe you’re prone to cuts and bruises from quick decisions in your daily life. The placement of your own Mars will have a big impact on this as well, but I encourage you this month, Scorpio rising, to think about when it’s appropriate to be a viking and when to be a ninja.
Sometimes your sign’s stealth and secrecy is the right tactic, but sometimes you just gotta yell and run in guns blazing. Your capacity for deep thinking will help you determine the difference.
Sagittarius Rising
Your fellow fire sign rules your fifth house of creative expression, parties, and fun, Sag rising. This is the most delightful part of the chart and rules all the things that make life worth living. Aries here describes how Sag rising can really be the life of the party, boundlessly energetic and raring to go (even more so than Sagittarius sun folks). If nothing else, Aries season is a fun time of year for you. It emphasizes the quality of childlike impulsivity you can bring to social events.
With this incoming Neptune and Saturn movement, I invite you to consider the creative aspects of this part of your chart (and life). In astrology, fun, joy, and creative practices all live in the same part of the chart (the fifth house). For people with professional creative practices, this can be a funny reminder, because joy can quickly be sucked out of something you do for work.
Whatever your relationship to creativity, I invite you to take these first few moments Neptune in Aries to dream about the creative life you want. Maybe you’ve always meant to take a painting class, or have a craft kit you haven’t gotten around to. Spend time in the dreams of creativity so that you can let it come to life and flourish with that later Saturnian discipline.
Capricorn Rising
Aries rules your fourth house of home and family, Capricorn rising, meaning these upcoming Aries transits have the potential to hit the deepest part of the natal chart. The fourth house is literally at the bottom of our natal charts, most hidden from the public eye. Transits to this part of the chart aren’t often visible, but they can really rock our worlds.
With Aries in this part of your chart (and life), it’s very possible that your family sees your anger more than the rest of the world. This Aries season I invite you to think about how anger has been a part of your life from childhood. Whether you came from a household where there was explosive expressions of anger, or anger was repressed, everyone learns about this emotion in their early days.
How have the lessons that young you learned about anger impacted your ability to express the emotion as an adult? Think about your own Mars placement if you know if for a bigger piece of the puzzle.
Aquarius Rising
Aries sits on your third house of communication, Aquarius rising. You may have heard me comment on how I find Aquarius to be very paradoxical, both about structure and chaos. But Aries on your third house helps your communication style lean a bit more towards the chaotic. Aries is an impulsive fire sign and is gonna say what’s on their mind: Aquarius has a lot on their mind, so that’s a lot of possibility of things to blurt out.
With Neptune and Saturn moving into this area of your chart for long transits, you have a long period of your life where your thought and communication are going to be major themes. Neptune could make you a bit dreamy and wanting for words, whereas Saturn is great for setting boundaries. If you happen to have any kind of writing practice, these transits are together are super interesting and at once can make your communication more poetic and more disciplined.
Whether or not writing and communicating are part of your life, the suggestion I want to offer you is to spend time listening. Think, this Aries season, about what happens when you listen before you speak. Aquarians love knowledge, and listening is one of the best ways to access it, so take the opportunity to soak it up.
Pisces Rising
Aries sits on your second house of resources, Pisces rising. This part of the chart rules your material possessions as well as your energy and your values. While Pisces as a sign is naturally very mutable and open to suggestion, Aries is very much…not. This combination can make Pisces people prone to not paying attention to their resources. With the recent Venus retrograde, you might have money on the mind more than usual.
This is great astrology for you to sit down and make sense of your finances, pisces, with your ruling sign moving into this part of the chart. Spend some time dreaming about what you want your financial life to look like, and how that can be aligned to your values. In part, this is about putting your money where your mouth is.
There’s a tweet floating around right now, “the job market so bad it got me pursuing my dreams”: I think this is a great sentiment for you under this astrology.
OMG Stars is our astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@amelia.np.e). At the beginning of each new astrological season, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global).
100% bULL-SHITE