What’s the Main Astrology of 2026 - Ingresses, Eclipses, Retrogrades?

2025 was a huge banner year and turning point for Astrology and 2026 solidifies that. In 2025 outer planets Neptune, Uranus, and Aries all ‘dipped’ into new signs for a preview of what’s to come. Considering all these planets are very different orbiting times AND Pluto just shifted into Aquarius at the end of 2024 this is wild, and a signifier of a whole new big chapter/era for all us in a bigger way than we’ve ever experienced.

We of course also had Jupiter shift signs (it stays in a sign for about one year). We had Mars AND Venus Rx as well as the usual line up of 3 Mercury Retrogrades and a “Summer of Retrogrades” with some of the outer planets that I wrote about HERE if you want to back track on those.

The eclipses in 2025 were on the Pisces/Virgo axis, and that story continues to play out in 2026 (with a taste of the first Aquarius/Leo eclipses).

Since astrology is all about cycles and doesn’t neatly ‘end’ or ‘begin’ with calendar years, having context for where we’ve been in so important.

So in 2025 we had a lot of change, new energy, ‘trying on’ the energy of some of these slower moving outer planets ‘dipping’ briefly into a new sign.

What energy did you feel, did you feel you want to change your inner or outer life, did you feel compelled to try new things on or just hold yourself in a different way?

Whatever it was, that was a seed for what will be continued and solidified in 2026.

NOTE:

If 2025 was hard or a ‘bad’ year for you, it by no means that this new cycle will feel that way. When things shift and change, it can feel hard, but as our journeys continue there will always been ups and downs and always a seed of potential or a silver lining to notice. “Birthing” can be very uncomfortable but there’s great joy after…

2026 is a 1 year in numerology and a ‘horse’ year in the Chinese Astrology system. So last year being a 9 year we were completing shedding our skin (snake year in Chinese Astrology) so let’s go….

2026 MAJOR INGRESSES

Neptune into Aires

Neptune takes roughly FIFTEEN years to move through a sign and we’ve had Neptune in Pisces since 2011. The summer of 2025 we have our first ‘taste’ of Neptune in Aries, and now it move into Aries completely, where it will stay until 2039.

So this is a big shift. Here are some of my topline notes and themes:

Direct Experience is Key

A return to direct experience, over blindly following others, or taking things at face value. Pisces can be about that guru complex and merging and even disillusion/deception at the shadow side. Aries is about empowerment, independence, leading. So I think people will rely on their own intuition over external teachers.

More self-led learning in astrology, mysticism, and esoteric practices. As shared above I believe with the advent of AI, people will seek to empower themselves, rather than having to outsource others believes, or tech. Aries is about Self Agency. It’s like when people didn’t know how to read or write hundreds of years ago. They were either left out, or they had trust someone to read what was actually written. Learning the basics of astrology and meditation for me is key - it’s a huge base for empowerment and that ‘spiritual warrior’ feel of Aires in Neptune.

The dismantling of spiritual hierarchies - and a move to more independence and heterarchy in communities.  Neptune in Pisces was a Guru age, and there’s still places for that. However Aries is about all of us stepping up to be able to listen to ourself first and foremost.

A New Relationship with Meditation & Inner Work

I’m hoping we’ll see less guided meditation, more direct internal experience. Guided meditations are great, but what about what you can go direct to source and without using technology. To me this is real power and independence.

A shift toward active spiritual practices like breathwork, visualization, trance dance states. Aries energy is fire-y, so I feel like with spiritual Neptune there we’ll need to get more primal in moving energy through our body.

More people learning how to work with their own energy and mind without needing external validation. This again leans into spiritual warrior, Aries courageous, leading, independence energy. That’s an invitation and possibility anway.

I wrote even more on Neptune in Aries HERE if you want to keep diving into the themes more deeply.

Saturn into Aries

Saturn takes THREE years to move through a sign. Since early 2023 we have had Saturn in Pisces. It’s been moving pretty close to Neptune for a while, so we also had a ‘taste’ of Saturn in Aries in the Summer of 2025, and now it moves into Aries completely for more or less three years.

Saturn in Pisces for me, what a lot about creating spiritual discpline and honing intuition. Saturn is the ‘no free passes’ planet. I also think of the 10,000 hour rule. However, it’s where we can create MASTERY when we do put in it the work. This is amazing, otherwise people would never feel compelled to ‘do’ things and there’s not better feeling that achieving your goals after working hard.

Saturn is an ‘older sterner’ archetype. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, that youthful let’s go energy. So how will be apply this older wisdom energy to a youthful adolescent energy sign? For sure it’s going to shake things up.

Saturn moving into Aries, means that energy of ‘working hard’, creating structure, calling on discipline and re-defining things are that aren’t working comes into a new energy for all of us. Aries is about independence, courage, pioneering, play, shooting for the stars - Saturn is about building something, doing the work. So this can look like more leadership, more independent community’s of people coming together to build something, it can new personal development work toward interdependence. It could be naïve, but it could be brilliant.

Saturn and Neptune Conjunction at 0 Aries

Now it CANNOT go un-noticed that Saturn and Neptune have been travelling closely together at the end of Pisces and start of Aries - so there is a ‘combined’ energy here for sure. Something ending, something becoming. Bringing our dreams into reality.

These 2 planets are EXACTLY conjunct in 20 February 2026, starting a new 36 year cycle of these planets meeting, although no-one is sure when they last met at 0 Aries, which is the very start of the Zodiac - the Activation Point, so this gives more weight as to just how big this new beginning will be.

This is a MAJOR point in the Astrology of 2026.

On February 20th, 2026 Saturn and Neptune will be conjunct exactly at 0 degrees of Aries. A big new beginning for us all - but what will it be? What dreams are you grounding. What’s dissolving and what’s being built?

Uranus into Gemini (2025-2032)

The planet Uranus, which is the great disruptor, innovator, changemaker, rebel, moving out of the sign of Taurus – which is a fixed Earth sign – and into the mutable Air sign of Gemini. So this is going to be a huge change for all of us. It’s change upon change upon change.

Now if we look at Uranus in Gemini: Uranus is a disruptor, an innovator, expect the unexpected, really big changes. Gemini is a lot about the way we think, the way we process, even our beliefs that we have about ourselves and the world around us. It’s about communication, and we can extend that even into transportation. So expect to see big changes in these areas.

This might speak to changing the way that we all think and communicate, beyond what’s already happening with Chat GPT (or Chat GPT changing the way that we think and communicate as humans). We can already spot what Chat GPT has written a mile off, and I feel like that is changing the way that we speak and structure language because we want to sound more human, less like Chat GPT.

I have a full and more extensive blog on Uranus in Gemini HERE

Jupiter moving from Cancer to Leo (mid 2026-mid 2027)

I’m really personally hoping we see a huge surge in creative expression (and from Humans not AI!!) Creativity is such an amazing part of being human. Leo is that inner child joyfully playing and creating from the heart and with Jupiter here to expand, bring wisdom and optimism I hope it widens our eyes to just how important joy, fun and creativity are to humans and these things should come from a human heart rather than from AI.

Of course during this time we could see some overflated egos, or over-performative tendancies. But I hope that it’s a time for each of us to also have positive heart felt beliefs about us and our world and the courage to believe in them. Leo is also about leadership so I’d adore to see healthy courageous leadership in big and small ways across our world.

The last time Leo was here was mid 2014-mid 2015 so how were you having fun or expressing your creativity or living from your heart then? You can read my full Jupiter in Leo blog HERE

Eclipses

In 2026 the eclipse story of Pisces/Virgo continues. Full details of this eclipse series HERE.

We also open a new story with the first eclipses in Aquarius/Leo This 18-month cycle is about coming into the person you came here to be and find your people. You can read more about this eclipse series in full HERE

2026 ECLIPSE DATES

17 Feb 2026 — 28° Aquarius 49'44" — Solar Annular (New Moon)
3 Mar 2026 — 12° Virgo 53'53" — Lunar Total (Full Moon)
12 Aug 2026 — 20° Leo 01'58" — Solar Total (New Moon)
28 Aug 2026 — 04° Pisces 54'07" — Lunar Partial (Full Moon)

Retrogrades

A retrograde is when we process the energy of an archetype more internally.

Mercury Retrograde:

In 2026 we have Mercury Retrograde in Water Signs Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio so communicating our emotions and how we feel will be a theme at some level…. You can find the jewel of each mercury retrograde the Mercury Cazimi dates HERE and if you want to work with Mercury Cycles that start in the middle of each retrograde click HERE.

Don’t know what a Cazimi is and want to know all the planetary cazimis? Click HERE

Venus Retrograde:

On the 3rd October - 14 November 2026, Venus will go Retrograde (this happens every 18 months). We get a chance to go inwardly with Venus, and trace our own ‘inner decent’ into what we value, how we love and receive love, how we relate and harmonise, and themes around our relationship to money, material objects and wealth.

I wrote a piece on a trauma informed view of Venus Retrograde for you HERE.

Outer Planet Retrograde Dates

Jupiter turns retrograde 13 Dec 2026 - 13 April 2027

Saturn turns retrograde 26 Jul 2026 - 10 Dec 2026

Uranus turns retrograde 10 Sep 2026 - 8 Feb 2027

Neptune turns retrograde 7 Jul 2026 - 12 Dec 2026

Pluto turns retrograde 6 May 2026 - 16 Oct 2026

Chiron turns retrograde 3 Aug 2026 - 6 Jan 2027