Aquarius Season 2026
Season: January 20 — February 18th
Moons: Leo Full Moon, Aquarius New Moon Solar Eclipse
Focal Points: Pluto, Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Mars
Influences: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries
Themes: Reassessment, refinement, personal and collective clarity, intention vs. execution,
Starting on January 20th, the Sun enters Aquarius and appears to kick off a pretty rapid process of shaking the fine details loose from various areas of your life to get a better look at the framework of your execution. It all came through a bit complicated, but really, it’s quite simple. As I was seeing it, as 2026 is a Year 1, and we’re still in an intake and preparation stage leading into the astrological New Year in Aries Season, we are collectively, as individuals, all at a point where we have everything we need — the goal, the right mindset, the right maps, all the tools out on the table, the perfect vehicle, and a team — but there are outer systemic structures that affect the execution of these plans, and ultimately have the potential to render all of our tools and know-how completely useless.
There was a lot coming up about systems of Aquarius and Scorpio, particularly through Pluto, moving through to shake things up just enough to reveal where certain issues were hidden, or to simply change the angle or focus enough to see the actual issue. This was playing out to me mainly as the idea of a family setting out for a camping trip, one they’ve done a million times, fully prepared in every way. However, while they are actually out on the road, the car begins to shake violently, something that they’ve experienced before, but this time, it shakes so much that stuff starts falling off the car, forcing them to pull over and get out. Their first instinct is to look at the car for the source of the problem, as they have in the past, but now that they, for the first time, were prompted to get out of the car, they are made more aware that the road itself is severely damaged and full of potholes that they never noticed before.
This implies that there is a broader, systemic issue at play here where the road is either intentionally designed to hinder a driver’s progression or is damaged due to negligence. Either way, it is now an issue that is of great concern to the drivers who now feel the need to start making calls to the local government to get said issue fixed. In prior years, this family would often blame their own car for the shaking, and were so used to the damage itself that when they came up to points of the road where entire chunks were missing, they would simply reroute their course, sort of leaning into a “well, that’s just how it is,” kind of mentality. It becomes more instinctual or even mindless to simply allow broader issues to exist and to blame the self or others who are also working within those systemic confines.
This brought to mind the issue of tipping culture in America. It is very typical, in spite of how obviously pointless it is, for the customer and the worker to fight with each other over tips. The worker will feel offended or slighted if they do not receive a tip, while the customer can feel taken advantage of by being expected to pay beyond what is stated on the menu. Both sides will bitch and complain to each other, or about each other to other people, or even make a series of videos on TikTok to vent that frustration, but… WHY???? Why is it customer versus employee when both of them should be looking up at the people who took tipping culture, which was just a social system of appreciation for good service, and turned it into a systemic matter where employers are now allowed to pay their employees under the miminum wage because it is assumed that the customer will pick up the slack and make the employees full wage through tips — and mind you, some places don’t even let employees keep all of thier tips while also making customers pay a minimum service tip for their waiters. This is a shit situation for both the employee and the customer, and yet, they’re at each other’s throats while people at the highest positions are able to go unnoticed.
Just recently, I saw a TikTok where there were people waiting in line at a fast-food drive-thru. The person who was filming was between two people, one of whom was at the window waiting for their food. The person behind the one filming was yelling at the one at the window for taking too long, making them wait, and accusing them of buying up the whole store. The whole situation didn’t make any sense because… ARE YOU NOT BOTH IN THE SAME BOAT?? You are both waiting in line to get food, and you are both being made to wait because there is clearly an issue occurring inside where the food is being made. Why would you be fighting with each other? This seems to be the default setting, just to target whoever or whatever is visible in the moment, rather than actually thinking beyond the superficial to target the actual problem.
In the issue of tipping culture, there’s a wide-range of things to tackle that go into both social and systemic matters, as well as targeting specific laws and terms around wages. In the scenario at the drive-thru, there’s a need to simply accept certain setbacks or wait times because… sometimes it is just out of your hands?? Sometimes it is just user error or an issue of time that can’t be dealt with.
When we go back to the family on the road, it could be difficult for people to agree on whether or not the state of the road is an issue that can be fixed, whether it's even worth it considering they’re just going on a camping trip, or if it’s something that is just out of everyone’s hands. There is a necessary shift in mindset needed around pretty much anything that you might be able to dismiss as “it is what it is.” Aquarius is dealing with a matter of legacy and long-term effects that have already taken hold, and that can take hold going down the line. This one camping trip may not be made or broken by the state of the road, but the car, over time, will suffer, and could make it impossible in the future to go camping without spending even more money to get a new car for the trip.
There are a lot of literal systemic issues in the world that, at this point in our modern age, everyone is aware of, everyone is educated and well equipped with tools and plans on all of the hows, whens, and whys of the situations, but individually, the execution of all of these things can fall flat. Collectively, we can talk up quite a storm, pass judgment, lay shame, point out the obvious a million times over, but when the time comes to act, a lot of the momentum falls away because individual people are hitting roadblocks and obstacles that trigger disbelief. Not necessarily in the movement itself, but in their contribution to it. This ends up with a domino effect-like fall that leads into the assumption that “if I can’t do it, someone else probably will, so it’s fine.”
People have even found ways to soothe themselves within this mindset by collectively getting very comfortable with laying the responsibility of saving the world on people based on money and/or fame… which severely limits the overall, full-bodied progression the world could be experiencing if it wasn’t so easy for people to forget that everyone is human regardless of what they have or don’t have, and it’s still up to all of the villagers to save the village at the end of the day… otherwise, where exactly do you think the power is going to stay if you keep handing it over like that omg???
Again, this system is showing that everyone already knows everything, everyone already has everything they need, and now it’s time to take note of the ACTUAL problems that are rooted in systemic structures, not SOCIAL structures, actual hardened, in the book, issues that are mostlikely registering in legal and religious systems. Blind faith and submission to “structures that have always been” is a big thing being highlighted here. There’s a lot of prompted self-reflection happening through the individual lens and the collective lens, all at the same time.
The Astrology
The big components that were sticking out here in Aquarius Season are the Sun and Pluto. The light of the Sun, the collective lens, is driving focus and illumination between the individual and the collective, with a highlight put on deconstruction through Pluto. This energy feels like an inspection as the energy of Pluto is not direct, but coming off more like it’s bouncing off of other energies, or filtering through other energies through the conjunctions in this timeframe. This is highlighting systems connected to Aquarius and Scorpio, which is energy I’ve been getting a lot of from a few different sources recently, and it seems to be connecting to a system that will be covering the next decade. Specifically, the commonality of these energies is the element of revelation with Scorpio, causing an internal ruckus to bring to the surface underlying personal issues that could be weighing on you, while Aquarius slaps you in the face with reality and lays out broader, external concerns like systemic issues, social issues, or environmental issues.
There are highlights also put on Saturn and Uranus, but as framework energies or guidelines that are built up over time. Specifically, I was seeing Saturn’s energy as a factory that is temporarily shut down (similar to the family needing to pull over after their car started to shake too much.) in order for Uranus, a system of higher, conscious awareness, reflecting a very clinical and grounded assessment through the Aquarius Sun, moves through the factory like a corporate supervisor who is coming through to inspect and to make sure that the factory will run well over the next ten years.
In this way, the Aquarius Sun becomes one of those lights that people have on their helmets when they’re working, used by Uranus to light up the factory, all the nooks and crannies that are sometimes forgotten about when everything is actually running, certain moving parts that you don’t think about because of how standard and constant they are. Pluto is held onto less like a tool or an influence, and more like a book of regulations, one of harsh and critical standards that don’t budge easily. If something is seen to be not working well, it is to be deconstructed, fixed, or evacuated and left behind.
Within this system, very specific points are being focused on through the inner planets that interact with Pluto in January:
January 20: Venus conjunct Pluto (Same day Sun + Mercury enter Aquarius)
January 22: Mercury conjunct Pluto
January 23: Sun conjunct Pluto
January 27: Mars conjunct Pluto
As these planets make contact with Pluto, as illuminated by the Sun’s focus within Aquarius, we get these shake-ups that feel a bit more like vibrations rather than things crumbling or experiencing forced destruction. It made me think of those videos of people cleaning their floors in their cars by using one of those massage guns to vibrate the dirt loose before sweeping it up. It shakes a lot of things loose, brings things to the surface, with the intention to make it easier to remove or fix the issue that wasn’t so obvious before.
As I was seeing it, the “filtered reflections” will occur somewhat literally with the transiting planets reflecting on natal planets through the more conscious level, collective Aquarius Sun, and the more internalized Pluto. So, Venus hitting Pluto will activate or shake up your personal Venus and stimulate the Sign and House that it is in in your chart. By way of its own projections, both the 2nd and 7th Houses, along with the signs of Libra and Taurus, could also be stimulated for reassessment.
Venus specifically will focus on personal desire, bringing focus to personal goals, creation, standards, and connection. This may be what opens people up to first start questioning the quality of what they have or experience overall, rather than just focusing on what they have and have not — questioning how they do what they do, rather than focusing only on what they can and can not do. For some, the focus will be on connections, personal relationships, and others will have more focus on personal liberation through creation and expression. Others may focus more on quality of life, health, and taking care of themselves and their environment.
Mercury will focus on conscious-level thought processing, which may prompt people to question certain belief systems they subscribe to, what they blindly follow, repeat, or live by without realizing it. This can go from actual religious deconstruction to reviewing how deeply entrenched you may be in the mentalities and worldviews of social media. Specifically, you may be brought to question how your own thoughts or opinions on things are broken or challenged by a more collective hive mind that you may lean into. It’s reassessing the quality of your independent thought. Mercury can also focus on communication — how you speak to others, how they speak to you, what you say and how you say it, and whether or not you are communicating well enough to be understood. Something of this also made me think of social rules, social orders that “don’t make sense” to most people but are still abided by because “that’s just how it is.” If it doesn’t make sense to you, it’s not how you’re supposed to be operating.
The Sun on Pluto feels like an overall assessment of the worldview, the outer lens, or,, after the prompts of Venus and Mercury, actually seeing how and where the crossover between your mindset, idea, goal, actions, whatever it may be, and the outer collective execution and experience is. There’s a full, almost blinding illumination here where it feels like someone being laid out on an operating table, or like when you’re at the dentist and they turn that light on to look in your mouth. This does feel like the point in which you may start being able to sweep up the dust that was knocked loose, specifically because you are able to see most of it at this point.
Mars conjunct Pluto, which comes after Neptune enters Aries, brings up an assessment of action itself. You assess your goals and desires, then your thought process or communication, which can relate to strategy and planning, then your outer lens or worldview, which is the foundation for your action, and now, you’re assessing action itself with Mars. This is where the machines in Saturn’s factory are turned on one at a time for test runs, little practiced displays to see where things can be improved for when (in Aries Season most likely) you’ll be able to start up production again. This would also line up with a point in which the roads were actually being repaired in preparation for the family to get back in the car to drive to the campgrounds.
January itself ends with Mercury conjunct Venus, which feels like a final edit and review of the new systems, the new guidelines, the last notes given by supervisor Uranus before he leaves the factory and approves the next “season” or production cycle for the factory.
Going into February, there is a noticeable twist in the energy with the Full Moon in Leo that occurs on the 1st. There was a split where this energy can be a slow slide into a very Pisces/Aries heavy system, while for others, there was a pretty fast flip to the energy that felt like a page turned as well as a reflex-like activation that felt like someone yanking on one of those cord things to start up a lawn mower. This difference was demonstrated between the ideas of the people waiting for the roads to be repaired, while others are prompted to abandon their roads altogether and transition to a high-speed train. Some people will hit a new groove, while others will remain on their current path, while it is reworked to function better.
As I was seeing it, this energy even moves in a very different way from January. It feels like a completely different system because of how this seems to be an activation point. The Sun, at the near center of Aquarius, beams illuminated energy at the Moon, which creates the standard Full Moon energy we’re always working with, but the Moon then reflects that energy back to where it fans out and hits the other four planets as well — Pluto, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. I was seeing this play off of Leo’s rulership with the Sun, essentially creating a magnifying glass that both expands the light of the Sun while being able to focus it on a small point. This was mirroring the element of collective versus individual experience and processing of these systems.
The Full Moon in Leo, when it starts to charge up the different points, all of which would have been “cleaned” or partially deconstructed and renewed to some extent, feels like when all the cogs are starting to turn together. It’s not a full start-up of the factory, but the machines are being warmed up, systems are being tested for flow.
Following this, on the 4th, Uranus goes direct, which feels like a collective exit of the supervisor and an individual return of the factory worker, machine operator, or driver. Uranus going direct feels like the official end of the first part of this system, centered around refinement of operations that were already in play. After this, we start to get more Pisces energy where the energy feels to be spreading outward and amping up.
On the 6th and 10th, Mercury and Venus enter Pisces, carrying over that paired-up conjunction at the end of January, before Mercury conjuncts the North Node on the 12th. With what feels to be representatives of the mind and body meeting Pisces, there is a renewed sense of inspiration that comes from machines suddenly running smoother, plans feeling more flexible without having to accommodate certain obstacles, there’s a renewed sense of self as the authority or having more clarity around the operations of your own life. Mercury’s connection to the North Node brings to mind The Chariot as well as Sagittarius in relation to a self-defined conquest, matter of renewal, and a self-liberation from oppressive or restrictive systems of beliefs.
On February 14th, Saturn enters Aries, and this is the point where the factory is up and running, and is open for business. This is the real activation point, but it still centers itself as an initiating energy. This is foundational energy. The products in the factory are being made, orders are being filled, but things aren’t going to be on the shelves in stores until Aries Season. This initiates a new cycle completely for Saturn, which is pretty huge, both collectively and individually, and it lines up with this being a Year 1. All around, a time of change is really being pushed here, and changes made for more effective progression and development are the main focus.
February 17th, there is the New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aquarius, which surprisingly felt very mundane. The energy is big, but it’s like it’s laid out in a thin blanket over the entire planet, and people can just pick it up and use it in whatever way they want. It almost has a blank slate feeling to it, like the New Moon really is supposed to give you space to reset your inner system and just choose what you want to focus on now. This being the day before the Sun goes into Pisces and Venus conjuncts the North Node does make it feel like it’s the final notes taken, or the final plans penciled in before this more passive resting time, which is what Pisces Season is supposed to be, comes along.
The first week of Pisces Season holds a conjunction with Neptune and Saturn in Aries with a Mercury retrograde in Pisces, followed by the Sun conjunct the North Node and Venus conjunct Mercury. It’s all very dreamy and expansive, more so meant to add flesh to the bones of new structures laid through Aquarius Season before the New Year begins.
The cards that I pulled for the collective reading seem to just reiterate what I was getting with the astrology overall, with the center focus being on The Orphan and the Knight of Swords. The Knight of Swords is the family in the car on their way to the campgrounds, representing people individually and collectively on a mission that is more solid in the mind, the words, the performative elements, but falls flat when brought into something physical. The Orphan implies that these issues that are coming up are not solely at the fault of the individual, but is somethign within the surrounding system, as represented by the snake or the wind that the Knight runs against. These imply focus on physical (or external) and internal/personal obstacles or barriers, all of which are rooted in external systems.
The Mirror and Kairos are projected with the same energy, as if they’re trading their meanings back and forth until they blend into one thing. Kairos is associated with synchronicity and divine timing, while The Mirror is associated with self-reflection, awareness, and illusion. Kairos connects to the broader collective sense while The Mirror is more for the individual. As it falls down into the lower cards, Kairos, the collective loss of proper flow, balance, and synchronicity, or more so an entrapment within systems that are not supportive to the collective, reverses the Queen and removes personal authority. This creates a sense of submission to oppressive man-made systems rather than a more feminine receptivity to natural cycles — this is very much lining up with the visual of the factory. The man-made system is a literal factory that produces well but depletes the Earth, while a more natural factory can be looked at as a farm that abides by the land and animals, nurturing the Earth while still creating an abundant production. A farmer has more authority over their work and their life than a factory worker who only knows their position and schedule as it is given to them.
Under The Mirror, the 7 of Swords becomes reversed, which feels more like the individual’s effort to execute an idea or plan. The Queen of Wands focuses on Fire energy, action, and how it becomes passive under an imbalanced system, natural authority is lost. With the 7 of Swords, the focus is on Air energy, the mind, thoughts, and what is reversed is the attempt to actually act out the idea or plan — the man drops the swords after not anticipating how heavy they would be, or trips after not considering the leveling of the ground. Things outside of his control or beyond his standard perspective hinder his ability to go through with the idea. This can be physical, or it can be mental in terms of suggestions of affirmed beliefs that become obstacles of their own.
In this way, on both sides, self-perception is severely fucked with as the Queen can not see her authority and the 7 of Swords can’t see himself as being capable. The Knight, which sits between them, almost seeming to act under the authority of the Queen, on a mission to acquire the swords with the 7 of Swords, becomes orphaned. He loses direction from the Queen and loses sight of the objective in the 7 of Swords, leaving him to just get blown around in his image under Orphaned, trapped by the snake and unable to fulfill his mission.
Like I said before, it’s coming across again and again that everyone has what they need, everyone knows what they need to know, much like the Knight, who sits upright and is in motion, has all of what he needs. But people are getting caught on things that really shouldn’t be issues, but are rooted in quite deep with life-long systemic structures that have been around seemingly forever, and belief systems and social orders that are “agreed on” by the majority and constantly affirm a lack of power or potential. The goal here, as laid out in the cards, is to get the Queen and the 7 of Swords upright, to align the three bottom cards and create a system of clear thought to word, word to action processes. This reflects the individual focuses of the inner planets as they meet Pluto.