Over the past few weeks I was hoping to publish a brief forecast of 2026, but holidays and travel left me little time for writing. I figured I'd get to it the first weekend of the year, opening with something like: "Events have somewhat settled for a while but it's about to get really crazy."

Reality beat me to the punch.

These are difficult times to process, and there's no palliative that astrology can give to make any of us feel okay about what's happening—nor should there be. We need to be present to the breakdown of our world and feel the difficulty of the moment if we are to develop any wisdom around how to address it. Astrology can't give us direct answers to the deep problems we face, but it can give us a context to support our understanding, a reframed perspective to help contain our distress, and a timing for when and how things might shift.

We've known that 2026 was going to be a difficult year. I've explored the various markers for social and political breakdown, such as the ongoing Uranus square to the U.S. Moon, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Pisces that is transitioning to Aries in February, and the eclipses along the Leo-Aquarius axis, particularly the Aquarius solar eclipse of February 17th. January started off with a bang, which I'll look at more closely below, and the intensity increases as February rolls along. But the energy begins to shift from March to July, and there are signs that a rising collective resistance has a chance to actually make a difference.

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Starting with Venezuela, it is not surprising from an astrological point of view that the attack by the United States occurred when it did. By January 3rd all inner planets, from the Sun out to Mars, had entered the serious, cold, and calculating sign of Capricorn, with the attack occurring just four hours before the Cancer Full Moon. But this wasn't just any full moon—it was exactly conjunct the United States's Sun in Cancer. Adding more fuel to the fire were Mars and Venus, conjunct the Sun in Capricorn and at opposition to the U.S. Sun.

These oppositions indicate a high degree of tension, with the involved signs — Cancer and Capricorn — raising concerns around homeland, security, and ambition. Ideally, the Cancer-Capricorn axis represents taking responsible action for nurturing the needs of one's immediate sphere: family, home, self-care. The tension between family and career is found on this axis, where our worldly goals must serve and be balanced with the needs of our dependents. When we zoom out to the level of nation, Cancer-Capricorn represents the government's relative ability to provide for and protect its citizens.

But at a darker level, the Cancer-Capricorn axis represents purely personal protection and gain through tyrannical control. The all-providing mommy or the all-protecting daddy that withholds nurturing or security when the child doesn't behave is like the despot who demands absolute allegiance, proclaiming only he can do what's best for everyone, and whose edicts must not be questioned.

The Cancer-Capricorn axis doesn't get much darker than the state-sanctioned murder of a young mother. Renée Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7th, the same day that the Sun, Venus, and Mars all reached the same important zodiacal degree, 17º Capricorn, at an exact midpoint between the Saturn-Chiron opposition in the U.S. horoscope. Saturn (authority) and Chiron (wounding) together represent the struggles and triumphs against organized brutality that has shaped America's history. They also represent the healing potential of compassion codified into law, whether outlawing child labor, enforcing food safety, or upholding civil rights. Tragedies like the murder of Ms. Good shock us into remembering that we cannot have a compassionate society if we do not fight for it.

Looking into February, we see continued breakdown with the challenging geopolitical dissolution of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries, along with a solar eclipse directly on the U.S. Moon in Aquarius. The tension culminates when Mars conjuncts the U.S. Moon in a highly stressful and volatile square with Uranus on February 27th.

February is followed by an impassioned Spring featuring every inner planet moving through Aries while squaring the U.S. Sun. In particular, on April 2nd, the Libra-Aries Full Moon stressfully aligns to the U.S. Sun in Cancer in an almost direct echo of the Cancer Full Moon of January 3rd.

The Aries energies are not one-sided, however. Aries represents the power and courage to show up to the fight, to take a stand for justice and truth. The transits of Spring look as if we have finally shed the feelings of helplessness of the past few years while Saturn and Neptune made their journey through Pisces. With the shift to Aries we have gathered our courage to apply what we've assimilated from our shared grief to vitalize a renewed opposition to authoritarianism. This is an important step, for if history is to be our guide, there is hope that in the coming years we will emerge victorious for a more democratic and humane world.

The intensity of Spring will open a pathway to the powerfully cooperative energies of July, a month that evokes strength in solidarity, along with potentially revelatory exposure of corruption, just before we head into the midterm elections. By this time we should see social and political alliances emerging that will give us all something substantive to support.

No doubt 2026 will be among the rockiest years we've seen this decade. But if there's a positive dimension to these times, it's that we are increasingly motivated to un-silo ourselves, reconnect to each other, and realign our values to the good of community, political engagement, and social care. The transits of Uranus and Pluto these next few years highlight this important factor, that we are reuniting in the spirit of our shared humanity to ally against a monstrous corruption that we have allowed to grow for far too long. The monster is an expression of our shared shadow, therefore we can defeat it with our shared valiance, and disabuse the world of its power with our shared responsibility.

Stay inspired, stay active, stay safe, and keep vigil for the signs of hope that are around the corner.

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