You’re Not Falling Behind, Even If It Feels Like You Are
With six planets in Aries and Mars, Saturn, and Neptune in alignment, you may have all the conviction yet little control over your direction.
The primal pulse of Mars in Aries leads us to confront a contradiction: discerning what we can do from what we should do. From April 9 to May 18, the planet of momentum, tenacity, and conflict strides through daring Aries, firing up our hot, fast, and reckless impulses.
This is the cosmic landscape where Mars is most comfortable; the raw and unrefined Aries fire supports and accelerates Mars’ initiative. However, this season, a rare concentration of Aries energy presents a blend of polarising forces.
Mars is not the only planet in this sign—it stands beside the Sun, Moon (From April 15-17), Mercury, Saturn, and Neptune. Our actions, assertions, emotions, and expressions are now filtered through Aries’ urgency, driving immediacy, momentum, and willpower. But not all of these forces are collaborative.
Under such a rich tapestry of cosmic influence, Mars here is less the archetypal warrior and more a representation of our inner conflict: trying to act in a world where meaning, legitimacy, and consequence are blurry. Outcomes are uncertain, and trying to push forward or stay strong is leaving us feeling exhausted rather than accomplished.
This season of our lives teaches us that sometimes, the way forward is to let things be uncertain, unfinished, and undefined. We must remain strong when we have all the conviction yet little control over our direction and the doors that remain bolted shut.
Mars Conjunct Neptune: Misdirection
From April 17 to 19, we experience the total blur between conviction and projections. Mars meets Neptune—the planet of fantasy and disillusionment—cloaking the planet of movement in a mystical haze.
This reflects a distortion around our sense of direction, the battles we consider worthwhile, and the competitions we fall into. Mars is traditionally direct: effort equals results. Neptune interrupts that flow, revealing how often our efforts are channeled toward projections and less visible systems or outcomes.
The commanding conjunction of Mars and nebulous Neptune invites a deeper reflection on the meaning we assign to our trajectory—the stories we construct around progression and the illusion of falling behind. We’re called to remember the consequences of acting without clarity and the harm of over-spiritualising our anger rather than acknowledging the reality of our rage.
We must also dismantle the vision we hold of legends, heroes, and champions. Question the archetypes you have positioned as symbols of courage, capability, and success. What narrative have you constructed about yourself by forcing unfair comparisons to a myth? How has this impacted your self-belief and ambition?
Mars Conjunct Saturn: Endurance Under Pressure
Saturn, by contrast, introduces structure and limitations to Mars’ immediacy. When the planet of restriction bonds with the ruler of momentum from April 26 to 26, the soldier within us is restrained.
We’re receiving mixed signals—‘stop’ and ‘go’ signs that exist side by side, confusing our sense of direction. On a deeper level, we may feel deprived of options as the universe funnels us onto an enduring path with limited exits that we may not have chosen for ourselves.
Through this karmic cycle, we are called to recognize that there is no hard assertion without social friction, no charging ahead without consequence, no total independence with a lingering sense of isolation.
The smooth-sailing road is a fantasy—one that conflicts with the harsh truth that action is not solely what we want to do, but whether we can withstand the discomfort of time, pressure, and space between where we are and where we want to be.
We’re invited to master discipline and to untangle our stillness or stagnancy from its association with failure. As life slows us down, we are learning to be more deliberate about aligning with sustainable ambitions.
We mustn’t live in fear of taking full ownership of our misdirected rage or our misguided actions; when we acknowledge our reactions that have passed through doubt, distortion, and resistance, we grow stronger and wiser.