Feb. 17th Solar Eclipse Degree at 28 degrees Aquarius, conjunct Mars Feb. 28.
Sabian Degree description: “A butterfly emerges from the husk of a chrysalis into a beautiful new world. It begins to flit from one flower to the next.” from “The Zodiac by Degrees” by Martin Goldsmith
The Cold and Challenging Journey from Capricorn to Aquarius
The bundling of planets from Capricorn into Aquarius (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars) transiting together through these signs in January and February is a demonstration of humankind’s often harsh struggle; first to simply survive the storms and conflicts, and secondly to work together to invent technologies and forge alliances and friendships that solve the problems that are impossible to detect and correct by an individual alone.
We experienced Pluto’s transit in Capricorn from 2008 – 2024, taking Pluto’s deadly dance of death through society’s established political leadership; the “disestablishment of the establishment” that I have frequently referred to in my books and newsletters. Capricorn often seeks a “father archetype”; presents itself as “the government”, “the corporate and banking system that controls an economy, “respected” leaders in politics and industry within the highly valued system of “trust and verify”.
Pluto, the King of Conspiracy, spoke to people in the US and around the world, asserting that all authorities were flawed. He warned the public-at-large to “trust nobody”. His presence in our skies coincided with an extreme polarization of bad will between races, sexes, political parties, and religions. This has led to a loss of faith in Democracy, which cannot exist without well-informed critical thinking, a willingness to compromise, proven historical institutions, and a collective respect for all views. Unfortunately, this month’s planetary concentrations in Capricorn point to a possible flu epidemic.
The great irony in all this tension and anger has been the willingness to return to authoritarian leaders whom many believe will care for them like a “benevolent parent,” relieving them of the responsibility to ferret out the truth. These collective decisions have led to a reemergence of dictatorships here in the US and around the world — who spew lies and propaganda over the media, demonize immigrants, suck up a nation’s wealth, and freely use the military to stop protests and further their own personal interests.
The internet and its presence on cell phones, and then the advent of AI on all devices everywhere, is framing itself as a parent-like “authority. This would remind us of numerous science fiction novels involving people who “consult” it not only for information but for “therapy”, or simply companionship as an antidote to the loneliness often created by solitary individuals, living and working from home alone. I can’t help but remember the computer, “Hal”, who controlled the space capsule on “2001: A Space Odyssey”, the famous novel by Arthur C. Clark, made into an iconic movie in the 1970s.
The frenzy over open AI will likely hit a wall of harsh realities in 2026. The investment (on borrowed money) of over $1 Trillion is only estimated to bring in an estimated $1 Billion a year. This is not a perfect tool as it is filled with errors and misstatements. We must remember that AI has been created by humans. Thus, a “bubble” breaks, along with the stocks invested in this area. In addition, our chief competitor in the world, China, is ahead of the US in the development and evolution of AI.
A Flawed Economic System:
The long established American “worship” of unregulated capitalism has resulted in what some call a “Plutocracy” in which giant corporate monopolies who fight with each other for control, escape taxation, dodge responsibility for product flaws, create national monopolies, and, since the Citizens United Decision from the Supreme Court in 2010, can pour limitless amounts of money into political campaigns. This does not resemble any model of healthy entrepreneurial capitalism, which would encourage innovation and healthy competition. It is also seriously damaging public systems, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and public education.
Over the past several years, Sinclair Media has become a media monopoly by acquiring local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations across the country. The recent battle between Netflix and Paramount to buy Warner Bros. – Discovery is an example of this trend that could potentially control and interpret all the “news media”, eliminate access to free speech, and even possibly “dumb down” the nation’s collective mind even further as young people’s eyeballs continue to be plastered to their cell phones. We are facing the fact that, at this moment in time, 80 – 90 percent of this nation’s wealth is concentrated in the accounts of 1100 American families! Meanwhile, the public at large can no longer afford health insurance, housing, adequate education, or infrastructure repairs nationwide.
A Reality Check:
Since the end of World War II, the USA has been the world’s greatest economic and military power. Our GDP is, by far, the largest in the world. It has also become an intellectual center of scientific research, development of innovation, and has attracted the finest academic minds from other nations to gather here and work in our universities to expand knowledge that will benefit humanity-at-large. It has come at a cost.
Too many Americans feel “left out” of all this to the point they feel “invaded” by foreigners, whom they blame for their reduced financial situations. This same segment of the population is reeling from “culture shock” as different races, ethnic groups, religions, and sexual orientations emerge as major forces in their lives. Thus, there is an emergence of extreme “right-wing” political forces that will go to great lengths to reverse all of this.
Instead of correcting these imbalances, President Trump has obliterated and defunded all the institutions that made us a great nation, and is blaming immigrants, playing to blame “the other” than white “Christians” he thinks are the “real” Americans. In addition, he has imposed tariffs that, historically, have never worked and only served to make our economy worse. However, corporations that donated to Trump’s campaigns and events were systematically “exempted” from the tariffs. The nations on which the US imposes tariffs impose tariffs on the US, ultimately ballooning prices for the consumer, and everyone loses.
Returning to Fascist tactics, Trump has recently announced a beefing up of our military and nuclear complex, encouraging other nations like South Korea and Saudi Arabia to do the same. For decades, all administrations have been working toward global disarmament of nuclear weapons, realizing the human potential for the dreaded “mutual self-destruction.” All this is playing out as Trump refuses to support Ukraine and caters to Russia in a terrible war that Russia started. Instead of supporting the NATO Alliance in this war, he launches military strikes at Venezuela and Nigeria, violating international norms, and threatens to take over Greenland.
Meanwhile, China is forging ahead as an economic powerhouse.
Possible Solutions:
Fair taxation of the rich could help create social support systems for relevant and targeted training and education, housing, and health care, to give Americans more access to benefit from an economy that is currently often out of their reach. In December of 2025, former Republican candidate for president, Mitt Romney, wrote an editorial published by the New York Times entitled “Tax the Rich, Like Me.” Trump’s economic policies are all about firing personnel and defunding the greatest centers for medical and scientific study in the world, claiming “waste and fraud. His “reverse Robin Hood” techniques would rob the poor to finance the rich. His anti-intellectual policies could collapse US scientific and medical research organizations that have led the world for decades. Fair trade with other nations throughout the world needs to be brought back. These destructive policies need to be reversed and our greatest institutions restored.
Around the World:
Multiple climate catastrophes, civil wars resulting in starvation like the one in Sudan, border wars in developing nations, and ongoing crises in the Middle East that produce terror groups like ISIS and Hamas have increased migrations throughout the world. Amplifying all this are the horrific wars in Palestine and Ukraine. The US had developed what is called “soft power” through charitable organizations such as USAID, which the Trump administration recently “defunded. Trump’s focus on Venezuela, threatening a war over “drug trafficking,” has now attracted our old enemy, Iran, to support them and may lead to a larger war. Trump’s attempt to “settle” the Ukraine/Russia War by “capitulating” to Putin will not work as NATO nations and the EU are stepping up their economic and military support for Ukraine. Putin will never forge any compromise.
What Now?
Pluto is transiting Aquarius over a considerable arc of time that will extend to March 2043. Uranus is transiting Gemini, and Neptune and Saturn are transiting Aries. Historically, Pluto has transited the end degrees of Capricorn and into Aquarius at the time of the American Revolution — which was a war fought for Democracy — self-governance rather than a people controlled by a monarchy; a president, legislature, and judicial system with a “balance of powers” so that no one entity could control a nation. It ushered in an age of inventors, statesmen, and grand experimental ideas such as “We the People.” Unfortunately, these transits also coincided with great wars before these victories were won. In this era of nuclear weapons, we cannot tolerate a “great war” that would possibly result in the extinction of mankind.
A Wake-up Call:
Guess what! Here we are, finally waking up one morning to see that a dictator took office in the US with an astrological chart that bears a startling resemblance to “Mad King George”, who was the king during the American Revolution. It is de-ja-vu all over again. The Eclipse in February at 28 degrees Aquarius, conjunct the US Natal Moon signals a crisis in the continuity of the presidency, suggesting Pres. Trump will suffer a series of losses, making it difficult for him to remain in power.
The Tide is Turning:
These two winter months in 2026 will enhance and frame our crises, conflicts, and awakenings that swirled around us in 2025. With skyrocketing inflation, huge price increases in healthcare that benefit predatory billionaires, jobs lost to Artificial Intelligence, and the three parts of government, that were meant to “check and balance one another” rolled into one, — people are starting to feel the pain and “come out of their coma”.
The US is now having to face the harsh realities that became fact when we turned ourselves over to somebody who not only did not “save” us, but who is a fraud, convicted of fraud, and who has used his power in the government to line his own pockets (his deal with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and his cooperation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin)). He rewards those loyal only to him (the others he indicts in the courts). This president has seen Congress and the Supreme Court do nothing essentially as he violates the law, usurps their power (tariffs), and uses ICE to arrest, detain, and deport immigrants indiscriminately all over the nation. The Epstein scandal revelations continue to unfold in Congress. More and more Republicans are either leaving office or disassociating themselves from the President. The Supreme Court has recently signaled they may no longer support the president’s agenda at all costs.
The February transits in Aquarius present a wake-up call. The Eclipse Degree of 28 degrees Aquarius is conjunct the Natal Moon of the US and is on the Descendant of Donald Trump, suggesting his partnerships and coalitions may be breaking up or coming to an end. It suggests “We the People” are ready to emerge out of a chrysalis and implement the famous “butterfly effect” where all of us, rich or poor, young or old, man or woman, can change the course of history!
The Economy:
Treasury data from last year shows the US government spent $970 Billion on NET INTEREST in fiscal 2025, more than the $917 Billion spent on national defense! Healthcare costs are skyrocketing beyond anything we have ever seen before, as many of us discovered in Dec. 2025 when we had to negotiate which plans to adopt – especially those attached to both the Affordable Care Act and Medicare. January will see increased unemployment, corporate restructuring with layoffs connected to AI, fights in Congress concerning taxes (the unfair distribution of taxation of the middle class and little or nothing connected to the very rich). Financial markets may come down. People will believe that the data points to recession and to possibly what is now being called the “AI Crash”. At this time, however, I do not see a serious recession.
The housing market continues to be uncertain, since Uranus is still in Taurus (real estate) until the end of April. This is not just about interest rates. Young people with decent jobs do not make enough money to afford to buy property. They are often shouldering college loan debt, credit card debt, and health insurance costs, etc., that all eat away at their finances. There has also been a movement of millions of people through their retirement funds into the stock market, similar to the trends in the1920s. Financial journalist, Andrew Ross Sorkin, points this out in his recent blockbuster book “1929” — that historically, in the 1920s, thousands of middle-class people put all their money and savings into the stock market without knowing what they were doing, done within a background of missing safety nets.
The new “Gold Rush” has already begun as a hedge against the out-of-control inflation spiral, as the nation will no longer be able to service its debt. Both gold and silver may see all-time highs this year. These January Capricorn transits will go over the US Pluto in Capricorn, raising even more conflicts over who and what controls the US economy, and would be revealing what would be most accurately described as resembling the “Gilded Age” of the early 20th Century.
From the end of January to the end of February, planets will go through Aquarius, joining the present transit of Pluto in this sign and recalling the adage spoken by Patrick Henry – “Give me liberty or give me death.” Aquarius is a sign of innovation, technology, and wide communication networks. Artificial Intelligence will be at the top of the agenda. There will be major moves in Bitcoin and other Coin-based currencies. We are witnessing an age of “Online Everything.” On Feb. 14th (Valentine’s Day), Saturn and Neptune will be conjunct at 00 degrees Aries, which astrologers refer to as the “World Point”, elevating the presence of these trends.
By April 26, 2026, Uranus will go back into Gemini, harmonizing with Pluto in Aquarius and Neptune in Aries. This is truly the “Dawn of the New Age” we have all been waiting for!
Mercury Retrograde:
The Mercury transit into Pisces this month, which will retrograde at the end of February and go direct in the middle of March, will have us all “swimming” in doubt and confusion. Part of this uncertainty will be caused by crazy storms and accompanying weather conditions across our nation until the end of April. All this does not inspire confidence in stable financial markets, any more than it does in stable weather conditions.
Weather and Natural Events:
Last year, Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii erupted 37 times, Alaska endured a major earthquake, and Japan endured another major earthquake and tsunami. Feb. 3, Uranus goes direct and is square Mercury Feb. 5 and is square Venus Feb. 7, both “earth-shaking” events. Since Aquarius rules over aviation, I would not be traveling by air in this period. Mars hits this square on Feb. 27, just as Mercury goes retrograde on Feb. 25., another time to stay safe and remain home. Saturn and Neptune reach critical degrees in Pisces (storms and earth instabilities) before they conjunct on Feb. 14th in the new sign of Aries.
Science & Technology:
A major breakthrough in nuclear fusion has occurred in France’s ITER nuclear reactor that has been constructed over decades and had run into a multiple of problems.. It has maintained 90 million degrees of plasma for a record-breaking 22 minutes and 17 seconds. This information was posted in Advanced Science News, 2025. This surpasses what was recently accomplished in China. Fusion is on its way to eventually solve our energy crisis and end human-induced global warming.
Recently, an article in “Interesting Engineering” reported – “Researchers at MIT have discovered “the most direct evidence to date of unconventional superconductivity, in “magic-angel” twisted trilayer graphene (IMATTG).” “This finding is a crucial step in the global search for room-temperature superconductors, often referred to as ‘The Holy Grail of Physics.”
Recently, in December, the CBS show”60 Minutes” did a piece on a mother faced with her sick infant’s genetic disease that would destroy her spinal cord. Recent genetic engineering has formed a “cure” for this disease with a caveat: it costs $1.4 million. Some programs donated the money, and the child‘s life was saved, but the point of the story is that there is no way most people can afford to make use of these medical interventions. CRISPR technology, which has ushered in genetic “cures” for diseases, is a breakthrough in medicine, but it is too costly for most people to access.
Looking to the future:
I believe the year 2026 will mark a turning point in human civilization, marked by technological breakthroughs across AI, spaceflight, and medical cures for cancer, autoimmune diseases, infections, and even mental diseases and abnormalities. The “theory of entanglement” has already transformed our notions of time, space, and a quantum reality that resembles nothing we have encountered in history. Recent observations among quantum theorists would suggest that time, as we know it, does not exist.
On April 26, 2026, all the powerful slow-moving planets: Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and even Saturn will be in new signs, making supportive angular relationships (aspects) with each other. With both Neptune and Saturn going into Aries (the God of War), the looming question will be whether or not we engage in another world war. June 30th, Jupiter goes into Leo (which I will discuss in future newsletters), making aspects to all these planets. This could be the “Time we have been Awaiting” for centuries:
However, it is not enough for us to march into the Space Age without the components of human compassion, emotional maturity, intellectual curiosity, and spiritual development. This would be analogous to giving a fire bomb to a toddler. As legend has informed us, when Prometheus brought fire to the human race, the Gods were horrified, saying humans “could not handle this” and punished Prometheus for the act. Were the gods right?
Final Thoughts:
I foresee enough people speaking out with intelligence and compassion; younger persons running for positions in the political sphere, and demonstrating in our great cities, who would create a wave of consciousness change that will speak to us once again, reclaiming our democracy – a nation by and for the people. We will have to recognize and end our reliance on the “Reptilian” part of our brains, because such humans will simply go extinct.
Because I can’t see any other alternative, I prefer to think humanity will likely discover and begin our ascension to a higher level of intelligence that would recognize and access multiple levels of the conscious universe we currently inhabit. The bridge to this new way of living will be formed by the gathering of all the different individual pulses into one beating heart, encompassing the whole earth and inspired by the constellations above. Stay tuned!
Happy New Year!
Linda
Important Points of Reference for Astrologers:
Full Moon at 13 degrees Cancer, opposition Venus and Mars on Jan. 3, Mercury in Sagittarius square Neptune Jan. 1, opposition Jupiter Jan. 14, conjunct Mars Jan. 17, is conjunct the Moon, is trine Uranus and is sextile Saturn on Jan. 18, is sextile Neptune on Jan. 19, goes into Aquarius Jan. 20 and is conjunct Pluto Jan. 21; Mars in Capricorn is conjunct Mercury Jan. 18, is trine Uranus and sextile Saturn Jan. 19 and is sextile Neptune Jan. 20, goes into Aquarius Jan. 23. and is conjunct Pluto Jan. 27, and will square Uranus (conjunct the Solar Eclipse) Feb. 27; Full Moon at 12 degrees Leo Feb., 1, New Moon Solar eclipse Feb. 17 at 28 degrees Aquarius (conjunct the US Moon); Mercury at 28 degrees Aquarius is square Uranus Feb. 5, Mercury goes into Pisces Feb. 7 and goes retrograde Feb. 25th (going direct March 20); Venus in Aquarius will square Uranus Feb. 7, will go into Pisces Feb. 9, and will trine Jupiter Feb. 22; Saturn goes into 00 Aries conjunct Neptune Feb. 14.
