Summer 2026

by David A. Wheatley

• Saturn/Neptune: world-afflicting viruses and the development of life-saving vaccines.
• Saturn/Neptune:  Saturn gets "more real" in Aries.
• The Mars/Saturn/Venus group.
• Mars stirs something up in late June and early July.
• Iran chart: the war.
• USA chart this summer; Crisis in all things Saturn administers.
• There's a buzz in the air with Uranus in Gemini.  Expect the unexpected.
• It is possible to produce something remarkable from all the chatter and chaos while Uranus is in Gemini. 

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I was discussing with a friend whether the increasing news of a dangerous virus was in any way related to current happenings with the astrological luminaries, and I said yes, unfortunately, the noted recent and still reverberating Saturn/Neptune conjunction historically introduces major pandemics or plagues, whatever one wants to call them, and vaccines for relieving them. ​

Other aspects that Saturn and Neptune form from time to time spread the consequences of their discordant chemistry. At the onset of Covid 19, they were in a sextile, which is usually regarded as a positive flowing aspect. But what flows between them are two cosmic opposites. Neptune defies borders and boundaries, and Saturn is borders, boundaries, and limits. Saturn wants to define what Neptune produces. If the cosmic psyche is ill, Saturn will produce some manifestation of that illness as it goes out into the physical universe seeking to find a treatment. A sextile aspect means there’s nothing getting in the way of that natural chemistry between Saturn and Neptune; open the gates.  

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​I’ve written about Saturn and about Neptune quite a few times in this space. One can go back centuries and highlight the striking coincidences of these two planets when in tight aspect, with the historic arrival of both world-afflicting viruses and the development of life-saving vaccines. Neptune resonates between very refined abstract energies in the most remote parts of the psyche, in medical astrology, and in the natural world where energy manifests. Saturn defines how and what form a kind of energy that will become a virus coalesces from the abstract into the natural world. Saturn is the container, and Neptune is the contents. That a form of abstract energy manifests as a virus is in keeping with something in the organism of the environment producing a potentially life-editing agent. They can be characterized together as the virus is something within the collective psyche that Is emerging as everything else does; a tool for the psyche to purge something within it but manifesting in the physical world as a virus. Saturn edits, Neptune is the conduit from the etheric to the physical plane.
Their recent conjunction at zero degrees of Aries follows a number of conjunctions while they were in Pisces. In Pisces, Saturn could not form a container and place it in the mundane world for life to interact with. In Pisces, the container was an abstract. But in Aries, things get more real. A number of conjunctions in Pisces then in Aries build up a tremendous dynamic that, finally, in Aries, unleashes mundane events in the world. Their conjunctions will reverberate for many years, modified by future interactions in other aspects. Major aspects are connected over time that greater realities in the timeless psyche exists outside of, overlapping in our consciousness here in the giant time clock we call the solar system. We live within it and deal with the realities of the psyche spread out over time, as noted by the giant ticking clock of planets, moons, and asteroids revolving around the Sun like a giant-sized mechanical grandfather clock. 

This reminds me of a discussion about the invention of a machine in the early part of the last century - parallel with the development of the X-ray machine - that could read the human aura. If the development of disease in the aura could be detected with such a device before it becomes a physical disease, doctors could prevent many physical and psychological health problems. But according to what I read about it some years ago, the development of an aura-reading device was sidelined in favor of the X-ray machine and ultimately abandoned. Everything is energy in one form or another, and we would benefit from having a device that enhances the sensitivity and development in the human brain to see auras.

So yes, Saturn and Neptune historically come together during times when our collective psyche produces a world-impacting virus and or vaccine. But they are not the only two planets that use disease to manifest their chemistry.
In the news recently, there’s talk of Ebola on the loose again in Bundibugyo. We already had Avian flu and Measles spreading into human populations, and we still have the Coronavirus/COVID-19. And the Hantavirus, also called the Andes Virus. Some of these are more impactful or lethal than the familiar COVID-19 virus in its most recent variant. The opportunities for transmission change over time, and that requires careful monitoring.
These diseases and others less well known are all present in an international environment and are transmitted more rapidly than strictly door-to-door, as human beings travel around the planet.  There are still some independent agencies monitoring them, but the infrastructure for preparing national defenses in the USA is fractured at this time. Thus, the potential for impact is greater.
From the medical astrology point of view in individual charts, the intense and often negative transits between Mars and Saturn are associated with the onset of a specific kind of illness more typical of their chemistry. Fiery Mars can bring fevers, which might actually help fight off a virus. Mars brings the battle for survival between the virus and the host. It brings the struggle, inflammation, the challenges of infection, and traditionally rules the quality of the blood, where blood flow restrictions can create clotting and cardiac blockages. Whether Mars is armed for battle or depleted, both show up in the blood. Saturn is associated with restrictions, blockages, chronic conditions, contaminations, and, if the battle is lost, death.
Saturn brings the consequences of how prepared we are when the challenge is faced. Neptune is the esoteric and physical body of water; it is the amorphous sea, literally and in metaphor. And in our body, which is mostly water. An antagonistic Neptune is a problem with fluids. 

Mars conjuncted Neptune and caught up with Saturn in Aries - where Mars is at its most volatile - in early May, about the time we were beginning to hear about the hantavirus.  The inner solar system planet Mars is a dynamic catalyst for outer-planet aspects, bringing them into our daily lives, as all the planets within Jupiter's orbit do. Having introduced the subjects, Mars then moves forward and forms a stressful square aspect to Saturn in early September. If a virus or two evolves, becomes more transmissible, and becomes a national threat, the first realization of this news would come in early September. At that time, Saturn would be around 14 degrees of Aries and Mars at 14 degrees of Cancer. Anyone with a copy of their natal chart can see how this might impact them directly.
Getting your natal chart done with some analysis for free can be done here: https://www.astro.com/horoscope
Venus will form a sextile to Mars from its placement at 14 degrees of Virgo, which could be helpful, but could also lead us to overconfidence to indulge carelessly, as it is also semi-sextile Jupiter in Leo and 150 degrees or inconjunct Saturn in Aries. This decisive moment might be the tipping point for realizing the cost of excesses. Any imbalances or infections involving Venus traditionally go to the kidneys. 

There isn’t a related transit from Uranus in this Mars/Saturn/Venus group, suggesting that we are not surprised by what develops. Uranus' involvement would speak to being caught unaware, but it isn’t involved. We will therefore probably see this coming. It is up to us to prepare for what might be coming. In the USA, there are some important new Saturn aspects coming later in the year, and Saturn always respects those who prepare and challenges those who don’t.
Another possibility with Neptune now in Aries, and not in the veiled mists of Pisces, is the crusading attitude of outgoing aggression while flying a sacred banner of duty. Because it’s Neptune, in Aries, the chances are there is a deception surrounding crusading intentions. Neptune is both the illusion that inspires and the illusion that deceives. It is amoral; Neptune’s natural realm is outside the differences between good and bad, right and wrong. It lets us decide, and therein we incur Saturn's scrutiny, which brings reward or punishment for dealing with responsibilities. There is no such thing as a holy war; no war is holy. Yet some may be inspired and, according to their psychology, wrap themselves up in and dwell within the illusion. Consequences to follow. 

​Mars is also actively stirring up something with Uranus as it conjuncts Uranus in late June, early July. Their conjunction is exact on July 3rd. Expect fireworks in the USA to be much more dramatic than we usually see on July 4th. These two planets are the combination that produces a surprise in a way Mars approves of; aggressive, dramatic, militaristic even. Could be a secret attack or even terrorism. Both Mars and Uranus will be in a trine aspect with Pluto, which ultimately produces something positive. But it’s positive in the way that a bar fight leads to the purchase of new furniture. Pluto likes to break down and scrap what it comes into contact with before replacing it with something more suitable to the moment. This will be a process to go through that ultimately leads to overall improvements, but the process itself is an out-of-control problem, provoking fears of death as Pluto metaphorically and literally does. The last time Uranus was in Gemini, and Mars was conjunct with it, was the atomic bombing in Japan by the USA, among other things, in the latter part of WW2. 

Iran

​The obvious ongoing war with Iran provides an easy excuse for Mars-themed activities. Iran operates on levels that the USA leadership historically fails to understand. American leadership imagines they understand what Iranian leadership and their unique character is after, but American leadership only ever demonstrates that they do not understand the other side. Some draw comparisons between the Iranian theocracy and the desire on the part of some Americans to have a Christian-dominated theocracy. But even that is a poor comparison on many levels, as it supposes the American quilt is similar to Persian culture.
Iran, thanks to the American and Israeli assault, has more power than it had before they attacked. The Iranian leadership now has controlling influence over world oil markets and much more besides.
30% of the world’s helium is produced and shipped through the Hormuz Strait. Without helium, you can’t have an MRI or other medical monitoring, or Microchip production. It’s not just for party balloons.
Without an affordable supply of sulfuric acid, we can’t refine copper, which is a critical metal for all technology, not just high tech.
And up to one-third of the world's farming fertilizers are made from nitrogen, ammonia, and phosphates produced and shipped through the Hormuz Strait. The calendar is passing by the planting season in the northern hemisphere; later this summer, when crops begin to come to fruition, we will have food shortages, which really means higher prices, if not literally shortages, mostly in second and third-world nations. Europe faces a greater challenge because of this and the war in Ukraine.
Before this war began, Iran did not wield the power to hold these over the heads of the Western world.
In the United States, another critical fertilizer imported from Canada, potash, is impacted by US tariffs, costs that will be passed on to consumers. Iran doesn’t have to do much following the beating it took. It can watch the Western world squeeze and writhe through a wider variety of economic crises, even if it is bombed again and again. Iran’s former leader, now deceased, had declared a fatwa against the development of a nuclear bomb. In their world, this is a high-caliber promise. But their opinion on this may have changed now that the leader is gone. 

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​Transiting Saturn is conjuncting Iran’s natal Moon, cast for the modern chart of Iran in 1979 when the current form of government overthrew the Shah and installed itself in a revolution. The Arab Spring was born in 2010 and in my book published at that time, I forecast that Iran would not join in the Arab Spring, unlike many other Arab nations that attempted to move into the current century and shake off the chains of the last few. I forecast an internal change in Iran for 2027.
With Saturn currently on the Iranian natal Moon, the harsh, unloving form of leadership will peak, and the people will suffer greatly until next April, when Saturn moves along and opposes Iran’s natal Pluto in Libra, forming complementary aspects with other natal planets that support another revolution, not just a change of leadership. But April of 2027 is far off from today, and the chokehold at Hormuz is going to raise pressure for the US to lower its demands and offer Iran more than threats of genocide. EU nations are attempting to negotiate a settlement with Iran; this may contribute to the EU's declining relationship with the USA, as the USA caused the problem to begin with and is withdrawing its support for EU national security. The whole world of mankind, apart from climate, is shifting.  Saturn met Neptune at zero degrees of Aries, and the world is changing forever.
Transiting Pluto by late this year moves into a conjunction with Iran’s natal Mercury and a sextile to its natal Moon. New leadership will emerge from Iran's new power in the world. It’s going to be more supportive of nurturing old traditions (the Moon), so it isn’t going to be modern in the western sense; it’s going to respect established traditions. It will be an evolutionary step for its people, likely more positive than the current regime has been.

USA chart Summer 2026

By June of this summer, Saturn will have begun its transit through Aries, away from slower-moving Neptune, into an opposition with the position of Saturn in the USA natal chart. In the US chart, Saturn is in the 10th house, a very visible public place where the whole world sees the quality of the US character nakedly. What they see is a painful conflict between the original placement of Saturn when the nation was formed (the birth chart) and where it is today. The tension of transiting Saturn opposing itself in the natal chart lasts through until May of next year. It’s a structural crisis, a legal crisis, a professional crisis, a karmic crisis, all things that Saturn administers in our lives. Saturn, as it transits through Aries, is in the US 4th house, so its problems are homemade. No one to blame but ourselves. As usual, Saturn’s methods are often through deprivation and restriction. Hardship. Stress. It seeks to make our understanding simple by making it clear. As soon as we get with the program, we climb out of the hole and begin rebuilding. You go to prison and hopefully resolve never to go back. There has to be a better way. 

​As Saturn approaches the opposition to its natal US placement, it makes a square, 90-degree aspect to the US natal placement of the Sun in the 7th house. By birth placement, this makes the US a good friend to have, with benefits, but the square is rubbing all that the wrong way. These days, for example, if the US leadership wants something you have and you aren’t giving it to them, they might threaten to exterminate your leadership or even the entire nation. This kind of brutish, bottom-of-the-barrel way of 7th house relationship building is the short road to the cliff. There’s a square in the US natal chart between the Sun and Saturn, so from the beginning, there’s been an issue of conflict between important allies and friends, which one might say had found a workable solution in decades past. But it’s up again for reworking. Probably this involves all neighbors (negotiations with Mexico and Canada on their trade agreement begin in June) and NATO allies. It involves relationships with every nation. Saturn is a teacher; we will learn by necessity with Saturn.

There’s a Uranus Return to its US chart natal placement coming a year from now and lasting through the 2028 election. Along with other factors, it’s a reminder that the US Constitution and character evolved out of revolution. There are many examples in US history of going to violent and bloody extremes to shape itself. Building around a presidential election may provide a less violent vehicle for expressing inner conflicts and resolving them. I will go into this more in due time.
Important to remember about Uranus entry into Gemini: Uranus in Taurus was subdued. As a sky god from an abstract strata of our consciousness, Uranus enters into our consciousness in suddenly noticed flashes that, like lightning at night, illuminate reality in a new way. We don’t experience Uranus so much as experience its aftermath. After the flash. It naturally rules Aquarius in modern astrology and is associated with new thinking in all areas, and technology, and on the flip side, with harebrained ideas that don’t work out well. In Gemini, there’s a tendency for excessive chatter, impressing people with abundant ideas among which might be 1 good one. Or maybe none, but there’s the feeling that something is happening. There’s a buzz in the air. 

​Uranus is the finger of God responsible in the Bible for the fall of the Tower of Babel. A shared language or telepathy is replaced by a multitude of languages; individuality. Instead of the shared herd or hive mentality, humanity was granted individual thought. Isolated from the union of a greater existence, an individual could exist cut off from the collective within its individual bubble. Being cut off from shared consciousness produces some panic, just as it would be a shocker to suddenly be “one with everything” as some people imagine. It’s really quite a blessing to be cut off and be able to explore experiencing reality and SELF as an individual. This is Uranus’ domain. In Gemini, the conversations will be flying, rapid fire, and may carry less substance in a scattered way. However, Uranus can work wonderfully in chaos because it distracts the mind with surprises. As we react to the flash of Uranian lightning, which is here and gone in a flash, our mind was not involved and we experienced something that feels profound because the mind was distracted and out of the way. It is possible to produce something remarkable from chaos while Uranus is in Gemini. 

Pluto will be in a flowing trine aspect from Uranus’ home sign of Aquarius, a very positive chemistry between them. Also an air sign, Pluto’s usual method of only creating after destroying (renovating) can operate with Uranus to suddenly change our lines of communication (Air signs + innovation). We could lose our favorite drug, the internet, and instinctively intuitively reach out with simple telepathic content in our daily lives. Still connecting but without the phone and without the details. Just impressions. At the midpoint of Uranus and Pluto will be Neptune. Technically then, Neptune is making a sextile to Pluto and Uranus. This brings the subtle realties of the transcendent mind into the mix. These three outer planet giants are going to spend several years moving in and out of this alchemy. The dependency on cell phones and then their access suddenly turned off (and eventually back on again) is a training wheel period for humans to reach out and touch someone telepathically. This period of training wheels will be uneven and noisy, full of useless chatter.
That’s Uranus in Gemini. 

A more mundane expression of Uranus moving into Gemini is the shift from the ball and chain of Taurus, to the three-ring circus of Gemini. Expect to see a more active period of Earth changes, natural disasters, and wild weather. Surging sunspot activity. The wizard is free from its prison and has its favorite toy, the lightning bolt. Expect the unexpected. 

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​David can be reached at [email protected] for a personal astrological consultation.
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