Adulting: Saturn into Aries

On 24/25 May 2025 (depending on your timezone), Saturn, the planet of responsibility, maturity and boundaries, will switch signs for the first time since 2022 when it ingresses into youthful and courageous Aries.

Following in Neptune’s wake

As is so often the case with this cautious and risk-averse planet, Saturn won’t be breaking new ground. Instead, it’ll be following in the footsteps of several other transpersonal planets, most notably the centaur Chiron, which entered Aries in 2018; and of course, and more recently, Neptune’s ingress in March 2025 – within days after the Aries solar eclipse.   

As I mentioned last time, Aries represents spring and the start of the natural life cycle. As the first sign of the zodiac, Aries is all about birth, new beginnings and the innocence of youth. In psychological terms, it represents the individual personality or ego identity – singular, self-confident and set apart from the herd.

Aries: Puer and Warrior Archetypes

Aries is also a cardinal fire sign, and Mars-ruled, which means that it has an active, masculine, dynamic quality to it – Aries likes to initiate, explore and is unafraid of taking risks. In Jungian terms, we might describe this zodiac sign as a combination of the warrior and the puer archetypes – courageous, independent and pioneering but also potentially foolhardy, destructive and immature.

I find it interesting that both of these archetypes have had a major hand in shaping the Western cultural mindset. The puer and the warrior both reflect patriarchal values and ideals such as heroism, bravery, physical strength and rugged individualism, and both are found within a range of Western art forms, mythical narratives and ideologies, from the Arthurian legends and other classical heroic epics to the Crusades and more recently, neoliberalism. Think survival of the fittest, market competition, success through individual effort and an entrepreneurial spirit that moves fast and breaks things, eschews regulation or restriction, and poo-poo’s what it perceives to be weak or girly notions like state intervention or social cooperation.  

Saturn the Senex

Standing in marked contrast to this is Saturn, which in many respects, represents the other end of the masculine spectrum: mature manhood and the wisdom of old age, the wise leader and teacher who teaches the value of circumspection, consistency and persistence through difficulties. Someone who welcomes, rather than rejects, the role of laws and limits in staving off chaos; and who sees the value of tradition and established institutions in stabilising society and preserving knowledge or achievements for posterity. 

In this respect, Saturn’s ingress into Aries between now and 2028, could act as a healthy bulwark against the dangers of selfishness, aggression and inflation, which an unchecked Neptune in Aries could lead to, given its distinct lack of boundaries. Something I mentioned in last week’s podcast. This is especially true of the Saturn-Neptune conjunctions, which will be in play in early August 2025 and late February 2026.

Father & Son Relationships

From an archetypal perspective, you could say that Aries and Saturn represent the relationship between puer and senex – youth and old age – a dichotomy I find rather interesting, given all that’s happening culturally, what with the rise of incels and the manosphere, and the current crisis of masculinity playing out in the West that’s causing concern amongst many women, parents, teachers and authority figures.  

So, given all of this, I can’t help but wonder whether Saturn’s tour though the sign of the angry young man won’t bring this tension/distinction into consciousness for us collectively, perhaps highlighting where society may have failed these young men, and bringing into sharper focus the unintended knock-on effects this is having in relationships, as well as the spike in misogyny, femicide and male acts of violence such as public shootings and stabbings.

It could also herald the emergence of a new breed of father figure or male role model who can act as a calming influence, offering sensible direction and mature guidance to these ‘lost boys’ whose anger and loneliness are currently being exploited by the porn industry, terrorist groups and opportunistic ‘manfluencers’ like Andrew Tate?

Anti-dote to Chiron’s Wound?

In this sense, Saturn could prove to be the perfect antidote to the core masculine wound, which I associate with Chiron’s tour through Aries, which began in 2018 and is due to end in 2027.

For many astrologers, Chiron’s ingress into Aries coincided with a backlash against the whole 80’s and 90’s metrosexual trend. We began to see more macho influencers starting to call sensitive men ‘betas’ and push back against so-called ‘woke’ ideas about men embracing their feminine or ‘gay’ sides via counter-movements emphasising alpha male pursuits, from ‘looksmaxxing’ to a growing interest in entrepreneurial success, the drive towards acquiring ultra-masculine physiques via punishing or extreme health and fitness regimens, not to mention the rise in popularity of more retro movements like the hipsters, which extolled the virtue of growing beards, embracing meat-based paleo diets and drinking manly beverages like single origin coffee or craft beer, rather than overgrooming, going into vegetarianism or being too fashion-forward.

Many social commentators would argue that this male ‘wound’ – the feeling of being emasculated – is a slow-burn reaction to the growing emancipation of women that began with the suffragette movement of the 1920’s, but gathered increasing pace between the 1960’s and 80’s with the introduction of contraception and more job and advancement opportunities in the workplace that enabled greater financial independence for women.

More recently, some observers have pointed to the “Me-too” movement, founded in 2006 by Tarana Burke to support survivors of sexual violence – who were predominantly female or identified as such – as the latest cultural inflection point that spawned a male backlash that led to the development of incel and other anti-feminist communities and events such as Men’s Rights, Gamergate, Pickup Artists etc whose misogynist sentiments were further amplified and spread via the internet and social media platforms, mainly as a result of the algorithmic amplification of anger and outrage, which offered the fastest route to stickiness – or what marketers call ‘engagement’.

Incels & Socio-Economic Impotence

Whatever the real cause, experts have now shown that these types of damaging narratives have made vulnerable young men more susceptible to radicalisation from extremist and alt-right political groups, according to a 2023 Harvard study.

The paper, which was published by psychology researcher, Miriam Lindner argues that the mass killings and misogynistic ideology that often spawns male-related violence, are really a cry for help from young men – one linked not only to feelings of sexual inadequacy, but also socio-economic failure.

And when it comes to incels and their feelings of impotence, money and a lack of social mobility certainly has its role to play.

Saturn-Jupiter Boom & Bust Cycles

The reasons for this are complex, but date back to conditions created between 2000-2020 during the last Jupiter-Saturn cycle – something I discuss in detail in Episode 2 of the Astro-Insights podcast, which is available to listen to now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or you can watch it on YouTube if you prefer.

The current set of squares between the planets of boom and bust may also explain some of the recent market volatility we’ve been seeing, especially since the election of Donald Trump – a trend that is not likely to end until the autumn of 2025 once the last pass of this testing ‘quarter moon’ aspect phase has passed.

You can learn more about that in a condensed version of the podcast that focuses predominantly on financial astrology, by listening to the embedded YT video below. (Sound only)

Summary of Saturn in Aries Trends

But looking ahead to Saturn’s tour through Aries, here are some of the main trends I see arising out of this transit:

• I think this move could also prove to be productive for new entrepreneurs and start-ups, especially if governments and institutions are smart and offer certain economic sectors a range of long-term schemes or incentives such as tax cuts or exemptions from tariffs to help stimulate key parts of their economies.
• And as I mentioned earlier, given all the recent warmongering and sabre rattling in the Middle East and eastern Europe that the Aries-Libra nodal axis and Mars-Pluto oppositions seem to have stirred up, I also suspect that Saturn’s influence could mean brisk business for the military-industrial complex. As horrible as wars are, there’s no getting away from the fact that countries do need a strong military deterrent to counteract any imperialistic aggression from strong-men types like Putin; and that rebuilding the UK and European defense sectors could prove to be a good source of local jobs and economic growth over the next few years, provided governments make astute procurement decisions designed to maximise value but also ensure strategic advantage, as well as a degree of technical self-sufficiency so that they are not dependent on unreliable partners to help maintain or upgrade these weapons systems.
• Returning to the incel movement, I think we could see an improvement in father-son relationships and the emergence of a new breed of male role model that can offer angry young men and lost boys like incels the sensible advice and life skills mentorship they so desperately need to help counter the toxic rhetoric and victim narratives currently being fed to them by opportunistic ‘manfluencers’ and alt-right propagandists.
• On an individual level, this four-year period certainly looks like a good time to start a new business or turn a side hustle into a full-time job. The discipline of Saturn, combined with the courage to take risks and put yourself out there, could prove to be a winning combination and work in much the same way as Mars in Capricorn (Mars is exalted here and is often found in the charts of wealthy and successful business people) would.
• Saturn’s ability to add resilience and perseverance, combined with Aries energy, focus and drive, could also provide a recipe for success for anyone looking to start afresh, reskill, retrain or strike out in new career directions. Calculated risk-taking is well-favoured under this influence.  

A lot will come down to individual chart placements, but in general, I think that’s a fair overview.