the astrology of 2026 | February - releasing without replacing just yet

I don't want to be writing about the overall year in such a piecemeal way, but February is just too important to not STOP HERE and look at it.

Also, this is just too big a year to look too far ahead. We can't push through February the way January trained us to do.

February begins with a BIG Full Moon in Leo on February 1st - we talked about it HERE. I summed it up as 'meeting the limit we denied existed'. It's a RECKONING.

Let's break the month into three-parts and see what we see.

BEGINNING OF THE MONTH - we are going to want to let the Full Moon finish its sentence/play out, so take a breath when you can and deal with what the Moon has stirred up. Our nervous system has a hang-over and Grandpa's cure of 'a hair from the dog that bit us' well, I am not so sure.

Aquarius wants decisions/freedom. Jupiter/Cancer wants safety. Uranus stirs anxiety. Things don't fit. We don't want to mistake clarity (when it peeks its head in) for readiness because - THE ECLIPSES ARE COMING.

1. Not a good time to finalize important decisions that we are emotionally charged about.

2. Instead of acting - write things down (this is action, too).

3. Expect to be irritable and for others to be, too (this can be a false sense of urgency). Expect the unexpected (sorry I had to say this with multiple squares to Uranus).

What is becoming clear, but isn't actionable yet? We can get a GRIP on some of this without any actual gripping.

MIDDLE OF THE MONTH - this is the heart of the month. The BIG Aquarius Eclipse that pulls the future into the present AND the meeting of Saturn and Neptune at 0-degrees Aries. The Solar Eclipse on the 17th is a New Moon at almost the end of the sign, again, so functions both as a New and Full Moon and is SUPERCHARGED by being close to the North Node of Fate. We also have Venus exalted on the North Node at the same time, so this is a DOUBLY FATED LUNATION. It has a BREAKUP, BREAKDOWN, BREAKTHROUGH square to Uranus, but through dispositorships some very real positives, too.

There are 3 days between the Eclipse and the Saturn/Neptune which seems significant to me. I have to look at it. A time out of time. What happens in this window as the old-world quietly or not so quietly slips way ...

Solar Eclipses can bring endings for solar figures - fathers/leaders. For most people though - this is more about a withdrawal of energy from roles that no longer fit than an actual ending. We could feel the need to pull back mentally or socially. We could feel a sudden sense that a structure is HOLLOW or a loss of motivation for something we should care about.

The Saturn/Neptune is very uncertain. This isn't a reason to panic. Life has been showing us how much things are not working, to make it easier for us to adapt to the big changes coming. Fantasy can dissolve here. Responsibility can be vague but also can be clarified. Our beliefs can sober up.

1. Let's not try to define the future too quickly

2. Let's try to not force meaning with whatever is going on

3. Our certainty is meant to dissolve here, so let's not cling to it

4. Find ways to ground yourself - time in nature, time with children or anyone who pulls you 'into the moment', eat foods grown in the ground, etc.

5. Allow your identity to BLUR for a bit

6. Don't add commitments just yet, reduce them if possible

7. TREAT CONFUSION AS A SIGNAL TO SIMPLIFY THINGS not a signal to search for answers

Repeat to yourself - I don't need the answer yet.

Saturn likes that because it means we are taking things seriously and Neptune can relax into it.

END OF THE MONTH - Mercury retrograde (February 26th on) looks like a GIFT TO US. What?! Yes, maybe. Merciful Mercury, hmm, haven't thought about that before :)

Mercury in Pisces is saying, "ok, now go back and feel what you skipped." Note his/her station is happening with Mars square to Uranus and the Sun on the North Node, so we won't be sleeping through anything here. Mars is going to want to move/change things FAST and Mercury is saying "no, you don't get to say it that way - you don't get to move that fast"

and then that Sun on the North Node is like a karmic spotlight - and in Pisces creates a kind of MORAL DRAG on our actions. Is this compassionate? Is this the highest use of our energy? I think the Mercury retrograde can be the gift that keeps whatever is happening here from locking in. And then Mercury's conjunction to Venus pulls in our values.

We don't want to be insisting on clarity from ourselves/from anyone else. We don't want to be arguing our story. We want to do more listening than explaining. This is not a good time to be signing papers if we can help it because there will be revisions/turn arounds and confusion.

BEST THINGS TO DO HERE - revisit conversations, but NOT conclusions, expect emotional misunderstandings/speak clearly and understand you may have to say it more than once and in more than one way, use art/music/meditation/prayer/time in water/silence. Silence is better than sloppy language. People will be feeling what we are really saying. Keep this in mind.

If January was about what we needed to confront and what limits we denied that we can no longer deny then February looks more like - what are we willing to release without replacing it immediately? And this is Eclipse season, so many things are out of our hands with this and they will be slippery. We get to choose our responses though.

February is not asking us for certainty, not asking us to 'know', not asking us to save anyone and it's especially not asking us to decide the rest of the year. IT IS asking us to notice when our efforts feel heavy and to reduce the scale of what we are doing when we do, to listen to disillusionment our own and other people's without panicking or trying to fix things and to try and stay ethically responsive with whatever is happening.

If we confuse slowing down with screwing up or failing, if we treat uncertainty as dangerous and jump into nonsense or 'the same old crap', if we over-ride ourselves/our instincts/our intuition - this is going to be a hard ride.

FEBRUARY doesn't need heroes.

It needs humility, honesty and maybe most of all TIMING, so stay adaptable. Keep in mind we will end the month in the Eclipse spin cycle - in between two powerful Eclipses ... and we start the month with a powerful Full Moon, so February comes in like a lion and goes out, well maybe like a lion in a washing machine ....

We'll still have weeklies and look in greater depth at the aspects and what is happening in the world and by sign, but I thought tossing something up now could be helpful.

Also keep in mind if you are reading this when I post it - we are still in January :)

xo all

FEBRUARY 1ST - FULL MOON IN LEO 13 degrees

FEBRUARY 2ND - Mercury sextile Chiron

FEBRUARY 3RD - URANUS STATIONS DIRECT

FEBRUARY 4TH - Venus sextile Chiron

FEBRUARY 5TH - Mercury square Uranus, Sun inconjunct Jupiter

FEBRUARY 6TH - Mercury enters Pisces

FEBRUARY 8TH - Venus square Uranus

FEBRUARY 10TH - Venus enters Pisces

FEBRUARY 11TH - Sun sextiles Chiron

FEBRUARY 12TH - Mercury conjunct North Node 9, Mars inconjunct Jupiter