When a crisis of belief turns into action: what four centuries of Neptune in Aries reveal about power

Neptune takes around 165 years to complete its orbit. Pisces often leaves us questioning the beliefs, institutions and identities we once assumed were fixed. Aries asks what happens next.

That transition is where things become interesting.

Neptune first entered Aries on 31 March 2025, returned briefly to Pisces on 22 October 2025, then crossed back into Aries on 27 January 2026 for the beginning of its longer journey through the sign.

During the first ingress into Aries, global markets were already reacting to the prospect of sweeping US tariffs and within days, Washington announced a major new tariff regime that challenged decades of established trade policy.

Later that month, Pope Francis died, opening a transition in the leadership of the Catholic Church.

A month after Neptune returned to Aries, the geopolitical landscape shifted abruptly. On 28 February 2026, US and Israeli strikes on Iran widened the conflict, prompting Iranian retaliation across the Gulf — including strikes reaching Dubai, one of the Middle East’s most visible centres of tourism, trade and global capital.

The coincidental pattern of changing political, religious and geopolitical power — and its timing — is worth watching.

What Neptune in Pisces leaves behind

As Neptune leaves Pisces, an old belief begins to lose its hold; Aries gives the emerging idea greater identity, momentum and consequence.

Let’s go back in time and look at history, starting with the fourteenth-century cycle and how an old hierarchy began to fall apart.

The fourteenth century: the old order cracks

Neptune entered Pisces in 1356, while Europe was still absorbing the devastation of the Black Death and the continuing Hundred Years’ War. Labour had become more valuable, but governments and landowners were trying to preserve the old feudal order and we saw social pressure already building.

Within a few years of Neptune entering Aries in 1370–71, the Western Schism of 1378 divided the Catholic Church between rival popes, while John Wycliffe was openly questioning the wealth and authority of the clergy.

Then, in 1381, still within the Neptune in Aries cycle, the Peasants’ Revolt brought workers and peasants into direct confrontation with the Crown over taxation, labour restrictions and serfdom.

Pisces had effectively exposed the weakness in institutions and Aries turned that loss of faith into an open challenge.

The sixteenth century: a break with Rome

In the sixteenth century, Neptune first entered Aries on 24 May 1533, slipped back into Pisces that August, returned to Aries in March 1534, retreated once more into Pisces in November, then finally settled into Aries on 1 January 1535.

The religious rupture had begun much earlier. In 1517, while Neptune was still in Pisces, Martin Luther challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church through his Ninety-Five Theses, attacking clerical abuses and the sale of indulgences. Print technology carried the argument rapidly across Europe.

By the time Neptune was repeatedly crossing into Aries in 1533–34, the crisis of belief had become political and institutional. Henry VIII’s break with Rome was formalised through Parliament, culminating in the Act of Supremacy of 1534, which severed England’s ecclesiastical ties with Rome and placed the monarch at the head of the English Church.

By then, Pisces had continued to weaken the old religious consensus before Aries stepped in to give the rupture leadership, law and structure.

The late seventeenth century: authority in question

The late seventeenth century reveals another clear pattern.

Neptune entered Pisces in 1684–85 and remained there until its first Aries ingress in 1697.

During that Pisces phase, belief in the divine and the largely unchecked authority of monarchy was already weakening.

King James II’s Catholicism and his attempts to bypass Parliament using his ‘royal prerogative’ helped trigger the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

By 1689, William and Mary had been offered the Crown; however, the Bill of Rights had placed new limits on their royal authority.

By the time Neptune moved into Aries in 1697–98, a new order had become more explicit. The 1701 Act of Settlement had secured a Protestant succession, and the Acts of Union in 1707 had, under one Parliament, created Great Britain.

Pisces had dissolved confidence in the old order whilst once again, Aries gave the replacement structure form and authority.

The nineteenth century: identity becomes action

History, as we are starting to see, has a habit of repeating itself.

In 1847–48, Neptune entered Pisces until its first ingress into Aries on 13 April 1861.

During Neptune’s Piscean years, the United States became increasingly divided over slavery, abolition and the future of the Union. The Compromise of 1850 failed to resolve the underlying conflict. However, by 1860 states were seceding.

On 12 April 1861, Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter. Neptune entered Aries the following day.

The US Civil War followed, emancipation reshaped its purpose, and slavery was abolished through the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.

Across the Atlantic, Italy was being unified in 1861 and Germany would follow suit in 1871.

The Neptune in Pisces cycle had exposed the fracture and Neptune in Aries had turned identity, sovereignty and belief once again into action.

Neptune in Aries tells us what people are prepared to rally around. The middle years show us how governments, organisations and markets build around it.

Neptune in Aries, 2026–2039

Neptune’s present journey through Aries began with the brief ingress of 31 March 2025, followed by the return to Pisces on 22 October 2025 and the settled crossing on 27 January 2026. It will remain in the sign until it enters Taurus, with the full transit running to 2039.

The four earlier cycles suggest what to watch. In each, the loss of faith in an established authority came first: the Church, the Crown, the divine right of kings, the Union. Aries then turned that doubt into a contest over who has the right to lead, and what they are entitled to ask of the people they lead.

We are therefore less likely to see belief fade quietly than to see it become more visible, more personal and more openly contested. The questions to watch are the same ones that surfaced in 1381, 1534, 1689 and 1861. Which institutions still command trust? Who speaks with authority? And what are people now prepared to organise, argue or act for?

This is not a forecast of any particular outcome, or a judgement about which side deserves to prevail. History shows the pattern of the cycle, not its conclusion. What we can say is that the early years of a Neptune in Aries transit tend to expose fractures that were already forming, while the later years show which new structures are built around them.

What does that mean for business?

For business owners, executives and leaders, the important question is not whether belief belongs in commerce. People are paying closer attention to what companies claim to stand for and increasingly checking whether the evidence supports it. Greenwashing, performative values and polished corporate narratives are easier to expose when customers, employees and investors can trace a company’s record for themselves on the internet.

The danger is assuming that yesterday’s consensus still exists.

Which assumptions are still shaping your strategy?

It may be a belief about customer loyalty, globalisation, technology, political stability, talent, supply chains or brand reputation.

Neptune can make conviction persuasive. Aries gives it urgency, identity and momentum.

The leaders who navigate this period well will know how to separate belief from evidence — and when to act on both.

When Neptune enters Taurus

Whether today’s ideas prove durable, ethical or commercially astute will become clear when Neptune moves into Taurus, shifting the emphasis from belief to value.

If Neptune in Aries asks, “What are we prepared to fight for?”, Neptune in Taurus asks, “What is actually worth preserving, owning, funding or building?”

In business, it will favour brands that offer trust, quality, physical experience and genuine substance. It could also punish businesses whose perceived value rests mostly on image.

You have until May 2038 to get it right.

If you are weighing a decision where belief and evidence may be pulling in different directions, request an astrology consultation through The Karmic Soul to look at the cycles alongside the choices in front of you. For leaders, the same questions are explored in Business Advisory engagements. You can also read how another long cycle is reshaping power in A World in Transition: The Jupiter-Saturn Cycle and the Fight for Power.

Book an astrology consultation with The Karmic Soul

Sources and further reading