Astrological Highlights for March 23-29, 2026: What You Can’t Control

Spirit Made Visible

Alert readers will recall that my late father, a textbook Capricorn, was a farmer. He was never happier than when he was riding a tractor, tilling soil in neat rows. He loved the dirt, the heat, the humidity, the bugs, all of it. When he came home for supper, he was exhausted and as tranquil as a Capricorn ever gets.

I don’t mean to romanticize hard labor. But one thing’s for sure – humans aren’t designed to sit still indoors for hours every day under artificial light. We may enjoy what we’re doing during those hours, and may not even consider ourselves very physical beings; but our bodies beg to differ. Just think of the glow of well-being and relaxation that follows a vigorous workout.

As the Sun makes its annual conjunction with Saturn this week (March 25, 2026, 1:55 am PDT, 4º43’ Aries), we may feel confined, regimented, achy, tired, or disgruntled – especially in the day or two leading up to the exact aspect. The physical body can be an uncomfortable, Saturnine container for the bright spirit of the Sun, especially when it’s suffering from disuse. But the Sun’s union with Saturn reminds us that our bodies are spirit made visible, that it’s a privilege to be alive, and that we owe it to our bodies to give them as much use as we give our minds.

Changing Your Form

This week, the Sun sextiles Pluto (March 25, 2026, 11:16 am PDT, at 05º06′ Aries) hours after its spine-bolstering meeting with Saturn. After a couple of weeks of big shifts, it might not seem like a very insignificant transit. But no connection between the Sun and Pluto is unimportant.

The two began a new cycle with their conjunction in Capricorn on January 23, 2026. When these two important symbols are in a conjunction, there’s enormous pressure to change our current form. Often, this pressure comes from those with power over us, like a boss, a parent, or a bank manager.

But at the opening sextile, we’ve gotten a little distance from that power struggle. We can begin to see the choices that are available to us – although whether we’re willing to take them, or whether they will take us where we want to go, is another question.

Protecting Something Tender

First Quarter Moons (March 25, 2026, 12:17 pm PDT, 05º08′ Cancer-Aries) motivate us to action, and in Cancer that action usually involves protecting something tender, whether it’s the people we love, our time, our energy, or what makes us safe. Whatever was initiated at the Pisces New Moon on March 18 now prompts the question, “Are these goals meaningful for me?” Fortunately, Pisces and Cancer are compatible water signs, and Pisces’ abiding New Moon goals like healing, spirituality, and intuition are easy for the Cancer First Quarter Moon to support.

The Sun is just past its conjunction with Saturn, and the Moon is square Saturn at this First Quarter Moon, so it’s responding to a very rough Saturn in Aries influence. “Get tough and get moving!” barks the Sun in Aries. And while Cancer is no pushover, its approach to taking First Quarter action is softer, less pointed, and focused close to home.

This phase can bring emotional conflict, especially around family, home, or even how we were raised and nurtured; but it also clarifies where adjustments are needed. So rather than toughening up or pushing through, the invitation of this phase is to respond – to make choices and initiate action that support nourishment and security, so whatever you’re trying to build has a chance to take root and last.

What You Can’t Control

Andrew had been working for the same company since right around the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn, back in early 2020 – improving his knowledge and skills, and doing everything possible to make himself an asset to the organization, even during the disruption of the pandemic years. Innovative, pioneering, and hard-working, he moved up the corporate ladder step by step and had every reason to believe he’d be there until he someday decided to retire.

Then, one recent Friday morning, he was called into a group Zoom meeting, in which he and nineteen of his coworkers were summarily fired. Not only had he unexpectedly lost his job, but he wasn’t even afforded the dignity of a personal dismissal.

This is a worst-case scenario of Saturn in Aries, the planet of responsibility, hard work, and professionalism, coming together with Pluto in Aquarius (March 28, 2026, 3:11 pm PDT, at 05°09’ Aries and Aquarius). This is a combination that can possibly see you promoted to greater power, but might just as easily dismiss everything you’ve painstakingly built. Any sense of control you’d had over your life, your status, and your income can be crushed in one demoralizing instant.

But because sextiles are hopeful aspects, allow me to unearth a glimmer of hope in this week’s sextile aspect between Saturn and Pluto – and that’s the potential to turn a disruption you couldn’t control into a new level of personal evolution. For Andrew, this is a chance to take the qualities that made him an outstanding (but ultimately disposable) employee and parlay them into a business of his own.

A dismissal is a scary turn of events, and there are no guarantees that he can make a go of it in a venture of his own. But Andrew is well positioned for entrepreneurship – and after all, committing himself to an employer didn’t exactly make him safe. Now, he has a chance to use Saturn to create his own employment, and Pluto to take control in a whole new way.

Writing and images © 2017-2026 by April Elliott Kent

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