The Mars effect gets ratcheted down a notch this week when Neptune enters Pisces.

For the past few days, since Mars entered his own sign of Aries, he has dominated the sky. Right on cue, conflicts around the world intensified. Even Neptune deposited to Mars, which I have to admit I found hard to wrap my head around.

Hopefully, Neptune’s move into Pisces on Monday will be the chill pill we need to return from the brink of insanity. I can’t think of a better antidote to the overdose of aggressive Mars energy we received at the New Moon on April 3.

With his ego-denying qualities, Neptune could be considered the “anti-Mars.” Whereas Mars stands for war and lust, Neptune is about peace and love . . . well, maybe. It’s hard to know much of the time exactly what Neptune is about, but peace and love are in there somewhere.

Neptune is said to be a higher vibration of Venus, the planet of love, beauty, and harmony, so it’s better still that Venus in Pisces will feed into Neptune for the next three weeks.

The last time Neptune was in Pisces, from 1847 to 1862, the Transcendental Movement flourished in the United States, led by Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and others. Spiritualism became a trend, with séances to contact spirits of the dead. Edgar Allen Poe wrote his most famous poem, “The Raven.” The first oil well was drilled. The first surgical operation using general anesthesia was performed. The Opium Wars occurred during this time, and while the conflict wasn’t entirely over the drug, it’s still interesting to note that there was a major war named for a narcotic while Neptune was in Pisces.

This time around, I expect there will be a widespread spiritual awakening. I know I sound like a broken record – I’ve been writing this for more than five years – but I do believe we’re getting closer and closer to understanding what “spirit” is. There likely will be major developments in the oil industry, too. Given current trends, it’s likely that we’ll have to find alternatives due to a declining supply. Maybe the new Opium Wars will be the Oil Wars.

Back to the here and now, we not only have been under the red sky of Mars, but the warrior planet is now moving through the early degrees of Aries, activating the cardinal T-square of last summer. The alignment isn’t as close as it was back then, but it’s still intense, with the Sun and Jupiter conjunct at 16 degrees Aries on Wednesday, in wide opposition to Saturn. We’re being pushed relentlessly forward, no breaks allowed.

On Saturday, Pluto begins his annual retrograde, which lasts close to six months. I haven’t observed any particular trends in events during Pluto retrograde. However, if Pluto is transiting a personal planet in your chart – especially the Sun or Moon – you’re about to get the second pass, during which a situation could reach a crisis stage. The third pass, which will happen later this year or early next year, will mark resolution. The pattern is similar if Pluto is transiting a chart angle (cusp of the first, fourth, seventh or tenth houses).

Lastly, Mercury is in his second week of retrograde and conjoins the Sun on Saturday. This aspect favors revising plans for the future, revisiting an unresolved issue to exchange facts (remember to listen) and to try to clarify statements that may have been misinterpreted. If you have an opportunity to clear up a misunderstanding, do it early this week. Waiting until the weekend will put you in a no-win situation as a contentious square builds between Mars and Pluto.

We’re going to need a lot of love and courage to get through the next couple of weeks. Wishing you all a bottomless well of both,

Pat