Cue: Cardinal crashout in 3, 2, 1…

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This has been an Aries season unlike any other, sparking arson, anarchy, and righteous outrage. Mars (the planet of war and aggression) entered hot-headed Aries (its home turf) on April 9th, inflaming the other planets already in the cardinal fire sign. We’ve also been living through the ripple effects of an era-defining Saturn–Neptune conjunction in the same sign, which was exact on February 20th. But as soon as Mars started inching closer to the chaos, simmering tensions flared into a dumpster fire. Attempts at a ceasefire unraveled in the Middle East while Iran trolled the US with Lego-themed slopaganda, unending and ever-worsening corporate theft led workers to burn down a handful of warehouses, civilians aimed Molotov cocktails and other weapons at the home of a tech CEO and a Tesla factory, and the Mad King picked a fight with the Pope.

Mars, Mercury (the planet of communication), Saturn (the planet of boundaries), Neptune (the planet of dreams and delusions), and Chiron (the minor planet associated with wounds and healing) are all gathered in Aries right now — a stellium (i.e., group of three or more planets in the same sign) for the ages. Actually, though — we haven’t had this many planets in this sign since 1821, so if tensions feel hotter than usual, that’s because they are.

We’ve already gotten a taste of just how quickly things escalate with this setup, and the heat is still rising. Mars and Saturn are forming an exact conjunction on April 19th, and Mercury joins the huddle on April 20th, all at 7° – 8° Aries. Saturn has been near these crucial cardinal degrees since late March, meaning that the proverbial inferno we’re now experiencing in Aries has been building for weeks — but since Mars entered Aries on April 9th, this hot-spot degree is getting activated with extra fire. This is some of the year’s toughest astrology. It feels like our urge to push forward is hitting a brick wall. Our agendas are being thwarted, and reality checks are getting cashed.

But all this pressure and firepower isn’t falling on Aries alone; this pile-up is also triggering the other three cardinal signs: Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. That’s because the stellium is forming hard aspects (meaning tension and friction) to any and all placements close to 7° or 8° in these signs. This means that anyone with natal placements around those degrees will be feeling the heat — and yes, that includes CEOs, politicians, and other narcissistic world leaders.

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_{Content warning: sexual abuse and assault}

Exhibit A: Donald Trump

These Mercury, Mars, and Saturn conjunctions are making a direct hit to Trump’s Mercury at 8° Cancer (a sign that squares Aries). The planet of communication is already a challenging point in his chart, placed in his 12th House of hidden enemies and self-undoing. It also rules his 2nd House of money and his 11th House of networks and communities, so it makes sense that his mind is disintegrating in real time on Truth Social and compromising both his business partnerships and personal alliances.

In the past few weeks, the President of the United States has threatened to exterminate an entire civilization, declared a victory in Iran (which has since quickly unraveled), shared a video of a woman being murdered, claimed that Pope Leo XIV is “weak on crime,” posted an AI slop image of himself as “Doctor” Jesus, and demanded to blockade the already blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Based on these events, and countless others, 48% of US citizens now believe that the President is suffering a cognitive decline, and House Democrats have introduced legislation that would allow Congress to study the President’s fitness for office and move to remove him using the 25th Amendment.

While Trump may be one of the loudest examples of how this Aries dogpile can impact people with placements around the same degree of a cardinal sign, he’s not the only one.

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Other public figures in Aries’ hot seat

• Hunter Biden: The son of former President Joe Biden has his natal Mars at 8° Aries. On April 9th, the day that rabble-rousing Mars entered Aries and started warming up for its conjunction with Saturn, Hunter challenged Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., to a televised cage fight. As the planet of war and conflict prepares to meet the planet of structure and hard limits, a cage fight is a pretty on-the-nose way to mark the occasion.

• Viktor Orbán: The far-right former Prime Minister of Hungary, described as “the Trump before Trump,” has his ascendant (the most personal point in his chart) at 8° Libra, and his MC (the point associated with his legacy and public image) is at 10° Cancer — both cardinal placements impacted by the current stellium in Aries. As Mars moved closer to a conjunction with Neptune and then Saturn, while squaring Orbán’s ascendant and MC, the former Hungarian PM conceded defeat in the 2026 parliamentary election. Scenes of anti-Orbán protestors, holding torches and filling the squares of Budapest, are reminders of the idealism that can ignite and spread through the collective when Neptune (the planet of dreams) is lodged in this swift-moving fire sign.

• Sam Altman: The OpenAI CEO has his Venus at 6° and Mercury at 7° Aries, in the 12th House of loss and hidden enemies. According to recent reports, OpenAI is buckling under severe financial and operational challenges, and some analysts believe the company is in decline and on the brink of bankruptcy. Altman’s home was also targeted in a Molotov cocktail attack on April 10th, and shots were fired at his house in a second attack on the 12th (hello, hidden enemies). Altman is facing an amended lawsuit from his sister, Annie, as well, alleging ongoing sexual abuse from 1997 to 2006. Venus is connected to women, and Mercury is connected to siblings, so the Mercury–Mars–Saturn conjunctions will likely bring further reckonings to the CEO.

• Elon Musk: The SpaceX and Tesla billionaire has his Uranus (the planet of shocks and rebellion) at 9° Libra, a generational placement that disrupts the social status quo, for better or for worse. And on April 14th, as Mars edged toward a square with Musk’s Uranus and ascendant (which is at 13° Cancer), an unidentified attacker threw a Molotov cocktail into a Tesla center in New Orleans. On the same day, a report was leaked to NBC News that Apple threatened to remove Musk’s Grok app from its store in January amid accusations that its developers failed to address concerns about nonconsensual sexualized deepfakes.

• Benjamin Netanyahu: The Israeli Prime Minister has his Mercury at 9° Libra (which just so happens to square Donald Trump’s Mercury in Cancer). As the Mercury–Mars–Saturn conjunctions put mounting pressure on both Netanyahu’s and Trump’s natal Mercury placements, the two allies appear to be at cross-purposes. Trump put forward his swiftly unraveling ceasefire deal with Iran — issued with his apocalyptic deadline of April 7th, just two days before Mars entered Aries — without Netanyahu’s say. By disregarding his wishes, Trump has weakened Netanyahu’s image within Israel. According to a recent poll, 61% of Israelis oppose a ceasefire with Iran. The Aries stellium isn’t just releasing centuries of pent-up rage among civilians; it’s also striking a match in Netanyahu’s chart. On April 5th, onlookers cheered as a giant effigy of Netanyahu was loaded with gunpowder and blown up during Easter celebrations in the Spanish village of El Burgo.

• Pete Hegseth: Trump’s Secretary of Defense has his Mercury — the planet that rules over all forms of communication, including criminal charges — at 9° Cancer in the 8th House of loss. On April 15th, House Democrats filed articles of impeachment against Hegseth, making serious allegations of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” including his handling of the war in Iran (one article cites the February 28 bombing that killed 168 people at a girls’ school, most of them young students). Then, on April 16th, as Mars drew even closer to squaring Hegseth’s Mercury in Cancer, the Defense Secretary quoted a fake bible verse from the film Pulp Fiction, in an attempt to rally the troops for the “holy war in Iran.” A slew of online mockery followed. With Neptune (the planet of confusion) in the mix of this warmongering Aries stellium, it appears that MAGA could use a bit more time brushing up on their Sunday School lessons.

• Melania Trump: We don’t have a timed chart for Melania, but her Chiron (the wounded healer) is at that hot spot, 8° Aries. On April 9th, the day Mars entered Aries, she held a surprise White House press conference to deny that she had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, raising questions about why she chose this moment to speak out. Mars (the planet of war) was approaching a conjunction with Neptune (the planet of confusion) when she made this baffling move, which has stirred up the very rumors she intended to shut down. (You know the war in Iran is going badly when the White House chooses to circle back to Epstein — the very thing they launched a war of distraction over.)

• Jeffrey Epstein: The American financier and child sex offender that Melania definitely doesn’t know has his Moon at 7° Aries, around the same degree where the Mercury–Mars–Saturn conjunctions are dishing out the year’s most harrowing and decisive astrology. Like Venus, the Moon rules over women, but also over the vulnerable who need nurturing. And when Saturn is involved, retribution is never far away for those who betray trust — even beyond the grave. As the Aries stellium activates Epstein’s Moon, the headlines about him and his inner circle of pedophiles are unlikely to die down. This may be an astrological hint that no amount of dropped bombs or Truth Social meltdowns will make the Epstein files go away.

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How we can use our rage as a resource

Just to be clear: Having any placement at or near these crucial cardinal degrees doesn’t automatically mean you’re doomed or about to have a meltdown like the people above. These transits can be especially visible and high-stakes for public figures and global leaders. But for the rest of us, this kind of astrology can bring a decisive moment that clarifies what’s no longer working, where we need to draw a serious boundary — or burn one down.

What’s blowing up at the top is also fueling something bigger down here. Like the warehouse fires sending a stark message that the inferno will continue until corporate theft ceases. Or the fuel protests that shut down Ireland, resulting in a €505 million government aid package for haulers and farmers (proof that the pressure is working). Or the outrage sparked by the CNN report that unmasked a massive global “rape academy”, the revelations going viral over the Chiron cazimi on April 16th (the last of its kind for 40 years). All of these moments have triggered a serious reckoning with extractive capitalism, the power of collectively disrupting business as usual, and the violent misogyny that the “mansophere” influencers perpetuate. And a Chiron cazimi in Aries (with a whole stellium of Aries planets around it) is bound to open up a wound so gruesome it can’t be denied anymore.

This moment is ugly. It’s enraging. And it’s exactly the kind of exposure that can spark massive change. This is the kind of anger that builds pressure and dismantles broken systems. Not overnight, not all at once — but in our refusal to turn away, and in our willingness to demand something better. So yes, this astrology may cause some crash-outs, but if we use the energy wisely, it can also fuel our righteous rage for change.