On March 30th, 2025, Neptune will first re-enter a sign it returns to every 165 years. This is a major event that is going to impact us for the next 14 years to come – and it’s happened several times (six, to be exact) in the past thousand years.
As part of my preparation, I looked at the history of Neptune in Aries, then wrote my first articles on what to expect based on both my intuition and history. Frankly, I didn’t bother to write an article about Neptune in Aries’s history because I thought no one would be interested. Then, I was approached to publish my very long full version of my History of Pluto in Aquarius: The Past 1,000 Years article. And it inspired me to actually write down my research.
This resulting article is the work of a long time of research. If you’d like to support me in doing this work (and keeping this site ad-free), I’d be super grateful for your donation.
Shortcuts:
About Neptune in Aries, Dates, Timeframes (1042-1057, 1206-1220, 1370-1384, 1533-1548, 1697-1712, 1861-1875), Analysis: The Red Thread, Conclusion, Further Reading.
Let’s jump in!
About Neptune in Aries
Neptune is a planet of spirituality and belief, especially in higher values, humanity as a whole, and beliefs in right, wrong, and life after death. Neptune is also all about compassion, empathy, kindness, unconditional love, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, and all sorts of other values we’d like to ingrain in our children as they make us “good” people. However, the shadow of Neptune is alcohol and substance abuse, addiction, lack of boundaries, people-pleasing, distortion, lies, delusion, and illusion. I have written multiple articles about Neptune in Aries (here, here, and here): this one focuses on the historical context of the past 1,000 years.
Dates:
Between the year 1000 A.D. and 2025, Neptune has been in Aries 6 times for 14 years each. Those timeframes are:
1042-1057
May 13th, 1042 – August 27th, 1042, March 11th, 1043 – April 30th, 1056, and November 21st, 1056 – February 25th, 1057.
1206-1220
April 21st, 1206 – September 22nd, 1206, February 21st, 1207 – June 16th, 1219, and September 22nd, 1219 – April 12th, 1220.
1370-1384
April 3rd, 1370 – October 16th, 1370, January 31st, 1371 – May 25th, 1383, and October 18th, 1383 – March 25th, 1384.
1533-1548
May 24th, 1533 – August 14th, 1533, March 28th, 1534 – November 20th, 1534, January 1st, 1535 – May 8th, 1547, and November 10th, 1547 – March 8th, 1548.
1697-1712
April 30th, 1697 – September 8th, 1697, March 1st, 1698 – July 3rd, 1710, September 3rd, 1710 – April 22nd, 1711, and December 8th, 1711 – February 12th, 1712.
1861-1875
April 13th, 1861 – October 1st, 1861, February 14th, 1862 – June 8th, 1874, and September 30th, 1874 – April 7th, 1875.
2025-2039
March 30th, 2025 – October 22nd, 2025, (after which it will briefly return to Pisces.); January 26th, 2026 – May 22nd, 2038, and October 21st, 2038 – March 23rd, 2039.
Timeframes
In this section, I’ll walk you through the major events of each of the six timeframes listed above. The major connecting themes and analysis follow here.
Note: Because Neptune speaks to spirituality, a huge part of this article will be references to various religious events, including church history.
1042-1057
This timeframe of Neptune in Aries coincides with Pluto in Aquarius 1041-1063 (the same combination we’ll have in the present time, as Pluto entered Aquarius again in 2023 and stays there until 2044). To read about the historical context of Pluto in Aquarius in the past 1,000 years, click here.
This timeframe marks an incredibly important timeframe in religious history – which is fitting with a major Neptune event, as Neptune rules spirituality and religion – especially so for Christianity. We start this timeframe with a pope who (as the only pope in history) became pope multiple times and also sold the papacy to someone else. Completely unrelated to that, we also see the official split of the Christian church into Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy (and again – they aren’t even related).
By the beginning of the timeframe, Pope Benedict the IX (who happens to be the youngest pope in church history, but was already in office for 12 years), was forced out of the papacy and the city of Rome, then replaced via legal election with Pope Sylvester III. Unfortunately, Benedict IX didn’t like that: he excommunicated Sylvester III and was reinstalled as pope thanks to his own supporters. The story could have ended here in the year 1045 – but it didn’t.
The same year he returned to office, Pope Benedict IX reevaluated his life choices and decided he’d much rather leave the papacy and marry his cousin. Rather than doing so regularly, or even returning the papacy to Sylvester III, he approached his godfather and sold the papacy to him (this is still in 1045). The new pope’s name was Gregory VI.
Sylvester III refused to accept Gregory VI, and he wasn’t the only one: when Benedict IX figured out that he couldn’t marry his cousin after all, he wanted to return to his life as the pope and refused to recognize the claims of Sylvester III or Gregory VI (despite having put him into the papacy): and suddenly, Christianity went from having one head of one church to having three contending popes and no idea whom to follow.
At the time, the church was allied with a country called the Holy Roman Empire that was considered to be the worldly arm of the church (think of large parts of Italy as well as all of Germany, plus connecting countries between them). Christians approached its emperor, Henry III, to settle the matter once and for all as they didn’t know what else to do: Henry III called the Council of Sutri in December 1046 and personally decided that both the claims of Benedict IX and Sylvester III were illegitimate. Upon questioning Gregory VI on the matter of buying the papacy (which is called simony and a huge breach of church law), he convinced Gregory VI to peacefully abdicate. He then oversaw new papal elections for Clement II.
This event was strange enough on its own, but it actually would have major ripple effects throughout history – one of them being due to Henry III’s involvement. Before this point, kings and emperors did not have the power or the approval to involve themselves in who became pope: Clement II however, after having been elected due to Henry III’s intervention, bestowed the power of pope-making unto the Holy Roman Emperor (presumably to legitimize himself, given that Emperor Henry III had put him into office). A consequence of this was that the Holy Roman Empire got very interested in church politics and involved itself in naming popes multiple times since then – much to the disapproval of the church.
Another consequence was the Gregorian Reforms called by future popes during this timeframe, which centered around holding the clergy to higher standards and separating it from ordinary people as well as secular political influence. This happened through multiple avenues: 1) the clergy was supposed to follow more rules that would help them be/appear holier/more pious; 2) possible distractions or conflicts of interest needed to be eliminated for the clergy: celibacy was one of the measures taken here; and 3) stronger rules around simony and rules nepotism would ensure a second Pope Benedict IX wouldn’t happen.
But we’re not done yet with the ex-pope. The newly elected pope Clement II (December 1046) promptly died in October of 1047 of an unfortunate case of lead sugar poisoning. So… guess who decided to come back and reclaim his former office? Right! (Ex-)Pope Benedict IX!
His third papacy lasted from November of 1047 to July of 1048, when he was personally forced out of office by Holy Roman Emperor Henry III (who came all the way from Germany just for that, involving himself more in church politics than the church liked). This makes him the youngest pope in history, the only pope to have ever been accused of selling the papacy, and the only pope to have ever been in office multiple times. On the topic of historical records, He was replaced by the shortest-reigning pope in history (Damascus II, July 17th, 1048-August 9th, 1048, instated by the Holy Roman Emperor). Also, Pope Sylvester III has been in some circles treated as the first anti-pope (don’t worry, we’ll cover this in the next timeframe), but the Vatican counts him as an official pope, so I’ll follow their lead. To finish the story of Benedict IX, he was excommunicated in 1049 and died in 1056, by the end of this timeframe. After Damascus II, Henry III made sure Leo IX got into office... but the issue with multiple heads of the (one) church was still far from over.
Back in the 11th century, there was only one Christian church – even during the timeframe when three popes were alleged to rule it. And then, in 1054, happened the East-West Schism where a branch of Christianity called Eastern Orthodoxy decided to fully separate itself from the Roman Catholic part of the church (in part via excommunicating Pope Leo IX). I write about the East-West Schism under the 11th-century section of my article History of Pluto in Aquarius: 1,000 Years in Analysis (Full-Length Article), so I suggest you check it out if you haven’t already. The important thing to remember is this: up until this point, the Christian church was one. Protestantism didn’t exist yet, so there was one church with (usually) one human leader who technically ruled over everything religion-related: which is a big deal when you have kings, queen regents, and emperors who gain their legitimacy from church approval… and when the church could take the legitimacy away from you, too.
This separation caused not only a schism in the religious world still alive today, but also a rift that spread throughout all aspects of life in Europe. Countries across the continent could suddenly decide which head of the church to follow – and where their true allegiance lay. Europe split, with some countries aligning with the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodoxy outright, and others with the Roman Catholic church and related nations. A long-term consequence of this was the diversion of a crusade – originally intended to go to Jerusalem – that instead sacked Constantinople given the religious differences between the Roman Catholic crusaders and the Eastern Orthodox city along the way: while unintended by the church, this Fourth Crusade would significantly weaken the Byzantine Empire and contribute to its eventual downfall.
But for now, let’s pivot to other religious events. In Asia, the Amida-Buddha for the Byodo-in Temple in Japan, the tallest pagoda in Chinese history (Liaodi Pagoda in Hebei), the pagoda of the Fongong Temple in Shanti, the Iron Pagoda in Kaifeng, and the Pizhi Pagoda of the Lingyan Temple at Shandong were either started or completed, and the Reting Monastery was founded as the seat of the Kadam lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. In Jerusalem, 300 Christians are expelled by Muslims, and European Christians are banned from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Andrew I “The Catholic” of Hungary established the Benedictine Tihany Abbey, which features the earliest written record in the Hungarian language. Edward the Confessor becomes the last English King of the House of Wessex and starts construction of the Westminster Abbey.
We also see the first book written, the Chinese military treaty Wujing Zongyao, to include a recipe for gunpowder as well as multiple ways to weaponize explosives, descriptions of double-piston flamethrowers, and thermoremanence compasses in war. The Age of Vikings ends, signaling an end to the expansion, travel, and raids of the Vikings globally.
1206-1220
In the last timeframe of Neptune in Aries, the church saw the issue with having worldly powers (read: the Holy Roman Empire) getting too involved with their politics (can’t have an emperor decide who becomes pope – unfortunately for them, that was exactly what had happened). Now, the sitting pope for this timeframe, Innocence III, decided to make personally sure the church would stay autonomous – and punished anyone who wasn’t willing to play by his rules. One of the things he was most concerned about was the power of the Holy Roman Emperor, and as the Holy Roman Empire was considered the worldly arm of the Roman Catholic Church (hence, the Holy Roman Empire) there were 2 ways he tried to make that happen.
One: picking the emperor. While the Church couldn’t outright decide who ruled the Holy Roman Empire, they had to approve of the candidate elected (from “suitable” candidates, of course) by the German Kurfürsten, or heads of smaller HRE provinces, cities, etc. This then elevated the candidate from a mere king to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire – but it could actually be redacted again via excommunication, which would then weaken his position in his own country. Plus, in the case of multiple candidates, the pope had the last word based on his personal preference. Innocent III spent this timeframe mucking around in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire so it a) wouldn’t get as strong but lose influence and b) to keep Otto IV out of his crosshairs. Civil and international wars ensued.
Two: crusades. As the Holy Roman Empire’s job was to protect Christian interests in the secular world, Innocent III tried to distract the emperor from his interest in papal decision-making by giving him jobs to do, a.k.a. crusades (of course, he actually also wanted crusades to happen for other reasons). Notable ones from 1206 following were the Livonian Crusade, the 5th Crusade he called for but didn’t live through, the Children’s Crusade, and the Albigensian/Cathar Crusade.
The 5th Crusade would have actually worked to put Jerusalem under Christian control, had one leader’s thirst for revenge not kept him from accepting peace near the end. The Children’s Crusade, named this way because its crusaders were so young, fortunately ended in the majority leaving for home before setting foot off the continent. The Albigensian/Cathar Crusade, however, was a different beast entirely: up until this point in history, the Roman Catholic Church’s interest was predominantly in keeping Christian interest safe from non-Christian (or, at the very least, non-Roman Catholic) religions (again, the sacking of Constantinople in the 4th crusade wasn’t intended). Under Innocent III, the focus shifted for the first time from outward enemies of the faith to inward enemies: Catholics in Southern France followed a subset of Catholic beliefs that the pope didn’t agree with. So, he sent a crusade to eliminate them – attempting to fix the problem through death and violence. This is considered a genocide by many, and the first crusade that was intended to happen in a Christian country, rather than Jerusalem. He also developed the methods of the Inquisition in 1212 to deal with church-internal dissent. This is considered by many the beginning of the Inquisition, though historians disagree with the exact date of this major development that spanned centuries of European history. The Inquisition itself was a major part of the witch hunts as it turned its focus from church doctrine and toward a persecution of what was considered to be supernatural (and evil) magic and its practitioners. There’s more to be said about Innocent III and his politics though.
Pope Innocent III didn’t just have an iron grip on the Holy Roman Empire or the crusades he ordered/lived through: in England, the Plantagenet King John “Lackland” reigned at this time, the infamous brother of Richard Lionheart – later on immortalized in Disney’s Robin Hood. He also made the mistake of refusing papal authority over his bishops – in the sense that he didn’t want Pope Innocent III to pick out who England’s most powerful clergyman, the Archbishop of Canterbury, would be.
The resulting power struggle between him and Pope Innocent III included an Interdict placed on England, meaning that no more church services (including death rites, funerals, baptisms, weddings, confirmations, worship services, confessions, etc.) would be held across the country until the pope said otherwise. Imagine you were living in Medieval England (which was predominantly Christian at the time) and unable to have a funeral for your loved one because all funeral services were run by the clergy. Or that your daughter got naughty with the neighbor, and they can’t get married before the baby is born and people find out – because a) civil weddings didn’t exist yet, and b) clergy wasn’t allowed to marry them thanks to your king. Imagine your very Christian friend dying and not being allowed to have the peace of the rites and last confession they always counted on getting, and dying in anguish (or with guilt) because of that. And now imagine that said King retaliated by seizing church properties and riches, taxing the church into the abyss, trying to force local clergy to heel, and causing a mass fleeing of said clergy… and his eventual excommunication. You can probably understand why this king wasn’t popular, or considered powerful.
John “Lackland” of England joined a war (with one ruler of the Holy Roman Empire against the other) to try and make the pope see reason – when he lost, he didn’t only have to give the pope what he wanted, plus autonomy of the English churches, he also lost the Plantagenet-owned parts of France. This signaled the end of the Angevin Empire that he, and the kings before him, had ruled so far. To add to his overall success as a King, John “Lackland” of England had taxed the life out of his English subjects (inventing income tax, by the way), and massively overstepped his influence in other ways as well. All of this led to uprisings in which he was eventually forced to sign the Charter of Liberties, and then the Magna Carta, which restricted the crown’s rights and put an institution in place that would keep the king from abusing his power.
Given the extreme actions of the Roman Catholic Church, religious orders were founded left, right, and center, including the Dominican Order, Franciscan Order, and the Order of the Poor Clares. This was actually the time of Francis of Assisi, who (among many other things) would introduce Catholicism to Egypt. In Egypt itself, the Mamluk dynasty was founded, but the really interesting development was actually on the Asian continent: In 1206, the beginning of this timeframe, Temüjin founded the Mongol Empire “under one banner and one authority” – and got titled Ghengis Khan. He would spend the entire coming time spreading the Mongol Empire across the continent (and later on, beyond), calling himself “the punishment of God” and fathering so many children that he, allegedly, is related to every 4th European today. Another interesting sidenote was the Illness of the Dancing Mania in Aachen where people literally danced for days without stopping until they died. This is presumed to be because of ergotism, which is a form of poisoning.
Before pulling this together to what it all means, I’d like to continue with the historical context by jumping into the next timeframe: the 14th century.
1370-1384
Dynasties fall and rise: among them, the last pope residing in Avignon (not counting the Avignon antipopes, of course), the last Emperor of the Northern Court in Japan, the first Stuart King of Scotland, the first Amir of the Timurid Empire, and he first ruler of the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan (and founder of the Aztec dynasty). Also, in China’s Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor fights against his officials’ incompetency and invents new techniques relevant to taxation. But the really interesting thing happens, again, in religious history.
We’ll pick up where we left off. In the 1206-1220 pass of Neptune through Aries, England saw political reforms as the Magna Carta restricted the monarch’s power and ability to abuse his people and empowered an institutionalized group of people who would, if necessary, punish him or weaken his position should he refuse to see reason on something. In this pass, the Peasant’s Revolt started and ended with the English people raising arms against the king and forcing him to promise to abolish serfdom. The promise is revoked – but start of a major theme we’ll see later in history.
But another new thread comes from the 1042-57 pass of Neptune in Aries, when 3 popes were in office simultaneously, and the Holy Roman Emperor picked which one would rule. This gave the world ideas: mainly, that one could pick one’s own pope if one didn’t like the present one. This resulted in the Western Schism (1378) when French cardinals decided that Pope Urban VI’s election was invalid, which caused the establishment of a line of antipopes (antipope meaning that someone claimed to be a pope despite a Vatican-approved pope already existing). The Avignon line was established right away (at the time, Antipope Clement VII), and another line (the Pisan line) was established after Neptune left Aries. The schism would lead to the Christian world dividing into camps for the preferred papal line.
But this isn’t the only key event of this timeframe: the precursor to Protestantism happened when a member of the English clergy, John Wycliffe, started to preach, write, and publish works advocating for the translation of the Bible into Middle English, poverty for the clergy for religious reasons, and a less politically active Roman Catholic Church. The Protestant Reformation builds on these works.
1533-1548
This timeframe of Neptune in Aries also coincides with Pluto in Aquarius 1532-1553. To read about the historical context of Pluto in Aquarius in the 16th century, click here.
Did someone say Protestant Reformation? By the start of this timeframe, the Protestant Reformation started to bear fruit: the first fully translated bible (in the German language) was sold on a Michaelmas; the bible was also translated into English and several other languages (such as Icelandic – Iceland was forcibly converted to Protestantism during this timeframe). Countries formed national churches, something that hadn’t been seen before: among them England under Henry VIII, Norway, and Sweden. This is also the beginning of Calvinism as a non-Lutheran take on Protestantism.
In England’s case, Henry VIII reversed the autonomy of the church and clergy established under the 1206-20 pass of Neptune in Aries. He also first spread, then restricted access to the bible both by restricting print, and by restricting who was allowed to read the newly translated bible (so only clergy, nobility, and upper class were allowed to read it). At the time, he also became King of Ireland as well as England as Ireland became a kingdom and named him the ruler. With the Witchcraft Act, he also separated the persecution of so-called witches from the church and made it a state matter. Henry VIII also did a lot more (including marry 6 wives, 4 of which he deposed) that I write about in my Article on Pluto’s History in Aquarius, so please check that out.
Beyond England, Europe breaks apart as Protestant and Catholic countries see each other as allies or enemies. The Holy League was formed to preserve Catholicism and countries (tried to/actually) quell uprisings of the Christian denomination they disagreed with: in France, the Affair of the Placards and other events led to actions taken against Protestants. In England, the crown fights against the Pilgrimage of Grace as well as all sorts of other religious dissenters in bloody ways (discussed in my article on the History of Pluto in Aquarius in the last 1,000 years.) In the Holy Roman Empire, local German leaders (Protestants) started the Schmalkaldic War against their Holy Roman Emperor (who was Catholic).
The pope at the time, Paul III, tried to first revolutionize the Roman Catholic church as a response to Protestantism: the Consolium de emended ecclesia picked up on Luther’s protests of abuse of church power and tried to address them properly, but the changes suggested never lead anywhere. The next set of reforms, not in the least due to scientific discoveries challenging the church’s understanding of the world (such as the heliocentric world model by Copernicus), was the establishment of the Holy Office (an institution still existing today whose only duty it is to formulate and protect the Vatican-decided upon Catholic doctrine), the Council of Trent’s decisions on original sin, the bible canon, and dissent thereof, and the foundation of the Roman Inquisition under the Holy Office’s direct authority.
The Roman Inquisition was part of the attempts of the Counter-Reformation and meant to combat non-Roman Catholic beliefs in Christians, especially as it pertained to public life and the socio-political world (it morphed into something else with time). Interesting about the Roman Inquisition is its role in the witch trials: historians such as Guido Ruggiero, Christopher F. Black, and Mary O’Neil discuss a sparse use of torture used by this branch of the Inquisition (as opposed to f.e. the Spanish Inquisition), historian Andrea Del Col estimates that from 51,000-75,000 cases judged by Roman Inquisition in Italy after 1542, 1,250 resulted in a death sentence, and historian Jeffrey Watt argues that the Holy Office (which directly oversaw this and only this branch of the inquisition) began seeking less harsh punishment for witches and viewed them as those who had lost their way and could be redeemed. Other inquisitions, such as the Spanish Inquisitions established by the Spanish crown, were much more deadly – and so were secular powers. In England, for instance, Henry VIII passes the Witchcraft Act making the investigation and persecution of witches a matter of the state, furthering the witch trials and genocide of healers. (Though one could argue that, since he was head of the Anglican Church, this was not a secular power, but a Protestant one).
Another interesting twist of these times was the discussions on human rights. On the side of the Catholic Church, Pope Paul III published the Sublimis Deus also called the “Magna Carta” for the human rights of indigenous people of the Americas – named as people whose freedoms and properties should not be taken away, taking their freedom and property away would lead to automatic excommunication. While this was revoked a year later given secular pushback, it remained an important document for people who wished to fight against abuse done by colonizers. Pope Paul III retained the verdict that the indigenous people should be converted (which, of course, included the necessity to treat them as human beings). The same person also abolished laws that freed slaves in Rome and affirmed the Romans’ right to buy slaves.
King Carlos of Spain declared the freedom of all Indians under the Spanish Empire (against the settlers’ wishes) as well as published the “New Laws” for the “Protection of the Indies and for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indies.” They were repealed within the year but provide another part of a red thread we’ll keep seeing.
During this timeframe, we see a lot of foreign missions to convert people to Christianity. We also see the formation of the Mexican Archdiocese, which is the largest Catholic diocese today. Lastly, Russia declares tsardom, the Sur Empire is founded, and the first settlers step foot on New Guinea and Montreal.
1697-1712
This timeframe coincides with Uranus in Cancer 1697-1705. We’ll experience Uranus in Cancer simultaneously with Neptune in Aries from 2032-2039 when Neptune exits the sign.
During this timeframe, we see slightly less going on religiously – other than the birth of the Sikh tradition and the foundation of the world’s oldest Anglican mission center. In England, Catholics are persecuted further. The Banishment Act of 1697 expels all Roman Catholic clergy from England under threat of a 12-month prison sentence for the first, and death for the second offense. Several following acts forbid Roman Catholics from ascending the British throne (which massively altered the line of inheritance as several houses were expelled from the line of succession) and/or declared a non-English-born member of the nobility fit to still rule England unless she happened to be Catholic. Provinces in what would later become the U.S.A. also expelled Roman Catholics and Jesuits for fear that they threatened the crown.
Apart from that, several monopolies of the British crown ended with acts allowing for trade competition in the colonies, or competition in the medical sector in general. Scotland and England also joined in the last part of this timeframe, officially forming the United Kingdom we have today (under Queen Anne, the last monarch from the House of Stuart). And, speaking of Scotland, the last large-scale witch burning in Western Europe took place in this land – signaling an end of the Age of Witch Hunts (though a clear ending for this timeframe is hard to define historically). But this isn’t all that’s interesting during this timeframe.
The Spanish Empire’s monarch died childless, resulting in two noble houses – Habsburg and Bourbon – fighting for the throne and subsequent colonies in what’s called the War of the Spanish Succession (and Queen Anne’s War as the colonial branch of it). Given that Habsburg and Bourbon already had access to respective thrones, the balance of European powers would change so drastically depending on the new Spanish monarch that related and unrelated nations entered into the fray to protect their self-interest. The new Spanish monarch resolved this issue by taking the Spanish crown but forsaking his claim to other thrones in order to keep the peace. On the subject of power balance, the Great Northern War also takes place to end Swedish supremacy in Europe, this one actually shifting the balance of power on the continent, and the First Japanese War of Succession takes place against the Dutch East India Company.
The development of techniques to create porcelain in present-day Germany worked to re-establish European independence from the Chinese market (which before that was the only place capable of creating porcelain). In France, King Louis IX established a magistrate for police officers in each village in order to spread justice. In Edinburgh, the Company of Quenching Fire (a.k.a. the first fire department) was founded. In England, the first national newspaper was developed and printed on Fleet Street: The Daily Courant deals with international affairs. Copyrights are invented as well.
The Kingdom of Prussia was founded (which was previously a part of the Holy Roman Empire, also sometimes called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation): Prussia would become a great military power with time and play a major role later on. China completed its conquest of Mongolia, a complete mirror to the Mongol Empire’s conquest of China in the 1042-57 pass of Neptune through Aries. Lastly, the first slave ship set sail – to West Africa to get slaves, and then to Barbados to sell them.
While there is much more to say about this timeframe, we’ll leave it here and move to the next (and last) timeframe for this article.
1861-1875
This timeframe coincides with Uranus in Gemini 1858-66 and Uranus in Cancer 1865-71. We’ll experience Neptune in Aries and Uranus in Gemini simultaneously from 2025-2033, and Neptune in Aries and Uranus in Cancer simultaneously from 2032-2039.
This timeframe sees a lot more action again: let’s start, as always, with the church: the Vatican Council in 1870 declares the concept of Papal Infallibility, meaning that a statement made by the pope exclusively on matters of the faith (doctrine or morals), and only if done under specific circumstances, is considered to be fully true, unquestionable… and infallible. This led to states like Germany working actively against the Catholic church as this was seen as a power move that could lead to a political nightmare, should a pope declare something under infallibility that would go against national interest. A potential conflict of loyalties for resident Catholics between their national and religious identity was feared, so civil services such as civil marriage were invented to weaken the church’s influence overall. Interestingly enough, Papal Infallibility hasn’t played out the way it was feared it would be: the only declarations done under Papal Infallibility by the pope itself thus far were on the Assumption of Mary (1950, under Uranus in Gemini) and the Immaculate Conception of Mary (1854, is still considered under papal infallibility): so, neither of these have political implications.
Now, let’s cover the most commonly known major event of this timeframe: the American Civil War. During this timeframe, President Lincoln of the United States of America abolished slavery, leading to part of the U.S.A. splitting off and forming the Confederate States of America. The resulting civil war was bloody and very well remembered today. The victory of the Northern states of the U.S.A. rippled through the world as they step-by-step led to the end of slavery. Obviously, this was a major shift both culturally and politically – worldwide. On the note of slavery, Russia abolished serfdom (after the January uprising in 1861) as well.
Let’s pivot back to Germany. Between the last pass of Neptune in Aries and this one, the loss in the Napoleonic wars saw the Holy Roman Empire (of the German Nation) broken down into its singular parts (in the form of provinces, autonomous cities, etc.) that were then placed under foreign rule. This was much to the unhappiness of the citizens that wished to be unified in one Germany (especially as culture and language were one – though there were questions around which parts to include in one Germany, and which not to include, that would become a theme until World War I). A major push of nationalism led to the Kingdom of Prussia taking action on behalf of all of Germany. Three wars of German unification saw Germany (re-)founded, the Prussian King became German Emperor, Prussia dissolved into Germany, and France was humiliated (the emperor was crowned in Versailles, plus the 2nd French Empire ended after their loss, and the 3rd Republic was born). This German Empire was not connected to religion, as it separated the church from the state and was built on the premise of religious freedom (as is still the case today).
Globally, this had a few implications: for one, this would be the beginning of Germany as a world power and military nation. The policies of alliances Germany engaged in to keep European peace after the wars of unification also had the long-term side effect of World War I. However, the more immediate effect was the European-wide effect of New Imperialism: a race of colonialist powers (and those who wished to become that) to gain territories, further their own influence, snatch influence away from other countries, and overall establish themselves as global powers. This movement would be one of the main contributing factors to World War I (which started in 1914, so not under Neptune in Aries), but this was European-wide, and worldwide, rather than on one country’s back.
Outside of Europe, another key player started to emerge: the Meiji Restoration began the process of making Japan a global world power. On that note, the Italian unification took place and Canada was officially founded. The first Spanish Republic resulted after the Glorious Revolution deposed of the Spanish queen. Austria had to concede and rename itself Austria-Hungary after Hungary’s protests, Egypt opened its Suez Canal, Russia started the Circassian genocide, and the Paraguayan war proved to be the bloodiest conflict in South American history.
There were three other worldwide events that belong in this timeframe and need to be covered: one was the start of Industrialization, which would change life as it used to be and set us on the path (globally, politically, culturally, economically, personally, and in all other ways) that we have today. Beyond that, the invention of dynamite was supposed (and failed) to bring world peace while the invention of anti-septic surgery techniques lengthened people's lives and was a breakthrough in medicine.
Two, communism was invented by Karl Marx during this timeframe, which would obviously change large parts of the world in oftentimes very bloody ways in the upcoming 165 years (examples would be Stalin, Mao, the GDR (Eastern Germany after World War II), North Korea, etc.) This ideology would lead to a massive worldwide split and separation – but not under the Neptune in Aries timeframe it was invented under.
Lastly, we have what’s called the Great Binge, the start of a movement in which the use of addictive substances (specifically narcotics) boomed worldwide: part of the reason was that manufacturers of medicine started to put f.e. opioids in cough syrup and asthma medication, and that doctors were advised to prescribe things like cigarettes against headaches or opioids against menstrual pain. Addictive substances even eventually landed in specific foods and drinks (though that has been revised by now). Patients and consumers were not informed on what they were taking, or what the results would be, which created a highly addicted society and an issue with addiction that I would argue still exists today.
Analysis: The Red Thread
When reading the summaries of the six timeframes of 14 years each of Neptune in Aries throughout the last 1,000 years, you’ll likely have noticed a bunch of recurring themes. Some of these themes weren’t a true repeat as there was something different about them: a new beginning mixed into the repetition of the old. Astrology shows the patterns of history and how, when, and why they repeat.
Some of the main ones, I’ll analyze in the following section of this article. However, there is also a lot of extra reading material I have for you at the end of the article on what we can expect in this particular time frame: so, stay tuned for that if this is what interests you most.
Learned something new? Say thank you for supporting my work – by donating and/or sending this to a friend! Thank you so much in advance.
Humanitarian Actions and Inventions
During Neptune in Aries, we’ve seen several humanitarian actions and inventions. The Magna Carta in King John “Lackland’s” England was supposed to keep the King from illegally imprisoning his subjects (and generally abusing his power) in the 13th century. The religious orders and missions founded in the 13th, 14th, 16th, and 17-18th century passes (highlights: Dominican and Franciscan orders and Salvation Army) were intended to actually make lives better.
In Scotland and England, fire departments were invented during the 17-18th century pass of Neptune in Aries – and in France, King Louis IX established police offices in every single village to preserve the rule of justice and law.
In the 19th century, the invention of medical techniques and formulations such as penicillin and anti-septic surgery techniques, as well as the first vaccines and pasteurization, kept people healthier and helped them live longer. That’s not counting the beginning of the end of slavery.
Major developments on the subject of slavery happen during Neptune in Aries. This starts in the 14th-century pass when the King promises to abolish serfdom – and doesn’t deliver. In the 16th century, Pope Paul III and King Carlos of Spain both tried to preserve or grant freedom and rights to indigenous people of colonized states, and they both had to walk their words back within a year given the pushback. (However, especially the pope’s verdict continues to be quoted on behalf of indigenous peoples). In the 17th-18th century event of Neptune in Aries, the first actual slave ship sets sail.
In the 19th century, the dream was finally fulfilled: Russia abolished serfdom and the United States of America abolished slavery, partially through the American Civil War. This would have ripple effects throughout the world as other countries would eventually follow suit.
Church Reforms
You probably noted that a major part of this article was the Catholic Church not having a good time:
We see the church splitting into its three major (present-day) denominations.
1042-57: Great East-West Schism – separation of Eastern Orthodox Christians from the church.
1370-84: Western Schism – multiple antipopes plus papal line.
1533-48: countries officially break away from the Roman Catholic Church, and many form national churches such as the Anglican Church or Church of Sweden.
One of the bigger red threads of Neptune in Aries though was church reforms.
1042-57: Gregorian reforms calling for more discipline among the clergy, including celibacy; Holy Roman Emperor as pope-maker.
1206-20: formation of the Inquisition, a pivot in focus from church-external threats to church-internal dissent, a push for church autonomy as well as church involvement in politics. Religious orders.
1370-84: clergyman John Wycliffe calls for a stop to church involvement in politics, a translation of the bible, and poor clergy (the precursor to Protestantism).
1533-48: formation of the Holy Office for pushing “correct” Catholic doctrine, attempt to address church abuse accused by Martin Luther, Counter-Reformation, Council of Trent.
1697-1712: (minor church reform dealing with “covert Catholics” who claimed Muslim faith but went to Mass in secret, not mentioned above.)
1861-75: Papal Infallibility.
Obviously, new churches, Christian denominations, and other religions have also been founded, such as:
1042-57: Eastern Orthodox Church
1533-48: Calvinism, Church of England, Church of Sweden, Church of Norway
1697-1712: Khalsa Tradition (Sikh tradition)
1861-75: Bahá’í Faith
Because of this, it’s highly likely that this present/future time of Neptune in Aries brings us reforms of pre-existing churches, especially in the Catholic faith, as the Roman Catholic Church was heavily impacted every single time that Neptune was in Aries. However, I do believe that this time, we’ll see a similarly difficult time for the Protestant denomination as well, since a lot of the things that the Roman Catholic Church is blamed for have also been done, if not done worse, by Protestant denominations (for example, abuse in colonies and witch hunts). It’s likely that there’s a sort of reckoning happening. As these were times when the church was held accountable more so than usual, I would expect this time around to see the other church denominations be brought to justice.
Likewise, I would imagine that we’ll likely see another separation of one faith (whether this is Christian, or not). Part of my focus in this article was on Christianity because I have so many timeframes and need to narrow things down, or I’ll accidentally write a book. Again. But that being said, I would imagine that other very prominent world religions will experience separation and strife under this astrological event, not just Catholicism.
But while we’re talking about the Catholic church: it’s interesting what kind of reforms we’ve seen in the Catholic church during Neptune in Aries timeframes. Each time, the church centralized in faith and got closer to its roots: the Gregorian Reforms and Wycliffe’s call to a poorer clergy held the church clergy accountable and brought punishment for people who abused office via monetizing the papacy/other offices in the clergy. Innocent III’s and Paul III’s efforts to push their followers to believe what the Vatican decided, so to speak – via the establishment of the Inquisition, Europe-internal crusade, and the Holy Office, and even the declaration of Papal Infallibility pushed Vatican-approved doctrine over other ideations of belief. This throws an interesting light on current matters of discussion in the church such as abortion, LGBTQ matters, etc.
Also interesting here is that this was the time of Francis of Assisi (1206-20 pass of Neptune in Aries), and we’re now having the first and only pope named after the Saint just at the start of the event (note: I’m writing this in February of 2025 with Neptune changing into Aries on March 30th, 2025).
But intrinsically, Neptune in Aries is about more than just matters of faith: it’s also about power.
One Ruler
What’s very interesting about Neptune in Aries is that it promotes forms of government and other ruling bodies that are both people-specific and streamline power to one person, or one dynasty.
The easiest example of this comes from the 1206 foundation of the Mongolian Empire when a council of Mongolian chiefs gifts a man with the title of Ghengis Khan and he then forms the empire “under one banner and one ruler.” Again, before, there was some sort of council.
Another one would be Henry VIII who stripped power from one of the largest social and political organizations in his country (discussed further in this article) and made himself, and thereby the English crown, head of the national church. He also persecuted Roman Catholics, a trend which continued throughout centuries, to keep power with the crown. One of its immediate consequences was a forced nation-wide shift in religious affiliation (and blood spilling because of that) whenever a ruler changed their minds, or a new ruler ascended the throne (such as Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary the Catholic or also known as Bloody Mary).
In the same vein lay developments such as: Russia declaring Tsardom, the foundation of a united Germany where “Germany as a whole was supposed to be more important than its previous singular parts,” the formation of the United Kingdom under the English crown, as well as the formation of several dynasties on other continents (Aztecs, Mamluks, and many more).
Further reforms and revolutions done by people in power/bodies of power during this time also served to create more power for one person: the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty in China stripped a process for hiring officials away and made it recommendation-only, de facto strengthening the power of singular officials already working for him (he did this due to his disgust over present officials’ incompetency). Pope Clement II gave the power of pope-making to the Holy Roman Emperor (of the German Nation), strengthening that one person (what a coincidence that there was a series of German popes just as he got involved!). Pope Innocent III strengthened himself as the pope by stripping power away from secular rulers where he could.
There are a few exceptions to this (f.e., the Magna Carta), but the general trend is power put into individuals and ruling bodies of one person, rather than many. Which leads us to the next point…
The World Splits Apart
Speaking about general trends, a key theme under Neptune in Aries seems to be a separation of the world based on ideology or religion respectively because it has – or causes – worldly implications. This is not a time when people are content to just hold an opinion, they try to form a camp, forge alliances, and put their money where their mouth is.
In the 19th century, the dawn of communism was the birth of a political ideology (rather than a religious one) that would eventually separate countries and even split the world in two, and become the cause for bloody wars and uprisings. Obviously, the communist countries stuck together for a long time and fought against Western-affiliated countries in the Cold War.
Another ideology at that time was nationalism: with the idea that where you lived defined your very own identity, European powers were pitted against each other in a much stronger way than was the case before. This would, eventually, lead to World War I. The U.S.A. also split apart for the American Civil War, though this was a temporary affair.
And to get back to religion and its worldly implications: the separation of countries due to their religious affiliation was an ongoing theme. The 11th-century pass of Neptune in Aries brings Great East-West Schism (with Eastern Orthodoxy breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church). The Byzantine Empire and related allies separate from the Roman Catholic-affiliated Christian church. In the 13th century, papal intervention in the matter of the Holy Roman Emperor led to civil and international wars in Europe. The 14th century pass and the Western Schism created two lineages (then three) of popes: the papal line, the Avignon antipopes, and the Pisan antipopes, that each had affiliated countries backing one papal line over the other. In the 16th century pass, the Reformation has already started, but now countries are officially breaking away from the church or forming the Holy League for the Catholic Church. The political breaking away from Roman Catholicism continued in the 17-18th century with the United Kingdom.
It is likely that we’ll see a stronger separation between countries based on their beliefs – even in Europe – as the willingness toward ideological compromise falls rapidly.
A part of this theme is the birth of new world powers and empires: Neptune in Aries seems to be connected to both. In the 1042-57 pass of Neptune in Aries, Ghengis Khan is given his title by the other Mongol Chiefs and founds the Mongol Empire which has been labeled the world’s largest empire of all time (it has also been estimated that every 4th European is related to him). The Timurid Empire (14th century), Sur Empire, and declaration of Russian Tsardom (16th century), plus Japan’s ascent (19th century pas) to a global world power continue this theme. We also see the new role of the Holy Roman Emperor as de facto Pope Maker giving him a lot more power… and causing massive issues in the future. On the topic of Germany, we have the formation of the Kingdom of Prussia (17-18th century), and German unification/rebirth of a German Empire (19th century) as world powers.
Therefore, it is highly likely that we see a big change in Europe – especially Germany – and a potential rise of a new and unknown (or forgotten) power. This could absolutely have to do with a country that’s very inventive and technologically savvy.
Coming Full Circle
Under different timeframes with Neptune in Aries, we see things beginning and then coming full circle. For example, the first monarch from the House of Stuart came into power in the 14th-century pass, the last came into power in the 17th-18th century pass of Neptune in Aries. In 1042, Ghengis Khan formed the Mongol Empire and started his conquest of China. In the 17-18th century pass of Neptune in Aries, China completes its conquest of Mongolia.
Another example would be England. In the 11th profit, the end of the Age of Vikings becomes a blessing for England (as they don’t get raided anymore). In the 13th century, the Angevine Empire collapsed (which connects England with large parts of present-day France) and the King was forced to sign away his own power in the Magna Carta. In the 14th century, the Peasant’s Revolt also threatened the King’s power, in the 16th century pass, King Henry VIII formed his own church to gain agency over the country’s religious beliefs and married Anne Boleyn (plus his 4 subsequent wives, with his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, divorced and sent off to a nunnery). This leads to major reforms socially and politically that change England for good – but also, England joins with Ireland at the time. In the 17th-18th century pass, England legally excluded Catholics from the line of succession and also joined with Scotland, forming the United Kingdom we have now.
One could also argue that the development of the Inquisition’s techniques under Innocent III in 1212 was the start of the era of the Inquisition and the witch hunts, with the story continuing and worsening over Henry VIII’s Witchcraft Act in the 16th century, and the line concluding with the last large scale witch burning in Western Europe under the 17-18th pass of Neptune in Aries.
Other
Natural Catastrophes and Epidemics
In researching the historical context of Neptune in Aries, I eventually noted a pretty interesting pattern: every time (in the last 1,000 years) that Neptune was in Aries, we had significant weather patterns and natural catastrophes that held records for more than a century each. This isn’t a comprehensive list, but to give you some examples: the Catastrophic Yellow River Flood 1048 diverted the river for more than a hundred years, there was a decade-long series of flooding, famine, and epidemics in China in the 13th century pass of Neptune in Aries that made history, the last significant eruption of the Phlegrean Fields in 1538 created Mount Nuvo, and a 7-month heatwave in 1540 was so intense that it dried up the Rhine and Seine rivers, causing many deaths in Germany and France. The Great Frost of 1709 (the coldest it's been in 500 years) caused ice to form in the northern sea. There were also the Apennine Earthquakes and the volcano eruption of the Paektu mountain of the 17th-18th century pass of Neptune in Aries, as well as the Hóei Earthquake in Japan that was the strongest earthquake until 2011, which led to the last eruption of Mount Fuji. The 19th century pass also saw the great flood.
There were also lots of fires noted throughout these timeframes as well as many deaths that were either accidental or, frankly speaking, due to recklessness and stupidity. Given that Neptune in Aries is connected with the spreading of fire, and that it makes reckless behavior more likely (as people get too optimistic and not logical enough about risk assessment), this makes sense.
Peace
We also have several instances when people decide to avoid war or make sacrifices to avoid future wars. Examples of that (which are not comprehensive) would be in the War of Spanish Succession when the winner decides to give up his right to other, non-Spanish thrones to preserve European peace. There are more examples for the different timeframes, but I frankly already have 17 pages in Word, so we aren’t going here.
In this timeframe, we’ll be seeing people making personal sacrifices to make peace.
Explosives
In the 11th century pass, the first book (we know of) containing a recipe for explosives and its military uses was written. (In the 14th century pass, someone blew the nose off of the Great Sphinx and was subsequently hanged for it). In the 16th century, the first murder-via handgun was committed in London, and firearms were introduced to Japan. In the 19th century, the invention of dynamite was supposed to bring world peace. This timeframe will likely lead to a continuation of this topic with new weapons created for many, many reasons.
Conclusion
So much has happened in history over the past 1,000 years when Neptune was in Aries. There are thousands of more examples per chapter that we can find: unfortunately, we have limited time and space so I have to leave things here. That being said, I hope you enjoyed this article on the history of Neptune in Aries.
If you’d like to learn more, I have multiple articles you can check out.
Further Reading
Thanks so much for reading! Please don’t forget to subscribe and donate if you’d like to support my work.
Thank you in advance and see you soon,
Alexandra