Entering the Forge: Capricorn Full Moon

Head of Ares, 19th Century, Roman

The Capricorn full moon this year highlights the mysterious and intricate dance between Saturn, Neptune and their new host, Mars, who they’re slowly becoming acquainted with. When these two outer planets finally and perfectly conjoin in Aries in February 2026, the Temple of Mars will be Saturn’s home until 2028 and Neptune’s until 2039.

It occurs on July 10 2025 at 18 Capricorn and brings its ruler, Saturn in Aries, into sharp focus. signaling an extremely important moment in the ongoing Saturn/Neptune conjunction narrative we are deep in the thick of.

It’s the first lunation since Neptune went retrograde on July 4 and Uranus entered Gemini on July 7. Saturn stations retrograde three days after on July 13.

As the rain continues to come down where I am in central Texas, and the tragedy of the July 4 floods continues to expand, you’d think we’re somehow back in the middle of Mars retrograding through Cancer earlier this year. And in a way, we are. Well, sort of.

With Saturn in Aries, in the Temple of Mars, we need to take a close look at Mars to better understand the current weather.

17 Cancer & Mars in Virgo

The Sun is opposite the Moon at 18 Cancer.

17 Cancer is where Mars entered retrograde shadow on October 5 2024 and where it stationed direct on February 24 2025.

The Sun is only the second “planet” to cross over 17 Cancer since Mars moved beyond it on March 8 2025. The first planet to do so was Mercury on June 18, the very same day Mars entered Virgo and completely left the signs of its retrograde behind.

When Mars entered retrograde shadow back on October 5, Saturn was retrograde at 14 Pisces, opposite where Mars is now at 13 Virgo. It was also opposite 13 Virgo when Mars stationed retrograde on December 6. Interestingly, Neptune’s last retrograde ended December 7, the day after.

The Mars story that started fall 2024 is still in progress and might not be “finished” until January 2026, when Mars renews its synodic cycle with the Sun. It will square 17 Cancer when Jupiter is at that degree on September 2 in Libra. The day before retrograde Saturn re-enters Pisces, an echo of this Capricorn full moon.

Then, a week later on Sept 7 the total lunar eclipse at 15 Pisces is close enough to be conjunct where Saturn was when Mars retrograde started and opposite 13 Virgo where Mars is now. Entanglements abound.

The day after Mars retrograded back into Cancer on January 6, the devastating California wild fires ignited; destroying homes, neighborhoods and lives due to drought conditions and water supply issues didn’t help.

Now, as the Sun goes over 17 and 18 Cancer, with Neptune retrograde, we have homes, neighborhoods and families upended in Central Texas due to wild flooding intensified because of drought conditions and the cement-like soil unable to absorb the unrelenting rain.

Saturn is uncomfortable and in its “fall” in Aries, Temple of Mars. Aries is a fire sign and considered “hot and dry” in the esoteric tradition. Neptune stationing retrograde on July 4 2025 in Aries let the world know just how hot and dry the earth was in the wake of devastating floods and the Camp Mystic tragedy.

Drought-quenching is a process used to reverse and prevent drought conditions. Adding water. As Saturn and Neptune make their way out of hot, dry Aries back into cold, wet Pisces over the coming months, a kind of quenching will take place as we process what was gleaned from their test run in Aries.

In the art of forging, using water to quickly fix soft, glowing-hot metal is also called quenching. Forging seems very Mars in Virgo to me.

With this full moon we have an opportunity to re-forge something in our lives that will affect how others see us and how we view ourselves. Out-dated or unhealthy habits, routines or patterns in our lives are the metals in need of melting down.

The process of melting the rusting metal in our lives and shaping it (Saturn/Aries), then  quenching it with water into new form (Neptune/Saturn/Aries) and then letting it cure and solidify into a new tool or instrument we can begin to use in an effort to improve our daily lives (Mars in Virgo). This could be an actual object that comes into your life or a new method, strategy, process or mental outlook you’re taking on.

It’s likely events/experiences linked to last winter’s Mars retrograde are coming back up in some way now and this metaphorical re-forging process could be related and part of what is being re-forged.

The 17th degree of the Cardinal signs are lighting up again. If you have strong placements in the mid-degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn, you’ll be affected by this time more than others. Perhaps what’s resurfacing is a family or relationship issue; career/identity conflicts; or a health/habit concern.

Look back to the very end of 2024, around the Capricorn new moon on December 30. Mars was retrograde then at 2 Leo (not far from where Mercury is now) and just about to oppose Pluto for the second time in a series of three.

What was underway then? How is it related to what’s going on now? Is a new stage within that process emerging? Is what you might be forging or re-forging in the Virgo part of your chart related to last winter in some way?

Saturn & Neptune Retrograde

Mercury —- ruler of Mars in Virgo — is in Leo, the Temple of the Sun.  The Sun is exalted when in Aries, where Saturn and Neptune are now standing still, about to journey back into Pisces, perhaps to retrieve something left behind, in need of more attention, or a final goodbye.

Things are pivoting. Now, with the ghost of the recent Mars retrograde in our midst, we also find ourselves entrenched in the intense stillness of Neptune, Saturn and Mercury as they each station retrograde: Neptune on July 4, Saturn July 13, Mercury July 17.

The last time Saturn and Neptune were conjunct in Aries was March 1703. The last time Neptune and Saturn were conjoined at all was 1989, in Capricorn.

This connection between the 1989 Saturn/Neptune conjunction and this full moon via Capricorn strengthens this moment’s relationship with Saturn and Neptune, especially so now that both are retrograding.

Saturn is slowing down to a dead-stop to turn retrograde on July 13 at 1 degree, 56 mins of Aries conjoined a newly retrograde Neptune at 2 degrees, 9 mins of Aries. At a mere 13 minutes of arc apart, Saturn and Neptune are as close to perfecting they’re going to get until they actually do perfect in February 2026.

Perhaps something is becoming clearer, more obvious, or you are seeing something from the past in a new light. Maybe an illusion or mirage is disintegrating or a dream is becoming fixed in the imagination or starting to take form in the outer world. Or maybe an illusion is becoming more illusory, crystalizing into illusion.

A re-membering — a putting back together of something scattered or fragmented, figuratively or literally — might be getting underway now; and the result of this process, for better or worse, is going to determine how the future begins to unfold come Spring 2026.

What needs to be ironed out? What needs to be let go of? What needs to be forgiven or forgotten so the future can begin and exist? How is your relationship to the outer world, your public life, status, reputation, so-called “standing”, or how you feel you’re perceived by others changing? And how is this affecting your view of yourself? What needs to be broken down or washed away in order for you to be your most authentic self? What can you re-forge internally to help make that happen?

Jupiter As Morning Star

As Neptune, Saturn and Mercury slow — getting louder and louder as they do — and our Mars retrograde stories are possibly rekindled, Jupiter is finally appearing from the beams of the Sun and will begin to slowly unveil its more benevolent side over the coming months.

Can the past be rebuilt? No, not in the same way. But whatever growth, healing, and potential is embedded and latent in the Cancer part of your chart, begins to open now, and at the same time Neptune and Saturn start heading back to Pisces. Something in Pisces will be revisited or retrieved and help deepen the growth process at work in Cancer.

Uranus in Gemini

This is also the first lunation since Uranus entered Gemini on July 7 — one of the most impactful transits of 2025. It’s Uranus’s first time back in Gemini since 1942.

This is important because both Saturn and Neptune are sextile Uranus as it dips a toe into the new Geminian air, so there’s a serious opportunity to observe what these next few months of Uranus in Gemini might reveal about any possible disruptions or quantum leaps coming to the Gemini parts of our charts. Saturn sextile Uranus can help us get a grip on and prepare for such changes in a practical and executive way.

Because Saturn, Neptune and Uranus are each retrograding one-by-one back into where they’ve been situated for quite some time — Uranus since 2018 in Taurus, Neptune since 2011 in Pisces, Saturn in Pisces since 2023 — this full moon marks the beginning of a period that lasts until Spring 2026, during which we’ll recalibrate, recenter, readjust, take out the trash and tie up any loose ends that need it.

We can look at mid-2025 as a preview or test run for 2026 when there’ll be no more turning back — Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto will all be firmly in new signs and in harmonious aspect to each other.

For some, this will feel like stepping out of the mud onto soft grass, letting the heat of the sun and air turn the mud on your feet to dust so you can stomp it off and walk bravely forward into the electrifying unknown. For others, it could feel like walking into a strong, hot headwind that forces you to close your eyes and reach out for something stable and solid to hold onto.

It will likely feel like a little bit of both for a lot of us — strange, exciting, and disorienting perhaps, but breathtakingly new.

This is a general forecast. If you'd like to learn how the Capricorn Full Moon affects you, please consider booking a reading.