Mars retrograde buildup in Virgo–Leo

The year ahead astrology forecast for 2026, with predictions about the major planetary alignments taking place over the next twelve months, with astrologers Chris Brennan and Austin Coppock. We spend the first half of the episode giving a big picture overview of the most important planetary alignments in 2026, and then in the second half we dive into a month by month breakdown of the astrology of the next year. This is episode 517 of The Astrology Podcast. Overview of the Astrology of 2026 The year opens with Saturn and Neptune departing from Pisces and moving into the tropical zodiac sign of Aries, where they form an exact conjunction with each other in February, marking the peak of the reality distortion field. February and March sees the start of our first eclipse season, with a solar eclipse in Aquarius in February, followed by a lunar eclipse in Virgo in early March, marking the beginning of a new eclipse series of major endings and beginnings in Leo-Aquarius while the Virgo-Pisces series winds down. The Saturn-Neptune conjunct is reactivated in April when Mars enters that sign and forms a quadruple conjunction with Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune. Later in April the planet Uranus moves into the sign of Gemini where it will stay until 2033, thus marking the full onset of the Uranus return of the United States. This Uranus transit through Gemini reaches a critical and explosive turning point around July 4, when Mars conjoins Uranus in Gemini, which is the first in a series of four pivotal conjunctions between now and 2032. Jupiter spends the first half of the year wrapping up its transit through the sign of exaltation in Cancer, with one of the main highlights being an auspicious Venus-Jupiter conjunction in early June, but then in the second half of the year Jupiter moves into Leo and begins a series of alignments that will put the spotlight on that sign in late 2026 and early 2027. In August we get our second eclipse season of the year, with a solar eclipse in the sign of Leo, followed by a lunar eclipse in the sign of Pisces, thus fully inaugurating the Leo-Aquarius eclipse series. There is a messy Venus retrograde in the signs of Libra and Scorpio in October and November, and then the year closes with Mars getting ready to station retrograde in Leo and Virgo, leaving us on a cliffhanger that leads into the beginning of 2027. 2026 Electional Astrology Report https://theastrologypodcast.com/2026report/ Astrotheoros https://astrotheoros.com Use the code ASTROLOGYPOD to get a free month of the program! Chani App https://www.chani.com/app United Astrology Conference https://uacastrology.com https://norwac.net Austin's Websites https://austincoppock.com https://sphereandsundry.com 2026 Astrology Calendar Posters https://theastrologypodcast.com/2026posters/ Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction00:02:20 Overview of 2026 Astrology00:05:16 Saturn-Neptune Conjunction00:41:28 Eclipse Season 100:44:39 Pluto in Aquarius00:55:22 Uranus in Gemini01:24:17 Astrotheoros01:28:22 Jupiter in Cancer01:40:46 Electional Astrology Report01:43:55 Jupiter in Leo01:54:37 Eclipse Season 202:04:41 Venus Retrograde02:21:53 Mars Retrograde Buildup02:44:08 CHANI App02:48:29 Monthly Breakdown Begins02:49:50 January02:56:14 February03:02:33 March03:08:30 April03:18:18 Austin's Upcoming Offerings03:22:26 May03:27:21 June03:31:37 July03:42:14 United Astrology Conference03:46:16 Northwest Astrological Conference03:48:01 August03:58:26 September04:03:24 October04:09:05 November04:17:30 December04:30:17 Wrapping Up Watch the Video Version of This Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW_xqLHvn7o - Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 517 transcript Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode Listen to the audio version of this episode or download it as an MP3: