Some Fear the Fire, Others Become It
Saturn Retrograde in Aries + the Warrior Princess Archetype
Discipline this, discipline that… why don't you ditch your plan into the trash can and start again with the fire of your heart as the fuel?
If you’re anything like me ~procrastinator, over-thinker, indecision fatigue freak~ A LOT of recs around “getting your shit together” feel hollow. The passion of purpose is the only real fire to be lit under my ass, the most meaningful motivation to “pick up the pace”. And ~can’t believe I’m saying this but~ thanks to recent hardships (i.e. Dyke Divorce Summer) sailing thru this otherwise psychedelic Pisces North Node year has not been an option; prioritization has pushed itself into the “boss bitch” position of any and all plans. While Outer Planets are collective-signatures due to generational-leaning longer span in Signs, their Retrogrades bleed into the personal, planetary subject matter melding the macro into the micro. 2025’s Retrograde Summer immensely lacks Earth, some of us feeling we have to nail our feet to the ground to not float away entirely, amiss of grounding energy.
July 2025 Summer Retrograde Stats:
Mercury Retrograde in Leo starts 7/18
Venus in Gemini til the end of July
Mars in Virgo til the end of July
Jupiter in Cancer new since early June
Uranus is Gemini since 7/7
Neptune is Retrograde in Aries since 7/4
Pluto is Retrograde in Aquarius since May
Chiron Retrograde in Aries starts end of July
Saturn’s 2025 Retrograde will occur July 13th to November 28th between Aries and Pisces.
Saturn has been in Aries since May 24th and will only backspin in Cardinal Fire until September 1st, but don’t underestimate the power of this pilot episode! This seemingly brief blip in the Ram HAS MUCH POTENTIAL to become a tasty “trial run” depending on perspective. Riding out Retrograde Summer with intention prepares us for Saturn’s longer stay in Aries from February 2026 to April 2028. With Aries in BOTH Saturn and Neptune, the Double Retrograde alights the haste in our hustle and the waste in ego AND the soon fiery Mercury Retrograde in Leo gives seeming setbacks an actual opportunity to REALLY LOOK AT what’s giving us grief in our routines and modify as needed, perhaps burning the blueprint and building again.
Locking-in on CREATIVE goals with work-life balance that boosts time-space for play is one perk of all this Fire Retrograde energy. Additionally, in times of injustice, creativity can also be a wonderful weapon of resistance. This feisty fire energy could be the change many of us crave… more movement at a deliciously new pace… again, just a taste. We’re in apprenticeship of Saturn Aries, barely staring at a horizon, the long journey ahead. Progress remains somewhat staggered and if edging gives the outcome stronger pleasure, the increased wait will find every pause worth it. Aries’ activity in Master Saturn could read fairly kinky if one loves rising to the challenge of tackling challenges themselves… or if you simply find restraint sexy. Even with the fools-rush-in fuckery of Aries as an alert archetype easily sidetracked by personal problematics, Daddy Saturn loves the challenges this wildfire presents, transforming the “me, me, me” brat to studious pupil, a fighting machine with a heart of gold at the end of each road.
TW: mentions of assault, emotional abuse, nude images
Shifting gears from kinky quips to nostalgic pop-cult early insights of the dynamic, the sword-and-sorcery genre feels very Saturn Retrograde in Aries to me. We convinced our mom to let us rent the very violent Conan movies (crazy inappropriate for our age) and eventually got to “fierce warrior with flaming red hair” Red Sonja, a commercial and critical failure but a bit of a baby dyke awakening. I was enamored by this choppy action-adventure: all-female priestess coven, a sapphic villain queen in black and gold with a large pet spider, jokes about “hating men”, long mullets and even longer legs, huge animal statues and sculpture castles. Co-starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and introducing Brigitte Nielsen, the sexual tension between the 2 characters brimmed; later it was revealed he cheated on his wife Maria Shriver with the new actress right before Nielsen married Sylvester Stallone.
Weapons in sword-and-sorcery represent more than literal skill, they are often magick-ed and act as a commitment to a role, wielding a higher purpose, identity, destiny.
Xena Warrior Princess was undoubtedly influenced by Red Sonja and this precursor glimpse into the archetype that I attach to Aries is full of unspoken Saturnian sermons. Hero fantasy itself is Cardinal Fire trajectory but the hard truths along the journey that even their most audacious attitudes can’t evade is Saturnian in nature: non-ideal decision making, picking battles wisely, discerning deception and of course death. Aries starts out strong and maintains stamina, doesn’t sneak around strategizing a plan, goes in for the fight, heals fast, keeps going forth.
Red Sonja as a proto-Xena practices the wisdom learned in training to avenge her sister, overcome sexual assault, find center in herself as a refugee from her village burnt, gifted a sword “with the secret of steel” by a goddess deity. Xena, on the other hand, battles not just men and monsters but her own hot-headed reactionary ways. While Xena’s stubbornness is a constant trial and tribulation amid fight scenes with foes, she does have a weakness for both Gabrielle and in trying to atone for past “sin”. The Chakram is Xena’s weapon of choice and a “yin-yang” motif shows up in the series repeatedly. Excited to see Red Sonja get a redux feature film, a chance at better acting and deeper meaning, written, directed and produced by Joey Soloway, a queer woman:
The truth is, unlike the Warrior Princess Aries Archetype, we rarely can be “on” all the time.
My own overload of ideas and issues with execution is my personal weakness; I blame my lack of Fire in my chart for this! Summer’s extra helping of un-fun finds my creative ideas sacrificed to burnout, worse now that Neptune is Retrograde also in the Sign of impatient Aries. As an un-medicated AuDHD freak deconstructing my shame around not being neuro-typical (Capricorn Full Moon Muse honed in on this), giving myself grace BASED ON WHAT IS REALISTIC has been a salve. If my basic routines are alright, I’m alright! The disruption of the daily needs is usually what sends me into a spiral. Processes down to the physical wellness to content calendar need to be ranked esp. while I’m drained in Summer the stupid Day Star I was ironically named after.
We wish to “have our shit together” but what that looks like idealistically (Neptune) vs functionally (Saturn) vary and contradict. Summer 2025 wants furthered focus, but we must get un-stuck if we’re to apply the knowledge of our logistic needs while moving on from distractive follies. Perhaps a shiny door to something new altogether awaits, but taking the path itself may be the much-needed change. A step away from stagnation may be a stronger connection to a creative pursuit or community mutual aid that requires a leap of faith to come into fruition. It’s so easy to pause sternly, no matter how genteel the stance, and posture as patience whilst secretly spying for a sign of safety, security, stability. This vigilance can be more an undercurrent for an unwillingness to change.
No change is the real danger though fear is understandable when face-to-face with the unknown. Adventure awaits whether we want it or not!
Recognizing cycles to work within is half the battle. A few measurable helpers that have assisted me are:
Self-compassionate routine-building apps like Finch dramatically assist to structure my day (esp. morning routine) in a cute and un-fussy way for better flow AND reassurance (ex. I’ll forget if I’ve taken my Lexapro so checking this off is mandatory for my sometimes short-term memory).
Period-tracking that reports literal ups-and-downs of the beauties and banes of hormonal lifts and drains throughout my menstrual cycle clues me into energy, mood and libido levels week-to-week, day-to-day. My go-to is Stardust which is not only incredibly informative but also include Moon cycles, funny quips and top-notch aesthetics (plus have a great work-around re: info-privacy in this repro-aggressive government).
Google Calendar (enough said); physical planner (for minor to-do’s); brain dump mini-notebooks (tasks for later but not losing sight of idealistic or non-emergent items, just getting them on paper to not hold onto them mentally). Some shit’s not that important or can be delegated. Some things we may find we don’t even want to do anymore.
Literally schedule in “rot” time. If your day doesn’t have a portion of NOTHING, then you’re setting yourself up for baby-level burn-out at the very least. It’s extremely normal to be tired after working a full-time job, if you’re a parent, if you’re caring for a sick parent, if you’re working at all, if you’re human. Like let go of the need to be doing something every second or shaming yourself for needing a “personal day”. Every day should have “personal” time. We do not belong to the machine.
Scenes of Saturn Retrograde in Aries:
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