​Destruction of the Serapeum; Neptune Saturn in Aries Dance.
With the Saturn-Neptune ingress into Aries we astrologers are trying to ascertain what this will bring. My insights as a Saturn Sun conjunction are often based in history, and this is no exception. In fact, this historical example is an excellent mirror of the current situation (in the United States) clearly reflecting historical perspectives related to previous ingressions.
The particular ingress that I would use for comparison is the 391 CE destruction of the Serapeum in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria was still one of the great crossroads of knowledge in the Mediterranean, although the library(s) had endured many burnings and hits from the Romans, as well as themselves. The Serapeum was the most important pagan temple left, and had much of the remaining library. By 68 CE, “St” Mark had brought Christianity to Alexandria, and the religion had been building since. This was with a previous Neptune in Aries in 60 CE, that started with Paul finishing his writings in Rome. By 68 CE Neptune was at 19* Aries retrograde, and Saturn was opposite in Libra. Pluto was in Aquarius around 10*.  So, the era that we are looking at (around 391 CE) is a 2nd Neptune return for Mark’s visit and martyrdom, and has the Saturn in Libra opposite the Neptune again.
However, we first need to look at another transit that sets the stage. In Alexandria, 321ish CE, Saturn was in Aries, Neptune in Scorpio square Uranus and Pluto in Aquarius.  The theologian Arias is promoting the idea that Jesus was separate and begotten of the Father, as opposed to being one and the same. This starts with Origen, leading to Arias’ ideas being popular in Alexandria, promoting the idea that the “Father” predates and is different than the “Son”. This leads to Constantine calling the Nicene council in 325. By 325, the Nicene Council kills Arianism and sets the official belief system for the religion that still dominates today. Jupiter Uranus and Pluto are in Aquarius 19*, and Saturn is in Gemini, into Cancer by the end.  Why does it not surprise me that one belief was chosen over another with both unprovable, and Saturn in Gemini…As well, the current promotion of the Pluto in Aquarius as a humanitarian breakthrough could be considered in light of this bit of history. It may happen that in our current state of humanity, communication, and evolution Pluto brings egalitarian social movements, but I see overall through history it has the effect of (sometimes charismatic)  leaders manipulating social belief systems and behaviors to suit the power structure of that time, especially in their natal chart when that Pluto goes into Aries…in that leader’s ‘40’s…
 
So, in August of 378 CE the Battle of Adrianople with the Goths happens. Emperor Valens dies, and Theodosius becomes emperor; this is the last unified Roman Empire before the split of Rome and Constantinople. In May of 379 there is a Saturn - Pluto conjunction in Aries @ 21-22 *, with Neptune in Pisces 11*.  It is the final push for Christianity to take over from the previous worship of the gods in areas of Roman influence.
We See:
380: The Edict of Thesselonika. Theodosius confirms the decisions of the Nicene Council and outlaws Arianism, (while confirming Chritianity). After retrograde and direct, Saturn 22*, Pluto 21*,Aries.  Neptune at 11* Pisces. Jupiter in Virgo 24*, Uranus opposite in Libra, 17*.
389: Neptune 0* Jan 389: Saturn in Virgo , retro into Leo. Pluto 1* Taurus Q Ur 0*Sag. Jupiter in Gemini..
391: Nov 391, Saturn 6* Libra opposite Neptune in Aries. January 389 0*, 391 4* -6* Aries. Emperor Theodosius I establishes Christianity as the official state religion. This mirrors the 68 CE visit of Mark to Alexandria. All non-Christian temples in the Roman Empire are closed. The eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta at the Roman Forum is extinguished, and the Vestal Virgins are disbanded.
391: The Serapeum, mainly used by that time as a gathering place for Neoplatonist philosophers following the teachings of Iamblichus, was vandalized and demolished under a decree from Theophilus. Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, urban prefect of Rome, pleads for traditional cult practices. He petitions Theodosius I to re-open the pagan temples, but is opposed by Ambrose.
The destruction of the Serapeum is symbolic of the end of the Greco-Roman worship of the Gods, and Hellenic civilization generally. Christianity is on its way to becoming the dominant theology of the Western world all starting, not with Jesus’ ministry, but with Paul’s last chronicles, which start to consolidate the structure of the religion, which is further codified 2 Neptune cycles later, by Theodosius.
Does this give us an insight into what the Neptune Saturn ingress into Aries will bring? I think so, with the additional insight into the fact that there was a Saturn Pluto conjunction in Aries, which should be, by any definition a breakthrough in power structures, in this case, still “Age” appropriate. The comparable era closer to our time is the 1848-49 Saturn- Uranus- Pluto conjunction in Aries. Besides the many started and sometimes failed rebellions around the world, it was epitomized by the Gold Rush, which was the “hammer” of opening up the Western U.S., leading to the turmoil of abolitionism Vs. Slavery, culminating in the Civil War. (with power and might being the major drivers then; Aries…)
In our case, we are still dealing with the Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. This additionally being the Pluto return for the U.S, it set up the dynamic that then, the Saturn Neptune will deal with as it squares that in Aries. This would be the challenges to what was, by 250 years, a fairly well established democracy, with mores and rules accepted by most, then overturned by Project 2025…This is, assumedly (with Aries energy), focused on the idea of Unitary Executive Privilege.
One may have varying opinions on the topic, depending on one’s opinions of what the function of government should be. However, behind the scenes with the actual people in charge of this change in approach to the bureaucracy of government is an Aries with Mercury at 0* Aries, and an affirmed Christian Nationalist; Russel Vought. He is the head of the OMB, office of management and budget, and is the gatekeeper of funding the government. He helped create Project 2025, and is unabashedly pro unitary executive power and re-establishing the U.S. as a “Christian Nation”.
Social milieus are often created by charismatic leaders. However, perhaps equally as often they are sustained by little known actors behind the throne. Cromwell, Kissenger with Nixon, Eleanor Roosevelt, back to John Quincy Adams who actually wrote the Monroe Doctrine. In this case, we have the perfect canary in the coal mine, Russ Vought who so far, has implemented more than half of the goals of project 2025, but has also been pushed back by the courts, probably half the time or more.
So, I do not think that I would focus all of what this Neptune Transit will bring on the above thoughts and examples; there is much more to come, and we live in an incredibly different time in terms of the ability to communicate. It is well worthwhile for astrologers to contemplate what they think this era will bring.
But I do think that we have the perfect microcosm going on in our country, unfolding in front of us. Polarized parts of society with the progressives marching like we have not had to since Viet Nam, or perhaps Iran Contra. And the other side? Marching in lockstep toward the Pluto transit of the U.S. Constitution signing, planning (in their minds), of “returning” this to a God Fearing, Christian Nation. You will notice that , in the signing, Neptune is trine Pluto. In the return. Neptune is directly opposite that natal Neptune.
 
 

We are all experiencing the Saturn/ Pluto/ Jupiter/ Neptune retrograde.
My study below is of my chart, as it transits my 9th house mars, however it could also apply to any planets sun or moon in Sag…

This is affecting my chart in a myriad of ways. My Mars is @ 23* Sag., and that is the primary focus of this essay; Jupiter almost hitting that Mars then going retrograde. Usually, an exciting new venture, then having it turn out very differently. However other factors are there in my chart strongly as well. The Capricorn planets in my MC, but square my Saturn and  planets in Libra, exact square my Neptune on the descendant, opposite my natal Uranus @ 18*Cancer, and Neptune retro on my moon in Pisces.

All that said, I am primarily looking at Jupiter over my 9th house Mars, while quincunx my natal Jupiter @ 18* Taurus. The question this year is what to do with my life, now that I am 66, on social security, and unemployed. I do not need to work, my needs are met, but not the extras that my Jupiter in Taurus is accustomed to. So to assist in the decision process, (as usual for a Saturn Sun) I looked to the past to make sense of past transits of Jupiter and its retrogrades.

The first would have been age 7- 8, throughout 1960. It was a good year, my first, (and last) piano performance ant the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit. However, the most important thing that happened to me involved right and wrong, and justice, (not surprisingly). My third grade teacher was beautiful, and of course, as a budding young Libra, I had a crush on her… So; when she accused me (wrongly), of taking a pencil off of her desk, I was mortified! (Saturn Sun in Libra can be a stickler for justice, but also a scapegoat). As it turned out, she realized her mistake, and apologized to me, and later got me on some sort of local TV program where children were interviewed.  Justice was served! How important was this incident to an 8 year old’s perception of right and wrong, and justice? I feel I took that with me the rest of my life…

The next time Jupiter rolled around to my Mars was 1972. I was in my freshman year at Wayne State Univ., Taking classes in an alternative seminar type setting, and playing chess all day, and listening to Miles Davis. A wonderful, enlightening year, indeed, but also the year I pulled a low number in the military draft lottery. So, I enlisted in the Navy, and went in the day Jupiter went direct in Sag. I would here note that, all of these transits would be happening in the year after my Jupiter opposition, which is also a learning time outside of one’s self.

At any rate, I went in a political neophyte, and came out politically and spiritually much more aware…The Viet Nam war was not in any way justifiable, and this would color my political views for the rest of my life, as well as confirm my career path in the medical field… (I entered the Navy Hospital Corp, and went on to work in psychiatry and neurology much of my working life).

However the theme now emerging was/ is being shot off on a 9th house adventure, and with the retrograde, that adventure turning out differently than expected. I entered the Navy knowing little about myself at age 20, and left a Buddhist/ Taoist, who was much more politically aware. Needless to say, the rest of my 20’s were exciting and enlightening, but not the subject of this study…

Next time around was 1983. The transits of Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto through Libra had seen me married and divorced in quick succession (on my Saturn Return), and going back to finish my last year of college (on the last year of availability of the GI bill; remember 12 years ago?) I now knew who I was, (an astrologer, surviving his Saturn return), but not sure what degree I wanted finish to come back out into the world. I liked biology/cell morphology, but also as an astrologer certainly liked psychology. After some Libran angst and indecision, I chose psychology, with a minor in neurophysiology.

This year, there was no retrograde in Sag; it happened in Capricorn, and there was no real reassessment of my choice in paths. I went to work in a psychiatric hospital as a mental health professional, and enjoyed that work for the next 14 years, (half of a Saturn Cycle).

The next passage of Jupiter in Sag was 1995, with Saturn in my 12th house in Pisces, soon to go into my 1st and oppose my natal Saturn in Libra. However, at the time of the transit, I was already starting to work as a carpenter with another mental health co-worker. He had started a business, and asked me to help. I had spent the last 6 years renovating my house in Detroit. Carpentry has always been my hobby, and now, as the inpatient insurance reimbursements were going down, I knew I was going to need a change of career. The usual “unknowing” was there, since carpentry was always going to be a hobby, not the next career.

Since this segued into my mid-life crisis, there were too many changes to be noted in this essay (see my book on Mid-life crisis according to Astrology). However suffice it to say, this shot me into a different career, out of mid-life, with all the unknowing of the initial transit into Sag, with a retrograde, and consequent new adventures, which took me to the next 12 years. One was a foray to a Renaissance festival with a new girlfriend, and seeing the astrology booth there. A year later, I was working in the booth, and 2 years later, I bought it. The other new adventure was a start in EEG based neurofeedback, and I have worked in neurophysiology ever since.

The next time this hit was 12 years later, in 2007. I was working in Atlanta at Emory Hospital, in a good job in EEG, but had just gotten rid of my house in Detroit, (on the Jupiter in Scorpio opposition to mine), and had fallen in love with a women in Ann Arbor, while already moved to the ATL area. She was not going to move to Georgia, and the last gasp of that was in April of 2007, on a date weekend in Kentucky, with Jupiter going retro a couple of weeks before, and Saturn going direct on my South Node in Leo that weekend. Needless to say, the relationship blossomed and crashed in the same weekend (with Pluto in Sag, and Uranus on my moon, so; a very difficult time for me). Cutting last ties to Michigan, and continuing to blossom in Georgia, but did not see that one coming either.

Now, we are up to the current Jupiter transit with the retrograde, in Sagittarius. As it got close to my Mars in February, I quit my job as Senior Technologist trainer at Grady Hospital, and took a job as a manager of a neurophysiology department in another system. This lasted only six weeks. Apparently I was too hard on them, bringing them up to Grady/ Emory standards. Definitely did not see that one coming, since I knew I was doing a good job as a manager, and had already smoothed over some of the staff’s resentments, but the director let me go… which was OK, since I was driving 100 miles a day, and he was not going to be supportive of me with my goals in the department. So now, as mentioned above, I have income, and have the time to look around at what I want to do.

However, from the transits above, I think it is safe to say that; Jupiter over Mars in Sag brought new beginnings, yet with the retrograde, brought turnarounds and unexpected diversions and paths unforeseen at the beginning of each Sagittarian adventure.

In my case, these transits are quincunx my natal Jupiter. While the quincunx does not enjoy such a good reputation with some astrologers, to me, the angle (past the opposition) brings the opportunity to resolve and choose paths that are too fraught with the opposition; at least in my chart.
I may follow up with a study on the national stage if time permits, since this happens on the US’s ascendant…

I am worried about Neptune going into Pisces.
Will the Middle-Eastern revolutions fold; for the status quo, and go back to being followers; when Neptune goes into Pisces?
We may be in flux, but at the danger of re-entering a "dark age" of sorts; while at the same time, revolution is in the air everywhere!
Astrological conundrums, as usual...