You don't have to manage everyone's emotions anymore
ARIES SATURN-NEPTUNE CONJUNCTION
by Meghan Geliza Jackson
If you've been feeling a shift in the air lately, like the fog’s lifting and something sharper’s emerging, you're not imagining it.
Neptune just moved from Pisces into Aries for the first time in 14 years, and this week, the Neptune-Saturn conjunction in Aries peaks.
I believe we’re ultimately in the driver’s seat of our own lives. However, nature’s seasons are something we can harness, be empowered by, reflect on and learn from.
Whether you believe planets affect us or not, these archetypal patterns are useful for self-reflection. Let’s talk about it.
The Last 14 Years:
A Collective Awakening
Since 2011, Neptune in Pisces catalysed our collective spiritual awakening.
And when I say collective, I mean it.
I'm in awe of how normalised inner work and wellbeing have become. Meditation's mainstream. Yoga studios multiplied. But more than that, the language itself shifted.
Walk into any corporate office and you'll hear people talking about "wellbeing," "emotional intelligence," "trauma-informed practices." HR departments have meditation apps. Leadership trainings include nervous system regulation.
Astrology exploded beyond the wellness world. Suddenly, everyone knows about Mercury retrograde, their rising sign, and their Human Design chart. These topics went from being fringe to dinner party conversation.
This was profound, and this mattered.
I had my first spiritual awakening in 2012 during this transit. The moment I understood there were dimensions of life that only mysticism and quantum physics could explain. Our energy anatomy. The spirit world. The nature of our souls.
Maybe you had a similar moment. The veil thinned, and you saw something deeper.
And in that opening, we learned so much as a collective. We learned about oneness and empathy. We became more attuned to each other's pain and inner worlds.
This normalisation of the esoteric in everyday life was revolutionary.
But Neptune in Pisces, for all its gifts, also brought confusion disguised as intuition. Connection without boundaries. Union at the expense of self. Disinformation and dissociation through social media.
We learned to attune to everyone else's energy, but forgot how to feel our own.
We became so good at saying yes when we meant no, at shape-shifting to keep the peace.
And we started using spiritual language to excuse what shouldn't be excused.
"He's my twin flame. That's why our dynamic’s so intense."
(He's a cheater.)
"His inner child wounding just makes him confused! That's why he hasn't called." (He's flakey and dishonest.)
"She's triggering my abandonment wound. I need to stay and work through this." (She keeps disrespecting your boundaries.)
We gave ourselves away. We used therapy speak and spiritual concepts to override our own needs.
The Shift: From Oneness to the
Rise of the Authentic Self
For the next 14 years, I believe we're going to witness a collective evolution.
We're not leaving behind what we learned about oneness, empathy, and interconnection. That foundation matters.
But we're moving from oneness to authentic differentiation.
From collective spiritual awakening to the rise of the individuated self.
Here's what I see coming:
Over the next 14 years, the authentic, differentiated self, the one who knows who you are, what you need and what you value, that becomes your medicine for others.
Not your ability to merge or endless empathy.
Your clarity. Your boundaries. Your unapologetic truth.
We're going to collectively learn to stop making excuses for others' bad behaviour through spiritual bypass.
No more: "He ghosted me because of his trauma."
Instead: "He ghosted me. That doesn't work for me, regardless of why."
No more: "We're compatible astrologically, so I'll give him another chance."
Instead: "His actions are not working out for me and what I deserve, regardless of his reasons or wounding. I'm choosing myself."
We're moving towards standing by for what's good for us.
And that's not selfish, but spiritual maturity.
Existing as Yourself Without Needing To
Manage Everyone Else’s Comfort
Here's the deeper work this transit is calling us into:
For the next 14 years, we're being asked, collectively, to remove our family of origin from our nervous systems.
To untangle the real self, from the functioning self we created to survive our earliest environments.
This is Aries as its purest. Our first point of differentiation: who we truly are, before our first bonds conditioned us away from it.
Most of us don't even realise how much we're still operating from old family patterns:
Scanning the room for who's angry, so we can manage it before it explodes.
Saying yes when we mean no, because "no" wasn't safe growing up.
Contorting ourselves to keep the peace because conflict meant danger.
Staying quiet about our preferences to avoid offending someone.
Making ourselves smaller so we don't threaten the family system.
That's not your core self, but an adaptation.
That's the functioning self you built to stay safe, connected, and survive enmeshment.
Who are you underneath all of that?
Not who anyone needed you to be.
Not who you became to avoid rejection.
Who are you at your core?
The work is learning to:
Exist as yourself without managing everyone else's comfort.
Stop scanning the room for who's upset and contorting yourself in response.
Saying no when you mean no, without fear.
Stating your preferences without reacting from woundedness or terror of offending.
Let yourself have different values, opinions, and needs than the people who raised you.
Grounding in your body as the practice.
This is not about rejecting your family, but about reclaiming yourself.
The Medicine of Your Authentic Self
Here's what makes this transit so powerful:
Your authentic self, when reclaimed and embodied,
that becomes the medicine for others.
Not your ability to merge with everyone.
Not your endless attunement.
Your reclaimed, real self.
When you stop shape-shifting, you show others they don't have to either.
When you set boundaries without apology, you model what integrity looks like.
When you express and act from your authentic self rather than your adaptive self, that inner coherence is palpable. The gifts, voice and guided actions from that's so healing.
Our individuated selves, embodying our own inner alignment, that is the medicine we can give to ourselves and others.
Some Practices to Bring You Home
The work now is to create space to come home to yourself.
Practices that help you reclaim your real self:
Feel what YOU actually want, before asking what everyone else needs
Catch yourself contorting to manage another’s emotions: pause, breathe, get back to yourself.
If you're feeling overly responsible for someone else's inner experience, like you want to rescue someone without their consent, think to yourself: "I can see you're upset, I'll let you handle your own distress. They've got this. If they ask, then I'm here."
Practice saying no without over-explaining or softening it
State a preference without apologising: "I'd prefer X" (no justification needed)
Notice when you're scanning the room for anger or tension. When your body’s tense, breathe and feel the ground beneath your feet.
Let yourself have different values than your family or society without making it mean something's wrong with you
Journal Prompts for This Transit
Take some time this week to sit with these questions. Don't rush, and let them simmer.
Where do I say yes when I mean no, and why?
What am I afraid will happen if I state my real preference?Where am I still scanning a situation for tension?
What situations trigger your old nervous system pattern of managing other people’s emotions?What parts of myself did I water down to fit into my family system or society?
Your intensity, opinions, values and preferences: what did you learn to hide?How does my body feel when I'm adapting vs. when I'm being my real self?
Get specific. What are the physical signals? How does your body feel? Does it feel expansive or contracting? Tense or lose?What would I express or share if I wasn't managing other people’s comfort?
If the need to manage others' comfort disappeared, what would emerge?
Art to Anchor This Energy:
Tūī Bird Song
If you're feeling called to ground this transit into your physical space, I want to share a piece that holds exactly this frequency.
Tūī Bird Song
Earth Pigment Painting
& Fine Art Print
Symbolises: authenticity, being true to yourself, speaking your truth, self-belonging
Best for: bedrooms, living rooms, home office, meditation corners
Original Painting SOLD
Fine Art Prints Available
From USD $155
Complimentary Worldwide Shipping
Giclée Print Archival to Last 100+ Years