Behind the Scenes (Feat: Neptune in Aries): What’s Really Moving in My Life & Business Right Now

March Reflections: Behind the Scenes of an Aligned Astrology Business

If you’re new here, hi—I’m Shanae. I’m an astrologer, strategist, and recovering overthinker who’s building a business that actually supports my life. We'll call it a 'lifestyle business', but know that just means a business and life that support each other while offering services that people actually want to invest in because I truly get the frustration they're experiencing with building a life that fulfills them.

And March? March reminded me that this whole thing is about more than revenue reports or blog strategy. It’s about the people, passions, and tiny rituals that make life feel like mine.

March brought the kind of progress that’s easy to overlook if you only measure success in dollar signs or flashy milestones. But when you look closer? There’s real movement happening—mentally, structurally, and energetically -- and yes, even statistically!

Here is what it looks like to build a business and life aligned with your chart: a lot of quiet recalibration and honest assessment, followed by tangible next steps.

Shanae's neice sits in her lap crossing her tiny toddler feet playing with a toy cellphone

Shanae posting that she is doing her first podcast guesting spot on St Patrick's Day at 5pm

Shanae's neice lays down and pets her cat

A sunset captured in late March 2025

Shanae's neice sits in a tiny papazan chair with 2 stuffed animals that are near her size

Note from Shanae: Normally, these monthly newsletters won’t be published to the blog—this one is just here as a special preview of what subscribers receive. In the future, monthly recaps like this (complete with personal updates, astrological forecasts, and behind-the-scenes reflections) will be exclusive to my email list. If you want to keep getting these, make sure you’re signed up! You can join right here, alternatively you can sign up for the Setting Aligned Goals For You Using Astrology Free Mini Course and you'll automatically be entered into the email subscriber list.

Operation: Leaving the Safety Net

This month made it impossible to ignore: the restaurant job is no longer a quality solution (we moved in November, and this new place is pretty different in a not so profitable way...) It’s inconsistent, frustrating, and draining more than it gives. But instead of spiraling from burnout (or panic quitting), I finally mapped out what it would take to transition fully into my business.

The amount I need to replace the weekly income is manageable—especially now that systems are in place and beginning to work for me. I’m no longer building from scratch. The lead magnet is live, my website and blog are set up to funnel to consultations, and the back-end workflows are doing their job.

For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like I’m guessing. I’m building.

Expanding the Stage: First Podcast Interview (Done)

March also marked a visibility milestone—my first podcast guest appearance. I shared my story, navigated the discussion, and left the host feeling like it was a meaningful conversation....As usual...they described it as "intense" haha.

Was it perfect? No. But it was impactful—and a reminder that I don’t need to be polished to be powerful. I just need to be willing to speak. Once it's available I'll be linking to it through my blog and email list.

Rooted, Not Stuck: Home Life Rhythms

March brought a lot of shifts behind the scenes. My husband Jeremy started a new job—and just knowing his paychecks are consistent again has brought such a quiet relief. We're not caught up, but we're finally starting to feel like we're rebuilding the foundation after a wild year of financial unpredictability from his end.

His daughter Aliyah also landed a job (after moving across the country to live with us), and her anxious pup has surprisingly settled into the new house with ease. It’s not always smooth—but it’s working. We’ve even carved out a little Sunday tradition: ice cream runs. I get banana splits when we go, she loves ice cream with sprinkles, and he likes to mix it up between peanut butter cup shakes and malted milk dusted sundaes. It’s a small joy!

Washington ALL CAPS Playoffs & Screaming at the Screen

Listen—I’m not saying I manifested it, but I did scream when the Capitals clinched their playoff spot. (Just kidding, even my Aries Mercury doesn't override my Capricorn rising and Taurus Sun here). After the season they've had I had zero doubt they were going to have a long season this year). Still, every win is electric.

This team has been on a wild ride, and watching Alexander Ovechkin chase down Gretzky’s record—watching history unfold like that? It's exactly why I stay invested.

Hockey, for me, is sacred. Not just entertainment—it's a mirror for momentum, strategy, passion, and belief. Hockey is so emotional. It's a carnival of fast paced fury and frivolity on ice skates.

Hockey reminds me that momentum matters, that no one is “too behind” to make a comeback, and that sometimes the best thing you can do is show up for the next shift and skate hard.

Movies and the Magic of Stories

This month, we finally used our Christmas giftcards from my step dad to see Mickey 17—and wow. I knew it was going to be weird because Rob Pattinson said he wants to create weird shit (good for him).

Well this had that and just a pinch of philosophical dread. It was weird, haunting, and exactly the kind of narrative chaos I love. Very Pluto in Aquarius + Neptune in Aries coded.

If you enjoyed it too, or like the idea of playing with clones and the philosophical dread of wondering -- "what actually MAKES ME, ME?" check out both Paul Rudd's "Living with Yourself".

Jeremy and I have been fans of Yellow Jackets since the first season was new, and we are still obsessed. We've been watching it as each episode drops on Fridays and this season is no different - haunting and creepy (but not horrifying - that's not our thing really), deeply meaningful and extremely character driven. I LOVE how the wilderness is a character on its own and considering I haven't watched TV since June 30 of last year? This comes highly recommended from us.

On the literary side, I started reading Dune. Jeremy has been playing chess when it comes to getting me to consume the content he wants me to.

To train me to want to watch Game of Thrones (which I was in no way shape or form interested in) he warmed me up by getting me to watch BBC's Merlin. Then after proving to me that medieval times shows could be good, he then got me to watch Legend of the Seeker. At this point I did not see what was really going on here....

Finally, my stubbornness was broken and I was ready to watch GOT.

Now he's similarly masterminded me into reading Frank Herbert's political and philosophical space epic, Dune after holding me hostage to watch the film (WHICH I HATED, by the way). When Dune 2 (the movie) came out in 2024, I immediately reverted my opinion and LOVED it.

Now I'm making my way through the epic original novel. It’s slow and dense and mythic—and I’m loving it. The Litany Against Fear? Tattoo me.

This book is giving me everything I didn’t know I needed: high-stakes drama, spiritual undertones, and a whole universe of layered characters making impossible choices. Right up my alley.

Here are my favorite quotes so far: Be prepared to appreciate what you meet. Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife -- chopping off what's incomplete and saying: "Now, it's complete because it ended here." Do you wrestle with dreams? Do you contend with shadows? Do you move in a kind of sleep? Time has slipped away. Your life is stolen. You tarried with trifles. Victim of your folly. A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it. (is this not so astrology coded??)

I can't guarantee that I'll be done with Dune by the time I send my next newsletter, because I keep having to gush about the beauty of it to chatgpt to metabolize it fully into my being.

Now that we've covered my current obsessions, we can move on.

This Business Supports Real Life

This past month showed me—again—that astrology isn’t just insight. It’s infrastructure. A way to build lives that actually work. I’m grateful to the clients, collaborators, and community who are walking this road with me.

Thank you. Really! Let's get into the energy ahead.

Astrological Weather: March Was No Joke

Energetically, this month was heavy and a bit murky—but for good reason.

Mars finally started moving away from its station degree, signaling forward momentum after months of spinning our wheels. Venus and Mercury are both retrograde in Aries, and we’re in a season of realignment—rethinking what we want (Venus), and how we communicate or go after it (Mercury). This is a time of ego recalibration and intention-checking.

What’s driving your desire? Is it actually yours?

We’re also headed toward the final Aries-Libra eclipse, marking the completion of a chapter that began in 2023. If you’ve been navigating identity shifts, changes in relationships, or questioning the way you assert yourself in the world—this eclipse is sealing the deal and clearing the stage for the Pisces-Virgo axis, which will dominate the second half of the year.

Neptune in Aries: A New Era of Myth, Motivation & Meaning

But the biggest cosmic headline of all? Neptune is preparing to enter Aries for the first time since the 1860s.

This hasn’t happened in anyone alive’s lifetime.

Neptune governs collective myths, spiritual ideals, mass illusions, creativity, compassion, confusion, and escapism. It rules what’s glamorized, idealized, and sometimes blindly followed. And it’s been moving through Pisces—a sign it's very strong in—since 2011, amplifying themes of dissolution, spiritual searching, and boundary-blurring.

Now, as it enters Aries, we’re stepping into an entirely different era of cultural mythology.

In the 1860s, the last time Neptune was in Aries, the United States was reckoning with the question: Who is this country really for? What does “freedom” mean when it comes with systems of exclusion, control, and oppression?

We were asked to confront the myth of liberty that this nation was built on—and decide if we were brave enough to (start to) dismantle the illusion.

That’s the same archetypal tension we’re stepping into again now—but it’s not just political. It’s personal, spiritual, and global.

Neptune in Aries Themes We’ll All Be Wrestling With:

Glorified Selfhood: Neptune in Aries and the End of the Influencer Dream

What does it actually mean to “be yourself” in a world addicted to performance?

While Neptune moved through Pisces, we witnessed the glamorization of being online—endless access to the collective’s inner world, spiritual aestheticism, and the illusion that documenting your life could become your purpose.

It wasn’t just a dream—it was the dream. Children said they wanted to be YouTubers when they grew up. Being chronically online was rebranded as a business model. Oversharing became a currency. “Authenticity” was filtered, curated, and monetized.

And yes, for many, it worked. People built entire livelihoods showing off their daily lives, chasing trends, and turning attention into income.

But let’s call a spade a spade: it was also, mostly, supremely lacking in deeper meaning. This was a collective delusion calling parasocial relationships connection.

Now, with Neptune moving into Aries, we face a new frontier—one that demands not just performance, but presence.

If I were building or participating as an influencer brand right now, I’d be asking myself hard questions:

• How do I actually provide for my audience?

• Am I delivering anything beyond entertainment or passive inspiration?

• When the collective grows tired of watching—what will they join me in doing?

• On what field will we come together to fight the good fight?

Neptune in Aries doesn’t want us to perform our identities—it wants us to embody them. To live our myth. To stand for something. To create value that outlasts the trends.

Other Neptune Themes to Expect:

Romanticized independence: Is “going it alone” really noble—or just the trauma response of a world that doesn't believe support is coming? The myth of the self-made person will rise… and then start to dissolve.

Action-based spirituality: Are we truly living our beliefs—or just reposting them with dramatic flair? With Neptune here, faith without movement will feel increasingly hollow.

Glamorization of fight culture: From combat sports to revenge movies, expect a wave of aesthetics that idolize soldiers, lone wolves, vigilantes, and martyrs. Bravery becomes a brand—but for what cause?

Most importantly, don't forget the first rule of fight club.

Dissolving boundaries (literal and symbolic): Neptune erodes. Aries initiates. Expect structures to fall—walls, borders, false separation. This could be policy-driven (immigration, autonomy, national lines), or deeply personal (identity lines, interpersonal limits).

Illness, immunity, and public health myths: Neptune rules infection, suppression, and collective confusion. In Aries, this could look like outbreaks, vaccine debates, or a rise in “fight-or-flight” wellness rhetoric (immune boosting, hacking your biology, etc).

Religion & Spiritual Warfare: When spiritual unity meets divisive action, conflict gets theological. Expect flashpoints around faith, martyrdom, and what it means to “defend” a belief system. Aries wants to fight. Neptune wants to dissolve. This tension will be everywhere.

Aliens, Space, and the Cosmic Unknown: Yes—Neptune rules “beyond the veil,” and in Aries, we’re pushing into uncharted territory. Pluto's move into Aquarius is a major support act here. Since 2020, the veil's been thinning—UFO disclosures, cosmic theory, and collective awe are only increasing. Expect existential questions about who we are in the universe, and whether we’re truly alone. Spoiler: we’re probably not.

What else?

• The rise (and fall) of messiah figures. Neptune in Aries will raise charismatic leaders—some benevolent, some deeply problematic. The urge to “follow the brave one” is strong, especially in uncertain times. Choose wisely.

• Identity fluidity. Aries rules the self. Neptune erodes the solid. Expect increasing discourse around the fluidity of identity—not just gender, but personal, national, even species-level identity.

• Dreams of starting over. Aries is the initiator. Neptune is the dream. People may burn it all down (jobs, marriages, citizenships) in pursuit of “something new.” There will be beauty and recklessness in equal measure.

  
  

How It May Feel Personally (Especially if Neptune Touches Your Chart)

If Neptune contacts one of your personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars) during its time in Aries, you may experience:

• A sense of confusion or disorientation around the theme of that planet

• A desire to dissolve old identities that no longer match who you're becoming

• Periods of inspiration, but also uncertainty—you know something’s changing, but can’t quite name it yet

• A deeper questioning of whether your ambition is truly your own

Neptune can blur the lines between truth and illusion—so if you're in a Neptune transit, it's not the time to “figure it all out.”It's the time to listen, feel, create, and let go of forcing clarity.

This transit is long. Neptune will be in Aries for a long time. It won't exit Aries until 2039, meaning that we will see these themes build and play out for a decade. It will take a long while for these themes to embed into our collective experience, so try not to think about ways to mitigate it, try and think of ways to integrate it.

Now that we've gone through all that collective stuff, let's dial it back to what we're looking at for a more bite sized perspective of time.

April 2025 Forecast: Feeling Our Way Through

Even though we’re entering Aries and Taurus season, most of April’s astrology is soaked in Pisces energy.

That means this month is less about making bold declarations—and more about trusting your instincts, watching the tides, and staying open to the feel of things before you commit to the form.

Here’s what’s happening and what it means for your life and business:

Mercury Stations Direct – April 7

Mercury’s retrograde, which began March 15, officially ends on April 7—and that same day, the Sun makes a supportive sextile to Jupiter. This is a moment of cautious optimism.

Expect clarity to start creeping back in, especially around communications, launches, and plans that stalled out in March.

• Mercury re-enters Aries on April 16

• The retrograde shadow lifts fully around April 26📝 Ideal time to wrap up unfinished projects and get back on track with marketing or outreach.

Libra Full Moon + Venus Direct – April 13

This is a big moment: Venus stations direct in Pisces, where she’s exalted, just as the Full Moon lands in Libra (one of her home signs). That makes this lunation very Venusian—and potent.

✨ Look to the Pisces, Taurus, and Libra areas of your chart. Something is completing in the realm of love, money, connection, or personal values. Expect themes of re-alignment, release, and self-worth clarity.

Mars Enters Leo – April 18

Mars finally moves into Leo, giving the planet of action a serious energy boost after its horrifyingly slow crawl through Cancer. While the post-retrograde shadow won’t fully lift until May, this is a turning point. Forward motion returns. Courage returns. Strategy and confidence start syncing back up.

🌀 If you’ve been stalled or unsure—expect a boost in clarity and conviction.

Sun Enters Taurus – April 19

We’re officially in Taurus season, and with that comes a shift toward groundedness, fertility, and growth. This is your annual reminder to slow down and cultivate what matters. Think less hustle, more harmony.

Taurus New Moon – April 27

This is your moment to plant real, tangible intentions. The soil is rich—literally and metaphorically. This is a grounded new moon, even amidst all the emotional currents. Choose simplicity. Choose sustainability.

Venus Conjunct Saturn, Then Enters Aries – End of April

Just before the month ends, Venus meets Saturn in Pisces, bringing a serious tone to love, beauty, and values. This is a reality check. Commitments deepen—or fall away. Then she enters Aries and immediately heads toward Neptune.

• Venus in Aries wants what she wants, now.

• Neptune brings glamour, confusion, projection, and longing.

⚠️ If someone promised you something in late March (around the Venus cazimi), expect to revisit that conversation. Neptune might blur it, but Aries Venus won’t let you forget.

So...What Should You Do With All This?

Honestly? Feel your way through.Here’s what helps:

✔ Reconsider how you pursue your goals. Saturn and Neptune are close—but not in the same sign. It’s time to innovate without chasing clout. Do it your way, and work to do it a sustainable way.

✔ Watch your tone. Mercury in Pisces can mislead. Mercury in Aries can bulldoze. Read the room, but say the thing.

✔ Fix what you rushed. You’ll feel momentum by May. April is the repair-and-redirect month.

Final Word for April:This is a month of emotional navigation and quiet restructuring. The outer world might not reflect your inner progress just yet—but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

Keep moving through the fog. May’s going to be big.

What’s Next for Me and In Cased You Missed It March Highlights

April is about getting in front of real people. Workshops, speaking engagements, podcast interviews—it’s all about momentum now. And that momentum doesn’t need to be perfect or loud. It just needs to be honest.

New Blog Posts Are Live! I’ve published a new astrology post this month and revised every single blog post on my site (!!)—here are a few worth catching up on:

• You're Not Behind—You're In a Process Unfolding If you’ve ever felt like you should be “further along,” this one’s for you. Learn how to work with your timing instead of against it—and stop dragging shame into your healing process.

• Is Hiring an Astrologer Worth It? What Does an Astrologer Actually Do? Spoiler: It’s not really about predicting your future. This post breaks down the real value of working with an astrologer—especially if you're craving clarity, timing, or deep self-understanding.

• Stop Caring What Others Think (Without Losing Your Empathy) Confidence isn’t about pretending not to care—it’s about knowing who you are, so external noise doesn’t run the show. Here's how to stop filtering yourself for people who aren’t even in your arena.

• Outer Planets Changing Signs: How Astrology Helps You Navigate a Changing World Neptune, Pluto, Uranus—these aren’t just far-out planets, they’re the backdrop of generational shifts. With Neptune heading into Aries, now’s the time to understand how long-term cosmic cycles shape the world you’re living in.

✔️ Free Mini-Course: Creating Aligned Goals with Astrology If you haven’t downloaded the free 5-day course yet, you can grab it right here. It’s designed for overthinkers who want to stop second-guessing and start aligning with their real goals.

✔️ Podcast Guest Spots Are Happening This month I recorded my first two podcast interviews—and they’re 🔥. I have more scheduled in the future! Stay tuned for links as soon as they’re released. I’m diving into big themes like self-trust, timing, and how to stop waiting for a perfect moment to live your life.

✔️ Services Have Been Updated There’s a brand new suite of astrology consultations, including the Natal Chart Tour, the Personalized Chart Check In, 3-Month Mentorship, and an economical option for ongoing clients. Check them out here: shanaesmith.com/services

✔️ New Referral/Loyalty Program Launched You can now earn free astrology sessions just by doing what you already do—having consultations and sharing things you love. For every friend you refer (or session you book yourself), you’ll get a punch on your card. Five punches = a free session. Simple, generous, and made to thank you for helping this work grow.

Thanks for being here. I’m excited to keep growing this with you.

– Shanae

P.S. Want to receive updates like this straight to your inbox? These reflections go out first—and often only—to my email list. You can sign up here to stay in the loop and follow the journey as it unfolds.