Building a New Liberation Narrative

by Shelley Holloway 6/1/2025

Collective Trauma is a real thing, I know this to be true as a therapist specializing in Trauma - in all the forms it takes. Sitting with clients day-in and day-out all holding narrative’s shaped by our culture, passed down through families, school systems, jobs, friends - all pushing us to our limits in pursuit of …? Promised gains? Attention? Praise? Achievement?

I teach my client’s to ground in their bodies, get under these narratives, and find their own sense of internal validation, their authenticity, their internal motivation not rooted in punishment but in compassion for themself. Everyday we rewrite their narrative together, focused not on complying to external social norms, but an internal sense of calm and sovereignty - I call this the ‘core grounded emotional self’, but really it’s their intuition, their connection to the earth, and to their ancestors. 

Their reconnection is with a narrative far older, and more primal than our current toxic culture of capitalism and colonization. It is a counterpoint to the current climate of hostility and hatred - which positions empathy and compassion as weakness, that positions anything other than white, toxic masculinity as inferior. It is counter to the dominant religious paradigm of discorporeal dissociation from the body - which has held sway over the Earth Mother for several thousand years to the detriment of our own physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and ecological health. 

The patriarchal reign of terror is in its death throes - and for those of us who survive it, a new paradigm to usurp it’s dominance must be harnessed now. The revolution isn’t just taking to the streets in protest (yes, that’s important to do - so get your ass out there!). But we know as witches that we must call the new order into existence - harnessing our power as co-creators of the universe. 

The good news is Pagans, Witches, and Magical folx already have access to the Reconnection - the new paradigm, and our new way of life as a human species. It’s in our Earth, it’s in our bodies, and yes, folx - it’s in the stars. As Above - So Below - As the Universe - So the Soul! Here is what the universe and our souls are asking of us…

At this point most have heard of the significance of the planet Pluto and its move into the sign of Aquarius on November 19, 2024. This shift into Aquarius is a major call for Revolution! Pluto is mission driven, and that mission is “change or die” - and we are all feeling the tension of this mission to evolve, regenerate, transform, or face the dire consequences of our inaction. Pluto does not ask kindly, it demands! And its demands are good for us - this isn’t punishment, this is progress and in Aquarius that progress is for the good of all humanity.

Now you’re probably thinking - but I’m exhausted, burned-out, hopeless. And to that, in the most loving therapeutic voice I can muster, I say, FUCK THAT SHIT! Dear Witches, what we focus on we manifest! Stop playing small and insignificant. The burn-out cycle is real - but avoidance and isolation only increases this trauma response - being trapped in this cycle is a choice, and we must choose better. Do Better! And that’s where the other planets in our solar system are about to push us! So buckle up, because we are moving forward from our trauma states whether we like it or not. 

Here is where we go back to our groundedness - the only way out is through! The Universe itself is demanding we ground and center because we are about to be flung into a major period of change - and in order to fully harness it we have to leave behind the victimhood of Pisces (the sign whose low vibration is illusion, depression, and suffering). Now let’s discuss the role Saturn and Neptune are about to play as they push us from this Piscean energy into bold, fiery Aries. 

Yes, yes, our trauma is precious - so sayth the Piscean age which we are leaving behind. Entire religious faiths are built upon wallowing in the suffering of our collective trauma and the promise of salvation from it. As a trauma specialist - I’m here to dispel this myth - trauma isn’t precious! It’s the bullshit we have endured as we incarnated into this lifetime, it is a part of our story - but it is not who we are at our core. 

I too used to hold onto my trauma like it was my salvation - if other people just understood how abandoned and abused I have been in my past then I will receive the love I never received as a child, I will be accepted, and all responsibility I bear for creating “adulthood” would be absolved. Yup, as a Sun in the 12th house - the Pisces house - it was everything I ever wanted to hear. 

But my Saturn return (the return of the planet Saturn to the original placement of your birth - which happens every 27-30 years) smackdown dissolved those delusions - cause that’s what trauma is - no, really, hear me out. Without a doubt the number one symptom of trauma that I see repeatedly is dissociation. It’s a symptom of ADHD as well. We have been living in collective dissociation - it is our cultural zeitgeist - when the world feels abusive, we dissociate through endless hours of video games, isolation, scrolling our phones - we are a culture of the checked-out - and it has left us incredibly vulnerable to further abuse - yes, the rising tide of fascism we are experiencing is a direct result of our collective dissociation. 

The Saturn smackdown has come for us all, and as Saturn moves into action oriented Aries - we are all being told to “WAKE THE FUCK UP!” Please do not fear (Saturn is the planet of fear by the way) - this is what all of humanity needs to do - not just you (though I suspect many of you are internalizing my words right now - this isn’t mean to rise your defensiveness - but to help you identify your defenses, and ask yourself if this is just your trauma trying to protect itself? Ask yourself, how am I keeping my trauma precious to me?). 

The rally call is upon us! Our trauma can no longer be allowed to be precious to us, so let me tell you about what really is precious - Empowerment! It’s no longer about where we have been (yes, acknowledge and honor it) but it’s not where we are heading. It is time to find the way out of the personalization of our trauma conditioning - our brains have been passive in Pisces energy, convinced by the delusions of the socialized norms  of capitalism that we need to “become” something, or we are failures at life  - under the pressure of this punitive, cultural judgement we fold, give into dissociation, and imprison ourselves in our depression and apathy (So low vibrating Pisces). 

But what if it’s not us as individuals that are failing? But these beliefs themselves - they aren’t holding up because they can’t hold up - they are nothing more than delusions! Our collective humanity is in constant threat under the ideals of capitalism - and this is our collective wake up call. The system is the delusion, it is what’s broken - NOT our selfhood - but the rigidity of a social order that has forgotten how to support the people living in that social order. What if we already are enough - we just really need to own that?! In steps Saturn & Neptune conjunction in Aries - the change maker. 

Saturn rules hierarchies and structures, the old, the firm, the very systems of oppression born from these patriarchal norms. These things have been dissolving before our eyes while Saturn has been transiting the sign of dissolution - Pisces. Neptune which rules Pisces has been in domicile in its home sign of Pisces - yes we have collectively been asleep at the wheel during this transit. Lost in dissociation and delusions, some have believed wholeheartedly in political lies and deceptions - others have seen through these tactics but have felt helpless to do anything about it - this is all the domain of Pisces. The watery abyss that can either drown us in our false beliefs about ourselves and the world we live in - or it can exalt us to the heights of collective compassion, empathy, and mercy. The key here is choice - which octave we choose to vibrate on - many have chosen the lower octave of making our trauma precious to us, isolating, hiding from the pressures of society, tuning out, dissociating - and who could blame them when this world offers so little relief from the constant stress and punitive judgement it mass produces. 

But this isn’t how we are meant to live, so for those who chose isolation over community the results has been increased depression, increased anxiety, and increased feelings of disconnection - the reality is, this is all that the lower octave of Pisces has to offer - the loss of self to an abyss of nothingness, meaninglessness, and hopelessness - my heart goes out to you if this is where you have been living - it feels easier - but in fact it is destroying you. 

So, good(?) news - with the upcoming transition of Saturn and Neptune into Aries the universe is handing us a collective wake up call. Aries, as the first sign in the zodiac, is the initiator, the self-starter, the energizer bunny of the zodiac. Ruled by Mars - the planet that lights a fire under our asses - where there was once apathy is now going to be energy! But again - we must make choices. To stay in the old narratives of isolation will become even more painful - because that’s all that isolation can offer! Pain! Aries brings the pain of growth (Aries initiates Spring - the growing season).

We can choose the pain of isolation, stagnation, internalization, and hopelessness or we can choose to try something new (did I hear a collective, “but….”?). Yes, this is hard, but you can do hard things - and Aries is about to prove that to us all. Aries at its highest octave represents the warriors who fight the good fight, the maverick, the sign of go-getters, and innovation. Welcome to the collective kick in the butt! 

Now fair warning - Aries at its lowest octave can be aggression, agitation, fighting, violence, war - I tell you this not to make you fear, but to offer you the choice. Piscean withdrawal and isolation has permitted the “me first” mentality of toxic masculinity and colonialism of our current political scene to go unchallenged. Yes, major wars have been fought under this exact astrological configuration, and I won’t deny the potential for the next civil war this new transit brings. Our choice however is - to further entrench the rugged individualist, boot-straps bullshit, and let it keep waging its war on our collective humanity, on our dignity, on our bodies, our Earth - or do we create a new narrative? 

Neptune is the creator of our beliefs - being both the planet of delusions and exalted compassion, it governs spirituality, the collective consciousness, archetypes, dreams, and all things liminal, ethereal, and porous. Entering Aries, she gives us a clean slate to rewrite humanity and the social norms that have brought us to the edge of doom (yes, Pisces rules that too!). It’s time to stop playing the Pisces Martyr, and start playing the Aries Maverick!

Our opportunity is to truly embrace what makes us individuals (Aries is the “ME” sign), without the “rugged individualist” separatist mindfuck. This is where we come full circle - to fully embrace our sovereignty as individuals while letting go of the idea that we are all disconnected from each other, shifting our definition of POWER from one of dominance and control over others, to one of shared power-with-others.  The Aries conjunction of Saturn and Neptune (which is exact on February 20, 2026) brings us the empowerment of the collective, and begs us to find our own sense of internal validation, authenticity, and motivation in a way that reconnects us to community and each other instead of the isolation of Pisces. To find compassion for self, in connection to others (exalted Neptune), grounding and building (Saturn) a new foundation for humanity (Aries). The collective power of humanity is in sight - but we have to fight for it - how very Aries of it! We will not sleepwalk into a more evolved way of living - that’s soooo Pisces!

So what does this mean? It means rewriting some scripts - old social norms have been crumbling under Saturn in Pisces, what do we want the new social norms to be? The Federal Government will never again be what it once was - what do we want to replace it with? It is a time for creativity, collective bargaining, and recreating our world. 

Under Aries it is all about locality - we’ve globalized, and yes, in so many ways this has been positive. Yet, the result has been further division of the labor force, and grotesque wealth inequality. Burn that shit to the ground - people have the power not corporations! This is the movement - and the foundational principle of the Constitution - bringing power back to the people. Not as a means of just reassigning domination and control - but as a means of collectivising power - the power of the community, the power of locality, the power of the individual voice within the whole. Under globalization we have acknowledged that diversity, equity, and inclusion are good - but now we have to actually give these values a voice and collective power - power with each other, rather than the domination of the power-over paradigm. 

This is the mission of this Aries formation - finding our courage, bravery, and fighting back against oppression. Allowing ourselves safe space to feel our anger and rage at the audacity of our so-called “leaders” who are playing Russian roulette with people's lives. Taking ownership of our power means we collectively stop believing that these morally corrupt politicians are our leaders, and start believing that we are their bosses! That is after all what the constitutional Fathers (and unsung Mother’s) intended when they wrote “We The People…” as the mission statement for the foundation of this country. The ‘people have the power’ is a very Aries statement - and it is about time we recognize and use this power for our own betterment. It’s time to not just overthrow those that abuse their political position - it’s time to rethink what leadership is! Who has it? How did they attain this position? Why do they have it? And seriously - what do we do with them when they abuse it!?!?

Neptune in Aries is allowing us to dream big - Saturn’s grounding allows us to be brave in our conceptualizing new foundations (which will further solidify once Saturn ingresses into Taurus in the last quarter of this decade). Let’s get creative! Let’s embrace potential! Establishing new forms of “leadership” and governance that finally shift the paradigm from dominance over, to one of personal sovereignty, and new rules rooted in real justice, real inclusion, real equity. Let’s let go of fear and embrace Liberty, and Justice for ALL!!! Finally!!!!  

Back to the good news/bad news: we have no choice in this matter - humanity is being compelled by the Universe to do this, and bad news - we are being compelled by the Universe to do this. Saturn is a harsh taskmaster - failure to accept this mission means we carry this collective Karma into the future - further entrenching the status quo of dominance, control, destruction, and greed - putting it off to have to deal with it another day. Sure that’s a choice we can make, but why would we??? If this world sucks, it’s because we (as a culture) have made it so - and well, I know I didn’t become a Witch to just sit back and let someone else tell me what to do! 

It’s time for fiery spirits raging to be free, a revolution rooted in the worth of all beings, authenticity not damaging social norms and control, and showing the fuck up for yourself! Because you are worth more than just surrendering to “fate”! Own your worth! Real self-worth is grounding in our bodies - so nurture that Root & Sacral Chakra damn it! Sit in your belly, the center of your gravity, and get ready to co-create the new world order! Freedom is a terrible thing to waste, and the Matriarchy isn’t gonna make itself! We are in this together - seeing each other, validating each other, honoring each other, helping each other - my friends, community is everything! So, know that I love you deeply, you are sacred and powerful beyond all measure, take a deep cleansing breath, honor the ancestors, and let’s do this shit!