The Scales - by Maddie Landers

This is an exerpt from The Scales by the Soft Body Society Papers. Maddie Landers is a soulful and intimate writer, linking astrology into the practical with beautiful wisdom and storytelling. What an honour to get to feature her work and words. I’ve always loved the world of the stars as it relates to my day-to-day and since it’s not my lane, why not feature those in their lanes doing what they do best! Get a cuppa for this one and enjoy.

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Astrology and yoga have both always been rooted in one radical idea: everything is connected. The skies, the chaos of the world, their breakup, your breakthrough — all threads in one big cosmic sweater. Astrology assumes that our bodies and our cosmos mirror each other. So whatever happens up there is reflected down here. What moves through you moves through the entire universe. Whoa.

The old Hermetic mystics summed up this phenomenon with the phrase “as above, so below.” Carl Jung coined it Synchronicity. I call it deeply comforting, because it means we’re not just flailing around down here — we’re participating in something BIG. The same forces shaping global conditions are rippling through our individual lives. And that means we’re not powerless — far from it!

If everything is actually connected, then each small shift within you echoes outward. If you shift how you show up for your body, relationships, or neighborhood — the collective shifts too.

I know it’s easy to look at astrology and think, “Well, if it’s already written in the stars, what’s the point? Guess it’s all decided.” But that’s exactly backward. Astrology isn’t saying life is fixed; it’s reminding us that life moves in cyclical patterns. By studying those cycles, we start to see where we are within them — whether we’re in a period of expansion or contraction, planting or harvest, beginning or ending. And once we know where we stand, we can move with more intention. We can make choices that fit the season instead of fighting it.

TL;DR: The stars describe the weather, but you get to decide what to wear, what to turn your thermostat to, whether or not to dance in the rain.

It’s like in yoga: how you do Warrior II is probably how you do a lot of things. Coming in hot? You might be coming at life with the same aggression. Checking out? Chances are, you’re zoning out beyond the mat as well. But shift how you inhabit the pose — add breath, curiosity, compassion — and you start to rewrite the pattern.

Let’s zoom in for a second, because the cosmic weather right now is major. We’re standing under one of the defining transits of the decade: Saturn meeting up with Neptune. These two slow-moving planets only come together every 36 years, and when they do, entire eras shift.

Saturn is structure. It’s law and order, systems, and accountability. Saturn builds the scaffolding that keeps the world standing: governments, institutions, rules, traditions. It’s the old guard: sometimes wise and stabilizing, often rigid and controlling.

Neptune, on the other hand, is the ocean. It dissolves, dreams, and drifts aimlessly. It’s music, mysticism, compassion — the sense that everything is connected (yes, yoga and astrology are both very Neptunian). Neptune blurs the lines and reminds us that separation is an illusion. It can inspire deep empathy or deep confusion — often both at the same time.

So what happens when the structure of Saturn merges with the heavy fog of Neptune? Reality gets slippery. Old containers you thought were solid start to dissolve. The lines between fact and fiction blur, and suddenly everyone’s walking around in their own version of truth, insisting theirs is the correct one. When these two planets come together, we start asking: Wait—is this real? (I mean, have you seen Sora? WTF.)

Social media (and now AI) has turned reality into a choose-your-own-adventure where everyone can edit their own highlight reel of “facts.” Systems that once promised order and security are collapsing — or worse, standing hollow, pretending to function. And accountability is nowhere to be found.

And astrologically, it tracks. In February 2026, Saturn and Neptune will meet on the IC of the United States’ birth chart. (Yes, countries have charts, too — moments of “birth” marked by their founding.) The IC — short for Imum Coeli, Latin for “bottom of the sky” — represents our roots, our foundation, our ancestral ground. It’s what everything else in the chart is built on.

So when Saturn and Neptune meet here, the symbolism is hard to miss: the ground beneath us is crumbling. The foundations of this country — the old myths we were told would hold us up — are being washed away and re-formed.

Now, before we spiral, remember: Neptune doesn’t only erode — it also redeems. It dissolves what can’t hold compassion. The foundation of this country was built on giving power and profit to a select few — through slavery, extraction, and hierarchy. So if those old bones are breaking down, it’s probably about freaking time.

But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Watching something unravel — even something broken — is heartbreaking. We’re living through the grief of a nation confronting its own illusions. The “melting” of our systems isn’t just theoretical — it’s personal, economic, ecological, and emotional.

Still, Neptune also offers an invitation: to imagine a new kind of foundation — one built on empathy instead of dominance, care instead of control, interconnection instead of toxic individualism. And Saturn offers us the wisdom and foresight to design and build this new foundation IRL — to take what we dream and turn it into something that can stand for generations to come.

If you can’t tell by now, my natural state leans a little… melancholy girlie in a thunderstorm. So over the last few years, I’ve had to make it my mission to practice hope — to act like I have it, even when I don’t. For me, this practice starts with a question: What if? What if things could change for the better? What if it’s not too late? What if I have more agency than I thought?

That question cracks open the space between despair and possibility — and in that space, action can be taken. So in that way, hope and optimism aren’t delusional — they’re motivating. Hope is energy, fuel for dark times. It propels us to keep going. Because the moment you believe something better could happen, you realize there’s something to do — some way, however small, to help it along. Hope makes you accountable — it invites you to actively participate in the thing you’re wishing for.

So yes, a lot of what’s unfolding right now is bigger than any one of us. And yes, we can’t reconstruct a broken system overnight. But election day is just around the corner, and as long as we’re still living in something that resembles a democracy, we might as well make the most of it. So show up. VOTE. Add your weight to the scale.

Will this election change everything? Probably not. But that’s not the point. The point is remembering that every small act of care — every local vote, every bit of participation — is part of something larger. This is the astrology of choosing connection over despair.

As a yoga teacher, I’ve taught a lot of people how to stand on one leg. I’ve seen (and done) it all — the clenching, the held breath, the dramatic collapse. But here’s the thing: balance isn’t a destination. It’s a conversation — a constant dialogue between gravity, awareness, and your core. It’s not something to achieve, but rather something to continually navigate.

On the mat, balance begins by finding your center — feeling where your weight naturally sits — and then, breath by breath, orienting yourself around it. You wobble, you breathe, you find your center again and again.

Politics, peace, justice — they work the same way. You identify your core values and then keep orienting around them. It’s never finished.

So yes, election day 2025 brings us a bright spot — but it’s not a “poof, everything’s fixed” kind of transit. It’s an invitation to keep participating. To keep adjusting the scales, over and over again.