Astrology NOW: Two Full Moons & the Vernal Equinox - March 2018
March 1st, 2018 :: FULL MOON, 11⁰ 22’ Virgo :: 7:51 pm EST
The last Full Moon prior to the Vernal Equinox – the first day of spring – is known as the “worm moon,” or the “sap moon.” The earth begins her defrost and the Maple trees release their sweet sugar. Similarly, the top of the soil begins to defrost, allowing the worms to wriggle to life and begin churning the soil beneath the surface of the ground, as the young seeds prepare to burst forth, uncoiling their wild potential.
The Virgo Full Moon asks of us to analyze our current projects, get organized and plan what to do with our recharged energy as winter breaks. This is also an excellent time to do your “spring cleaning” – whatever that would mean for you. The Sun conjoins Neptune in Pisces, invoking our imaginative faculties to divine what else could be possible in the lengthening days. What do you want to bring forth this year?
Virgo is quite the crafty sign; cultivated, perfectionistic, and dead-set on mastery. Perfection demands a narrow focus and attention to detail, which can cause anxiousness and even worry when things aren’t to standard. The shadow side of the imagination is hypochondrial tendencies. Curb any worries by fixing what is within your control and going with the flow where you have none.
The Virgo/Pisces polarity holds a vision of divine perfection. While success is earned by the dedication of some in their craft, it’s truly impossible to be perfect in every way. Pisces represents the divine ideal that does not exist on Earth (except in our imaginations). Instead of driving ourselves crazy trying to reproduce our instant third-eye-visual of “perfect,” we can instead accept it as inspiration.
The motto of this moon is “practice makes (almost) perfect.” Be humble like the worm, do the behind the scenes work, get your hands dirty, and watch beautiful seedlings rise and blossom. And at the end of the day, know that you are enough – and perfectly imperfect!
March 4th: The Sun reaches its annual conjunction with Neptune, harboring a deeply subjective, sensitive period which encourages water to flow – both from the sky and down our cheeks. Who doesn’t need a good cry once in a while? Watch a movie that speaks to your heart, listen to sentimental music, connect with loved ones.
This can also be a deeply spiritual time. Be gentle with yourself, being receptive to your own soul’s speaking to your conscious mind. This is time for fluidity, reflection and just allowing space to feel. Warning: possible longings of Divine-Discontent
March 6th: “Clean up on aisle 1!” Venus follows Mercury into fiery Aries, whose warmth evaporates some of the sappiness. The transition out of aimless Pisces into sharp and pointed Aries gives a fresh, no-nonsense attitude. Feeling more opinionated now, we are more likely to say it straight and tell it like it is. Bravery, courage, passion, and impulsiveness spring us into action.
March 8th: Jupiter turns retrograde in Scorpio today. Jupiter’s entry into Scorpio last Fall correlated with the death of Hugh Hefner and Ronan Allen’s exposé on Harvey Weinstein, which cascaded a slew of similar stories of sexual abuse in Hollywood. Then we all got to talking and the #metoo movement began. Jupiter’s journey through each sign is exactly that: a journey. Together we are having a much-needed conversation on consent and appropriate conduct in sexual encounters. We’ve pointed several fingers and now it’s time to go deeper within our own psyches. This marks a potent time of going within to give attention to the dark corners of our psyches - and even seeking professional guidance. Where you have been wronged or shamed may emerge during this time, inviting you to process more of the experience. The good news is that above all the pain, the sign of Scorpio wants to transform the story from one of suffering to one of empowerment. Jupiter remains retrograde until the beginning of July.
March 9th: Mercury enters his shadow. That's right, there's a retrograde on the horizon. Today Mercury arrives at the degree that he will later retrograde to next month. Pay attention to any communication themes that arise today - or if any of your gadgets give you any grief - as this may be a theme you are working with over the next month.
March 11th: Real talk. Focus. Persistence. Mercury squares Saturn, which is excellent for study (or finally doing your taxes), but this could also indicate challenges in communication. Maybe it means having a hard conversation with someone, or it might mean doing something you don’t want to do, but have to. Luckily, we get a big burst of energy to carry us though. Uranus trines Mars on the Galactic Center, heralding enthusiasm and inspiration to spur us toward spring. Meanwhile, the Sun sextiles Pluto urging us to keep up as we move out of our comfort zone and grow.
March 13th: Issues with authority, money or love may arise at this time, as reflected by Venus' square to Saturn. Desire gets a reality check, as everything comes with a price in this dimension. No matter the obstacle, we have the determination to work through it - one way or another - thanks to the Sun's trine to Jupiter in relentless, transformative Scorpio. .
March 17th: immediately following the new moon, Mars enters ambitious Capricorn, where he loves to be. Mars is our drive, how we take action and go after things we want. In Capricorn, Mars has a larger purpose to work toward. Lucky for us, Mars will have an extended stay in Capricorn this year, propelling us up success mountain one step at a time. This placement also gives us more of a readiness for responsibility, impeccable foresight for planning, patience for taking practical methodical measures and a willingness to put in the work hour after hour until you can't go anymore.
March 17th, 2018 :: NEW MOON, 26⁰ 53’ Pisces :: 9:11 am EDT
The Pisces New Moon softens us into the cradle of the cosmic stream – where we are just one part of the vastness of the universe. What does it all mean? Pisces is a dual sign, where everything seems both futile and divinely intertwined in a perfect masterpiece of the Godhead. Everything matters and yet nothing matters at all.
The last sign of the zodiac, Pisces is a place for consolidation and reflection. The New Moon conjoins Chiron, reiterating the precious wisdom borne of the healing process. YOU are a miracle – but also a work in progress. Look how far you have come!
Chiron represents the mortal wound – we all have one. It’s the thing that continuously trips us up – our fatal flaw, so to speak. We are not perfect, we are not gods, we are not immortal. Whether our wound is physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual, we are invited to make new strides in our healing process or simply reflect on what have you learned along the way.
It’s through firsthand experience which offers wisdom to impart on others. Chiron is the mentor, healer, teacher or councilor. You may begin the healing journey by seeking expertise, and by the end of the process, you may become the healer yourself.
You may even be able to squash something for good (if you’ve been vigilant for some time). The Sun, Moon and Chiron square Mars in the final minutes of Sagittarius. All together, they point at the North Node of Destiny in an active shape known as “Thor’s hammer.” This formation seems to indicate completion, hustling over the finish line, breaking patterns or working the kinks out. Excellent for rolfing, chiropractic adjustment or courageously facing your fears with the help of a counselor.
The New Moon also trines Jupiter in Scorpio – responsible for revealing the skeletons in the closet or sexual misconduct, abuse of power and more – has recently turned retrograde, thus drawing the illumination inward to take a look at our own shadows. Jupiter in Scorpio is a healing journey around intimacy, trust and our relationship with the things we want to keep secret. At this time, we might look at our own attitudes around sexuality and shame – as a primal aspect of our own psyche.
The Sabian symbol for this degree is “a harvest moon,” reiterating completion, fullness and illumination in the light of healing. Forgive others for not knowing better, forgive yourself for not knowing better and be grateful for the healing wisdom that can aid yourself and others in the future.
March 19th:
Ceres direct in Leo :: a renewed readiness to nourish the heart chakra; cultivating passion, creativity; parenting. Tell someone you love them; acts of kindness.
March 20th: The Sun enters Aries, initiating the Vernal Equinox (Ostara), wherein daylight and night are of equal lengths everywhere on Earth. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the light begins to conquer the night, which is why we celebrate the rebirth of the Sun God (Easter) at this time of year.
We are now beginning to see new signs of life sprout forth, which is where we get the symbolism of the Easter egg.
Ostara is the Pagan goddess of fertility and of the dawn. Her imagery is surrounded by animals and budding trees. Legend has it that Ostara arrived late one year a found a bird whose wings were frozen into the ground. Since it would no longer be able to fly, Ostara turned the bird into a rabbit, but when the transformation was complete, it was discovered that the rabbit could still lay eggs! The rabbit would decorate the eggs and leave them for Ostara. (the more you know…)
We are now in a New Moon phase as this holiday of fertility, eggs and seeds arrives. Today is an excellent day for a manifestation ritual. Mercury joins Venus today, merging the heart and the mind for assuredly focused intention-setting. Do it now, before Mercury stations retrograde in a couple of days.
March 22nd: Mercury Stations Retrograde @ 17⁰ Aries, retrograding back to 4⁰ and moving direct on April 15th. I'm an astrologer who advocates for Mercury retrograde. It's an excellent time to "Be Kind, Rewind;"
In a fast-paced world that glorifies "busy," we owe it to ourselves to practice the pause. Mercury retrograde is indeed a precious time to process, integrate, and reflect on all that has happened in our lives in the past three months. Mercury goes retrograde approximately every 3 months for about 3 weeks. This is almost seasonal! So why the stigma?
One manifestation of Mercury is the Trickster. We are reminded not to take things so seriously and to slooww down. Of course it's annoying when things get lost in translation, emails disappear into thin air and we misplace things we need. Even worse, when you drop your new phone and the screen cracks. What I urge you to explore when the joke is on you, is what is the deeper message? Maybe it's simply to slow down. Or maybe you shouldn't be on your phone so much.
With Mercury representing the mental function, and the inherent nature of routinely retrograding backward, it seems to confirm this very suggestion: that"rest, recovery and reflection"are integral pieces of everything else we do.
March 23rd,
Venus conjoins Eris and squares Pluto, evoking a Medusa-like energy. The myth of Medusa begins with a beautiful maiden who fell in love and dismissed her vows of celibacy. Enraged, Athena turned Medusa into the enraged form we most commonly associate with.
Here is a woman who was expressing her sexuality and was shamed and punished for it. The Venus/Pluto hard aspects may bring up issues around our most intimate wounds.
Where have you been made to feel shame around your sensuality? - or been called a whore or a prude?
Pluto is where we have compulsive patterns, and Venus is about love and relating. What is the seemingly inescapable pattern that you keep attracting? Venus/Pluto aspects can bring in love-triangles, power-play dynamics, jealousy, or at it's worst, abuse. If any of these patterns emerge for you this week, try to go back to the beginning when you were taught that you had to compete for love, and tell yourself that you ARE love and love flows freely toward you. This is a potent time to reset any such patterns.
Eris additionally represents the enraged feminine; in my observations, the Eris archetype represents all oppressed peoples, and the retaliatory demand for equality, and at minimum, representation. Let's see if we hear any revolutionary voices today.
March 24th, today is a high intensity, perhaps even volatile energy with the Sun's square to Mars. Frustration may be the root of the problem, because there's seems to be a roadblock that is delaying an otherwise eager energy to get moving! With energy not having the necessary outlets, watch out for outbursts, upsets and aggression. Get ahead of the curve and plan to go to kickboxing for these few days leading up!
March 28th, it's time to mix things up and entertain your wild desires. Venus conjuncts Uranus, representing a craving for new experiences. Reinvigorate the routine this weekend. Impulsiveness beckons (and you should answer) but safety first! As someone in the Venus profession, I can expect people coming in and asking me to chop their hair into a pixie, or color their hair a totally new color. This is also a time when people get really sick of waiting for things to improve at work or in their relationship.... watch for breakups and people quitting their jobs.
March 29th: Time to reel in a bit more mindfulness and caution. The Sun squares Saturn and the hammer comes down if you got too reckless last week! Excellent for discipline, hard work, and getting clear about boundaries and limitations.
March 31st: Venus enters Taurus, inviting more flowers to bloom. Venus is at home in Taurus when the plushness of spring is in full flow. Our five senses activate, inviting us to drink the fresh air, ogle the intoxicating colors, maybe even feel the grass between our toes again. Venus in Taurus is pure nature, pure beauty, pure appreciation of what is. Eat a slice of fresh cheesecake as slow as you can and then you will know Venus in Taurus.
March 31st :: FULL MOON, 10⁰ 44’ Libra :: 8:36 am EDT
For our second Full Moon on the calendar month, we have a Libra Full Moon, illuminating our partnerships – both romantic and platonic.
Partnerships are both enjoyable and challenging because of the polarity principle. We become each other’s mirrors, reflecting both strengths and weaknesses back and forth. And if we are receptive, we grow together!
We attract the vibration that we exude; and as such, people enter our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. The word, “soulmate” is often associated with fairytale love, however it is not the case! A soulmate is someone whom you have repeatedly incarnated with; the love accumulated transcends the human ego so that you may even have to teach each other the hardest lessons. And you don’t have just one – you have multiple soul mates!
Speaking of challenges, the Full Moon squares Mars and Saturn. We want to progress in the relationship (our way) but there is something demanding more effort. The Full Moon will illuminate any of these hurdles and invite you to find a way over it. The good news is that with Venus in Taurus, Love will persevere. Love is the universal solvent and where there is love, we have an easier time understanding the other person’s point of view.
Aho Mitakyue Oyasin. May Mother Earth and all her inhabitants be awakened to our unity, and the highest LOVE of the Universe.
Love, peace and unity to ALL....
-Catherine