The last six months were a bit like that quiet time of the night, around four in the morning, when you sometimes wake up with your mind racing, your anxiety high, and your emotions spinning - yet there is nothing to do but wait until the dawn. We’ve all felt that things in our personal and collective lives need to change. The problem is, we have either been unsure what to do, or unable to put our ideas into action.
March represents daybreak. The wheels that have been spinning in the snow and ice finally gain traction and we get a jolt forward (and many readers will probably relate to that image on many levels!). The question now is not one of speed, for we will be moving. The issue is direction: where are we going? Since the late summer we may have felt it difficult to put plans in motion, but we have not been idle. Although the process has been very internal much of the time, we have been setting our course and taking aim at the future.
The actual transition occurs on March 12th, as Uranus moves into Aries, but a major transition like this plays out over time. Uranus put his foot in the water (or I suppose fire) of Aries last spring and summer, giving us a taste of the possibilities before retiring again to Pisces. Jupiter has been in Aries since late January, helping to create the pre-dawn twilight. And the Sun, Mercury, Mars, and Venus will all be in the sign by the end of April.
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, the time of beginnings, and of course it is associated with springtime. The beginning of spring, the Vernal Equinox, is the Sun’s entry into Aries. On the other hand, Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, and in this context is associated with endings. That’s why the last half year or so has been so difficult - we’ve been focused more on what we need to let go of from the past than on what the new day will bring. That feeling may be very acute on March 4th, the day of the New Moon in Pisces. This is a great time for setting your intentions, meditating, and deciding what it is you need to let go of.
As Mercury and Uranus meet up on the 9th, we might have a brilliant insight into our situation. The urge to move will be great, and we recognize the moment is coming soon, but not just yet.
The 12th itself will be a charged day, especially with the First Quarter Moon only a day away. Still, remember that this is a deep and profound process, and changes don’t happen in a matter of hours or days. There is some tension around the 14th that suggests we should be careful with our words, although we may be more likely to start a revolution at some level.
That’s a big issue for us over the next seven years that Uranus will be in Aries. The call to the new, and the call to act, will be very strong. Rules are made to be broken, and break them we will. The thing is, that holds true in all cases. On the one hand, we’ll be transcending outmoded and unhelpful limitations so that we can move forward with our evolution. On the other hand, we’ll also be inclined to a selfish my-way-or-the-highway kind of mental-ity.
At best, we’ll exhibit what I like to call creative selfishness, the understanding that we each need to fulfill our own paths and become who we were meant to be. Creative selfishness doesn’t neglect the feelings of others, but neither does it allow us to live for others’ expectations. At worst, we’ll just be plain old selfish. Look to how you handle the Mercury-Jupiter meeting on the 15th for a clue to your present status.
There are many moments in March and April where we can see how all of this is manifesting, although we have to remember that we are just at the beginning of the process and a significant course correction is still possible. The Full Moon on the 19th, followed by the Spring Equinox on the 20th and then the Sun’s conjunction with Uranus on the 21st should give us three full days of just such an opportunity to gauge how we are handling the changes on a personal and a collective level.
The collective changes may be easier to see on the 28th, when Jupiter and Saturn oppose each other, the last in a series of three oppositions that began back in May of last year. Relationships are an area that are likely to be at the forefront of our social issues over the next few years, and this day should give us a clue as to how things will be playing out. The tension is between the traditional values and models of what a good relationship is (represented by Saturn in Libra) and our more personal needs (Jupiter in Aries). We’ll also be realizing (gulp!) that as important as partnership is in our lives, our individual needs are not only just as important, they are prerequisites for good relationships. Expect lots of resistance to that idea.
We can take time out from all the changes from March 30th through April 23rd, as Mercury goes retrograde. Actually, of course, the changes will continue, but communications and electronics will be a bit problematic in the usual Mercury-retrograde way. In Aries, Mercury is asking us how we can stay true to our inspiration despite minor headaches.
The first week of April is a very busy time, and we will likely feel the mood shift significantly. Coming out of the Aries new Moon on the 3rd, we’ll be ready to move ahead, and a meeting of Mars and Uranus on the same day adds to that intensity, as does the tension of a Sun-Saturn opposition. Patience is a virtue likely to be in short supply, as we each seek to follow our own course and others seem to get in the way or fail to cooperate. There are important lessons to be learned at this time.
On the 4th, Neptune returns to his home sign of Pisces for the first time since the middle of the 19th Century. Although he will back into Aquarius from August until next February, we should get a taste of what Neptune’s time in the sign of the fish will be like. Expect to see alternative things becoming mainstream, from alternative health care to psychics, mediumship, and other woo-woo stuff. No matter what it is that we believe in, however, we can expect that we will be willing to take it to the nth degree.
The mood isn’t really right for Neptunian dreaming this week, though, as we have a powerful Pluto station on the 9th and Mars squares Pluto on the 11th. There is great potential for achieving our aims with directed energy, but there is also great risk of going overboard. Anger and even violence can erupt when these two planets disagree, although the signs they are in suggest that we can at least hope for a constructive use of this volatile energy.
The Full Moon in Libra on the 17th is followed by Mars in opposition to Saturn. This is a time to get a very clear view of how our individual needs and our relationship expectations are interacting with each other. Both views are very strong now, and awareness of any conflict is just as important as coming to a resolution. We’ll be working on this for a while, so take this time as an introduction to the issue rather than as an opportunity to find a solution.
Venus, the planet of love and relationship steps into Aries on the 20th to lend her voice to these Venusian partnership issues. She starts out by meeting up with Uranus on the 22nd, then squares Pluto on the 27th and opposes Saturn on the 30th. The last of these is likely to be the most volatile, with a Mars-Jupiter meeting on the same day. In Aries, Venus is likely to side with the need for independence and individuality over the conservative and traditional. We’re rewriting the rules of partnership.
There is a bit of a focus on relation-ship through these months, but the deeper issues are really "me versus us" at all levels (it becomes "us versus them" at the collective level). Over the next seven years, we’ll be seeing freedom fighters and pirates, entrepreneurs and mobsters, and every other variety of ways to break with tradition. The deep secret to navigating these times is to figure out a way to be true to yourself while still doing well by and for others. Forget all the other rules, but try to remember the golden one.
Armand M. Diaz, M.A., is available for private consultations, in which he creates a supportive context for self-exploration, to help clients make decisions which are in harmony with their greatest potential, offering a truly integral approach to astrology. Armand has practiced divination for more than twenty years, working with the I Ching and Tarot in addition to astrology. He has published in various astrological journals, including The Mountain Astrologer. He can be reached at 917-216-1541 or armand@integralastrology.net, or though his website at www.integralastrology.net.