Spring Thaw: The Aries Equinox and Mercury

The Sun enters Aries for the equinox today at 12:57 pm EDT — the first official day of spring in the northern hemisphere (autumn in the southern hemisphere). For much of the northeastern U.S., it has felt a long time coming after such a cold and snowy winter; and although the weather may take a few weeks to catch up with your consciousness, the energy of the season is saying, “Begin!”

A snowless sunrise over the Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine, at the 2012 Aries equinox. Photo by Amanda Painter.
A snowless sunrise over the Eastern Promenade in Portland, Maine, at the 2012 Aries equinox. Photo by Amanda Painter.

You may be asking yourself, “Begin what?” which is where Mercury comes into the picture. As Mercury emerges from its shadow, taking our mental awareness along with it, it encounters Neptune in Pisces. We’ve been under this influence all week.

That influence includes the intensification of: fantasies, daydreams, nocturnal dreams, emotional sensitivity, psychic sensitivity, feeling psychically or emotionally overwhelmed, self-delusion and creative visioning. So what else is going on in the sky to help us ground and direct this energy in positive ways?

Well, we can look to the Sun ingressing Aries. The first degree of Aries is known as “the Aries Point,” a sensitive area of the zodiac that gets extrapolated to the first degrees of Cancer, Libra and Capricorn as well (the four cardinal signs; that is, the signs that begin each of the four seasons). The key phrase for the Aries Point is “the personal is political,” meaning that when we have an astrological event in the early cardinal signs, we often find that world events affect us personally, or that our personal life is rippling out into the wider world.

The general tone is one of investment and active engagement in some way — realizing that what we do makes a difference, and that we’re ready to step up; or understanding that the world is not “out there,” but rather is intimately involved in our daily choices and actions.

To have Mercury leaving its post-retrograde shadow phase and moving into its conjunction with Neptune on the same day the Sun enters Aries sends a clear message: the time is right to move on to some fresh ground yourself — mentally, creatively, consciously and physically.

Where is that balance between getting lost in your fantasies versus using them as artistic fodder or channeling them into some real-world solutions? How do you participate in the world and your immediate community while staying connected to your more sensitive, subtle emotional and psychic forms of inner knowing?

This is the task calling you to begin it today. You don’t have to complete it today; but do consider taking that first step outside your comfort zone onto fresh ground. New growth will follow before you know it. This will matter in one month as we encounter the cardinal grand cross that is shaping up (which Planet Waves will continue covering in detail), but don’t worry about getting ahead of yourself. Like the growth breaking new ground in the northern hemisphere this time of year, it’s ok to start small.

8 thoughts on “Spring Thaw: The Aries Equinox and Mercury”

  1. Yes Amanda mercury and Neptune to the Sun in Aries is in his 12th house requesting a preparation time equal to the framing of Saturn and Mars to the North node…
    Happy astrological new year and good week to last quarter moon 🙂

  2. be – that’s quite a menagerie, indeed. i think i’m sensing some resonances… in any case, my dream activity has been high volume and fascinating this week as mercury and neptune converge…

  3. Amanda, regarding “some real-world solutions”, when Mercury conjuncts Neptune on Saturday they will be joined by the following:
    Pandora (oops, should have checked the contents before I opened that box)
    Arachne (my web catches flies AND has a very interesting pattern)
    Siwa (catabolic breakthroughs just before insight, and/or involves the Far East)
    Hebe (I’m here to serve)

    In anticipation of some Breaking News regarding the lost airplane I found this menagerie rather revealing.

    paul, that must have been one whale of a webinar. Would have loved to catch it. Happy Int’l Astrology Day to you all.
    be

  4. oh carla — how divinely magical, indeed! was it really that warm two years ago? i think any aries equinox that i have managed to get out near dawn it has still been pretty darn chilly, even if the sun and grass were cooperating more.

    🙂

  5. A real time update……at 10 am. Pacific today… International Astrology Day ….there is an online 10 hour forum at the Kepler Institute.

    Join us online for an all-day Astrology Café as Kepler celebrates International Astrology Day.

    http://www.kepler.edu/home/index.php/events-kepler/webinars/506-iad2014

    Below is the schedule of speakers (all times are Pacific Daylight Time)

    10:00 am Choosing Your Moment, Electional Astrology with Faye Cossar and Christine Arens
    11:00 am The Future of astrology education, with Nicholas Campion and Ena Stanley
    12:00 pm Visualizing Astrology, with A.T. Mann and Adrian Duncan
    1:00 pm Evolutionary Astrology and Soul, with Mark Jones and Laura Nalbandian
    2:00 pm Astrology and China, with David Railey and Gisele Terry
    3:00 pm Negotiating with Planets (aka Remediation), with Tamira McGillivray, Kenneth Miller and Andrea Gehrtz,
    4:00 pm What’s in an Archetype? With Michelle Gould, Margaret Gray and Inga Thornell
    5:00 pm Healing with the Stars: Medical Astrology with Lee Lehman, William Morris, and Judith Holloway
    6:00 pm Astrological Mystery Dessert of the Day, with Bruce Scofield, Ronnie Dreyer and Georgia Stathis
    7:00 pm Astrology’s Ancient Roots, with Robert Hand and Chris Brennan

    Happy Vernals

    paul

  6. Amanda, besides the astrology, which is so helpful and hopeful for me, I love your sunrise photo from that blessed day two years ago. Over 80 degrees, and my polar bear buddies and I went to Birch Point Beach and shed our skins in the sun and water, along with dozens of other hookie players. That night after 5 rhythms dance, a quartet of us plunged into Lake Megunticook in the moonlight, bracing cold water and embracing warm air. A magic day.

    Today the magik is different. I shall make my own, somehow, with the Sun and Mercury showing me where to find it.

  7. As this has been one of the warmest and driest winters I have ever experienced here in Flagstaff, I intend to spend Ostara outside as much as possible; planting seeds and coloring eggs.

    For those who have been under the winter snow and ice and cold, a pagan ritual may be helpful. Get a dark sheet (black is best but whatever you have available; dark blanket even, will work) and gather yourself, friends and/or family. If you have others with you, sit in a circle and put the dark sheet or blanket over everyone. Make sure all light is obscured under it. If you know how to cast a circle, do so; then whisper, saying, “Winter’s long, cold, dark grip has been upon us. Now the day and night is equal and Spring is here.” Then as you say the next part, rise up as one and throw off the dark sheet or blanket and shout, “Winter is gone, Spring is come!” Then dance in a circle if you like or just close the circle and go outside (or if you can’t, do this inside) and plant seeds. Dye some eggs, eat fresh greens and fruits, have some honey oatcake and sweet wine. The winter is DONE.

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