Dear Friend and Reader:
I think for most of us, this will be a somewhat easier week than last week, or at least I am knocking on wood and crossing my toes. Looking back for a moment, on Tuesday we had the Virgo Full Moon set off the Saturn-Uranus opposition, creating a highly polarized setup; and then over the next few days, the Sun moved across energized and unpredictable Uranus to form an exact conjunction that was in full force Tuesday through Saturday or so (and my most measures still is, but the energy is waning). It reminded me of that hoax video of popping corn with cell phones, only the astrology we lived through was an actual illusion, not a fake one.
Since all of that — whatever it was for you — Mars has made its way from Aquarius into Pisces. (That whatever it was included a Mars sign change, which gave all of your late-degree planets a push in one direction or another.) This move should cool things off on the mental level; there is only so much Aquarius we can take (and there are still seven points or planets in Aquarius at the moment, and the main event is still coming: the conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune).
Pisces being a somewhat cool, slow-acting energy will benefit from the fire and initiative of Mars: that’s good for the imagination, and may give us the idea that we can experience actual passion instead of just an interesting concept of what passion might be like on another planet somewhat like our own (i.e., Mars in Aquarius).
However, we are in an extended moment of a getting lot of whatever we are getting at the moment, and now we’re getting a lot of Pisces, too: in addition to Mars, we have Mercury, Uranus and the Sun currently camped out there. Pisces can be unstable, contradictory and given to addiction; Mars in Pisces says have fun, but don’t just play it cool; actually be cool. Make sure there are good boundaries (such as a lot of time, and an appropriate space) around your pharmacological, Bacchanalian or erotic explorations. For those who still experiment with substances, The Vaults of Erowid are an essential resource.
The Sun will ingress Aries on Friday, March 20 at 7:43 am (the vernal equinox), which will bring a lot of Aries to the mix: retrograde Venus is currently there, as is Eris. This will add a different kind of heat; passion, initiative and a sense or renewal rather than mental intensity. This is the Sun crossing a cardinal point and a direct alignment with the Aries Point. Once again we are in ‘big news’ territory.
I forget the name of the sky’s current pattern — most of the planets spread across one side of the sky, and one or two at the other end (Saturn and Ceres) picking them up like a satellite dish. This will focus some attention on both of those planets; Saturn in Virgo is a work horse (if a bit dull), and Ceres in Virgo is common sense, take care of yourself, and don’t forget to feel your feelings rather than just think of them (Virgo theme). Ahh yes, it’s a bucket pattern; Ceres and Saturn together represent the handle on the bucket. However, as I have not studied this particular set of methods (ala Marc Edmund Jones), I would love to hear from anyone who can describe this particular orientation on life.
The thing to remember at the moment is that we are in the last few days of the solar year, and this will come with a sense of closure and embarking on a new beginning. Astrology counts the year as going from one vernal equinox to the next. So this is the end of the one roundel of the seasons and the beginning of another; in astrology, endings have a way of being a little tense/intense. So I suggest you be aware of the transition, and work with an approach of resolving the energy of one cycle and gathering the energy of a new cycle.