Forecast for week of March 19-25, 2012

Spring is here! We are going to be feeling it inside and out. Motivation is returning. Fire, enthusiasm and drive are coming back to the fore. Our engines are igniting and revving. Given the other themes in the sky, however, this energetic shift will not be neat and tidy. Exciting, yes. Steamy, yes. Producing results? Well, maybe not yet. And not if you think that means proceeding from Point A to Point B….

The element of earth is still very much in the picture, with last week’s grand trine continuing to birth solid, tangible, real developments (and solid, real, tangible endings and departures). The mists and waters of Pisces are surrounding, softening, soothing and confusing us. The fire coming now from Aries doesn’t operate the same way as what’s been transpiring.

Earth and water together produce fertile territory for growth. What causes the seed to sprout and break through the ground is the raw life force of fire — not soft, not nurturing, but forceful and on its own. We get a double-barreled blast of that with the Sun entering Aries (Monday night or Tuesday overnight, depending on your time zone) and the New Moon happening in Aries on Thursday. (Look for my mooncast on the site Wednesday.)

Here’s the catch: As energized as that is, we’re not free to run willy-nilly yet. We are still subject to the earth-sign dominance of the sky, to the gentle-to-confounding watery mists, and most of all to insistent backtracking of the retrograde of not just Mercury, but also Mars, the ruler of our drive as well as the sign of Aries. We’ll leap forward and something will tug at our sleeves (or yank our chain) and suddenly we’ll be back in territory we thought we’d already covered.

Growth is happening. Progress is occurring. Everything remains slow and methodical, though, even if we are compelled to lunge ahead like colts breaking out of a corral. Pacing is important. We’re in a marathon, not a sprint; any sprinting that we do manage to pull off is a trial run. Preparing is still a significant part of the tasks before us, at least until Mars starts speeding ahead mid-April.

Don’t look ahead. Focus on now. This week’s energies will color the entire spring, since they are in place at the season’s start. The explosion of Aries vitality is only one of the new elements of the week and, by extension, season. (It is, by the way, advance work for the clash that’s coming in June between the two cosmic change agents, unpredictable Uranus in Aries and unavoidable Pluto in Capricorn.)

The Sun and Mercury are trading places, each ending the week about where the other started, like castling the king and a rook in chess. The Sun is moving from 28 Pisces to 5 Aries, while Mercury is retrograding from 3 Aries to 28 Pisces. With a personal planet in the waters along with Neptune and Chiron, the Piscean influence will remain personal in feel and effect. It will also dampen or diffuse some of the fieriness we would otherwise be experiencing of Aries — likely sending off steam or escalating those mists.

The sign shift will also affect how we think, talk and get around. Mercury will be returning, briefly, to a conceptual, nonlinear, nonrational mode of expression. We’ll be soaking up emotion, information and guidance (some of which won’t belong to us). If we have a clear connection to guidance and follow it, this could be a useful counterpart to the intuitive impulses of Aries. If the channel is clogged or jammed, though, we could be springing to action on cloudy or mistaken information. To be safe, ground yourself when getting behind the wheel or stepping onto public transportation. And keep in mind that other travelers could be off in a fog.

There is, of course, also a benefit to this sign shift. Mercury will be revisiting turf he passed through in late February through the first few days of March. It will be possible to pick up threads that slipped by the first time around, or learn more about situations or people that surfaced then.

This week also brings a prolonged meeting between the Sun and Uranus. They link by declination on Thursday and by zodiacal degree on Saturday, a one-two contact that is known as a super-conjunction. This blast promises to be energizing and liberating on a deeply personal level. The meeting is delivering the rocket fuel to make like a sprouting seed and burst out of safe confines to grow and blossom on your own. Keep this in mind if events erupt that are initially startling, shocking or seemingly destructive.

Speaking of which: collective events are likely with a bittersweet to mournful tone this week, with Chiron closing in on a challenging aspect to the North Node. This could involve a wound to the ocean or water supply (the Deepwater well did blow out within hours of Chiron’s entry into Pisces, after all), or a disaster that inspires aid efforts from afar, or another death that creates a community of emotion and grieving. An underdog, underclass or victim element is also possible, such as the governmental ganging up on women’s right to control their bodies (Chiron does rule mastery of the physical) that’s been escalating. (Here’s one to get you started: Texas has lost all funding for women’s health care programs because of a law the legislature passed targeting Planned Parenthood.) The bigger picture impact will be heightening connectedness and awareness that we are all in this (situation, country, life, planet) together.

Don’t worry about what might be, though. Stay in the present. Enjoy the rebirth of life force in your being. And go outside and enjoy the rebirth taking place all around.

Tools for Navigating the New Energy
I’m presenting techniques for recognizing and clearing out all the energy you pick up that isn’t yours at The Goddess in Eden, Montclair, NJ, 7:30 PM Thursday, Mar. 29. $ 20. Read more…

For another take on this week’s events, listen to my five-minute podcast. If you like it, please give it five stars on iTunes! (Don’t want to use iTunes? Use the Podcast/Video link at the top of this page.)

Monday: Spring starts late tonight in the Central Time zone and points west. Before then, the skies favor a stretch of applied effort and then stepping back. After getting with the program of taskmaster Saturn, the Moon goes void of course at 3:31 PM EST, until just after 7 PM. Contemplating the day’s work is an appropriate activity during the void. So is quietly reviewing all that has transpired — and especially all that you’ve seeded — in past three months. (Doesn’t the last winter solstice feel like an eternity away?) You can’t force the seeds to sprout, but you can think about what you’d like to have happen. Continue in that vein after the void ends. The evening is suited for contemplation and visualization, too, with the Moon meeting up with dream-spinning Neptune. (Not the best night for tackling taxes, by the way.)

Tuesday: It’s the first day of spring from the Eastern time zone eastward. The Sun enters Aries when most of you are sleeping, at 12:15 AM EST. Vitality is reawakening within your subconscious. See if your energy level isn’t boosted when you step into the day. Leap, is more like it. Elevated energy will be surging through everyone, with completely individual agendas that are not going to line up. Be aware of what’s going on and you can figure out how to work with the energy as the day progresses. Admit to yourself what you want, and then ask for it. The point isn’t fulfilling the desire (which may well be frustrated today, sorry to say), but becoming aware of it and enlarging your field of possibilities to include it. Opening your arms wider is more important than immediate gratification, because once you expand your vision, it won’t return to its previous, smaller contours. Remember that when a craving hits for something that is tantalizing out of reach.

Wednesday: Relationship and communication issues dominate the dreamtime, with edginess giving way to resolution, peace and harmony long before dawn. As usual, checking in with early morning mental ramblings can clue you in to what you worked through during the night. Communication remains the overriding theme of the day. Thoughts, conversations, messages and information are more meaningful than usual, and likely more spiritual, enlightened, or guided by something other than a desire to get facts straight and carry on mundane business. You know your mind better, too, and are able to express yourself with clarity and without hesitation. Others are returning the favor. Watch for evidence of this openness improving everyone’s mood and interactions. Speaking and living honestly has an inherent relief and ease. Even with the bluntness, forcefulness and fieriness of the Sun joining Mercury in Aries, you can pull off kind thoughts, words and actions, especially if you allow higher guidance to lead the impulsiveness that’s erupting in you. Hang on to that combination. Since it’s falling into place in between the equinox and the first new Moon of the spring, you can ride on that combination all season long.

Thursday: After a night of fanciful yet calming dreams, high-energy mental activity ignites before most of us emerge from bed. The Moon’s first major aspect is linking with Mercury, which brings yesterday’s mental clarity into the emotional realm. The Aries New Moon takes place at 9:37 AM EST, fueling the life force within us all. (My mooncast will be at the site by Wednesday.) We’re raring to go and ready for new, adventurous and daring approaches. Exactly those are on tap as the Moon meets Uranus and the Sun lines up him by declination, launching the super-conjunction that will last through Saturday. Twists and turns abound, especially in your emotional experiences and view of yourself. Don’t waste any time wondering in advance what these contacts might bring. Surprise is always part of a Uranian picture. Trust that anything you’re freed from is in your best interests ultimately. And if you’re looking for a mental or situational jailbreak, now’s your time!

Friday: Mercury’s retrograde takes him out of the fire of Aries and back into the formless, softening, sometimes confusing waters of Pisces. Remember that people may be having difficulty thinking clearly, much less putting thoughts into words. For the rest of the month, take advantage of the opportunity to revisit matters from late February; see if you don’t instinctively “get” an undercurrent or aspect, whether you can point your finger on how you know it. Astonishing insights continue to pop, as Venus, ruler of all we hold dear, receives a destabilizing current from radical, awakening Uranus. Certainty is not forthcoming. Look or ask for the higher picture and be as pleasant as possible.

Saturday: You may wake up feeling as if your accelerator pedal was engaged all night. A good night’s sleep will have evaded pretty much everyone, which means that some people are going to regress to cranky kid mode by lunchtime. Back off your expectations of other people (a good course of action in general, actually). Cooperation is in short supply in the morning, and nobody can make anything happen in the afternoon. That’s because the Moon’s void of course from 12:18 PM to 4:44 PM EST, a nice long stretch of folks stewing in all the turn-downs and responsibilities they got this morning. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Some of that stewing will disappear in a flash, and so will a lot of your assumptions and thinking. During this span of forced inactivity, the Sun is completing its super-conjunction with Uranus, inside the void. Every awakening, revelation, jolt, monkey wrench in your plans and change in perception is intensely personal and intensely liberating. You may feel like you have to do something, anything, but there’s no point in action just yet. Sit with the lightning bolt. Just sit. Life will feel calmer, saner, simpler late afternoon and through the evening. Embrace the bridge between spirit and physicality on which you live, and enjoy it. This is an evening for walking outside in your bare feet, taking in flowers and scents, eating fresh and indulgent foods and drinking good wine. All these simple, basic acts can rise to the level of sacrament tonight. Communication flows naturally, too, with minds clear again, much like Wednesday. You know yourself, and you can express yourself with uncommon precision and accuracy. We’re all in the process of allowing our true selves to come more and more to the surface. They’re highly visible now, in the aftermath of this week’s Uranian contacts.

Sunday: After so much fire this week, earth energy come back to center stage, as the Moon links up with the major players in last week’s grand trine. We are emotionally assimilating the developments of the past two weeks — the first sprouts from the groundwork that we have been laying, slowly, painstakingly, at times frustratingly, since last summer. It’s been a hectic, busy week. Take time today to enjoy the fruits of your labors.

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Astro-Insight