The New Moon in Pisces on 5th March brought an enormous dose of Pisces energy, with six planets (including the Sun and Moon) in Pisces. Two of those, Chiron and Uranus, are at the beginning and end points of Pisces (Chiron having just moved into Pisces, and Uranus about to leave). It could have been a sluggish, sleepy or emotional day for many, with oceans of tears allowing the release of past sorrows: a necessary release to prepare for all the new coming in.
Alternatively, it could’ve been an immensely creative or healing time. With Pisces highlighted, we can go anywhere from falling back on old comforts and addictions, to helpless ‘poor me’ attitudes, to creative highs and being intoxicated with the gift of life itself. Love and connectedness always ride alongside Piscean emotional upheaval. Chiron brings a fresh tune to the zodiac sign Pisces as Uranus prepares to leave. Themes of endings and beginnings pop up everywhere in March and April’s astrology.
From 12 March, life starts a whole new 7-year cycle when Uranus, planet of change and breakthroughs moves into action sign Aries. This energy of the new was given a helping hand on 3 March when the Nodes (the axis of destiny, karma and soul directions) shifted signs, which they do once every 18 months. The North Node moved into fire sign Sagittarius, paving the way for Uranus’s imminent shift into fire sign Aries.
Throughout March and April we experience an intensified peculiar combination of the powerful emotional and creative flow of Pisces (which is non-assertive and day-dreamy) and the impulsive risk-taking and pioneering drive of Aries (which is assertive and active), both personally and globally. We’re more prepared for this than we might think because since June 2010, we’ve been dealing with the strange dual reality of a foot in Pisces and a foot in Aries.
In June 2010, Jupiter and Uranus were both freshly in Aries at the 00 degree point and brought a huge burst of energy that sparked a passion for change, especially through people power. But in August 2010 Uranus slipped back into Pisces and was joined by Jupiter also heading back into Pisces in September. This was like a huge revolutionary fire being lit, but dying down soon after.
Yet in January this year, Jupiter emerged from Pisces and is now well and truly in Aries, and don’t we know it! Jupiter’s effect in Aries since January has been explosive. A fire planet in a fire sign makes itself noticed; for example, through the tides of revolution in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and more. And now, on 12 March, Uranus will also burst from Pisces and settle properly into Aries for the next seven years. This time when the huge fire is lit, it’s likely to stay lit, possibly even until Uranus completes its seven-year stay in Aries.
Uranus in Aries means business. Uranus can only be in Aries once every 84 years, so it’s no small matter when the planet of revolution and radical change moves into the zodiac sign of fire, action and urgency. You might like to re-read my June 2010 forecast where I describe in detail the incredible energy of Uranus in Aries.
If we think of the order of the planets, Saturn’s orbit lies between the orbits of Jupiter on one side and Uranus on the other. Saturn represents governments, authorities, the powers-that-be, the status quo, the old ways, tradition, rules and bureaucracy. Astrologically, Saturn’s in a bit of a jam right now. With Jupiter and Uranus both fired up and Saturn orbiting between them, there’s a strong sense the old ways are going to have to change.
On 29 March there’s an exact alignment of Jupiter in Aries (representing the positive optimism of people willing to fight) opposing Saturn in Libra (old governments/leaders who’d prefer to stick with the status quo). This is the third in a series of three recent clashes between Jupiter and Saturn. The first was on 23 May 2010 (but in Pisces/Virgo then), the second on 17 August 2010 (Aries/Libra) and the third is on 29 March.
If you’d like to read more about the astrology of world events at this time, I’d recommend this blog by Agent 37 of the C*I*A (Cosmic Intelligence Agency): http://ciatenthzone.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/revolution/
Of course, everything that happens externally has ripple effects internally and vice versa. What was happening in your personal life between May and August last year? Back then Saturn and Jupiter were having their clash, plus the Cardinal T-square/Cross was in effect (powerful planets hitting the 00 degree Cardinal points). Were you feeling conflicted between the old and the new? Did you experience the burst of fresh energy when Jupiter and Uranus were first in Aries, and the Cardinal T-square clicked into alignment? Whatever was happening in those months is back now, ready to be acted upon and taken the next step.
Saturn in Libra can represent all the ways we have become stuck in pleasing others, compromising, meeting the demands of ‘the bosses’ or ‘the system’. Fear of being left alone and stranded (Saturn) can keep us in restrictive situations in our work or dependent relationships (e.g. marriages, family situations, partner relationships, long-term friendships, business agreements) where we might’ve become duty-bound and heavy.
Jupiter in Aries inspires confidence to bring the fun, playfulness and spontaneity back, not in destructive ways, but in ways that allow for more freedom, exploration and joy within supportive, not restrictive, structures. If you can’t negotiate this in existing scenarios, it might well be time to move on.
After 12 March, Uranus becomes Jupiter’s ally in Aries. Yet Saturn is strong in the zodiac sign Libra (the sign of its exaltation). He reminds Jupiter in Aries that many relationships and connections that are built through hard work over time are worth their weight in gold. He says to Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, ‘Okay guys, I understand you want change, but you don’t have to blow up and destroy everything. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.’ The big message of Jupiter and Uranus to Saturn is ‘Stop deciding things for me, I have rights and needs and priorities that I need you to hear and respect’.
Uranus is additionally strengthened by being at the 00 Aries point at the time of the March equinox, which falls on 21 March. The March equinox is the time once a year when the Sun enters 00 Aries. It’s the start of the astrological calendar and therefore a very powerful charged part of the zodiac and a perfect time for any manifestation practices. On 21 March, both Uranus and the Sun will be at the 00 degree Aries point making this particular Equinox very provocative in the change department. Uranus can only be at the March equinox point once every 84 years.
The Full Moon on 20 March, the day before the Equinox, also strongly signifies endings and new beginnings. When rounded up to the nearest degree, the full moon falls at 29 degrees Virgo. Unusually, this will be the sixth (and last) full moon in a row at the 29 degree point of a zodiac sign (October was 29 Aries, November was 29 Taurus, December was 29 Gemini, January was 29 Cancer, February was 29 Leo). Anything at 29 degrees represents completion, as it’s the last degree of a zodiac sign. After this month’s 29 degree Virgo full moon, subsequent full moons move away from that degree.
The message all round for March and April seems to be that whatever got sparked mid-last year is back for activation. We’ve had the opportunity since then to focus on closing old cycles before the massive new energy kicks in. March and April seem to be about taking the next steps in closing and completing the old and limbering up for the new.
With such strong Aries energy around, we might fall back on the typical human flaw of making ourselves or others wrong in order to leave something. Sometimes we move into new territory simply because it’s time for a new chapter. This doesn’t make anyone bad or wrong. The Pisces energy helps us say our goodbyes gently. Even if we have realised something is wrong, we don’t need to act out a blame game. A downside of Pisces is that it can cling. Sometimes we do have to fight to leave if others won’t let us leave. Or others might fight us if they feel we won’t let them leave.
As I mentioned earlier, the Nodes have just changed zodiac signs. On 3 March, the North Node shifted out of Capricorn and into Sagittarius, and the South Node, out of Cancer into Gemini. The Nodes move backwards through the zodiac in a virtually permanent Retrograde motion. Other planets have times of being Retro (which is why Uranus and Jupiter, for example, went back into Pisces over the second half of 2010), but the Nodes are constantly in backward motion.
The Nodes’ movement at odds with the normal forward direction of things indicates their association with matters of destiny and the soul’s urge, not the human personality’s urge. From mid-Feb until the beginning of April we are very influenced by the Nodes. First the North Node hits the 00 Capricorn point associated with the Cardinal T-square, then from 3 March it starts to align with the Galactic Centre. Its exact alignment with the Galactic Centre is from approx 29 March to 3 April.
The Galactic Centre is the birth-death-rebirth point of our Galaxy. Our own Sun revolves around the Galactic Centre. When the North Node aligns here (which is does about once every 19 years) many of us will make huge leaps out of one life and into another. The orb of influence for this North Node/Galactic Centre leaping is really from mid-Feb to mid-April, so you might’ve noticed people close to you already making the leap.
Because the Nodes deal with the soul level, people will do what their souls lead them to do. Sometimes people do this kicking and screaming, and acting out like crazy; other times with grace and dignity. Whichever way you, or another, make a soul leap is just what’s necessary for the inner self at this time. Knowing people are making their leaps due to destined soul timing can help make it easier to say our hellos and goodbyes without reactions that we might later have to heal and work through.
Once this Nodal transition into Sagittarius has settled, we have the collective experience of 18 months of the North Node in Sagittarius and the South Node in Gemini. The North Node in Sagittarius will add more fuel to the fire of Uranus and Jupiter in Aries. We’re living in fiery times! Yet these are also visionary times. Sagittarius is a most visionary zodiac sign. It encourages us to have faith in ourselves and humanity and to have the courage to create options that bring joy and good tidings.
But we do have to watch we don’t get overexcited and jump on the nearest bandwagon. With the South Node in Gemini over the next 18 months, we are also urged to let go of the divide between head and heart. It’s likely to become less fulfilling to be overly rational, overly technological or hungry for mental distractions.
By the time the April New Moon comes around, the Aries factor is even more magnified, and the sense of time being accelerated really hits home. April could be the fastest month on record. But fortunately a few cosmic factors help slow things down a little; i.e. Neptune moves into Pisces (4 April), Pluto shifts Retro (9 April) and Mercury also heads Retro (31 March).
Even so, the start of April has everyone on uppers. On 2 April Mars enters Aries and is joined by the Moon in Aries from the evening of 2 April until the morning of 5 April (this includes the New Moon in Aries on the 4th). Until 20 April the following are in Aries: Sun, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus.
The best thing about Aries is that it bursts us out of past shackles and has us moving with joy in our hearts and a spring in our steps toward our dreams. We bubble over with excitement and enthusiasm and just ‘do it’. The worst thing about Aries is increased levels of frustration. We’re prone to being rash and headstrong, becoming blind to others’ needs, running about in a temper and regretting our behaviour once we’ve cooled down.
With everyone so wound up, accidents are more likely to occur, so it’s important to remember to breathe and slow down and watch out for being caught in the cross fire of angry outbursts or irritability.
Anger is a natural healthy emotion when channelled effectively. If we’re used to shutting down or dissociating from anger, we’re unlikely to be able to persist with these anger avoidance methods in the current Aries atmosphere. It’s a great time to learn about the positives of anger and how to express it without causing harm, so that it can liberate stuck energy in our bodies and get us moving toward our desires.
Mercury is Retro from 31 March. This Retro energy is very welcome because it helps us think before we act or speak rash words. With so much Aries energy about, we’d do well to pause when we see red, take a few deep breaths, then speak our truths directly, cleanly and courageously. Even though Mercury Retro helps us slow down and not spout off our first fiery thoughts, it does bring the potential for communication misunderstandings and doubts about new decisions and directions.
The Mercury Retro reflective period helps us remember what’s gone wrong in the past when we’ve started new adventures, so that this time round we can communicate as honestly and directly as possible from the outset to create solid, clearly understood foundations. Mercury starts going forward again on 23 April.
On 18 April, we are blessed with a Full Moon in Libra, which helps bring some balance. It offers some relief from the Aries intensity by offering the diplomatic and co-operative energy of Libra, yet it’s still outnumbered by the Sun in Aries and four other planets. This Full Moon makes a harmonious alignment to the Nodes, bringing the hope of peace to any relationships in turmoil over the current change energies.
In February Chiron moved into Pisces, where it will stay for the next 7 years, and on 4 April Neptune moves into Pisces too. This is an indescribably subtle yet monumental energy shift that we’ll be acclimatising to from 4 April 2011 to 5 August 2011. In August, Neptune dips back into Aquarius before fully entering Pisces in February 2012 where it will stay until 2026. The last time Neptune entered Pisces was 164 years ago.
The symbolism of Neptune moving into Pisces is exquisite. We have a lot to look forward to during its 15-year stay in the zodiac sign of tenderness and compassion. Neptune is the ruler of Pisces, so when returning to its home sign, it’s in its bliss. At a time when many spiritual traditions speak of the anchoring of the divine feminine, the image of Neptune moving into Pisces fits the bill.
The combination of the planet representing the divine (Neptune) in the zodiac sign of the divine (Pisces) also offers the image of the ‘second coming’ or the anchoring of ‘Christ consciousness’ on the planet. I’m really excited to be alive in the time of Neptune in Pisces. Be it the ‘divine feminine’, ‘Christ consciousness’ or ‘God/goddess on earth’ or ‘the Source in close contact’, we are able to more easily in tune with the spiritual aspect of existence for great creativity and comfort.
Mind you, Chiron in Pisces is likely to activate feelings of helplessness and ‘giving up’ that can arise when the Pisces influence is strong. Yet Neptune in Pisces brings the gifts of grace, forgiveness and sweet surrender to the wisdom in our hearts. For this is the place where we access the divine and the well of creativity and inspiration.
Chiron in Pisces has begun the huge task of illuminating even more about how we humans have been deceived by things pretending to be for our highest good, or addicted to things pretending to nourish us. Neptune in Pisces points us to the true nurturance and support found in our hearts. Our hearts are not fluff balls of false love and light. They are incredible processing points for the needs of our entire selves in all our darkness and light. They create solutions that isolated parts of ourselves could never create (e.g. the mind only, or the emotions only). Could it be that our own hearts are our ‘gods’?
The next seven years of Uranus in Aries could inflame trauma as people fight for their rights. Yet Neptune in Pisces shows us how to offer the gift of patience and unconditional love as we become more adept at forgiving and moving on through all layers of our biology and psychology. Forgiveness must be felt through every cell of our beings so that our subliminal selves don’t wage a war even when our conscious selves are acting for peace.
The odd combination of Aries and Pisces allows us to forgive someone who has wronged us without agreeing with or condoning what they’ve done. It doesn’t give the person free reign to wrong us again. Aries says ‘No, do not treat me like that.’ Pisces says ‘I see myself in you. I see I have the capacity to wrong. I make my peace with that in myself and in you, but also give a big “no” to anything of the sort in the future’.
Neptune in Pisces shows that the costs of not forgiving are high. True forgiveness across all levels of our being releases us to congruently more forward. Without forgiveness Aries can only get so far in its forward movement before being pulled back into a Piscean ocean of emotions and upset, treading water looking for help. With Neptune in Pisces we realise no one else is meant to rescue us. We rescue ourselves through the true act of forgiving ourselves and others.
And now to the crux of the wonderful possibility of all this Pisces and Aries energy bumping together… Aries is the zodiac sign of war. Pisces shows us how to forgive ourselves, our ancestors, and others for the horrors of war. Without that forgiveness, the wounded parts of ourselves feel so bad or evil that we keep just acting out warring attitudes, as if everything is doomed and peace is hopeless. Yet if we use the upcoming Neptune in Pisces years well, the impulse toward war will fade away. These 15 years offer the best astrological hope for peace. Over that time it’s possible for the Aries energy to be refreshed and redeemed, and used for its original purpose of assertion and boundary-making, not death and destruction.
March and April this year are key months in grounding the deep themes of this Pisces/Aries combination that will transform us over at least the next seven years of both Uranus in Aries and Chiron in Pisces. Beyond then, Neptune continues, right up to 2026, to show us how to use the richness of the integrated heart as the doorway to ‘the New Age’. Let’s create so much beauty through acts of love and inspiration that we fully experience our own hearts as doorways to the divine – the divine within.
Wishing you many successful outcomes with peace-making and adventuring throughout these fiery months. See you in May!