March 2020: New Dawn, New Day
Happy March! We’re in the final stretch of winter. March straddles the worlds and there’s a little bit of everything this month. The tone of relationships shifts a lot in the first week.
Things have been spicy with the Goddess of Love transiting through Aries, but partnerships will get a lot sweeter when Venus moves into Taurus on March 4. If there’s something that needs to be resolved, the square from Saturn in Capricorn on March 3, will feel like a push in that direction. Saturn can cause feelings of isolation and being unlovable, but he's necessary for the establishment of healthy boundaries. Look for how you can sharpen the edges to allow for more softness within. Venus in Taurus is the abundant vibe we need to prepare for spring. Earthy, grounded, and full of honey, V in T will bring all the usual good stuff, and some unexpected things too. She’ll be having a meeting with her wayward house guest about all the changes he wants to make when Venus conjoins Uranus on March 8. The Taurus palace is notoriously resistant to renovation, but Uranus has already begun to tear down a few walls. If you find yourself wishing for minor redecoration but getting your kitchen gutted, try to take an optimistic attitude and see it through to the end. This is a long transit and Uranus is just getting started.
The Sun in Pisces conjoins Neptune on March 8, and we’re invited to consider the state of our collective soul. Neptune taps us into the suffering of the humanity, and our desire to create a world free from pain. Neptune also corresponds to disease, especially that which spreads easily and quickly across boundaries. There could be an important revelation about coronavirus sweeping the globe at this time. The possibility of a pandemic reminds us how we’re all connected. What happens to an individual in one location, can affect the whole. Scientists have long predicted that climate change will unleash new diseases. Hopefully this current crisis will spur world leaders to improve health care access for everyone, and put an greater emphasis on environmental sustainability during this election season.
The Virgo Full Moon on March 9, highlights both the Sun-Neptune conjunction and the Mercury retrograde cycle. Mercury traveled back to Aquarius on March 4, dragging all the Pisces debris to the surface, and stations direct at 29 Aquarius on March 9. Having the ruler of this lunation in a standstill in the sky emphasizes all that’s been revealed and what we can not look away from. The grand earth trine with Jupiter in Capricorn and Venus in Taurus is helping us pull something shiny from the wreckage. Virgo thrives on creating good orderly direction. This Moon can help you get clear about what emerged from the feelings soup in February. It’s also a call for spring cleaning of home, mind, and body. Our blood becomes sluggish in the winter because we move around less. Virgo rules the intestines and recent research has explored the correlation between emotions, such as stress or anxiety, and the GI tract. There is a feedback loop that Virgo is intimately connected with between how we feel, our assimilation processes/digestive system, the nervous system, and mental health. A detox can be beneficial at this time, as with the practice of Lent in the Catholic tradition. The earth offers up blood purifying plants, such as nettles and dandelions, in the spring. The mutable earth energy can help get the vital chi flowing bringing new life to your limbs. Take a moment on this Full Moon to ground yourself in simple mundane tasks of sorting the mail, drinking detox tea, spending time outdoors, moving your body in a way that feels good, and cooking a nourishing meal. Your self esteem will increase with each intentional loving act.
There is much movement the third week of the month when Mercury returns to Pisces on March 16, beginning the final leg of their journey, which will take another month to conclude. The Sun enters Aries on March 19, initiating us into spring. Winter is officially over and the Sun takes up residence in the sign of its exaltation, reminding us of the glory of life and power of light. The spring equinox is one of only two days of the year when the solar and lunar energies are balanced, which impacts all creatures on the planet equally. Spring is a time of rebirth and we celebrate with the pagan holiday of Ostara.
In one Ostara myth, the land, the Goddess, blankets the earth with green, signaling fertility and awakening. Her child that was born at the winter solstice, the God, comes into adolescence and walks through the fields and woods delighting in her abundance. The Goddess and God rejoice with the animals, encouraging procreation, which in turn feeds the humans. In another telling, at Ostara, the Goddess gives birth to the life she conceived the previous Beltane and has been gestating all winter--the infant Sun God. The Sun God’s return heralds the coming warm season and the promise of life because nothing external can grow without light. Christian tradition adapted Ostara into Easter, and the eggs, bunnies, and return of the Son of God (Sun God) are a carrying forward of more ancient earth rituals. Whichever myth you resonate with, Ostara is a time of beginnings, rebirth, and resurrection. Here is a tarot spread to support your exploration:
OSTARA SPRING FORWARD TAROT SPREAD
Winter: What have you been gestating?
Spring: What is being reborn?
Forward: What is ready to emerge?
Frolic: What does this season hold for you?
Companion: Who is your guide through this journey?
There is joy and power in this beginning. Especially with Mars moving into a conjunction with Jupiter at 22 Capricorn on March 20 and Pluto on March 23. Jupiter with the nocturnal malefic will imbue you with confidence and determination to achieve whatever you set your sights on. Pluto is lending an underworld might to this effort. There’s an opportunity to make great strides in personal development in the Capricorn area of your life.
The star of March is really our old friend Saturn. He’s been grinding through Capricorn since December 2019, exposing the cracks and bringing us to our knees. Blessedly, the bulk of that transit is behind us, and we get a taste of what’s to come when Saturn enters Aquarius on March 21. Saturn in Capricorn wants to fortify the perimeter and secure the castle. Saturn in Aquarius is drawing up dimensions for an engine that will allow us to boldly go where we’ve not gone before. Saturn will stay in Aquarius until July 1, when he retrogrades back into Capricorn until December 17. The permanent residence of Saturn in his masculine fixed air sign from December 17, 2020-March 7, 2023, will usher in a new cycle, both personally and collectively. We’ll get a clue of what that means for us this spring. Aquarius is the higher mind, the one who asks what’s beyond the limits of human knowledge, how we can do it better for the betterment of all. Saturn creates structure and extracts retribution. While in Aquarius he will square Uranus in Taurus who is demanding radical reformation on how we utilize earth’s resources. The decisions humans make over the next four years have the potential to turn the tide around the climate crisis, if we act urgently, or to condemn us to a more harsh, bleak Saturnian future. It will take discipline, hard work, and an inspired vision to make lasting change, but that is exactly what Saturn in Aquarius delivers. How we use the opportunity is up to us.
The Aries New Moon on March 24, conjunct with Chrion and Eris, is embedding a seed of healing around the shadow material of your consciousness. Chiron is the pain we believe we can never resolve that no medicine can touch. Eris is our rage and pain at being rejected and denied. The Moon is our body and the Sun the illumination of our consciousness. All of them together in Aries, hosted by an empowered Mars with Pluto, is a powerful inception point. The darkness of winter is waning, we are strengthened by the growing light, which allows us to objectively witness what we’ve been fearing. Your warrior practice this Moon is to let yourself move towards the forbidden parts with greater compassion. This is the bravest act of all.
The best and the worst of the month is at the end. Venus and the Moon trine Jupiter on Saturday, March 28, a day filled with the promise of tangible blessings. Make the most of this weekend by spending sweet time with your beloveds. Good things could unexpectedly drop into your lap. Keep your heart and hands open to receive them.
It’s a rough start to the week when Mars moves into Aquarius on March 30 and conjoins Saturn on March 31. Mars leaving Capricorn will shift our attention from what to do to how to do it. There’s still wind in our sails, but the course may get recharted over the next 6 weeks; Mars is in Aquarius until May 13. The conjunction with Saturn could send us in a driven direction or create difficulties that lead to frustration. Resentments are bound to get kicked up and bitterness abounds under this type of energy. If you find yourself going in an angry or hopeless direction, steer your ship towards a different port. This transit isn’t the warmest welcome of April, but it won’t last forever.
Overall, March is a changemaker. The astrology can help you make the most of this new dawn and new day.