The arrival of spring has felt imminent in my forested corner of the world, with small green leaves beginning to unfurl and dark purple buds forming upon the long naked tree branches. Yet just to remind us in our mountain abode that Pisces season is not yet over and springtime has still to arrive, a sudden blanket of snow descended yesterday to turn the world once more into a wintry spectacle. On a walk this afternoon along one of the pathways by my home, I could perceive the Sun-Venus-Neptune gossamer veil drawn over the world, Venus-Neptune’s ethereal beauty shimmering through the beams of sunlight itself. The Pisces New Moon will align on the same day as the exact Venus-Neptune conjunction, bringing the essence of sacred love and spiritual beauty into the next lunation’s quiet seeding.
The unfolding lunar cycle is marked by themes of subtlety, harmony, and forward initiative. As we approach Aries season and the dawn of spring, not a single planet is retrograde in the sky. Nothing inhibits the archetypal expression of each of the planets at this time—except, of course, dear Saturn, who always reminds us of the importance of not being hasty. Furthermore, the month is marked by numerous sextiles between planets: gentle 60° alignments that tend to express themselves with confluence and support, a gift offered to us that we might take it and make the best of what is given.
As we reach the anniversary of the coronavirus lockdowns, there are many complex feelings arising as we take stock of the transformed and still changing world around us. May the gentler alignments of this next lunation support each of us as we figure out how best to walk forward and step into the potentials of spring.
Transits of the Pisces-Aries Lunation
*March 13 @ 2:21 am PT* The New Moon aligns in Pisces in a stellium with an exact Venus-Neptune conjunction, initiating a new lunation cycle in the midst of an exquisite, ethereal romantic fairy-story in which mermaids sweetly sing songs of sacred seduction and the wholeness of our being dissolves into the divine union of love.
*March 15 @ 3:26 pm PT* Mercury swims into the sign of Pisces after a long sojourn in Aquarius, loosening the grip of mental acuity and slipping into a stream of consciousness dialogue with . . . pardon, what did you say again?
*March 16 @ 11:26 am PT* The Sun in Pisces sextiles Pluto in late Capricorn, illuminating the shadowed realms that still tug at our attention, asking to be seen, transmuted, and transformed.
*March 18 @ 1:40 am PT* In alignment with the waxing crescent Moon in Taurus, a humble trine forms with Sun-Venus in Pisces sextile to Pluto in Capricorn, Pluto trine the Moon, and the Moon sextile Sun-Venus. Rumblings of desire echo below the surface of sweet platitudes, disguising deeper impulses than might be recognized at first glance.
*March 20 @ 2:37 am PT* The Sun alights into Aries, marking the Vernal Equinox and ushering in spring with International Astrology Day. The inauguration of the spring season lights up new energies to initiate action and take steps forward into life.
*March 21 @ 7:40 am PT* The waxing quarter Moon in Cancer opens a day of heightened astrological activity, with Mercury in Pisces sextiling Uranus in Taurus, Venus ingressing into the sign of Aries, and Mars in Gemini forming an airy trine with Saturn in Aquarius. Mind, heart, and will pull in varying directions, the first alight with new ideas, the second entering heated territories, and the third quelling the impulse for action until tangible measures have been taken.
*March 23 @ 8:26 pm PT* Mercury in Pisces squares Mars in Gemini, threatening disgruntled disagreements and furtive argumentation. Scream into a pillow or burn an angry letter—and let the energies dissipate with the ashes.
*March 25 @ 11:58 pm PT* The Sun and Venus at last conjoin in Aries after dancing in a close tango for many weeks. The cazimi marks Venus’s transition from the morning star to the evening, where we can soon adore her diamond beauty at a reasonable hour once more.
*March 28 @ 11:48 am PT* The Libra Full Moon opposes the Sun-Venus conjunction, directly perceiving the tender hidden realms of the Lunar unconscious and inviting them forth to illuminate the sweetened pathways of the heart.
*March 29 @ 8:24 pm PT* Mercury and Neptune conjoin in Pisces, drowning rationality within the wet pools of dream consciousness and allowing the symbolic whispers of transcendent intimations to seep through our thought patterns.
*March 30 @ 8:47 am PT* Venus in Aries sextiles Saturn in Aquarius, tempering the heart’s affections with reminders of loves gone by, perhaps to close the gates of intimacy and perhaps to dwell in bittersweet reminiscence.
*March 31 @ 2:04 pm PT* The Sun in Aries sextiles Saturn in Aquarius, emphasizing organization and discipline, but hopefully only with gentle reminders of one’s responsibilities and commitments, rather than a punitive judgement from the superego.
*April 1 @ 11:04 pm PT* Mercury in Pisces sextiles Pluto in Capricorn, subtly driving the inquiry deeper, making sure no stone has been left unturned and no idea uninvestigated.
*April 3 @ 8:41 pm PT* Mercury ingresses into Aries, warming up and drying off after a swim in the Piscean sea. What tasks are now at hand that need to be attended to with swift action and mental initiative?
*April 4 @ 3:02 am PT* The waning quarter Moon in Capricorn squares the Sun in Aries, reminding us of what practical tasks must be concluded in service of the lunation’s intended achievements.
*April 6 @ 4:18 am PT* The Sun-Venus conjunction in Aries sextiles Mars in Gemini, while the Moon in Aquarius creates a humble trine with a sextile to Sun-Venus and a trine Mars. Subtly mirroring the humble trine with Pluto on March 18, rather than Plutonic rumblings of desire the libido instead steps forward with more fiery, yet caring assertion.
*April 9 @ 12:18 pm PT* Mars in Gemini squares Moon-Neptune in Pisces, irritating the sensitivities with rash intrusions from the outer world, leading potentially to passive aggressive and evasively defensive responses.
*April 10 @ 8:09 am PT* Mercury in Aries sextiles Saturn in Aquarius, while Venus in Aries sextiles Jupiter in Aquarius. While the heart opens generously, the mind may sit in discerning judgement over the matter, questioning whether opulence and luxurious taste is really the most responsible approach at this time.
*April 11 @ 7:31 pm PT* The New Moon in Aries aligns with Venus in a square to Pluto in late Capricorn, impelling a powerful infusion of sensuous, erotic, and aesthetic energies into the birth of a new celestial cycle that will ripple forth into the next lunation.
Becca Tarnas 