Happy Spring Equinox
Celestial forecast for the first week of spring
Happy Spring Equinox to my northern hemisphere friends! Today we experience equal parts day and equal parts night. Moving forward daylight hours steadily increase until the peak of the Summer Solstice. The Spring Equinox symbolizes balance, renewal, and rebirth. Spring is my favorite season, and I feel rejuvenated as flower shoots emerge from their winter slumber. In the weeks to come magnolias and their flowering companions will blossom, and I will revel in their natural beauty.
Making it through the cold, dark Wisconsin winter, with outrageously expensive utility bills emphasizing just how cold it was, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Since making it through my Saturn return, I’ve felt a shift inside me, a loosening, a flood of gratitude and warmth. Whenever I go through bouts of depression it’s hard to acknowledge it in the moment. I become aware of lower energy levels and lack of motivation and creativity. However, it’s not until I’m through it and on the other side that I can go a-ha that slump was a depressive episode. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and I struggle with admitting to myself that I’m capital D depressed. I know I’m not alone in this struggle. I hope everyone reading this struggling with anxiety and depression will feel a shift soon, and just maybe the changing of Mother Earth’s seasons will provide some extra comfort and support. Â
My hope in sharing my personal experiences and musings about the cycles of the cosmos is that you too will bear witness to the patterns unfolding within and around you. Now in year two of intentionally studying astrology, my awareness of the cyclical nature of life increases. It’s beautiful witnessing the cycles of the planets along the ecliptic, the cycle of the Moon orbiting Earth, the cycle of nature and her seasons, and even my own internal cycles. I must express my gratitude for Saturn because they are the wise elder helping me zoom out and see things from a bird’s eye view. Bringing awareness to my personal cycles and patterns I can acknowledge I’ve made it through a rough patch, and I’m filled with hope for spring ahead.
A friendly reminder, if you are looking for opportunities to become more attuned to the cycles of the cosmos, I invite you to join my A Year with the Zodiac: Aries Season workshop tonight at 6:00 PM CDT. If you cannot join live, you can still register and receive a link to the recording. The workshop is $25, and my friend, Eliot Marzano, and I will dive deep into the mythology and archetypal energy of Aries, the Ram.
Now for these week’s celestial forecast, spring is roaring in like a lion!
Celestial Forecast – Week of March 20th
Sun in Aries – March 20th 4:25 PM CDT
A brand new astrological year and rebirth of the natural world. Spring is here, and a new cycle unfolds before us. Aries, known as the baby of the Zodiac, is more complex than meets the eye. For every beginning must come after an ending. Aries is the spark of a new vision after integrating the lessons of a dark night of the soul. As cardinal fire, Aries is bold, bursting forth into the world with a clear vision and desire to seek out and fulfill their soul’s purpose. Aries needs a quest something to strive for. What are you questing for this Aries season?
New Moon 0° Aries – March 21st 12:22 PM CDT
Consider the quest before you. What seeds need extra warmth to germinate? What resources and guidance do you need before beginning your hero’s/fool’s journey? Be mindful of Aries’ tendency to burn out quickly. To know if a vision for our path ahead is truly meant for us, we only need to turn inward. Listening to our intuition, gut feelings, or heart space can show us which visions are worth our resources and energy.
Pluto in Aquarius – March 23rd 7:23 AM CDT
Pluto is the outermost planet in the far reaches of our solar system. It takes Pluto nearly 250 years to complete a full revolution around the Sun. Spending nearly two decades in each Zodiac sign, it is quite significant to experience a shift like this. Pluto will dip in and out of Aquarius for the next year or so, retrograding back into Capricorn several times before finally staying their course until 2044. Pluto transits signify societal and generational shifts, and we feel the impacts on a collective level. Pluto last changed signs leaving Sagittarius for Capricorn in 2008 coinciding with the United States housing collapse and economic fallout. I was only 15 at the time, but I vividly remember the harmful impact this recession had on my family. To give us hints of what’s to come over the next 20 years, we can look to the last time Pluto was in Aquarius. It was the late 1700s coinciding with the French, American, and Industrial Revolutions. A period of economic inequality, political instability, shifts in collective consciousness and belief systems, and technological innovation. Sound familiar? It’s hard to predict exactly what’s to come, but I think the next 20 years will be a make or break moment for humanity.
Mars in Cancer – March 25th 6:51 AM CDT
Mars, God of War, typically blazes through each Zodiac sign in about six weeks. However, since August 2022, Mars has had an extended stay in Gemini. If you’ve experienced an increase in anxiety, social conflict and tensions, and frenetic mental energy you’re not alone! These are all significations of Mars in Gemini, and our mental bodies finally experience a reprieve. Mars plunges into the nurturing waters of Cancer, and while this is a welcome change it’s important to acknowledge the challenges of this transit. Mars exalts in Capricorn and falls in the opposite sign of Cancer. A planet in their fall is woefully under resourced and completely out of their element. However, when we lack resources, we are pushed to be creative and resourceful. Mars is our drive, passion, and forward momentum, but in the waters of Cancer, Mars is at the mercy of the Moon, the most dynamic planet. Cancer is our capacity to form emotional bonds, and Mars’ nature is to sever and cut. If Mars in Gemini brought conflict and tension to your relationships, Mars in Cancer brings lingering unresolved emotions to the surface. From Gemini to Cancer, we drop out of our head and mental body into our feelings and emotional body. However, Mars inflames and our emotions may be agitated. This transit is an opportunity to reflect on our emotional bonds especially with the people in our social circles. How do our friends, family, and acquaintances make us feel? Do they nurture and uplift us, or do they manipulate and belittle us? Mars in Cancer will help us see which bonds need to be severed and which deserve to be nurtured.
Sending you all my love during this cosmically seismic first week of spring! My advice is to make space for caring for your physical and emotional needs as we collectively navigate the choppy waters ahead.