On the 19th – 20th of March, we enter the season of Spring, the beginning of the astrological New Year as the Sun ends its cycle through the zodiac wheel, exits Pisces and enters Aries, the Cardinal Fire Sign. We begin the Spring season with Mercury retrograde and a Stellium of three or more planets in the Cardinal Fire Sign as the Sun joins Mercury and Uranus in Aries.
There is a great deal of excitement and expectation as we begin the season. Spring has sprung, and we may be concentrating on the renaissance that the season promises. Change, autonomy and launching forward with projects that speak to us and allow us to stretch our wings are all in the works. We may be impulsive, spontaneous, but all with a sense of new beginnings and initiations reflective of the changes we are seeking to incorporate into our lives.
The Sun conjuncts Mercury on the 21st followed by the Aries New Moon on the 22nd, with the Sun Moon conjunction also conjunct both Mercury and Uranus. We may be all over the place as we search, explore and investigate interests that are more reflective of a new sense of our selves. We do have to watch for being impetuous and grabbing at anything that catches our fancy without due diligence or considering possible ramifications.
Mercury exits Aries and retrogrades back into Pisces on the 23rd, ending the Aries Stellium. We may feel more moody, prone to a sense of being victim to circumstance, wondering whether the impulse of making changes to our lives can come forward or stillborn.
The Sun Uranus conjunction on the 24th may have us emphasizing our individuality, possibly with little regard as to the impact of our actions on other people, and even to the extreme of our feeling like a law unto ourselves.
While we are impelled to be free, to accentuate our individuality and do our own thing, we could find ourselves butting heads against our responsibilities, those things we have to do and even obstacles placed in our way as the Sun squares Pluto on the 29th. Even if we feel blocked in our actions, we could find our way around the restrictions and limitations. With the Mercury sextile Venus also on the 29th, we can present ourselves in a socially appealing manner. We can charm the birds out of the trees but our approach might be like a bulldozer plowing ahead, not allowing anything to get in the way, all the while with a smile on our face and social decorum as our pretense.
As we come into April, our intense desire for what we want can lose some of its appeal through our packaging and our presentation. Venus exits its own Sign of Taurus and enters Mercury-ruled Gemini. We can become incredibly glib, talkative and looking to make our case whether we have the facts to back it up or not. On the contrary, we might find ourselves expressing and being receptive to the hype of the moment, those mind games and word plays used to win acceptance and support. Like Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday in the 1950’s classic television show ‘Dragnet’, we should keep in mind the catchphrase of the show: ‘the facts, ma’am, just the facts.’
And like the above refrain, which was never truly uttered by the Jack Webb character, we could buy into what we want to hear and how we want to hear it. During this early April period, it would be wise for us to take things with a grain of salt, recognize that we might not be getting full disclosure and appreciate that everyone is trying to make their case.
But like the lyrics in the 1972 song by the O’Jays, ‘Back Stabbers’ caution:
‘They smile in your face
All the time they want to take your place
The back stabbers…’
Due diligence would be our saving grace but also a characteristic we might neglect in the haste of the moment.
This early April period is replete with confusion, lack of clarity and a dance with the trickster, people appearing one way and the reality being something quite different.
The first week of April is action-packed but also a slippery slope when we might have real difficulty getting our solid footing. Venus enters Mercury-ruled Gemini on the 3rd. Mercury ends its retrograde cycle and turns direct on the 4th. Venus squares Neptune on the 5th. There is the Libra Full Moon on the 6th. And Venus squares Mars on the 7th.
Quite a week, this first week of April could prove to be. Let’s try to slow things down, not act impetuously and have a little bit of kindness for our fellow beings. At the same time, it would be wise for us to maintain a jaded eye, be skeptical of the demonstrations of camaraderie and always consider the possible consequences of our actions, even keeping in mind the law of unintended consequences. Yes, early April can be a real carousel, which might leave our head spinning if we allow ourselves to get ungrounded and caught up in the whirlwind of intense activity.
Let’s be aware that these times are volatile, times of eliminations but also times of things coming about in the most unexpected ways. A sense of the unanticipated could be highlighted around the 9th of April when Venus sextiles Uranus. We could hear from someone or connect serendipitously with someone who gives greater credence to our talents and makes suggestions regarding trajectories we might consider but that we had not taken into account.
The 10th has Pluto turning retrograde. Problems with traditional formats may come to light with implosions liable to upset the way things are. We might wonder whether we are truly on the road to economic recovery or whether we have merely swept things under the rug to be dealt with later in time. A sense of disgust with the powers-that-be can be stepped up, as we all now see with uncanny ability the reality that the emperor has no clothes.
While we might be concerned about certain difficulties still unresolved, we do not have to throw our hands up in despair or take a catatonic disposition. For on the 13th, Mars in Virgo turns direct. We may feel that no matter what is occurring in the world at large if we take care of our own personal world, we can not only survive these times but actually thrive within the conditions around us.
The 15th of April in the US usually depicts the taxman cometh, as people try to finish their tax forms prior to the midnight deadline. This year the taxman is postponed thanks to the 15th falling on a Sunday. However, the 15th has the Sun opposed Saturn. We may feel as though the wind has been knocked out of our sails. We might seek to play the blame game, looking at other people as the cause of our distress. We could even realize that, while the tax bite this year is not extreme, next year with Saturn in Scorpio the tax bite could be even larger than ever. Yes, the taxman cometh on a regular basis and taketh ever more away.
Mercury moves out of Pisces on April 16th and back into Aries. We are still in the ‘shadow’ of the Mercury retrograde, possibly retracing steps we had taken back in March.
The Sun moves into Taurus on the 19th of April and in so doing gives greater weight to the Earth Grand Trine we have experienced since mid-November of this past year. We may be less impetuous, more willing to take things step by step, with each step being very methodical and focused on a best practices approach.
A pragmatic, focused direction can be accentuated thanks to the Taurus Lunation on the 21st, with the New Moon creating a signature for the next fortnight up to the Full Moon on May 5th. With the New Moon giving greater force to the Earth Grand Trine and the Sun Moon conjunction sextile Neptune, with the Sun exactly sextile Neptune on the 22nd, the same day that Mercury is conjunct Uranus, we may feel divinely inspired and guided in regard to making manifest those things that will support us and provide venues by which we can thrive. Now more than ever before we could fully believe that all things are possible.
We will have to watch for the naysayers, those people that have lost their faith and want us to stay the way we have been so that they do not have to look in the mirror and question why they cannot get themselves out of their complacency of discontent.
This latter part of April and first part of May could be a time when we could literally move mountains. With the Sun in Taurus and part of the Earth Grand Trine, the Sun will trine Mars on the 23rd of April and then trine Pluto on the 29th of April. If we take things step by step, we could make great headway in regard to fulfilling our plans and realizing our goals.
It may not always be easy and there will be times when our faith will falter, for Mercury going through Aries will square Pluto on the 25th of April and Mercury will oppose Saturn on May 5th, at the time of the Scorpio Full Moon.
The issue will not be whether we can achieve our desires but rather whether our desires are truly meaningful and self-fulfilling. The Scorpio Full Moon will show both our resolve and our resourcefulness. We may discover, however, that our successes are but pyrrhic victories, that those things we have worked towards hold little meaning but that the fruits of victory would be like ashes in our mouths. At the same time, we can use this Scorpio Full Moon to divest ourselves of the superfluous, extraneous and meaningless.
We may do a major Spring cleaning, getting rid of stuff that no longer works for us and creating room for things that are more in synch with our essential selves.
The mid-May period can be a time when we are feeling at the top of our game. It is a time when Nature is in full blossom, and we may be feeling something similar within ourselves.
On the 9th, Mercury exits Aries and enters Taurus adding greater influence to the Earth Grand Trine and following the Sun’s lead in its transit of the Fixed Earth Sign. Mercury sextiles Neptune on the 10th, trines Mars on the 13th and trines Pluto on the 14th. Also on the 13th, the Sun conjuncts Jupiter. On the 16th, Mars trines Pluto.
This mid-May period can be a time when we are considering purchases and justifying them as necessary. We may be enthusiastic and confident, feeling able to meet any challenge and not merely survive but thrive even during these volatile times.
Our thinking can be incisive and we can come up with grand schemes, with our strategies to accomplish our goals concentrating both on the necessary details and on the bigger picture. This mid-May period allows us to develop our plans and focus our intentions.
Even if we have felt discouraged or blocked as a result of changing conditions over the past few years, mid-May has us with a fire in our belly and a focus in our mind. We can engage brain and brawn to get a great deal done.
It is essential that we always keep in mind the necessary tempering process. Even though we can move things ahead almost effortlessly, we have to look and not leap, and evaluate, step cautiously and move forward all the while working with peripheral vision and being aware of the circumstances operating around us and mindful of the opportunities that can arise out of the blue.
The Spring season can be very much a roller coaster, times when we are easily gliding along, such as the end of April and early May period and other times when we are hitting bumps along the way, such as the end of March and early April and the latter part of May and early June period. It may seem as if this season is like a weather vane, whichever way the wind blows. And much of it can be due to the transits of the personal planets — the Sun, Mercury and Venus.
The personal planets transits through Taurus reinforce the Earth Grand Trine and provide opportunities for us to be highly effective and incredibly productive and strongly confident with optimism and enthusiasm to match.
The latter part of May increases the Gemini influence and with it a Mutable Sign T-Square as the Gemini-transiting planets square Mars in Virgo and square Neptune in Pisces. Although Venus enters Gemini on the 3rd of April, its squares may provide only hiccups until it turns retrograde in Gemini on the 15th of May.
On the 20th of May, the Sun enters Gemini and with it there is a Solar Eclipse at the time of the Gemini New Moon that day. Although we might see a wide palette of possibilities, we could also feel either as though our hopes are dashed or that we are in a state of perpetual confusion. The Sun squares Neptune on the 23rd. Mercury enters Gemini on the 24th, and Mercury squares Neptune on the 27th.
Although we still have the influence of the Earth Grand Trine, there is now increasing static with the liability of misunderstandings and misperceptions. We may still want to push ahead with changes and new ways of expressing ourselves thanks to the Gemini-transiting planets sextiling Uranus. But the T-Square of the Gemini-transiting planets first squaring Neptune, later squaring Mars, can indicate both a lack of clarity with a high likelihood of confusion initially and then a tendency to gloss over specifics and negate important details later on.
These two aspects of this Mutable Sign T-Square can serve as a prescription for disaster, or at the very least for badly stubbing our toes and a severe liability especially from the latter part of May through the first week of June.
While I have mentioned above times when we might be foggy and far less clear-headed, the times when we could skip over particulars and not be attentive to details would be around the 30th of May when Mercury squares Mars, the 4th of June with the Lunar Eclipse at the time of the Sagittarius Full Moon and also the day when Neptune turns retrograde and Venus squares Mars, and on the 7th of June when the Sun squares Mars.
The 7th also has Mercury moving into Cancer and the beginning of the late Spring – early Summer Cardinal Sign T-Square as the Cancer transiting planets square Uranus and oppose Pluto, the first such energy configuration being on the 11th of June when Mercury squares Uranus and Mercury opposes Pluto.
The 11th of June is also the day that Jupiter ends its year-long transit of Taurus, also bringing to an end the Earth Grand Trine. Talk will be cheap and plentiful. The potential productivity offered by the Earth Grand Trine since last mid-November comes to an end.
Spring comes to a close with the hypesters and spinmeisters out in full force. Should we be surprised? Problems needing solutions may have been postponed for a later day. Issues demanding resolution might have been mulled over, contemplated, still under consideration. While such inability to deal with reality may be the choice of the powers-that-be, let us in our personal lives not make that mistake but rather use the energies of this Spring season to deal with the hard questions, bring completion to outstanding matters and plant the seeds of our future endeavors in fertile ground.
Yes, this Spring season is a roller coaster, valleys at the beginning of the season and to end the season, peaks in the mid-season period. We live in volatile times, but the volatility is a dynamic that allows for changes in less than a nanosecond of time.
Spring… the renaissance if we are willing…
