Final Preparations

I will join two major events in one article, the spring equinox that marks the start of astrological 2024, and the full moon in Libra that comes with a near-total penumbral lunar eclipse. Over 95% of the moon will be immersed in the Earth’s penumbral shadow, according to Wikipedia, which should give us a beautiful, if somewhat eerie, reddish moon.

The two events happen five days apart. Many of the planetary patterns remain the same, with some notable exceptions. For instance, Sun and Moon will move from forming the waxing trine to the opposition, and Mars will enter Pisces, as you can see in the enclosed charts. Remember that I use Aries charts which define a moment in time without being tied to a location in space, making it easier to compare charts. The lines in an Aries chart correspond to sign boundaries.

As we saw in the new-moon article, all planets continue to move direct and there is no doubt about it, every area or field of our experiences is being challenged, or so it seems. Once again, except for Moon who distributes Sun’s energy to the entire zodiac every month, the planets are contained within the 108° that separate Uranus and Pluto, focusing their energy and our attention to a few signs and their rulers.

Spring Equinox

In an Aries chart, the spring equinox (Aries 0°) is shown at the leftmost point, and Sun will be there on March 19 at 8:06 PM in California, 21:06 hours in Mexico City, and on March 20 at 06:06 hours in Santander. Such moment marks the beginning of spring, and the astrological year.

Marc Edmund Jones said: astrology is the science of beginnings. As such, the chart of the spring equinox shows us the seed of potentiality for the entire year, just like the new-moon chart is the lunation seed. Last year I didn’t talk separately about the yearly seed because the first new moon of the year practically occurred at the equinox, and the entire lunation cycle served as “seed” for all of astrological 2023, having begun and ended in Aries.

Sun, Moon and Pluto

The opposition between Moon in Leo (3°49′) and Pluto in Aquarius (1°40′) dominates the chart, pulling our eyes to the Mystic Triangle they form with Sun. You may recall that in such a triangle the planet not involved in the opposition provides an alternate path to the confrontational awareness of the opposition. Pluto is the planet of power and Moon of emotions. In mundane astrology, their opposition refers to oppression of the people (Moon) by the elite in power (Pluto), which does not bode well for the citizenry in the upcoming year. At a personal level, it may signal a compulsive desire to dominate domestic issues, and friends, in an effort to control our own emotions or to exert emotional control.

Mystic Triangles tend to be a successful figure due to the productive and creative natures of the sextile and trine respectively, which provide a degree of objectivity when dealing with regard to the opposition issues. Moon in Leo will not suffer in silence, especially with Mercury in Aries, a sign where it symbolizes a quick mind and a sharp tongue, a courageous and intuitive mind able to “tell it like it is”, with honesty. The trine with Sun makes him a receptive ear to Moon’s suffering, so to speak. Entering Aries with the injection of power from the sextile with Pluto, Sun acts in the only way possible: by lowering the head and ramming ahead so as to do what must be done.

Much Pisces Energy

However just two days earlier, on March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), Sun will be conjunct Neptune at Pisces 27°22′ and the First Quarter phase of the Pisces lunation will have just begun. First of all, the conjunction brings the capacity to dissolve (Neptune) the Ego (Sun) for the collective good (Pisces) and can bring feelings of mysticism and belonging to something much, much bigger than us.

On the other hand, the First Quarter phase represents a critical moment in the actualization of the new-moon potentialities, when we receive a real challenge to the monthly growth implied in the actualization. The challenge may be perceived as coming from the environment when its origen is likely our subconscious, and will depend greatly on the intention we declared for the cycle. That said, the First Quarter crisis subsides when the waxing trine between Sun and Moon is reached.

The bottom line is that whereas Sun in Aries will always move ahead, this time it will be after careful consideration of its Piscean past, as if in this year’s version of the Sabian symbol, the woman emerging from the sea had an unusually large seal, heavier than normal, trying to drag her back. After all, Saturn is also in Pisces!

Mercury, Chiron and the North Node

When we talked about the new moon of March 10th, I mentioned that a planet conjunct the North Node becomes the “dish of the day” for all evolutionary life experiences. In particular, the conjunction of Chiron with the North Node, exact in late February, has been showing us the collective hurt (Chiron) experienced by groups that want to exercise their right to be (Aries) while relating (Libra) differently than before (South Node).

As you can see in the chart, Mercury will be situated between them at the equinox, after forming an exact conjunction with the North Node on March 18 (Aries 15°46′) and before doing the same with Chiron on March 20 (Aries 18°18′). Mercury is the ultimate spokesperson, communicating other people’s ideas. In Aries and next to Chiron, Mercury will sharply demonstrate throughout the year the hurt just mentioned.

Sun starts a new year only to encounter a sign with this much collective hurt, and Sun in Aries only knows to move ahead and transcend the hurt, disregarding most sentimentalism, so it may be healed.

Conjunction Venus–Saturn

Two days after the equinox, on March 21, Venus and Saturn will form an exact conjunction at Pisces 12°27′. Venus in Pisces seeks relationships at the highest level, with the Absolute. It is a Venus with high expectations that are seldom met by mere humans. The Venus of the mystic and the servant of God. A Venus of artistic ideals that may come true when it is conjunct with Saturn.

The conjunction may also have a sobering effect on relationships or artistic pursuits, taking the romanticism away and making us wonder if they are worth it. But, it may also “legalize” in one way or another such relationships or artistic pursuits. Many marriages happen when there is an energetic transiting contact, like a conjunction, square or opposition, between Saturn and Venus in the composite chart of a relationship.

Mars in Pisces

On the following day, March 22, Mars will enter the sign of Pisces. Mars doesn’t operate in a straightforward manner when it is on a water sign, using instead what could be called indirect means. It doesn’t necessarily rely on subterfuge but it does act emotionally. Mars in Pisces is the sirens at The Odyssey who sang songs of prophecy while luring sailors to their deaths on rocky shores.

At Virgo 7°56′, Moon will form an opposition to the midpoint of Mars and the Venus–Saturn conjunction. This will increase the emotional nature of having Mars and Venus in Pisces, fighting the pragmatism brought to the mix by Saturn. The likely result will be a couple of days of intense scrutiny about the seriousness of our relationships, prior to the eclipse.

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

The full moon will occur on Monday, March 25, a few seconds after midnight in California, 01:00 hours in Mexico City, or 08:00 hours in Santander, at 5°07′ of Aries and Libra.

As I mentioned earlier, it will come with a lunar eclipse with most of the moon staying in Earth’s penumbral shadow. Those of us able to see it at night will notice how the moon changes color, from white to a reddish orange, without being occluded at all. This is a very powerful eclipse and yet it is just a prelude to the mother lode of all eclipses, the first new moon of the year and total solar eclipse of April 8. I won’t say much more now about that eclipse, suffice to say that it will not be time to compromise but to plow ahead.

Eclipses intensify the nature of the New or the Full Moon phase of the lunation cycle in which they occur. The Full Moon phase marks the end of the activity semicircle in the lunation cycle, when some of the potentialities present at the new moon are actualized, or a decision is made, perhaps subconsciously, to continue with the status quo and not take advantage of the growth available this month. In either case, the phase also begins the consciousness semicircle, when we distill the lessons learned and integrate them in ourselves, preparing for the next New Moon phase.

Therefore, if a full moon is heavy on displaying the result of what we did with the new-moon seed, it should be no surprise that lunar eclipses are often accompanied by actual events, unlike solar eclipses which intensify the strength of the seed and may manifest as events at the critical times in the maturation of the same seed, often at the First Quarter phase.

A Peculiar Eclipse

At first glance, one would think that the eclipse will be very loud, after all, it occurs in the Aries–Libra axis, with Sun and the North Node, both, in Aries! I remind you that a lunar eclipse is produced when the Nodal axis is conjunct to the Sun–Moon opposition, so Sun could be conjunct with either node, North or South, and also in either sign, Aries or Libra, so the fact that both are together and in Aries is significant, it denotes a show of action for individual growth, to be reflected in how we used to relate to others, from the conjunction of Moon and the South Node.

In the chart, we find the North Node at Aries 15°35′, over 10° from Sun, which is the reason for the penumbral nature of the eclipse. The North Node continues to form a close conjunction (3°) with Chiron, at Aries 18°33′, who is forming a conjunction (5°) with Mercury at Aries 23°39′. Collectively speaking, our growth experiences will come from letting everybody be (Chiron in Aries). We must learn to relate in a new light (full moon), letting go of the old ways (South Node in Libra). Mercury will make sure everybody knows of the collective hurt we must heal, while the moon turns “bloody” in the sky.

However, the lunar eclipse has a lot of Pisces energy. In addition to Saturn and Neptune, who have been in Pisces for a while, both rulers of the full-moon and nodal axis signs, Venus and Mars, are found in that sign. Moreover, the current lunation began with the new moon in Pisces. This is the time to close cycles, to be courageous and let go of whatever is tying us to our individual or collective past. It is time to wipe the slate clean so we can start anew in astrological 2024. Besides, there will be no option with the solar eclipse of April 8.

Sabian Symbols

I want to remind ourselves of the energies present at the new moon. In particular, recall that this month is a preview of the “conjunction waltz” that Saturn and Neptune will dance throughout 2025, before joining hands at Aries 1° in 2026; energies related to dissolving old structures that have crystalized and are no longer useful, and for giving form to our highest dreams, making them concrete. The Sabian symbol, you may remember, had the image of a girl fondling a white lamb with a Chinese servant nearby, basically symbolizing the beginning of a new evolution based on ideals barely formed.

With that in mind, the symbol for Aries 6° (Sun) has the image: “A square, with one of its sides brightly illumined”, expanded as the emotional desire for concrete and stabilized existence as a person. Meanwhile, Libra 6° (Moon) has: “A man watches his ideals taking a concrete form before his inner vision”, expanded as the need to visualize clearly one’s dreams or ideals in order to make them truly effectual.

I think one only needs to read the explanations in italics to get the Sabian symbology of the full moon.

Discussion

This is a key lunation cycle, which is why I wanted to walk with you, figuratively speaking, during the activity semicircle, the waxing phases. The conjunction of Sun and Neptune, coinciding with the First Quarter crises, will test our resolve this weekend. Earlier this week we probably had intuitions of life structures that are not working for our growth, and of new dreams we would like to make concrete. The apparent roadblocks that will spin in our head this weekend, which we may experience as events, are best handled by trusting our intuition, because our reasoning will be cloudy. That fog will disappear by the equinox, when Sun enters Aries forming a trine with Moon.

By the time Mars enters Pisces, we will begin to feel the energies of the lunar eclipse. Regardless of what comes to our conscious mind during the eclipse, or of the events that it may bring, it will signal the start of the waning phases, a time to harvest wisdom and prepare for the action-packed solar eclipse. It is important to continue with the themes of detachment and letting go set by the new moon. The Aries energy found at the full moon of this Piscean lunation will help us gain lightness by leaving the heavy past behind. We will have to absorb much, starting with the next lunation cycle, so we must travel light.

Wrapping Up…

I cannot stress enough that the entire lunar month is here to prepare us to be catapulted onto our chosen future. These are the final weeks to fine-tune how light we will travel, time to tie loose ends, close cycles and concentrate on the dreams we want to co-create. Saturn and Neptune are showing us that we can let go of the old and give form to the new. By the time April 8 comes, it will be too late to make adjustments; we will be on our way.

It is likely that some relationships will terminate. All of us are receiving transforming energy at an accelerated pace, and some people may go in a different direction than ours. Accept the new level of consciousness that we are getting, welcome it in your being. Once again, the solar flares have been so powerful as to be setting records. Nancy Rebecca has had contact with the blue-light beings who see April as a key month, not only for the eclipse but for “something later in the month” that probably refers to the Jupiter–Uranus conjunction on the twentieth; she is a medium and a psychic, not an astrologer.

Have faith. It is so easy to lose hope, but keep walking, even when the light in front of you only illuminates little path. The rest of the biosphere has, for the most part, already accepted the jump and humanity will follow. Time doesn’t stand still and with it the processes move, we just need to “surf” their evolutionary waves.

Always Love. 🌹🙏💖