Stepping Inside

As we predicted, the transition from two hundred years of earth-centric paradigms to air-centric ones is causing a lot of friction that generates noise and heat. In our “Indiana Jones” analogy, the February 20 Saturn–Neptune conjunction moved a boulder that had kept us from reaching the air-centric world, exposing a passageway we must begin to traverse in 2026. Yet, our warning was clear: “When a door that has remained closed for centuries is opened, a kind of Pandora’s box is also opened.” The red moon of the March 3 lunar eclipse, as beautiful as it appeared in the pre-dawn hours, quickly became a bloody indicator that the US had started a war in the Middle East on February 28, when Mars was at Aquarius 28, the exact degree of Moon in the US chart, forming a square with Uranus at Taurus 28, the degree of rebeginnings.

Did World War III Begin?

In the last few days, I have seen numerous reports that perhaps another world war has started and we just don’t know it yet. Yes, the number of countries affected by the conflict in Iran has grown to more than twenty, according to one account, and it is true that it now involves Ukraine on one side and Russia on the other, thus seemingly uniting both wars. But I still maintain that the primary war that will be fought during this transit of Neptune through Aries will be an economic one. Its initial entrance, on March 30 of last year, nearly coincided with the so-called “Liberation Day”, April 2, when Trump imposed a tariffs on nearly every country on Earth.

Militarily, while the US and Israel have used heavy weaponry to inflict enormous damage on Iran’s armed forces, Iran has responded with an asymmetric barrage of relatively inexpensive drones that are inflicting substantial damage on US allies around the region and forcing them to deplete their stock of pricey weaponry.¹ However, the disruptions in the energy sector and the supply chains are quickly becoming the real costs of the ill-advised war. By closing the Straight of Hormuz, Iran has effectively gained the upper hand, denying Asia and Europe the energy they need, and preventing Africa from obtaining the fertilizers required for this year’s crops.

The full-moon Sabian symbols, you may recall, talked about “political hysteria” that must be overcome by a “powerful statesman”, none other than ourselves, armed with the strongest sword possible: our will. The new-moon seed had encouraged us to transform “the structural patterns” of our everyday living, starting with our mindset. Yet, the eclipse moon turned red to show Earth’s shadow, not only literally but including the failings of a humanity devoid of compassion. The quest is clear: we must let go of the earthly obsession of possessing objects (nouns) and move on to a fluid perspective of sharing actions (verbs) with our fellow human beings.

Cyclosophy: The Wisdom of the Cycles

When I wrote about my swan song, I mentioned that a process-oriented view of reality (ontology) is needed to integrate the many “silos” of deep knowledge (gnosis) available within the “akashic consciousness” of AI. By taking into account that all natural processes manifest helically in Space because Time is cyclical in essence, we need a “symbolic algebra” rooted in cyclicity to express relationships between processes. In his 1936 book “The Astrology of Personality”, Dane Rudhyar lamented the absence of a discipline—which he called “cyclology”—devoted to the study of cyclicity, and proposed that astrology be used instead.

I have now taken up the gauntlet thrown down by Rudhyar and have embarked in the development of cyclosophy to study the wisdom hidden in cyclicity. I decided against “cyclology” because it has the connotation of relying solely on reason to study cyclicity and we are after meaning to uncover the wisdom of the cycles. It should be obvious that astrology is the application of cyclosophy to planetary processes, but we are aiming at understanding the nature and significance of Time, the unmeasurable component of reality that is equivalent to Order.

Cyclosophy relies heavily on numerology, the oft-ridiculed discipline that studies the numbers not as quantities but as qualities of meaning. For example, the number one is often used to mean unity; two is a symbol of duality, polarity, juncture; three is completion, as in the dialectic triad of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, or a three-legged stool that can achieve stability; four represents solidity, concreteness; and so on. In cyclosophy, a functional process, as defined in the previous article, symbolizes the concrete completion of a cycle (4×3) so it is divided in twelve phases, whereas a relational process refers to the concrete expression of dual energies (4×2), resulting in eight phases. As it will become obvious over the few next articles, the phases are primarily identified by a verb; for example, to initiate corresponds to FP1, the first phase of a functional process—Aries in astrology.

Initial Reconnaissance

I began writing this article during the waning phases, just before the Last Quarter in Sagittarius (March 11) when all of us probably struggled to make sense of what has transpired. However, Mercury, the “messenger of the gods”, is ready to help us out, for it has been moving retrograde since February 26, just before the war began, and will continue to do so until March 20, the day of the spring equinox. During that time, Mercury will retrace its steps from Pisces 23 (22°33′) to Pisces 9 (8°30′), its so-called retrograde shadow, which originally visited between February 11, before Saturn entered Aries, and February 25. The Mercury process represents our link with the environment: the five senses, our thoughts and our ability to communicate. Fittingly, Mercury was in a “reflective” mood during the waning phases of consciousness.²

The Sabian symbol for Pisces 9, where it will halt its retrograde motion and make a symbolic U-turn, is simply: “A jockey”, rephrased by Rudhyar as: “A jockey spurs his horse, intent on outdistancing his rivals”, telling us that “wherever this symbol is found, it indicates the need to spur one’s total being toward speedy attainment of whatever goal it may be”. This is a most significant symbol for, as you will see shortly, Mercury will be at Pisces 9 at, both, the new moon and the spring equinox: the seeds of the relational process of Sun and Moon and of the functional process of Sun.

In summary, between March 20 and April 9, Mercury will travel the same degrees it first surveyed from February 11 to the 25, when it performed an initial reconnaissance of what it may mean to venture into the new world. Afterwards, Mercury is retracing its steps from February 26 to March 19, while Sun is also in Pisces, the sign that dissolves the fluff of the previous cycle to distill its essence. This is a needed Piscean cleanse from any residue of the old, earth-centric paradigms, especially after the shock experienced at the lunar eclipse, to prepare us for the journey ahead. Finally, on the third transit through the same degrees, Sun will be in Aries, illuminating the passageway with the light of the new year.

New Moon in Pisces

But, 36 hours before Sun enters Aries, the new lunation will begin at Pisces 28°27′. It will occur on March 18 at 6:23 p.m. in California, at 7:23 p.m. in Mexico City, and on March 19 at 2:23 a.m. in Central Europe. The Aries chart for the new moon is:

As mentioned earlier, Mercury (Pisces 8°39′) will already be at the degree where it will change direction. What I didn’t mention is that it will do so while forming a conjunction with the North Node (Pisces 8°58′). Given that Mercury represents how we interact with the environment and the North Node symbolizes what we could call “life experiences”, don’t be surprised if you perceive “signals” when they share the Pisces 9 degree between March 18 and 23. Furthermore, such signals could be related to something that occurred around February 11.

Rounding up the personal planets, Venus (Aries 15°39′) will form an exact square with Jupiter (Cancer 15°11′), two planets whose aspects usually result in harmonious collaboration in the areas of relationships, finances or the arts. Although a square is considered a “hard aspect”, issues that could arise would be more related to complacency than disagreements. About the only word of caution relates to an increase of highly-energetic social contacts which often present opportunities for infidelity. This is worth mentioning because Venus will also form a semi-sextile with Mars (Pisces 12°58′), a sexually-creative aspect for any intimate liaison. It is worth noting that the Venus–Mars midpoint (Pisces 29°19′) will be right next to Sun (and Moon, in this case), as it has done for the last several months, further integrating our needs and desires.

Empowering Uranus’s Goodbye

However, as it is usual with a new-moon seed, the position of the Sun–Moon conjunction is key to understand the overall lunation tone. In this case, the lights will form an exact sextile with Uranus (Taurus 28°15′) that is very significative. With Pluto and Neptune already in Aquarius and Aries, respectively, Uranus is the only transpersonal planet yet to change signs and complete the Minor Grand Trine in Yang signs that will usher us to the air-centric new order. In the 2026 yearly preview, I went from the first eclipse season (the last article) straight to the entrance of Uranus in Gemini because the in-between lunation seemed somewhat boring. That said, when preparing this article, I realized that there is much to discuss about Uranus’s exit from Taurus and its goodbye power as it prepares to enter Gemini on April 26. The strong support offered by Sun and Moon at the new-moon seed will make its exit from Taurus much more eventful.

Sabian Symbols

The Sabian symbol for Pisces 29, where the new-moon conjunction of Sun and Moon will take place, has the image: “A prism”, which Rudhyar rephrased as: “Light breaking into many colors as it passes through a prism”, further explained as the analytical power of the mind necessary for the formulation of life processes in their many aspects.While Diana Roche interprets the symbol as one of Analysis and extols the scientific method as able to understand the whole from its parts—something with which I disagree vehemently, as you can imagine—she also points out that a prism allows one to see things from different angles. Given that the new moon will arrive as we are still trying to make sense of the senseless war in Iran, it is important to keep this interpretation in mind.

Realizing that this is the penultimate degree of the zodiac, Rudhyar reminds us that cycles of existence begin in Unity but end in what he called “multi-unity”, the sum total of the individual differences that have been carefully consummated over the span of one cycle. He writes: “Within that sum—a unified total—the inevitability of the future process of differentiation is implied, because every cycle leaves a mass of waste products slowly returning to the unconscious state of chemical matter, of ‘humus’”. In essence the symbol tells us that Unity will always break again into Multiplicity (the Rhythm of Wholeness) and that the “prism” is always there. In essence, the most beautiful and seemingly everlasting experience of unity will in time be superseded by the need to attend to a multiplicity of details. The keyword is: Differentiation.

Regarding Taurus 29, where Uranus will be located, we find a familiar symbol: “Two cobblers working at a table”, expanded as the two-fold character of man’s mature understanding. It is said that feet symbolize understanding, so the two cobblers represent opposite points of view that are required to achieve it. Unlike with knowledge, understanding requires a degree of identification with what is being understood, which necessitates taking into consideration its opposite. By confronting those two points of view, the mind gains a sense of Perspective, the symbol’s keyword. The symbology is clear: only by venturing into the passageway we will be able to make sense of what has been going on, and we must look at the experience from both sides of the coin: earth-centric and air-centric.

Spring Equinox

So, the next lunation may feel like a continuation of the current waning phases, for it will be focused on making sense of what has transpired since several events happened: Neptune and Saturn entered Aries; the new order was activated by the solar eclipse in Aquarius; Saturn and Neptune joined hands at the first degree of the zodiac; Mars and Uranus conspired to show the evil ways of fascism; and the lunar eclipse showed us the bloodied shadow of humanity. However, there is another cycle that must begin in earnest, the symbolic entrance into a passageway to the world we will be co-creating under the new air-centric paradigms.

On March 20, at 7:46 a.m. in California, at 8:46 a.m. in Mexico City, or at 3:46 p.m. in Central Europe, Sun will cross the “world axis” and enter the sign of Aries to start a new functional process of integration, a new astrological year. The following chart shows the planets at that moment:

At first glance, not much will have changed in the first day and a half of the lunation. Mercury (Pisces 8°30′) will be moving at only 1.6% of its average speed, having reached the exact position, degree and minute, where it will change direction about four hours later. Venus (Aries 17°35′) and Mars (Pisces 14°11′) will still be forming a semi-sextile and their midpoint, at Aries 0°53′, will continue to be right next to Sun. The square of Venus and Jupiter (Cancer 15°14′), although no longer exact, promises at least six months when social contacts will be facilitated.

However, as they say, the devil is in the details. At Aries 20°31′, Moon will be in a conjunction with Venus, which often indicates a tendency for self-indulgence, and in a square with Jupiter, which may bring emotional conflicts due to a lack of discipline. Once again, we are cautioned to use our head but Mercury stationary in the degree of the jockey may err on the side of haste.

All Systems Go!

Of course, the star of the show will be Sun which, upon entering Aries, will form same-sign conjunctions with Neptune (Aries 1°46′) and Saturn (Aries 4°08′) and sextiles with Pluto (Aquarius 5°00′) and Uranus (Taurus 28°18′). Even though the latter is off-sign, it will nevertheless be key to understand the “exit events” that will continue to be felt until Uranus leaves Taurus. As we said, Mercury will begin to race towards Aries a few hours after the equinox and, since it will be visiting degrees it has seen twice already, the external world may seem a déjà-vu rushing away from any semblance of sanity.

On a personal note, both Mercury and Jupiter will have ended their retrograde motion and begin to form a trine between them which will get tighter as the days go by. Such a configuration, further energized by Mars, will be perfect to engage in anything related to communications. The entire year may be ideal for writing or speaking in public. The fact that there will be no planets moving retrograde for a while will increase the feeling that life is rushing by. The advise continues to be the same as before: remain calm.

Half Moon in Cancer

Given that the entire lunation is like a preparation for the entrance of Uranus in Gemini, the last transpersonal planet to move to its definitive Yang sign, we will embark on a quest to gain some perspective through analysis and understanding during the waxing phases. As usual, we will meet “external” roadblocks at the crisis of action represented by the First Quarter of March 25:

This is a powerful chart that must be seen in the proper context. As you can see, Sun (Aries 5°09′) will form an exact sextile with Pluto (Aquarius 5°06′) while being in a tight conjunction with Saturn (Aries 4°47′) that will have been exact earlier in the day—the exact conjunction of Sun with Neptune (Aries 1°58′) will have occurred on March 22. Those conjunctions will “validate” the two components of our journey through the passageway: the vision of Neptune and the structure of Saturn. In time of doubt, the First-Quarter crisis, Pluto will empower the transition to air-centric paradigms from Aquarius, the prototypical air sign.

Meanwhile, Moon (Cancer 5°09′) will form an exact quincunx with Pluto and squares with Saturn and Neptune, in addition to the one if forms with Sun every half moon. The symbol for Cancer 6: “Game birds feathering their nests” carries the keyword Symbiosis which summarizes perfectly how to approach the crisis: power (Pluto), vision (Neptune) and structure (Saturn) must work together, under the integrating force of Sun, to effect the transition—the symbolic entrance to the passageway.

Being ruled by Mars, Aries is the sign associated with wars and Chiron in Aries is said to symbolize the hurt experienced from the horrors of war. At Aries 25°21′, Chiron will form a conjunction with Venus (Aries 24°00′) putting us in touch with those feelings. On a personal note, it could also signify a relationship pain caused from being undervalued as an individual.

Full Moon in Libra

And that brings us to one of the most important full moons of the entire year, which determines when Christianity will celebrate Easter.³ Broadly speaking, the Libra full moon represents the mirror on which we see the contrast between our self-image and the image we project in personal relationships, ranging from business partnerships to marriage. As it is with all full moons, the goal is to integrate the polarity.

At the full moon, Sun will be at Aries 12°21′ and Moon at Libra 12°21′. The event will occur on April 1 at 7:12 p.m. in California, 8:12 p.m. in Mexico City, or on April 2 at 3:12 a.m. in Central Europe:

The chart has much to unpack but, before we talk about the slow-moving planets, I want to call your attention to the T-Square configuration that Jupiter (Cancer 15°51′) will form with the Sun–Moon opposition. We have seen how the vertex planet of a T-Square (Jupiter) metaphorically “rattles the cage” of the opposition and makes the polarity evident. Jupiter will always tend towards expansion and that could make the polarity seem impossible to integrate. Luckily, Mercury (Pisces 14°39′) will form a trine with Jupiter, one of the best aspects for the mind, which will allow us to see the “big picture” and take things philosophically.

Venus will have entered Taurus on March 30, one of the signs it rules, in which its sensual and artistic side predominates. At 2°59′, it will form a square with Pluto (Aquarius 5°14′), which may result in power struggles within our relationships, especially when the full moon is making us aware of the image dichotomy mentioned earlier. Once again, let the trine of Mercury and Jupiter allow you to see the situation from a higher point of view.

Meanwhile, Saturn (Aries 5°41′) will be in the degree occupied by Sun at the First Quarter and thus forming an exact sextile with Pluto which will result in true organizing power to the new air-centric order. However, the sextile between Mars (Pisces 23°58′) and Uranus (Taurus 28°49′) may energize more war-related events.

Sabian Symbols

The symbol for Aries 13 (Sun) has the image: “An unsuccessful bomb explosion”, rephrased by Rudhyar to: “An unexploded bomb reveals an unsuccessful social protest”, expanded as an immature evaluation of the possibility of transforming suddenly the status quo. Diana Roche gives the keyword: Impetuousness while Rudhyar assigns to it the phrase: Adolescent Frustration. Following Marc Edmund Jones’s lead, Roche sees the symbol as a negative one—a bomb should explode—and even has a philosophical discussion as to whether evil has been committed if the explosion did not happen. On the other hand, Rudhyar is building a mandala of meaning and Aries represents an adolescent personality with strong ego-power and attributes the “failure” of the bomb to the inability of Aries to yet see the value of societal order.

Right across the zodiac, the image for Libra 13 (Moon) is: “Children blowing soap bubbles”, further explained as the cultural fantasies through which young minds dream of perfect fulfillment. This is a less complicated symbol which exalts the art of playing and, indeed, its key phrase is: Imaginative Play. Roche cautions us to differentiate between childlike and childish play while Rudhyar reflects on the use of the imagination and the value of fantasy in a collective setup, pointing out that men dream together as a preparation for acting together.

For the story we are weaving, at the solar eclipse, Sun activated the keys that exposed the passageway we must follow in our trek to the air-based order. Sun subsequently “validated” the vision and the structure as it formed conjunctions with Neptune and Saturn in Aries. From that point of view, the Sun symbol could be interpreted as the failing power of the old, earth-centric, paradigms. So, instead of an “immature evaluation of the possibility of transforming suddenly the status quo”, what we have is a failure of the status quo to continue asserting itself. It may have a lot of power (the bomb) but it is no longer effective. In that light, the symbol for Moon represents the Libran desire for camaraderie, of course Libra being an air sign, through perfectly round and playful bubbles that, even though they lack the power of a bomb, fill the children’s hearts with joy.

Half Moon in Capricorn

Once again, I will try to look an entire lunation ahead, for today was the Last Quarter (March 11) of the current cycle when, indeed, everybody is trying to understand the reasons why the world was suddenly thrust into a war that nobody but a few despots want.

In any case, the Last Quarter will happen on April 9 or 10, depending on your location in the globe. The “cliffhanger” chart for that moment is:

I am calling it a cliffhanger chart because it prepares the following new moon in a truly magnificent way. For context, Mars (Aries 0°18′) will have been in its sign for just a few hours but, thirty-six hours earlier, on April 8, it will have formed a sextile with Uranus at the anaretic degrees of Pisces and Taurus. Mars in Pisces is more powerful than people think so that “last hurrah” of Uranus in Taurus, energized productively by Mars, may bring unexpected events. Let’s hope that they are no longer related to wars but to a powerful spike in agriculture, or something like that. If, unfortunately, it is related to war, the sextile will represent a “last gasp”.

The entrance of Mars in Aries will coincide with Mercury moving into Pisces 24 (23°27′) and therefore leaving the retrograde shadow it began to transit at the new moon. At Aries 20°20′, Sun will be operating from the degree with the symbol: “A pugilist enters the ring”, which talks about overwhelming power but reminds us of the full-moon unexploded bomb since the boxer is just entering the ring. The symbol for Capricorn 20°20′, where Moon will be, is: “A relay race”, which refers to the dynamic interchange needed to develop a group consciousness. The bubbles blown by children at the full moon become batons for the competition. There is something poetic about having a relay-race symbol at the same time as Mercury is “free” to explore new degrees in Pisces and finally end its functional process.

What good is a cliffhanger without a trailer for the next chapter? In the next article, we will have Mars forming conjunctions with Neptune and Saturn, Sun forming the last conjunction in Aries with Chiron (next year Chiron will have moved to Taurus), Venus will form a conjunction with Uranus mere hours before the latter enters Gemini which, of course, will be the main event.

Wrapping Up…

The lunation energies will revolve around two main themes: trying to understand the real meaning of what is clearly nonsensical at first glance, and preparing for the moment when the paradigms of extraction will be devoid of sustenance. It behooves us to remain calm and observant while the fires sustaining the old order die out.

At a personal level, we may find ourselves confronting the dichotomy between the image we have of ourselves (a bomb that doesn’t explode) and the one we project onto others (harmless fun bubbles). Beware of potential power struggles in our relationships; if they appear, try to elevate your point of view.

Please, declare your intentions on or before March 17, St. Patrick’s Day.

Always Love. 🌹🙏💖

Notes

1. I saw a detailed account of one RAF F-35 fighter jet (UK) flying four hours to down two suicide drones with air-to-air missiles. The total cost of the mission exceeded £500,000 while the drones cost about $40,000 USD.
   Another report mentions that four sophisticated radar antennas have been destroy with similar drones, at a cost of $500 million each. Raytheon cannot just build new ones, a time consuming operation, because they are blacklisted by China, which is the only source of that type of gallium, due to its sales of weapons to Taiwan. ↩︎
2. Mercury’s Pisces 9 to 23 retrograde shadow is at exactly 120° from my Scorpio 9 to 24 stellium, so I can attest of its powers of reflection. ↩︎
3. With very few exceptions, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. ↩︎