Current Transits for March 2013 Current Transits for March 2013Here's some of the important astrological news this month ...
Saturn Sextile Pluto, 3-8
New Moon at 21Pi24, 3-11
Mars enters Aries, 3-12
Juno enters Aquarius, 3-13
Mercury Direct Station at 5Pi37, 3-17
Jupiter Quincunx Saturn, 3-23
Full Moon at 6Li52, 3-27
Jupiter Quincunx Pluto, 3-29
Pallas enters Taurus, 3-30
Hindsight
An online ephemeris for the month is available.
March is going to be a marathon, so pace yourself for the long haul. The Double Yod planets (Uranus, Pluto, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron) continue to dominate the current situation, not too surprisingly. In fact, all the "big aspects" this month are due to Yod planets, as this pattern regains the intensity it had back in December and then some. First impressions of the month are that it is one long planetary storm more or less. There's not a lot of down time in these energies. Even the transition times are respectable storms. The bulk of this complicated planetary pattern appears during the last 10 days or so, when the waveforms form towering peaks in the Koz Quake range (look at the graphs page and you'll see what I mean). In fact, the waveform goes off the top of the graph on the 29th, the kind of storm I've seen only a handful of times over the last 30 years. At least Mercury will be done with its retrograde period by then, allowing the thinking mind to recover from its fog -- small favors. If the last few months are any indication, there will be plenty of areas of life that are progressing at a phenomenal rate, especially if you've done your preparatory work ahead of time. And then there's the rest of life, where our messes tend to catch up to us. Too bad these problem areas take away so much time and attention from the good stuff, but Saturn is insistent that we clean up our messes before we can go out and play. The more streamlined your daily life becomes, the more this spirit of radical change and overhaul can take hold of you. Get your running shoes on -- it's a long month!
March has a number of important events to cover. There are 3 "big aspects", all involving Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto, 3 of the Double Yod planets -- just like in December. Mars, Pallas and Vesta all change signs. Mercury is the only planet reaching a station.
Saturn is sextile Pluto on the 8th for the second of 3 such contacts. The first aspect in this series was back on 2012-12-26, part of the big solstice storms, and the finale will be on 2013-9-20, near the fall equinox. Aspects between Saturn and Pluto are usually difficult and not much fun -- these planets are two of the biggest bogeymen around. The trouble is the planets are working at cross purposes with each other. Saturn is trying to build up structures and habits in our lives, while Pluto is busy attempting to tear these structures down and getting you back to basics. At least this is a sextile, an aspect that typically works out well if you put in the effort. Saturn is retrograde this time and Pluto will be coming to a stop in April, so the catabolic side of this aspect should be obvious. You may feel like you're putting in a lot of effort, but making no progress or even falling behind. This part of the cycle is for clearing out the dead weight that is dragging you down, reducing the demands on you so you have more resources left over for some new activities. It helps to voluntarily simplify your life and get used to getting by on less. Stay focused on those projects and goals that are most important, thinking of the long haul instead of immediate benefits. Of course, you have to be practical about simply hunkering down and trying to stubbornly plow your way through. You may be pursuing a path that Pluto wants you to abandon, in which case the road blocks will predictably get in your way. Be smart enough to realize when you need to change course instead. When you're on the right path for you, the blockages lessen. The worst part of the cycle is coming up when Pluto is retrograding (Apr 12 to Sep 20) -- curiously he goes direct the same day as the last contact of this sextile! I'm intrigued also with how this aspect is linked up with various solstices and equinoxes, which probably accentuates the larger scale influences on the world. Keep in mind that this sextile is part of the Double Yod pattern, making the changes even more important. As I said, not much fun, but crucial for how the Double Yod is rewriting our scripts these days. Hang in there...
The new moon falls in the middle of what passes for a brief transition time in March. The outer planets in the Double Yod still form a tight group, but there aren't many triggers to kick them into gear. Mercury is about to aspect Uranus (by semisextile), but it then retrogrades out of the Yod configuration. The Sun and Moon form a quintile to Pluto. Other than that, the chart is pretty quiet. There are 7 planets (almost half of them!) in Pisces, so this is a lopsided chart.
Perhaps the place to start is all those Pisces planets. They include all the faster moving bodies that correspond to our normal, ego-based behavior, making it really easy to fall into a moody funk. Thinking is fuzzy and distracted, emotions thick and a bit weepy, the ability to get off the couch and do something hard to rouse (until Mars goes into Aries tomorrow). The tendency is to want to retreat from the world and go within, especially if it feels as if the world is out to get you personally. It doesn't help that these personal planets are separated for the most part from the outer planets that work at a deeper, unconscious level. These "splits" between inner and outer worlds are not uncommon, but it's not a healthy state of affairs. We're shutting off the influence of the Yod planets, or rather our awareness of their effects on us. When important changes are underway but you ignore them, the unconscious mind becomes more insistent and rambunctious as it tries to get your attention. This is when accidents or unexpected events happen to us out of the blue, as if we couldn't see the obvious coming our way. An alternative coping skill is to be so engrossed in the unconscious world and its seductive realm of fascinating images that you shirk your outer world duties. Either way, there's no healthy balance going on. The energies are slowly building between now and the full moon, so you won't be able to nod off for long. Get motivated for the action...
Mars moves from Pisces into Aries on the 12th. He'll be in his home sign until Apr 20, when he slips into Taurus. Thank goodness that Mars is out of Pisces! Face it, Mars is an action figure and namby-pamby Pisces is no place for him. Aries is home ground for our Warrior God, a place of impetuous activity and unbounded willpower that matches his ambitions well. It's time to get off your butt, dust off those plans you've been putting off for too long, roll up your sleeves and get busy. You may not see your goals through to a full completion during this placement, as Aries is good at starting things and so-so on getting them done, but you can get the major lifting done now and take care of the dangling details when Mars switches over to Taurus and you have more patience. A couple of warnings are in order. First, since Mars in Aries is all about "me!" and everybody is thinking along these same lines, it's easy for egos to bump into each other. Don't get into battles with other people for stupid reasons that aren't worth fighting over. Also, one of the first planets Mars encounters in this sign is explosive Uranus. If you're skillful at surfing Uranus energy, this can be an exciting, stimulating time when you're simply popping all over with fresh ideas. Most people aren't so skillful. In fact, my usual image is that Uranus is a dynamite stick and Mars is the lit fuse -- something is going to blow up sooner or later. Tame your urge to throw a temper tantrum. You've got too much to do now to waste time butting heads with people. Anyway, get busy! You've got a powerful tailwind helping you along...
Juno enters Aquarius on the 13th for an extended stay due to an upcoming retrograde cycle. She doesn't make it to Pisces until 2014-1-1, New Year's Day. Juno is the Queen of Relationships, the Lady who loves to be in love. She desires a relationship based on affection and mutual respect, where the partners take care of each other unconditionally. She often doesn't get such an ideal partnership, leading to much frustration that typically comes out as anger, jealousy and covert backbiting -- Juno scorned is not a pleasant gal to be around. Capricorn wasn't really her idea of a good time, with its emphasis of the mundane practicalities over the more romantic side of love. Aquarius is not all that much of an improvement, a dry, mental sign that doesn't give in to the heart that much. It's an improvement however, more upbeat and idealistic than dour Capricorn can hope to be. So why is she hanging out in this sign for 9 months as she goes through a retrograde cycle? Such cycles point to a lesson of some kind that we need to focus on for an extended time, up close and personal. Perhaps it's a reminder that relationships are based as much on common beliefs, goals and ideals as they are on pleasant emotions. It helps to have something in common with your partner that draws you together, particularly goals that you can work towards together. Aquarius is also good at giving Juno a rest from her own emotional soap operas that drive her to rage. Taking a step back gives her the distance and perspective to decide whether her partner's "crimes of the heart" (real or imaginary) actually are worth getting upset about. Most aren't, though she has a tough time believing that. A lot of patience and spiritual outlook is demanded of Juno -- 9 months worth. The path of love will be much smoother after she calms down...
Mercury reaches his direct station of 5Pi37 on the 17th, ending a 3 week retrograde station that started Feb 23 at 19Pi52. Many people dread Mercury retrograde cycles, but frankly, they aren't as big a bogeyman as most people fear. This one has probably been tougher than most, for a number of reasons. First of all, the cycle takes place in the sign of Pisces which tends to dull the mind. Pisces is feeling-based, not rational, it sees things in fuzzy generalities, not specifics, it sees things in such a broad perspective that the everyday realities are lost -- all tendencies that blunt the thinking mind. Pisces is also overly optimistic, seeing all situations through rose-colored glasses, not realizing the down side of a situation until it becomes a problem. Mercury is closely conjunct Neptune at this station, Pisces' ruler, which only makes the brain fuzzier than ever. It's going to take a longer time than usual to get over the hangover of this Mercury retrograde. I generally say it takes a week after the direct station for Mercury to get back up to speed and our brains to start working again. It might be longer, so be patient. In fact, it might take until Apr 13, when Mercury enters Aries, before all the fog lifts.
Jupiter is quincunx Saturn on the 23rd, the last of 3 such contacts. The previous contacts were on 2012-5-16 and 2012-12-22 (winter solstice time!). I call Jupiter and Saturn the "social planets" because they represent the ways we interact with the people and institutions around us, both the benefits and the responsibilities of this social pact. Jupiter is the "goodies" side of the equation, the mutual benefits and payoffs we all get by working together and pooling our efforts and resources. Saturn is the rules of the game we must abide by to be a member of society, the responsibilities and limitations we must take on to make the game go more smoothly. Quincunx aspects usually indicate two planetary energies that are mismatched, out of balance or in need of some kind of reconciliation. In the country today, the equation between benefits and the costs of being a member of this game are seriously out of balance and has been for quite some time. The last good aspect between Jupiter and Saturn was their trine back in 2007-8, just as the housing market bubble was popping and the Great Recession was on the horizon. There hasn't been much good news since then, despite the protests, splinter parties, bailouts and several elections. Gridlock is the norm in government, often at the expense of the people it's supposed to serve. Financial crises that only sabotage economic progress for political gain happen monthly now. This is a broken system -- and overseas, it's even worse! We are nearing the end of this series of contacts without seeing positive results. If anything, the federal budget extension in a few days is the next big fight. I'm looking forward to some good aspects between these planets again. Their next trine on Jul 17 is only a few months away. We're due for a change in our luck...
It's easy to see where the emphasis is in the full moon chart. Basically everything except Neptune and a few asteroids is in the cross hairs now. The Sun, Venus and Mars are clustered around Uranus, opposite the Moon and square Pluto -- a nasty T-square. There are 5 bodies in Aries. The Double Yod is reaching a crescendo in 2 days. It's going to be a long, crazy week.
That T-square is obviously the focal point of this chart. Considering that the Uranus-Pluto square has been a dominant force for nearly a year now, you can expect it to have a major influence now. Uranus is disruptive in a playful sort of way (though many people fail to understand his brand of humor). When things get too settled and cozy, he likes to mess things up or ruffle some feathers. The idea is to push you towards one of those "aha!" moments of insight when you intuitively see things from a different perspective and nothing is the same from then on, like seeing what's around you by the momentary light of a flash of lightning. Pluto works on a different level, slower perhaps, but moving you to the core. Together, they are operating over the next few years to completely overturn our world and our understanding of it. It seems this aspect is causing a lot of discord and polarization lately, as unbridgeable gaps have opened up between the worldviews of differing groups. It makes it hard to reach any kind of global or society-wide consensus about how we should proceed as a people. (The latest fiscal disagreement, a renewal of the stopgap federal budget, is due this week -- I wonder if we'll go over this cliff as well.) With all that Aries action, people aren't in the mood to work with each other -- the competitive streak is too strong. It's too bad that our egos are caught up in this craziness, due to all the personal planets being tied up to the Yod planets, because we could really use some distance between us and these problems like we had at the new moon. It's a strong person who isn't swept up in this soap opera. Maintain that quiet spot within, if possible, as a counterpoint to the craziness in the outer world. We need all the equilibrium we can muster during this storm...
Jupiter is quincunx Pluto on the 29th, the last of 3 contacts. The earlier contacts were on 2012-7-18 and 2012-12-20 (solstice again!). This may well be the most influential of the "big aspects" this month, coming as it does hours after the huge 693 Koz Quake. Once again, we have two planets operating at cross purposes with each other. Jupiter in Gemini is a placement that wants us to open up to others and mix it up, although it must be said this is on a superficial level that doesn't demand much of us in terms of a commitment. Pluto in Capricorn is urging us to take a deeper, more inward approach, to put your entire self on the line with others. He demands we act more in accord with our higher spiritual nature than most people reveal in public. Those two paths are difficult to reconcile, no matter how you look at them. In the long view, this aspect is prodding us to remake our social contacts, learning how to interact with others in a light hearted manner that simultaneously is deeper and more profound than normal. Pluto may not be making much sense at first, so stick with this lesson awhile. Frankly, we're too busy with the storm to pay attention to any one aspect right now. You can mull it over later...
Pallas leaves Aries and enters Taurus on the 30th. She'll be in this sign until May 28, when she moves into Gemini. This placement is a mismatch of sorts. I normally think of Pallas as a mental body, excellent at sizing up a situation, planning a course of action and putting the plan in place. Taurus is slow and plodding, in touch with the earth, the body and things of the senses. This is mostly an influence that gets you thinking about your immediate surroundings and how to make them more pleasing. There's an arts and crafts side to Pallas that is overlooked, so if a creative urge hits, now is a good time bring your vision into some tangible form. If you're stressed out or feeling exhausted, pay attention to what your body is telling you and get some rest. This isn't an earth shattering influence by any means...
The Feb 10 new moon in Aquarius certainly spawned its share of odd news stories. The biggest tale concerns Pope Benedict's decision to retire early rather than die in office. This announcement threw the Catholic Church into turmoil, irritated traditionalists and stoked the internal Vatican political machinery. Since this is the first papal resignation since 1415, there is scant historical precedent for how to proceed. The Vatican is certainly one of the most conservative and traditional institutions on the planet, so this shakeup (Uranus and Pluto perhaps?) will take a long time to assimilate. Benedict may disappear from view, but his presence is still a living ghost haunting the Church as long as he lives. The conclave to elect a new pope meets in mid March, just as the big storm is kicking in. Most likely we will have a new pontiff (and perhaps a new direction for the Church) before Holy Week and its festivals -- and Koz Quakes. Interesting developments as the Age of Pisces winds down.
The next day, North Korea exploded a nuclear device, a provocative thumb in the eye of world diplomacy. Obama gave his State of the Union speech, now mostly forgotten, that evening. As so often happens with Obama, his timing included powerful contacts by Pluto and the other Yod planets; no void of course Moon either, which entered Aries just before he stepped into the House chambers. I noticed that he was talking about the need for compromise and working together as Pluto crossed the 4th house cusp ("the people"), a plea that immediately got lost in budget politics. The atmosphere in DC is as bad as it's ever been.