It’s that time again! Mercury will be on vacation (retrograde) Mar 30-Apr 23 (24º Aries back to 13ºAries). Today we begin Mercury’s shadow period, which means it’s a good idea to begin being extra mindful of details, of what you say and hear, of what you write or read, of what you buy and sell, etc. Otherwise it may have to be reviewed. Try to get major, important, or delicate transactions completed before Mar 30th.

When Mercury goes on vacation, a part of us can too. One reason it’s great to complete important transactions before Mercury goes retrograde, is so that during the retrograde period you have an opportunity to take a small break from all the mundane details of daily life, and go inward for a more contemplative and relaxed time...

Uranus & Pluto are almost square (a stressful aspect, requiring action, resulting in overcoming challenge) and will be exact 7 times in the next 6 years. Low side: Uranus rules hurricanes, explosions, catastrophes - sudden, expected ones. Pluto rules raw power, all forms including nuclear. High side: Uranus = freedom and liberation. Pluto = deep transformation for the purpose of personal and collective empowerment.

“In the past few weeks, during the gateway to this period [the Uranus Pluto square], we have seen the following events occur: civil war in Libya; the end of Mubarak’s thirty year rule in Egypt; unrest in several other Arab countries; the Dalai Lama resigning from political life; a major quake in New Zealand and a 8.9 earthquake in Japan creating tsunamis in the Pacific and a potential nuclear reactor crisis...”  “...It’s quite reasonable to think that our inner lives affect the outer world, as well as vice versa. So we can pray, we can meditate, we can develop in mindfulness. We can heal our own wounds, be a kind witness to ourselves...We can hold clear intention. We can be mindful and wise in our actions and our speech...We can honor the mystical and the numinous, while keeping our feet on the ground. Stay centered. Keep a wide view. Allow wholeness.”
-Lara Owen

“A devastating tsunami and possible meltdowns at two nuclear power plants — happened as Uranus was hours from its always-momentous transition from Pisces to Aries (Uranus rules unexpected shocks and emergencies as well as nuclear power, and Pisces rules the ocean.)”
-Benjamin Bernstein

“The current earthquake bears an amazing similarity with one that hit the island of Honshu back on March 7 1927, the last time Uranus was exiting Pisces and heading into Aries.”
-Ed Tamplin

Today Uranus ♅ enters Aries ♈ beginning its new 84-year cycle through the zodiac. Uranus comes like a flash of lightning, generating change and urging us to break free from stagnation to discover a more authentic self. Aries is about bravely pioneering into new territory and taking action quickly and passionately. This is a powerful and exhilarating, possibly raw or volatile combination.

Today Mercury, the god ruling over daily life’s transitory thoughts and conversations, touches freedom-loving, radical, and electric Uranus right before entering bright and wide-eyed Aries, the sign of spring. We may feel new inner urges beginning to awaken within the mind as Aries inspires & emboldens Mercury to talk, possibly before thinking! This is just the beginning of an exciting, maybe erratic time!

A New Moon - joining the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, & Chiron (that’s 6 celestial bodies!) in Pisces - sign of oceanic merging and morphing, creative imagination, and divine union. Though it is the beginning of a monthly lunar cycle, we are still completing something of the past, as Pisces rules endings. Next month several planets will all be in Aries, marking a monumental leap forward into new beginnings!

“Anyone seriously interested and willing to do a bit of systematic research can easily verify that the natal chart depicts the basic psychological and emotional makeup of the individual...The configurations of the heavenly bodies do not, however, enable us to foretell future events. They are maps of individual and collective psychological probabilities. Events occur in synchronistic conformity at such times as the field dynamics of the progressions resonate with the individual’s readiness.” ~Edward C. Whitmont in The Alchemy of Healing

Jupiter square Pluto, one of the most significant transits of the year, felt strongly Feb thru Mar. Pluto is about death and rebirth. Pluto demands transformation in the most profound way. Jupiter optimistically seeks growth & freedom. The square between the two creates friction. It is a turning point; perhaps decisive action must be initiated. We see this in the collective, but it applies personally as well.

During this week core wounds could surface or perhaps new ones could occur. We might feel we are on the receiving end or the delivering end. Concurrently, however, new opportunities for deep healing on the spiritual level abound (2/19: Sun touches Chiron, 2/22: Mercury touches Chiron, 2/24: Mars touches Chiron - all in Pisces ♓). Being extra mindful in words and deeds makes sense.

The myth of Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is rich with symbolism for insights into one’s own birth chart and path towards healing and wholeness.

Mercury (communication), Mars (action and/or war), and Neptune (spirituality and/or illusions) all meet today. This combination of energies has the potential to stir up a whirlwind of intense interactions, with the possibility of confusion being part of the mix. It’s a good time to seek direct knowledge from experience, while maintaining awareness of egoic impulses, and without having one’s head in the clouds.

These three planets are meeting at 29º Aquarius. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is: “The beautifully winged insect has just come forth into glorious adult being on completion of its metamorphosis.”