March 21st -28th

This is its work upon the things ye see, The unseen things are more; men’s hearts and minds, The thoughts of peoples and their ways and will, Those, too, the great Law binds.
The Books say well, my Brothers! each man’s life The outcome of his former living is The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes, The bygone right breeds bliss. 
That which ye sow, ye reap. See yonder fields! The sesamum was sesamum, the corn Was corn. The Silence and the Darkness knew! So is a man’s fate born. ~ Edwin Arnold (Light of Asia)

Welcome to the wild retrograde dance of Mercury and Venus. On Saturday we have the inferior conjunction of Venus, and on Tuesday, the inferior conjunction of Mercury. This will be when the Sun, Mercury (or Venus) and the Earth are lined up in such a way that they are engulfed in the rays of the Sun, leaving the sky for a period of time, after which they will each return as morning stars. Like a new dawn, these inferior conjunctions of Mercury and Venus are like their dark New Moon phases, in which seed ideas and desires are being planted within our hearts, setting the tone for the next 19 months for Venus, and the next 4 months for Mercury. 

When planets come to the very heart of the Sun, as they will this week, something extraordinary happens. It’s as if these planets are being admitted into the throne room, the very heart of the Sun, where they briefly find favor with the Magistrate, and become regent for the day. We call these exact conjunctions with the Sun cazimi. 

When Venus is exactly conjunct (cazimi) the Sun, while retrograde, it is time to get to the heart of the matter. This is when we come face to face with our priorities and values, as well as how we value ourselves, what we already have, and what we have to offer. This is the beginning of the new Venus cycle, which sets the tone for the next 19 month Venus cycle.

When Mercury is cazimi it speaks to us in whispers and flashes of inspiration, which often will not become manifest until Mercury is direct again. Thoughts, like seeds are being planted within our own minds, beginning a whole new phase of awareness that if cultivated, can lead to greater growth and understanding. 

Both Mercury and Venus are in the sign of Aries, a sign associated with the advent of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. A time of nascent growth, when the buds come forth and the small flowers and migrant birds dare to breathe color into the gray tableau that once was Winter. Aries is a sign of initiative, of New Beginnings, courage and leadership. It is about taking the first step of the rest of our lives, and we are doing so this year with the seeds of Mercury and Venus in our hearts. 

This is the mid-point of the two retrograde phases of Mercury and Venus. They do this dance simultaneously. They both stationed for their retrograde phases near or at the same degree of the Solar Eclipse on March 29th. And when they make their direct stations they will do so opposite the degree of the Lunar Eclipse on March 14th. And as they both make their direct stations they will also both be conjunct the North Node of the Moon. This is deep. 

Whatever is being sown with these eclipses is bound to have huge karmic ramifications. Our choices and decisions have consequences, both individually and collectively in this weather. Betwixt and between the eclipses, we are reaping and sowing, and moving ourselves about the playing board of life. And so is a man’s fate born. 

As both Mercury and Venus make their inferior conjunctions this week, they are also sextile lord Pluto, who is beckoning us to discover our own inner magical power that allows us to take control over the destiny of our lives. If you feel yourself inexorably drawn in a certain direction, towards a specific person, an idea, a thought… that which is irresistible, know that this also is the Law at work. It is that which we cannot not do. And so we are being drawn along with the tide, and there is nothing to do, but proceed.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that a thing worth doing is worth the risk. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

On March 30th, Neptune the planet that has to do with our highest ideals, our vision of the future, will enter the sign of Aries. It will return briefly to Pisces at the end of the year, but this ingress into Aries is something of a turning point. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, and when a major planet enters this sign, as it is now about to, there is a resurgence of raw energy heralding a Rebirth. But from where we have been standing, with Neptune in this very last degree of Pisces, we cannot yet see what that all looks like. In the very last degree of its 165-year journey, we would expect a sloughing off, a sadness, an ennui, and emotional despair. We stand on the threshold of what may come, while not knowing what that entirely is. So in some way we are all being asked to take a leap of faith, even though there is no reason to have faith. And to have hope, even in the face of what looks like utter destruction. When Neptune finally crosses over into Aries on the 30th, like an infant fresh from the womb, totally invested with this new life force, we are needing to trust the process, and take hold. 

In 1861 there were 34 states in America. 11 of these united to secede from the United States and form their own confederate Union. The reason for this secession was due to slavery. In the years preceding the American Civil War, there was a growing movement to abolish slavery, known as the abolitionist movement. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected by a strong margin even though he was not included in all of the states. Lincoln’s anti-slavery stance did not bode well for the states that relied on a slave-based economy. But from the time of Nat Turner’s rebellion in 1831, up until 1860, the trend was obvious and inescapable. And while Neptune was in Pisces the abolitionist movement gained traction, not only in the United States but worldwide. The Civil War officially broke out when Neptune was at 29º Pisces 57’, when a bunch of confederate soldiers over-ran Fort Sumter, a Union Fort outpost in South Carolina, a slave-holding state. This was on April 12th. On April 14th, Neptune entered Aries. And on April 15th, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to join the Union Army. And so the rest was history. 

Neptune in Pisces is the very definition of Compassion welling up from within. Neptune in Aries is defined as putting that compassion into action. Aries is a war sign. There is no denying this. But how most people remember the result of the American Civil War, was that it ended slavery. 

War does not need to take on a violent form. There are different ways to engage in what could feel like a war of ideals. But what cannot be denied when Neptune enters Aries this time around, is that we will see something of a sea change. For this is when we feel the necessity to fight for what is right, to fight for our ideals, and make them manifest. We will feel it in our bones. Aries brings the necessity to DO something, to courageously take some sort of action, and to have faith in our highest and most relevant dreams, come what may. 

And this can be true in our personal lives as well. When Neptune is in Aries, we are asked: 

• what is that thing that you are most willing to make sacrifices for?
• what are you willing to put yourself on the line for: whether that be an ideal, a cause, an idea, a country, your children, or perhaps a creative vision for the future?
• what ideals and vision for the future are you wanting to manifest? 

Just know that by the time all of the outer planets, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have officially changed signs and create this incredibly supportive Fire/Air cradle of energetic action, our world will never be quite the same again. Stay tuned. We all have a lot of work ahead of us. But first we are being shown who we are.  

For this week’s horoscopes, click below: 

HOROSCOPES

Image: CrystalWind.ca