For those with eyes to see it, the March Equinox chart acts as a map for the coming 3 months and what months they are likely to be! This year, it’s definitely not business as usual. The 2013 eclipse season is fast approaching, bringing up themes from November 2012 for resolution.
What makes this quarter so significant? The stark fact that the old astrology has changed forever. No longer can we interpret outer planetary transits as “happening out there,” on a societal level, having no effect on our personal lives. Since 2011 and now building towards 2016, the Uranus/Pluto square is making the personal inescapably part of the political and vice-versa. On top of this, the eclipses are working across the Scorpio/Taurus axis bringing deep change wherever they touch a nation’s or an individual’s planets and angles. Saturn in Scorpio is embedding the lessons from the eclipses. This article will give you the tools and resources you need to become your own astrological scout through the coming months.
- the map of the terrain,
- the time-line of events ,
- the cosmic weather forecast
- some clues left by those who went before
The Map of the Terrain
This year’s Equinox has a Kite aspect pattern straddling the chart. Kite configurations operate on three levels: they introduce a powerful new insight, the ability to envision what can be done with it, plus the strategies to bring it into reality. Moon/Pluto’s insight is the expanding ability to explore our personal connection to our higher selves. The main strut of the Kite is the Pluto/Moon opposition with Saturn/ Neptune/ Mercury as the cross spar. The Cardinal T-square between Pluto/ Moon/ Sun/ Mars/Uranus integrates our connection to your personal and higher self. The Moon from Cancer trines Mercury and Saturn in Scorpio as we are guided by what feels right. This is a prelude to the Grand Water Trine in effect from July when Jupiter in Cancer will connect with Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces, unleashing a flood of emotional intensity.
This Spring, working through the magnetising energy of Saturn in Scorpio, you can learn to collaborate and co-create with a more expanded version of your Self. The next three months bring a high potential for personal flowering along with an enhanced sense of belonging. This expanded compassion will in turn nurture your relationships. Pay close attention to new possibilities in which you can be a pioneer, but only if you are completely willing to rise to the occasion, meaning the opportunity won’t just fall in your lap without a committed effort. At this Equinox, our collective cosmic intelligence and wisdom impels us to create positive change, to be conscious partners in the revolutionary dance as the evolutionary agents, the strange attractors that we are.
Here Be Dragons!
As we scout and track our inner and outer landscapes during this next season, we need to watch the dates, read the celestial weather and be alert for clues left on the trail. A striking image of the North and South Node jumps out of the map, reminding us of the ancient mariners’ cry of “Here be dragons!” With the Nodes moving backwards through Scorpio/ Taurus, we stumble into a zone of Water and Earth and can’t get through it without getting dirty, wet and entrenched.
With the fixity of these two signs we become more passionate about grounding what we’ve already had a chance to philosophize and think about in the last 1.5 years. Now we look forward to getting ourselves stuck into it, whatever “stuck into” may be. On a global level this sounds far worse than what has been, but gives rise to more action and less talk, more doing and less watching. Wherever the Moon’s Nodes fall, there be eclipses! Immediately, we know to be alert and prepared for cosmic wild cards.
The North Node speaks to us of our destiny, our fulfilment, and has a lot to say about the evolution of the planet and ourselves along with it. Initiating and developing unfamiliar (but progressive) talents /situations /relationships will be triggered by the North Node’s transit of whatever house has Scorpio in your chart. Since we’re talking Scorpio, expect to push (or be pushed) through limits to get to these new energies. We’ll have to go deeper and be authentic. It will be our evolutionary prompt.
If the transiting North Node passes over a planet, add the planet’s energy to the mix. Moving past ingrained /stagnant behaviours is the theme of the transiting South Node. For whatever is being initiated in your Scorpio house, there will be a corresponding situation /behaviour in the opposite house that you need break away from. It will involve Taurus energy, so think about moving beyond your comfort zone and familiar routines. In a nutshell, the transiting Nodes are evolutionary triggers that are coloured by the sign and house they pass through. This Nodal transit will involve launching yourself from cautious (Taurus) to fearless (Scorpio).
The Time-Line
Mark these dates in your diary or calendar:
March 20— Spring /Autumn Equinox at 0 degrees Aries
April 10—New Moon 10 degrees Aries
April 13—Pluto stations Retrograde 11 degrees Capricorn
April 25—Scorpio Lunar Eclipse 5 degrees Scorpio/Taurus
May 10—Taurus Solar Eclipse 19 degrees Taurus
May 20— 3rd Pluto/Uranus square at 11 degrees Capricorn/Aries
May 25— Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse at 4 degrees Sagittarius/Gemini
Clues from the Sabian Symbols
Armed with the equinox map, the time-line and a cosmic weather forecast, discover hidden clues to the trail by scrying the Sabian Symbols .There is a Sabian Symbol—an oracle—for each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac which links the literal to the spiritual in metaphors.
Add this to your astrological toolbox! Look up the Sabian symbol for your 10 natal planets plus the four angles and your Chiron placement and your unique purpose will become clear. Always round up to the next degree.
April 10 – New Moon in Aries: “A boxer entering the ring; the relief and glorification of social aggressiveness”. Question: what are you most passionate about? Where do you need to take a stand?
April 25 – Scorpio Lunar Eclipse: “A Cantilever bridge across a deep gorge; the conquest of separation through group cooperation.” Question: Are you ready to explore new options never before available?
May 10 – Taurus Solar Eclipse: “Whisps of wing like clouds streaming across the sky; the awareness of spiritual forces at work.” Question: how do you partner with your higher self?
May 20 – 3rd Pluto/Uranus Square: “A flock of wild geese; not come down to concrete expression” and “A student of nature revealing little known aspects of life.” Question: how far do you look below the surface?
May 25 – Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse: ”A revolutionary magazine asking for action; the explosive energy of repressed feelings and root emotions.” Question: do you walk your talk?
A theme is painted of the radical nature of these times, the need to take action by standing up to be counted beyond the confines of your own life by collaborating with likeminded souls.
The Journey Through April
Let’s have a closer look at April’s New Moon and Lunar Eclipse. I will cover May’s dramas in my next article.
This New Moon acts like a giant reflection of who we are struggling to become. The Sun and Moon sandwich Eris between Mars and Venus, suggesting that the rising feeling of chaos and personal overwhelm is taking us all to a point of no return. That is, a radical refusal to accept being pigeon-holed and conditioned not to rock the boat, heading towards taking a stance on our values.
The inner planets have all made a recent conjunction with outer planet Uranus starting four new cycles imprinted with a personal epiphany, nothing less than an awakening. In order to get back on track, mass consciousness had to first be jerked out of its Trance of Normalcy, the thickly hypnotic state that passes for ordinary everyday reality. The real news of the moment is that normalcy no longer is. The trance is thinning. It’s finally getting through to us that we’re here for something more than to hide our heads in the sand. The Ostrich Era is over. Is there anyone out there any longer who can doubt that the crisis, and its accompanying partner, awakening, has come?
Pluto is stationing, intensifying the call to action with the square to Uranus to make real, not superficial changes. The way to work with this New Moon is to keep a beginner’s mind, let go of what should or shouldn’t happen and take a leap of faith. Wherever you have natal planets or angles between 9-23 degrees of Aries is your key to opening. Do more of what this area of your life is awakening.
Lunar Eclipse April 25, 2013
This is the first of three eclipses in April/May providing a strong tailwind for change. By the time of this Partial Lunar eclipse, we’ll be wading knee-deep in mud-the combination of earth (Taurus) and water (Scorpio). This polarity shows us that we need to know what we value whilst leaving anything else behind. This means living our priorities and ignoring the distractions. Commitments mean setting boundaries and goals.
The planets in Taurus lend a feeling of physicality and grounding to the lunation, while the Moon conjunct Saturn brings a sense of confinement. As it is an eclipse, the breakthrough will come when we build up a big enough head of steam to break out of our self-built prisons. With Pallas in the Taurus herd, it will be easy to stay in our heads, so the key is to let our emotions lead us across the mudflats. The Grand Trine between Ceres, Neptune and the Moon can be our intuitive compass if we let it.
Remember that Lunar eclipses tend to bring inner, emotional shifts rather than out-of-the-blue events, and to allow a month either side for the effects to be experienced. Think back to November 1994 to see which issues came up for you back then. Any of your natal planets between 3-17 degrees Taurus/Scorpio will be your way to cracking the shell to your understanding.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these, to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Lorna Bevan is a former Consultant Astrologer for The Sunday Times Magazine and other publications. She works with clients across the world, combining Visionary Astrology with Master NLP Coaching. Her passion is giving her clients the tools to live their best life.
Lorna is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Analytical Astrology.
She’s also a Jungian Psychotherapist and Master Coach qualified in NLP and Psychosynthesis.
She writes for the Cosmic Intelligence Agency as Agent 98 and for Daykeeper Journal and Infinity Magazine.
She is a Member of the Association of Professional International Astrologers, The Astrological Association UK, MBACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy ).
Lorna works to the BACP and APAI code and all sessions are completely confidential. Book a 2017 Reading with Lorna
April 10; “A Boxer entering the ring…” That describes the despicable Boston Marathon Bomber exactly. …”the glorification of social aggressiveness.” Wow.