March is named for Mars, god of war and virility, and its influences combine feminine and masculine in a month both chaste and passionate.
Three major lunations are poised on the month’s power-points, bring forth the month’s archetypal force, while Mercury retrograde helps us reap their offering.
For the Celts, the Pisces period of March is Celtic Hrethmonath, month of Hertha or Nerthus, related to Mother Earth, prosperity and happiness.
Sun in the sign of the fish activates the healing axis of Pisces-Virgo, and the Virgin makes her statement literally from Day 1, at the Full Moon in Virgo.
In ancient Rome, this date was sacred to the goddess Juno-Lucina. Prayers were for prosperity in marriage, and women received presents from men. It was also the beginning of pagan Lent, when women would retreat to the sacred groves to begin a period of chastity and fasting in preparation for Equinox.
These practices evoke the mystical energy of the Pisces Sun sign and its opposite, Virgo, sign of work, purity, diligence and health, those areas that make a bridge in daily living to ground our otherworldly intentions.
The symbolism was adopted by Christianity, where Lent is a time of abstinence from eating meat on Fridays as well as other renunciations, along with spiritual preparation for Easter, which is adopted from an ancient rite in which the goddess’ consort (son, brother, lover, depending on the cultural emphasis), died and was resurrected three days later at Equinox.
Each sign can be expressed with numerous wavelengths, and Pisces runs the gamut from victim to savior. The patriarchal adaptation of this symbol tends to focus on the latter: crucifixion and suffering in payment of karma or sins. Lent, therefore, has acquired an air of expiation.
The pagan practice evokes a different picture. Instead of paying for their sins, women acted on their prerogative to withdraw to the woods and prohibited men from accompanying them. Independently of the socio-political implications, this attitude serves as inspiration to purify, with an attitude of choice and empowerment, rather than reinforcing the cultural idea of expiation.
In these times, we tend to live in tension between our inmost needs and the demands of productivity or interaction with the world. The first Full Moon of March is a power-point that can send us on a healing journey if we use it to reclaim….
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Crystal Pallas Pomeroy, Maya’s daughter and astrological protégé, offers in-depth astrological consultations from her home in Mexico, in person or via Skype. She is a noted author as well as a regular radio and television commentator on esoteric topics, and leads a spiritual and healing ministry in Mexico City. Crystal offers workshops on astrology, the sacred feminine, indigenous spirituality, and the goddess in beautiful locations throughout Mexico. Her book Angels & Goddesses (Llewellyn, Spring 2022) is available now. Reach Crystal by email here.
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