There will be a full lunar eclipse visible in much of North America in the early hours of March 14. When the Moon is full in March, it’s called the Worm Moon as the ground is thawing and the earthworms are starting to wiggle. Spring is on the way. The Earth’s movement between the Sun and Moon will cast a red shadow over the Moon while it’s lit by the Sun, creating a “Blood” Moon. Later this month, on March 29, there’ll be a partial eclipse of the Sun in Aries.
Astronomically, an eclipse occurs when either a new or full Moon is positioned close to the Moon’s nodes, the invisible points where the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersects with the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Astrology is the study of symbolic meanings of astronomical phenomena. The Moon’s orbital points, transiting backwards through the zodiacal signs, symbolize a destiny line for Earth’s inhabitants. An eclipse is an extra-ordinary event, heightening the intensity of lunar symbolism.
For ancient cultures, eclipses were seen as freakish displays in the sky, correlating with political and natural disasters. Most modern people don’t think about how the sky is reflected on Earth. But for those who do, there’s always plenty of messaging going on.
The March 14 eclipse will occur with the Sun at 24 Pisces and the Moon at the opposite point in Virgo. The sign of Pisces is mutable—moving water and the vastness of oceans. Pisces is associated with love and indiscriminate compassion for all beings. Virgo, of the earth element, is simple, pure, and open to providing practical service, with careful discrimination as to what’s useful and what’s not.
Pisces is like the vow taken by Zen Buddhists: Beings are numberless; I vow to save them. Virgo is more like an instruction manual for continuous ethical action and being ardent in one’s spiritual practice. I’m reminded of the late Thai Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, who taught that Peace is every step.
Whereas Pisces is aspirational, Virgo is specific. To cultivate a path toward mastery is to hold one’s awareness in a state that’s wide like the ocean while not losing touch with one’s feet, planted and treading on solid ground. We make a path by walking it, said the poet Antonio Machado. It’s worth noting that in medical astrology, Pisces rules the feet.
A Full Moon is a call for a balancing of opposites—at this time, it’s Pisces and Virgo—but how? The chart for the March 14 eclipse gives some clues.
Most notably, Saturn, the planet symbolic of wisdom and limitations, is conjoined with the Sun and opposite the Moon, as if to say: nothing about these times is easy. Saturn (known in Greek myth as the god Chronos) is the hand of time and of karma—the results of one’s actions. No one escapes Saturn, nor should anyone expect to. Saturn is an archetypal Teacher for navigating one’s way through grief and loss. Saturn conjoined with the Sun, both now in Pisces, is a prompt for dedicating oneself to the alleviation of suffering. Transiting Saturn in opposition to the full Virgo Moon is a call to steel oneself emotionally, stoically, through hardship.
Saturn is now applying toward an encouraging sextile (60-degree aspect) with Uranus, the harbinger of unexpected breakthroughs. Uranus is also making an easeful trine (90-degree aspect) with the Moon, suggesting emotional volatility but also an assist in staying grounded, as is Virgo’s want.
Saturn is also receiving a trine from Mars, the planet of initiating action. Mars is now moving directly, in the parental sign of Cancer, after a long period of retrogradation motion the past few months. Mars in Cancer is sextile to the full Virgo Moon, lending a piercing focus (Mars) on skillful service (Virgo). Mars, too, is making a tense square with the asteroid Chiron, symbol of wounding and healing, in assertive Aries. Mars square to Chiron is an imperative to take urgent action for healing.
The sign of Aries is where two of the faster moving planets, Venus and Mercury, met up on March 11. Venus and Mercury are still traveling together for the March 14 eclipse.
About every 18 months, Venus moves in a 40-day period of retrograde motion (March 2 to April 13 this year). “Venus retrograde” is a time to reflect back on who and what one loves, and how. Mercury, too, at this Blood Worm Moon, will be “stationing,” meaning it has slowed down and is humming like an engine ready to change direction. Mercury will travel in retrograde motion from March 16 to April 7, during which time, it will move from Aries backward into Pisces.
There’s a lot one might say about a conjunction between Mercury and Venus in the hard-charging fire sign of Aries, and especially when both these planets are in retrograde periods, inspiring inward review. Mercury is about perception, communication, exchanges of money and ideas. Venus’ domains are partnering, aesthetic beauty, and value systems. The conjunction of Venus and Mercury in Aries suggests that now is a time for sharpening one’s thinking and speaking out about what really matters, expressing love and concern for others in ways that are unequivocal and—to the extent possible—free from fear.
Blessings for the Blood Worm lunar eclipse!
~ Sara
Sara R. Diamond, an astrologer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a life-long student and practitioner in several esoteric paths. Her style of astrology combines modern-psychological astrology with insights from traditional astrology. Sara is also an estate planning attorney. In addition, she has published four books on right-wing movements in the United States and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. You are invited to contact Sara via her website at www.SaraDiamondAstrology.com.
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