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by Boots Hart As if to prove yet again how time/space (aka Existence) is so intricately confounding a thing, of far greater wit than we individuals will ever have, March hits us in the face, heart, gut and consciousness with clarifications of many kinds. Just don’t expect them to pop up where you would suspect. And that’s part of the message as a whole—life isn’t all about what we want or expect, it’s about growth and change and challenge. So are you willing to tackle what may be an old task with a new outlook? Are you willing to be challenged not by others but by yourself with a few hard questions which pit the "what-you-like" of life against what may be real, realistic or a better way to go? The big picture concept here is all about learning (or even re-learning!) that often our most cherished goals are limited. By what? By uniformed or perhaps short-sighted desires. So often what we think we want is so much less fulfilling than the mysteries life asks us to step up and take on. We humans are, after all, a funny bunch…always wanting the bigger, better and more idyllic even though we so cling to the known, the status quo and various forms of selfishness—petty and otherwise. We all do it. And because we all cling and self-protect and indulge, life occasionally has to either force us to grow or simply change the nature of the game so that like a herd of caterpillars we become compelled to go through some sort of transformation which in time will allow us to become butterflies. Thus comes March—a month which starts out focused on cream rising to the top but which evolves to reveal how life’s greater nourishment comes from the milk not of human nature, but of human potential. Not as lusciously creamy, but the things which may taste a little thin now will, in the end, stand to enrich us in better stead. Astrologically signaled by Mercury entering Pisces conjunct Edisonia on March 1, a glimmer of this colors the first few days of the month. Though Mercury’s often referred to as "fuzzy" and "sloppy" (even careless!) in Pisces, in some ways the exactitude we just went through with Mercury in Aquarius just gets traded for greater sensitivity. Is that bad? Probably not, unless you can’t deal with what it feels like to not know everything right down to the momentary nuance. But that’s the whole point with Pisces: it’s a sign all about feeling how your feelings operate. So with Mercury bringing its Mercurial thinking habits into this feeling Piscean world, it’s natural to question ourselves emotionally over the next couple of weeks. What’s driving our choices? What’s driven our decisions? Why do we glom onto this thing and avoid that over there? With Edisonia marking Mercury’s entrance into Pisces, we may begin seeing things in a whole new (Edisonian) "light." Or feel "enlightened." Or yes, feel very much in the dark. It’s all about how dearly we cling to our definitions right now—that’s the Piscean way. The more important the "defined thing" is to you…the more likely it is that things will come along and cause you to question why you feel it’s so important. Or conversely, why being without or having to change your emphasis (feelings) would be so hard. As Mercury and Jupiter join in transiting conjunction on March 7 a "whole new thing" can be expected to arise. And since this conjunction happens as Venus joins with trust-testing Psyche in entering Aries opposite Black Hole M87…a touch of wariness and/or need to focus on priorities and prioritized issues becomes far more evident. To get the gist of this, do you remember last spring’s Aries Venus retrograde and the world-wide recession? The way that time made us think about how to do things differently and be/become more independent of whatever and whomever we had been relying on—that’s (alas) classically Venus in Aries. Which, when added to Psyche, suggests bad advice (giving or receiving). Given the opposition to M87, this may indicate a recognition that you listened to bad advice prior to now, too. Thus this Venus/Psyche/M87 combination becomes either "getting sucked/suckered into" or being repelled by that which you wouldn’t want to be part of. Or yes, being a totally repellant person. And as all this is likely to hit with a touch of "hugeness" courtesy of Mercury/Jupiter, everything is likely to be Larger-Than-Life at the moment. So while insights may be huge (good or bad), they probably aren’t going to be as life-changing as they feel at the moment. Fortunately, this is pretty much a two-day thing—providing you don’t open your mouth and insert foot, of course. Things will tend to settle as on March 8 Venus opposes Saturn (in retrograde), though this isn’t a guarantee of everything (or even anything) necessarily falling in your favor. In fact, as Mercury comes into a transiting conjunction with the Sun lasting from March 8 through the 19th you may be faced with paying the proverbial piper for former acts of mental (or heartless) blindness. Then again, some of us are likely to insist on wearing blinders throughout this entire 11-day period. It’s not advised, but wouldn’t be outrageously surprising either, as the March 8 Venus opposition Saturn thing opens the two-day "station window" for Mars going direct on March 10. And that is a trigger which recalls everything we’ve been going through since last December 20 when Mars went retrograde at 19 Leo, a degree which can be inspirational, emotionally stunning—even blinding (this repetition of the "blinding" quality being suspiciously obvious). Since late December, every single one of us has been tested on our ability to understand, mesh and profitably integrate our inner life with life around us. And with the dictates of the greater society, which in the end either allows or denies us the ability to live the life we want replete with our own personal needs. The more we’ve resisted these questions or tried to impose our values on others (or the world), the tougher things either will have been or will be now and for at least the next while. Add to this one more idea: namely that Mars is positioned at 0 Leo from March 1 through March 21. 0 Leo is all about the liberating of creative energy. Or for some, re-creation or even recreation. Given that the image given for 0 Leo speaks of "blood rushing to a man’s head," that can imply flushing. But with what? Shame? Embarrassment? Anxiety? Pride? Pleasure? Something else? Or is this about a new idea? Or a stroke—of genius or otherwise? Or is it simply a description of surging energy when something is longer denied or contained consciously, unconsciously, legally, physically or some other way? That the station poses Mars in conjunction with Atropos is both part of and somewhat separate from the idea that much of the whole Mars retrograde has had Mars playing footsie with Atropos. A lot of us have felt/experienced "cut-offs" or being "cut off" during these past couple of months, which fits Atropos, who was the Greek Fate mythically assigned to cutting the "life thread." But this doesn’t just mean one’s actual physical life—it can be the life of a relationship. Or an activity. Or an effort. Almost anything applies, and though the implication can be literal (you may have lost a job, someone may have left your life, you may have "lost" something back in December…) there’s also a reflective side to consider here. After all, life isn’t just what happens, it’s our feelings about what happens. And how those feelings shape our experience, lingering memories/conscience and thus our ability/willingness to move ahead, try again or maybe just admit that we were gosh darn wrong. So now something begun back in December may end. Or something which was cut off back then may now resume. Or lead us to a whole new way of thinking/tackling the growing of our lives. Yet with this said, it’s also worth knowing that though Mars is now going direct, issues experienced during/through Mars retrograde aren’t going to vanish with a gentle or genteel "poof’! To understand that, let’s again look back a moment: Mars retrograde began on December 20. Mercury retrograde began on December 26. Mercury went direct again on January 15, implying that at that time, daily life/activities began moving forward again. (Which yes, suggested that to some degree they had stopped or gotten tied up between December 26 and January 15.) After Mercury went direct on January 15, it took until February 3 for Mercury to march back through all the degrees it had backed up over during retrograde. Referred to as the transiting of the retrograde "shadow," the metaphysical implication here is all about getting back in gear, catching up and wrapping up the "old" before moving on to the "new"—which would have begun once Mercury exited the retrograde shadow on February 3. Yet even then we still had Mars retrograde. The difference here is important: Mercury is about the thought, the everyday doing. And Mars? Mars is about the motivation, the choice, the courage which is noble versus the aim which is purely self/ego driven. So while on the surface things may have looked like they were getting back on track by early February, in reality the stuff which was brewing underneath back in December is still there and just now coming to the surface. So that’s what’s up for focus now—those issues. Or more precisely, the stuff which caused you to make certain choices or act a certain way back in December. With all this having taken place in creatively developmental Leo (yes, the whole Mars retrograde was entirely in Leo), the big questions are likely to concern whether your focus, choice, tack, tone or effort is/has been too narrow/short-sighted or not. And this isn’t about "the other guy" or general approval. This is about you—whether the tack you are taking is ultimately going to "work" and get you the life you want to have, given that you live in a world not all about just you. (Shocking, yes I know!) With Mars at 0 Leo for much of March (the 1st through the 21st, to be exact) and not due to exit it’s shadow until May 17, it’s evidently going to still take time to solve dilemmas and sort things out. But March 10 is a turning point. There will be a few who now ignore all and go their merry, unimpeded way. Yet as there is no free karmic lunch, those who appear to have "gotten away" with things (for reasons best known to their individual natal charts) will like as not hit a Virgo "it doesn’t work" wall come January 2012, when the next Mars retrograde reveals that to take the shortcut is to metaphysically cut yourself short. And that’s maybe the point of all the current angst and guttural gut wrenching. Maybe the point is to learn that while having our wants and desires serviced and rewarded feels good, maybe it’s the having of those wants and desires which is important. Why? Because through having them as an individual, we experience our individuality. What we do with that individuality then becomes a weighing out of the internal balance between instinctive (nature) drives and the nurturing of our ability to knowingly choose a path which allows us to project this lesson so that we balance our needs and wants against those of the world and others around us—upon whom (like it or not) we depend. And from whom (let’s face it!) we get what makes us happy. And even allows us to survive. One more note, then we move on. Remember the Lunar Eclipse at 10 Cancer last New Year’s Eve? Lunar Eclipses always being highly emotional. This one, taking place in the Moon-ruled, tidal sign of Cancer, struck deep with many of us, adding a crowning dollop to what was already a pretty potent holiday season. Since Lunar Eclipses have a "life span" of three months (and tend to indicate emotional lessons, not life-changing events), as those eclipse effects fade, all will feel less intense. Which will just leave us to do the cleaning up after ourselves—you know, the Mars stuff. Perhaps as a compliment to all this (and then again, perhaps as incentive), a New Moon at 25 Pisces on March 15 underscores a lunar month all about our ability to risk tolerating the emotional consequences of risk. Water signs being where we experience our world in feeling terms and Pisces having a pretty slippery reputation for being hard to pin down (two fishes? What do you expect?), maybe the nature of the sign is usefully described as Pisces (mutable/changeable water) against fixed/emotionally determinative (if still watery) Scorpio. Scorpio is about the choice to get into or avoid situations which test self-worth through experiences which evoke emotion (sex, money, conception, death, control, surrender, etc.) Pisces is about how we feel about those feelings. And how we feel about the whole prospect of having to risk our feelings. So where Scorpio is about the act of committing to the risk, Pisces is what we go through when even contemplating the risk…which is where we get the Piscean hopeful, dreamy, romantic (if sometimes delusional) expectations thing—against the simple ability to have faith and accept that sometimes you’re right and sometimes you’re totally wrong. Given that New Moons are always (as implied) some sort of "new" thing—or at least a new phase of an old thing—with this lunation being in Pisces, we know this whole incoming lunar month is about how we feel about what we go through. Maybe even more than the success or failure of the thing or situation itself. Add in the Mars/Leo/gone direct thing and we get an arena filled with reflections on how the balance between instinct and understanding affects our choices and thus enhances or undermines our chances of getting (and having) what we want. Or even being who we think we want to be... mirror, mirror on the wall—if I’ve tripped, how far exactly can I expect to fall? By zodiacal degree, this New Moon is about realizing how people do have different ways of reaching an end. About how even that which appears creamy and compatible may not be a "fit," leaving us to recognize how that which is different may actually be that which enriches our lives by providing us with the milky potency of nourishing stimulation. After all, it’s our vulnerabilities which provide us with opportunity. Strengths are like armor; only through places where we are soft can the gaps in our oh-so-human nature allow us to room to grow—and ultimately blossom. No it’s not comfortable and no, it’s not always fun. But that’s life. When we stop growing, we start dying. The next note in March’s marching tune comes courtesy of Mercury entering Aries on March 17 in opposition to a Libra Saturn retrograde conjunct M87. Without the retrograde Saturn/M87 conjunction, Mercury in Aries is all about doing more and expanding our efforts (or even our horizons) through being open-minded and flexibly self-sufficient. So feel free to bring the best of yourself to the party—just try not to insist on being the star, lest you alienate those who otherwise would, as allies and supporters, open doors to exactly what you want, need—or hadn’t even yet thought of. And that’s just Mercury in Aries, never mind adding in the whole Saturn/Black Hole thing. Together they represent a recipe for intense magnetism, but what you do with that (or how you experience it) is entirely up to you. There are those who hold Black Holes are so powerful as to swallow any symbol and its attributes whole. But what is your relationship to Saturn? In Libra, Saturn can be about walls we build around ourselves or between ourselves and others. It can be about how we present ourselves—or some false front we use to just get what we want. It can be about healthy boundaries or unhealthy lacks of same. So how you experience this Black Hole/Saturn conjunction is going to be all about who you are coming into this very moment. The effect will become manifest as an internal experience—that much we know because Saturn is retrograde. And given Mercury entering Aries on the 17th, it will have something to do with what you do or how you interact with others. By March 19, Mercury moves enough ahead of the Sun to create a sense of perspective just in time for the Sun to enter Aries on March 20, signaling the change of seasons. With Saturn (retrograde) lingering in opposition atop M87, the ability to be seen or heard with clarity may have to wait. This can be a moment when plans get derailed. Good or bad, pleasant or not, the universal reminder here is that while our time is important (and should be treated as such!) life is bigger than we are. It can throw things at us we don’t expect and (yes,) when we feel like we can least afford the conflict. It’s a cause/effect thing: our resistance to interruption creates interruption. Our pig-headedness creates situations which prove us wrong. Aries/Libra is the heart and soul of what we put out comes back to us…we just so often forget how literal the universe is. With this in mind we come to a few last comments for the month: a Full Moon at 9 Libra on March 30 and Venus entering Taurus on March 31 conjunct Photographica (what the thing "looks like") with both opposition Kassandra (what comes of substituting what you want to believe for the truth of the thing). Given that Full Moons always indicate a "highlighting" of things (sometimes wonderful and sometimes…well, not so wonderful at all) and what with 9 Libra being about "reaching calm waters," we’re likely to meet up with what has been gained through diligent effort (despite what we might like or prefer) and where or how we’ve perhaps gone overboard and ended up not getting where we wanted to go. The good news? Nine times out of ten we can change that which we recognize/accept as having been a personal choice—that’s the great thing about owning what we’ve done or become. (If you own it, you can change it!) With Venus moving into resourceful, (self) worth-building Taurus, it’s a good time to work on same too—whether you believe it (Kassandra) or not! Though you may now realize you were hoodwinked (and yes, you may even have even fooled yourself), the solution is to get real so you can move on to become a person you want to be, living a life you respect in a world you have helped make into a place which functions for one and all. Boots Hart, CAP
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