We’ve had snow here three days in the past week, but the rhododendrons are budding, so spring has got to be on the way!
The big news this week, of course, is the spring equinox (fall for our many readers south of the equator). This is the moment that the Sun enters the sign of Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. It’s the beginning of the astrological year and time for new projects, fresh beginnings, renewed optimism … in short, getting off your butt and getting moving.
In theory, anyway. People everywhere are telling me that they are just plain tired. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of energy for new projects. Then, maybe a shift to Aries is what we all need to get some motivation and enthusiasm.
The equinox isn’t until Friday, so this actually is a great week for finishing up anything on your plate. I have a couple of projects that feel like great weights, and I’m going to make a concerted effort this week to get them done, once and for all.
Venus continues on her retrograde path, making this a good time to go back and focus on certain activities, particularly those involving relationships, money, or what we value. Questioning what you value could be a fruitful exercise in the next few weeks, especially if you’re having difficulty getting what you want. Do you really want it, and why? Are you getting it at the expense of what you hold dear?
Otherwise, there’s not a lot going on this week — which may turn out to be a good thing if you’re trying to get old stuff out of the way. You may feel a blip on Wednesday, when Mercury in Pisces opposes Saturn in Virgo, and another on Sunday, when Mercury conjoins Uranus (late Saturday in western time zones). Events associated with this alignment won’t necessarily be disruptive. To the contrary, you may get some great ideas for solutions to the issues you’ve been facing with the Saturn-Uranus opposition.
Also on Wednesday, Mars opposes Ceres, who has backed all the way up to the first degree of Virgo as she prepares to return direct in April. I’m still observing Ceres in individual charts and have to be honest with you that I’m not sure what this aspect will bring. I’d love to hear from you, especially if you’re a Virgo or have strong Virgo in your chart, if anything happens in your life around Wednesday that could be related to this aspect. Issues possibly related to Ceres include diet and digestion and how we serve others, whether formally through our jobs or informally through our day-to-day circumstances. With Mars opposing Ceres, we would expect some sort of flare-up in one of these areas. Examples might be a case of food poisoning or a severe allergic reaction to something you eat.
On Thursday (late Wednesday on the West Coast of the United States and points west), Mars sextiles Pluto. Unless this aspect hits personal planets or critical degrees in your chart, I doubt you’ll feel it. If it does make close contact, you should get some extra energy reserves to push forward with a pet project or plow through opposition. As always with Pluto, you need to make sure that your motivations aren’t purely selfish, or your efforts will backfire.
Love and blessings to all …
Pat
Image: Ram Caught in a Thicket, statuette from ancient Sumer (modern-day Iraq) made of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, copper, shell, red limestone, and bitumen, ca. 2650–2550 B.C. This amazing artifact is part of the permanent collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The sacrificed ram is repeated throughout ancient mythology. In the story of Jason and the golden fleece, the winged ram from which it came becomes the constellation of Aries.
RealAstrologers 
KABOOM.
Today (well, Tuesday the 17th) has been a wild one:
It was announced today that both the global President and North America President of my company have been fired.
ALSO, my personal trainer, who has owned a gym with his brother for 7 years, learned today that the brother had run it into the ground and decided to close it.
Is this the Mars-Ceres you speak of? Uranus-Saturn? After-shocks of last month’s eclipse (which hit my 10th)?
The ramifications for my job are not clear yet. But it’s not unreasonable to think there will be sweeping changes, including layoffs for us workers, to follow.
n
(born Aug. 1, 1968, 11:55am, East Coast USA)
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Hey N, thanks for the report. My guess is that the news was set off by Mercury’s opposition to Saturn and that we’ll get more surprise announcements when Mercury conjoins Uranus. The conjunction is exact on Sat/Sun, so the news may come on Friday or early next week.
Things seem to be breaking down all over, and while the circumstances are wildly different, they still point to the Saturn-Uranus opposition with attendant complications (e.g., Uranus and Neptune in mutual reception).
Anyone else?
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OMG, NNYC, yowza. Those are some news. How are YOU doing? Nervous or excited or a little of both?
I was born Aug. 1, 1969. We’re almost astrotwins!
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This week I found out that my ex-husband is on the verge of making it very very big in my dream industry. This came about because I was thinking of some work I had done with his father and how I wanted to get a copy of it. I emailed the father who didn’t respond. I had also tried to get a copy of it by buying it online and by looking for it in the public library. Well, the bought copy didn’t have any credit titles and the copies in the library had been stolen or destroyed. I am a little leery of contacting my ex so I googled his little brother, with whom I had a very good relationship. Thus I found out that my ex, his current wife and his little brother are about to make it BIG with something they wrote together. This discovery led to a lot of interesting insights and ruminations. Either way, I am very determined to get a copy of my work since this is the kind of industry where you need to show everyone the money–you can’t just say you did something and then produce nothing.
The new moon falls in my 10th house and so does the current Venus Rx in Aries. I sure as hell thought about how I gave up on myself and my talents for the past 10 years. I also got fed up with surrounding myself with saboteurs who adopt the “I’m only doing it for your own good” line. In fact, one friend advised me to let it go and move forward. “Just put it on your resume, you don’t need the DVD.” That’s like bragging that I’m rich and then saying I left my wallet at home when the bill comes–a way of discrediting myself and I’ve done that ENOUGH. She said I was too fragile to get involved with my ex again and I said, “Listen, I can always go through 3rd parties and also, calling me fragile is a way of disempowering me; it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and then I don’t stand up for myself when I should and can.”
I think I ended up scaring her, actually.
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Mem,
Well I’d say with Venus retrograde it’s a perfect time to go hunt down your art from the past.
Not to mention hearing news of your love/artistic partner from the past!
And yes, Mem, we are almost-astro-twins!
n
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