A March Month of Further Change and Reaction to Change

This is another month when the astrology seems quite consequential and redolent of change on both personal and collective levels. We have two eclipses, since the effects of the recent Solar Eclipse from mid-February in the last few degrees of Aquarius are very much still with is as the March month begins. The subsequent Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse in Virgo comes along early in the month’s first week, on the 3rd. These extra-powerful lunations are accompanied by prominent positions of outer planets to go along with that sense of urgency, with the recent New Moon being in extremely close square to Uranus, located in the final degrees of Taurus, and additionally highlighting the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at the Aries Point, while Pluto in that configuration was in almost perfect parallel with a stationing Jupiter and square the new 21st century planet Haumea, to the minute of a degree. The thirty-day lunation cycle that was initiated twelve days before the beginning of the current month still has some two and a half weeks yet to go before being ended by the late Pisces New Moon of March 18th. Of all these outer planet factors, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction that was in the recent Aquarius eclipse New Moon still a few days away from finding its perfection is probably the most important. This presages a troublesome March, with the eclipse effects additionally lasting into the summer months. In July and August, we will also encounter the next same-degree alignment of Uranus and Pluto in trine, with Neptune at their mid-point, so that 2026 might turn out to be quite a lot like the difficult 2025 year that we have just experienced.

In framing the Saturn-Neptune conjunction and its effects on the first half, or more, of March, it is quite interesting to note their alignment at the 0° mark of Aries, the very first degree of the Tropical Zodiac. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is “A woman rises out of the sea, and a seal rises to embrace her,” which is an image of the primacy of Nature in human affairs, a factor we might need to more greatly acknowledge in the cultural awakening of this difficult decade. There is also contained within this symbol the idea that originally, earthly life itself was created from the ocean, plus the fact that it is the oceanic Pisces sign that precedes the degree of 0° Aries, in an eternal spiraling cycle.

It is also interesting to note that the fairly wide Uranus-Pluto trine that is another hallmark of these 2025-2026 years, with Pluto in the recent eclipse at 4° Aquarius and Uranus at 27° Taurus, has as its midpoint the same 0° Aries, highlighting the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. This conjunction is also, notably, one of essentially antithetical archetypes, with Saturn representing the physical 3D world of the here and now, while Neptune is emblematic of what is completely beyond the physical, so that their coming together represents in part an unresolvable ideological divide that we can see clearly reflected in the current social situation, especially here in the US. Noted astrologer Rick Tarnas commented in 2016 that these two planets in combination in their World Transit can indicate “Red states and Blue states,” separate ideologies where neither side can see – at all – the point of view of the other. How that plays out in our individual lives is difficult to grasp and could be summarized as a process of illusion (Neptune) and the coming down from that in terms of disillusion via a strong competing does of reality (Saturn) or else in a more positive way as the Spiritual infusing itself into ordinary life, which we may also see as the March month continues to unwind.

The factor of strong Uranus, due to Sun and Moon in close aspect to the Trickster planet both in the recent eclipse that governs the first part of the March month, and also in the late Pisces New Moon of the 18th, is a strong indication of surprise events and unexpected enlightenment as we move forward into March, where we also find a rogue Mercury supplying its own form of unexpected information that can result from the introspection and questioning of the Mercury Retrograde period. This period lasts all month long, with Mercury’s station to direct motion on the 20th, and its recovery over the next two weeks or so of the post-retrograde shadow period.

The March 18th New Moon in late Pisces also sees a strong Aries stellium a couple of degrees away from the positions of Sun and Moon, where we find, in order, Neptune, Saturn, highlighted Venus, followed by Chiron and Eris in close conjunction, no fewer than seven planets, and all in the Aries sign at the timing of the Aries Equinox two days later, on the 20th.

All in all, this is another extremely powerful month that will test us and challenge us to be at our best as we strive to evolve along with the changes of an evolving culture. It is still, in the midst of everything, time, and past time, for everyone to stand up and be counted. We can, in these climactic societal moments, vote with our voices and our commentary, plus we can vote with our dollars and with our protest marches. And in November we can, hopefully, vote with our votes.