Entering the Rapids

Astro Notes for New Moon in Aries cycle (March 29-April 27)

Firstly, my apologies for posting these notes later than usual. I convened my annual ORACLE event on the day of the new moon in Aries and have since been immersed in a flurry of activities related to the launch of several new initiatives all at once. Such is the nature of this mid-March to mid-April period, one of the busiest and most intense passages of the year. (If you missed the ORACLE event — my highlights of the astrological year ahead — and want to watch it you can do so HERE.)

It’s been Aries season since March 21, so we are in that first phase of the annual cycle associated with fresh starts and new beginnings. Yet this year the feeling is a little different — at least at the beginning of this monthly cycle — because there is just so much happening on multiple levels. We are still catching our breath from an extraordinary eclipse season in March that signified a profound moment of karmic completion. Just one day after the solar eclipse, on March 30, Neptune entered Aries, marking the end of one 165 year cycle of Neptune around the zodiac and the beginning of another. For the last fourteen years Neptune has been completing this long cycle in the sign of Pisces, where it has been deep sea-diving in the infinite ocean of consciousness. For much of this period we've explored expanded states of consciousness, dissolved into something greater than us, opened to big visions -- yet also drifted somewhat on the currents of being. In this light, the movement of Neptune into Aries may feel like we are waking up from a long dream. The consciousness that is awakening in us is much sharper, more defined, more lucid, more action-oriented. We are being called into our spiritual sovereignty, so that we can step into the archetype of the soul warrior and take bold action in alignment with the spiritual truths we have realized.

But while we may sense that an immense shift has just occurred, the changes are not visible yet. Neptune is subtle but profound in its effects. Its entrance into Aries is like a deep ocean swell that is barely perceptible at first but will inevitably elevate everything on the surface.

The fire of Aries season is also muted somewhat by Venus and Mercury moving retrograde in late Pisces, where they meet up with Saturn and the North Node. All this Piscean energy could leave us feeling heavy, water-logged, and exhausted, even while we are also being uplifted by the first intimations of the new energies now coming in. This is especially so because Mars, the ruler of Aries, has been moving through Cancer — another water sign — since early January (much of that time moving backwards) and won’t leave until April 17. This extended odyssey of Mars in Cancer has been quite the emotional slog. For the part of us that likes to move into action (Mars), it may feel like we’ve been running a marathon in water.

At the same time, for sheer density of significant astrological action, the period of mid-March to mid-April is exceptional. Despite our fatigue, we are being called to take a number of important steps in alignment with our soul path and the new codes just arriving. Similarly there is a flurry of activity taking place on the world stage.

If we are tempted to throw up our hands in despair at being able to keep up with all these developments, we would do well to realize that the passage we are going through is not leading to breakdown, but breakthrough. Neptune entering Aries opens the floodgates for the most concentrated period of change in our lifetimes. By July 7, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus all will have changed signs within a little over 4 months of each other, resulting in a cascade of major shifts in the cultural zeitgeist in a cosmic nanosecond. The good news? As these outer planets change signs, they form a rare and auspicious pattern -- known as a Minor Triangle -- made entirely of harmonious aspects. This pattern will form the dominant motif for the next three to four years, indicating that we are now on the very cusp of a period of extraordinary collective breakthrough. (I’ve written about this configuration before and will do so again when it comes closer to full power this July/August.)

One of the components of this Minor Triangle aspect pattern that comes into exact alignment at the beginning of this new moon cycle and will remain a strong influence throughout the month (indeed for most of the next year) is a sextile between Saturn in Pisces and Uranus in Taurus. With all of the dizzying changes occurring in our world this year, this transit brings a welcome balance of stability and innovation. It will provide an important check to the radically new ideas, systems, and technologies that will be coming online, grounding those innovations in reality and testing them for lasting value. It will support responsible experimentation and bring a sense of steady progress. After the intense trials and tribulations of the last several years, we might experience with this transit a sense of hard-won liberation from our suffering.

During the first week of April, Mars joins Saturn and Uranus in a harmonious Minor Triangle, with Mars in Cancer in a trine to Saturn in Pisces, and both Mars and Saturn in a sextile to Uranus in Taurus.

With Mars interacting creatively with Uranus and Saturn, we might receive revolutionary yet practical solutions to upgrade outdated structures in our lives, not by burning them down or making drastic changes but by reconfiguring them from within. We may be surprised by how easily and profoundly we find ourselves elevated, as if we have suddenly jumped back on track with our Golden Timeline after years of struggle.

From April 4-7, Venus joins the party, forming an exact conjunction with Saturn in Pisces, a trine to Mars in Cancer, and a sextile to Uranus in Taurus. This configuration could see breakthroughs (Uranus) in matters of the heart (Venus), especially those that follow the courageous expression of emotional truths (Mars in Cancer) and a soulful commitment to one’s partner or loved ones (Venus-Saturn in Pisces). Take a mature risk with your heart at this time and the Universe may meet you with surprising grace.

On April 7 Mercury comes out of retrograde and on April 12 Venus follows suit. We then have a three-week window from April 13 to May 4 when all the planets are moving forward. By mid-April we may, therefore, finally feel the heaviness and pressure start to lift and be able to move forward more easily. This will especially be the case after April 18, when Mars finally leaves Cancer and enters Leo where it is free to act with much more warmth, positivity, daring, and fun.

From April 18-22, Saturn forms an exact conjunction with the North Node at 26 degrees of Pisces. Saturn in late Pisces is now in the very final stages of a thirty year cycle, bringing closure and completion to a major chapter of our lives and helping us to see how far we’ve come in our evolutionary journey. With the conjunction of Saturn and the North Node, we may be asked to make a substantial soul decision to align with our karmic path and destiny. It is advisable to take this process seriously and to choose the path of the highest integrity, for this decision will have enduring consequences. On April 22, Venus joins Saturn and the North Node in a triple conjunction, suggesting that a beautiful seed can be planted at this time. When Saturn joins Neptune in Aries at the end of May, the new dreams that are currently invisible will start to take form in manifest structures; thus the decisions we make at this pivotal time (April 18-22) will shape what’s possible then.

The last week of this cycle, April 20-27, promises fireworks as it features the last of three Pluto-Mars oppositions we’ve experienced since November last year. Pluto in Aquarius opposite Mars in Leo brings searing intensity, with Pluto having a cosmic mandate to demolish any egocentric expressions of willfulness that do not align with the evolutionary intentions of the universe. This transit could easily trigger explosive events on the world stage as nations and leaders jostle for power in an increasingly unstable global political environment. On a personal front, the best way to approach this transit is to embrace the intensity as a fiery initiation into your next level of power and integrity. We cannot avoid the crucible, but we can sincerely wish to grow in alignment with our soul. In this way, we can welcome the purifying flames when they come and even find enjoyment in their intensity, knowing they are bringing us closer to our essence.

The bottom line: With this Aries new moon cycle, we have crossed the Rubicon. The floodgates of global transformation are opening, the final push out of the birth canal has begun. Yet there is good reason to trust the process. Steady as she goes, following our own guidance as to what brings us the most authentic joy, we can each now start to step more fully into the roles we were destined to play at this historic time of great change.