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Astrological Forecast for March

by our psychic astrologer

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There are at least three competing astrological story-lines for March, yet each are connected and dependent upon the other for ultimate success. It might feel like a spiritual mystery-school masquerading as a three-ring circus, like trying to figure-skate on a curling rock that's heading down a bobsled run. Well, certainly not that daunting or impossible but... thank you Vancouver! It was a beauty all around, ay?

First, March 10 brings an official end to Mars' retrograde status, an ego-busting joyride through some pretty dark places for a lot of folks the past few months. Mars then begins it's retrograde shadow lasting through to mid May, an ideal stretch to review, refine and rebuild our "small e" egos, just in time before Mars adds His not too subtle contribution to the various mid-Summer crises.

Second, we'll be getting some sneak previews of this Summers' main event, the so-called "Cardinal Square" described in the full forecast. It will no doubt be offering new meanings to the overused "defining moments," many of which can be defused this month before the potential mayhem begins.

Third, we get to try to make sense of the above activities during a Pisces overload with the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus all swimming through Neptune's dreamy and foggy depths. In large part, this will be a frustrating carry-over from last month, so expecting perfect clarity will be hard to come by unless we take full advantage of the lunations and make significant preparations for ritualizing the Vernal Equinox of March 20. There's nothing wrong with dreaming big, but dreams without practical applications are useless for anyone not willing to join the Creative Class. If we're asking for our dreams to become reality, look for the sparks of inspiration to fly around the third week of March

As always, the key to solving every crisis lies within the problem itself. In this months' case it's the stationing-direct Mars forming a beneficial sextile (60° away) aspect to Saturn, within two degrees of exact the entire month. This sextile is our inner warrior's (Mars) way of seeking Saturnian wisdom for getting our priorities straight, well before anything can spiral out of control. Mars' retrograde cycle, fully within the first twenty degrees of ego-bound Leo, began over the holidays so a careful review of any ego-balloon deflation over the past few months isn't only a good idea, it's essentially a Universal mandate.

Mars stays within the first degree of Leo for the first three weeks of March, slowing down (retrograde) and seeming to stop before moving direct again. One degree Leo is the symbolic introduction to our individualized selves - our "small e" egos - a process we've all needed to go through in order to differentiate ourselves from others (hopefully during our youth), especially from the selves our societies and families initially created for us. Therefore, the first three weeks of March will offer reminders of what truly motivates us, what makes us wholly unique, how to get back on track, and what our Souls' purpose for our lives was when we returned to this Earth plane, well before we were born.

The Sabian* image for one degree Leo shows "Blood rushes to a man's head as his vital energies are mobilized under the spur of ambition," at once looking like an extra-crispy bucket of apoplexy at worst, or at best the beaming glow of an exalted spiritual Master during a moment of epiphany. In essence, the first three weeks of March (and beyond) can be a process of learning or relearning how to keep our "big E" Egos from getting in the way of our life's goals

And here's the most significant aspect of this image - the choice is always ours to make. Do we want our heads to explode in a rage of blind ambition or do we want our hearts and minds to radiate the bliss-filled vibe of Leo's ruler the Sun? The choice is always ours, and if we see someone's head ready to blow-up, just get out of the way or call an anger-management specialist. There's no need for a melt-down simply because we don't always get what we want.

The difference between success and failure in any endeavor can be razor-thin, just ask any Olympic athlete, it's largely dependent upon how vested we are in our own ego gratification. For instance, a "small e" ego knows that hurt feelings are actually self-inflicted, and at worst that a temporary sense of disappointment can emerge, much like the Universe will express if we fail to utilize this month's planetary movements correctly and wisely. No big deal - it's just the future calling.

Full Forecast

For some necessary background about March, Saturn is slowly moving away (retrograde) from two exact squares to Pluto, that background heaviness we've been feeling since this past November and December. At this point (in moving forward), we've seen greater regulation (Saturn) of the credit card (Pluto) industry, plans to build two new nuclear power plants in the US for the first time in three decades (Pluto rules plutonium), but also the crumbling (Pluto at work) institutions (debilitated Saturn) of the insurance industries in the US, and the car-makers Toyota, Hummer, SAAB, and even the brand named for the Good Professor Saturn. Our cars run on Pluto-ruled gas and oil, so we can expect to see further fuel-fueled issues when Saturn moves back into an exact square to Pluto at the height of this Summer's Cardinal Cross.

This configuration involves the concluding Saturn/Uranus oppositions (Jupiter joining Uranus with Mars conjoining Saturn) with Pluto sitting halfway between the two Cardinal points as the focus of that T-square pile-up. Such a configuration of these three outer giants in the early degrees of Cardinal signs has never been seen before in recorded history, let alone Jupiter and Mars' juicing it up.

(Keep your eyes open for the "Bloom Box" technology, perhaps the answer to a lot of our energy needs. It was developed and is now in beta testing during the two-year long Saturn/Uranus oppositions, a time of unparalleled creativity and innovation. This energetic will be reverberating well into 2012, the end of... something, or so we've been hearing.)

This waning/vacationing Saturn/Pluto square (90°) has been the first "hard" aspect between these two since 2001 - 2002, when they were opposed (180°) each other. Basically, the opposition aspect tears apart the energetics of each planet while the square ideally (or desperately) tries to make sense of the opposition. In this regard, we've recently seen the UK governments' inquiry as to how they got pulled into the two unnecessary wars in the Middle East after 9/11, the defining moment of the Saturn/Pluto opposition. We've also seen questions as to how and where the US will prosecute KSM and the other 9/11 co-conspirators in the very near future, but we've also seen a tea-bagging whacko duplicate an aviation suicide attack against IRS tax (Pluto) offices in Austin Texas. Why didn't the guy just sell his plane and pay his taxes like Jesus (channeling the Christ Consciousness) told us to do?

As far as getting further sneak previews about this Summer, Venus, Mercury and the Sun take turns swinging past Uranus and through the early degrees of Aries, the same space Uranus and Jupiter will be occupying in July and August. And they'll each be simultaneously opposing Saturn and forming squares to Pluto in the process, close enough to Uranus that - in some ways - will accurately mimic the upcoming Cardinal Cross. Follow Venus' lead.

Specifically, Venus conjoins Uranus March 3 and opposes Saturn March 9, squaring Pluto March 11. Mercury passes by Uranus March 15, opposes Saturn March 18 and squares Pluto March 20 at the Spring Equinox. The Sun moves past Uranus March 17, opposes Saturn March 21 and squares Pluto March 25.

Ordinarily, any one of these conjunctions, oppositions or squares would hardly be worth a mention in any forecast, but with each happening in such a relatively short time, while the Saturn/Pluto square is still within three and five degrees of exact for this month, they're more than just a little significant - they're a futurist's wet dream.

In other words, Venus leads this charge into foreseeing the future potentials, so the clueful among us will need to hold Her mind-set of love, peace, harmony and balance (among many other things) closely to our hearts and minds. And as Venus ramps-up Her role as the Evening Star, we won't need to be psychic to magnify this month's global and personal events to see glimpses of the immediate future, perhaps in even exponential terms as the months unfold. While the news might be challenging or worse, any global event or trend will be signaling both forewarnings and fore-blessings for all of us, we'll just be needing to keep the Pisces overload of the first three weeks of March from becoming untenable pipe dreams, a bit of a start/stop energetic that will largely dissipate by month's end.

Venus enters Mars' digs Aries March 7, forming a very beneficial trine (120° away) to Mars as Mars struggles to move direct again. We don't need to be mythologists to love this image of Venus attempting to lift the spirits of Her lover, the debilitated (retrograde) warrior, which can become a second Valentine's Day for the clueful. This is the same day Mercury transits Jupiter, a great time for such verbal and non-verbal communication, just three days before Mars officially ends His retrograde motion.

This shifting energetic of the second week of March sets the stage for the New Moon of March 15 (at 26° Pisces), that when properly ritualized can show us volumes of how we'll need to face the very near future. The Sabian image is "Watching the very thin Moon crescent appearing at sunset, different people realize that the time has come to go ahead with their different projects... (leading to the understanding of) the fallacy of totalitarianism."

First, imagine yourself in a silent group of like-minded individuals looking at the Moon in any of Her phases, in this case a new crescent Moon at dusk, the time for new beginnings. In a state of Divine inspiration, we suddenly know what we need to do and what the future portends, and then we begin to act on. Next, know that the totalitarian paradigm is only one of the doomsday scenarios predicted by fatalistic astrologers for the Cardinal Square of this Summer. We intuit that nothing deadly absolutely "needs" to occur at that time, and this New Moon can in fact show us how to completely deny this prospect from becoming reality.

Further, the totalitarian myth is strictly personal for each of us, knowing that we have the free-will to follow any path we choose, ideally the only one that is right for we as individuals. Here's where maintaining our "small e" egos is crucial in determining where our basic ambitions might be, quite simply as our own and nobody else's. Or, we can thoughtlessly throw away our most essential birthright and get dragged along by whatever consensus opinion is being thrust upon us, especially if it is misguided by other people's selfish and greedy agendas. Not too wise - we are not sheep being led to the slaughterhouse.

Ramping up the potentials for this New Moon is Mercury and Uranus sitting in the next (beyond!) degree of Pisces at exact, the Sabian image of which compels us to gather further inspiration from the Moon. "The Harvest Moon illumines a clear autumnal night" might seem more appropriate for our friends in the Southern hemisphere, although it can certainly resonate for anyone anywhere. The Harvest Moon is especially appreciated by rural folk everywhere after a season's worth of tireless work has been completed, yet this New Moon (and the Mercury/Uranus conjunction) signifies that new beginnings can be culminated within two weeks at the Full Moon of March 29, or so much sooner if we're being open to the potentials of this New Moon.

The key here is to know that Uranus is the higher octave energetic of Mercury, the cosmic link (and leap) that turns our ideas (Mercury) into actual invention (Uranus). This New Moon therefore signifies that instant genius is a very real possibility, or some other inspirational karmic trigger of ultimate personal worth, it helps to remember that miracles can happen when persistence and opportunity collide. Again, follow Venus' lead - and leave our "big E" Egos at the door - the ideal vehicles toward Divine inspiration.

We won't be able to visually see the sliver of the Moon until several days after this New Moon, but if we're fortunate enough to see it we can become inspired along these lines throughout the next week. Simply looking at the Moon has always been a karmic trigger for us because the Moon is one of the only constants we have about our past-lives, a visual reminder of some strong and significant emotional states. Such memories aren't only about the past, they also contain hopes for the present and tomorrow, so keep in mind that global omens of the future will also be in evidence.

The Equinox of March 20 is especially potent in this regard as the Sun enters Aries less than three-and-a-half degrees beyond Uranus (still moving through Pisces), with the Sun less than two degrees from exact opposition to Saturn, and the Sun will then form an exact square to Pluto five days later. Uranus will be entering Aries in late May for the first time since 1935, after leaving Aries following a seven-year stretch that saw the beginning of the Great Depression. Dispelling a similar doomsday scenario will be challenging for everyone, but history never precisely repeats itself, and haven't we already seen the worst of it? Perhaps not, but this is one of the main things our Soul's signed us up for as 2010 rolls along, so we might as well learn how to love it.

Let us never forget that Franklin Roosevelt taught us everything we need to know about life itself while Uranus was last in Aries, when he said "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Living in fear of the future is the perfect way to get run over by it because the future belongs to the fearless, just like it always has. There are no statues commemorating cowardice.

As previously mentioned, Mercury and the Sun take turns opposing Saturn the third week of March, and also into squares to Pluto during this stretch. But Venus, Mercury and the Sun will also form beneficial trines to a now direct Mars, and Mars the initiator is still sextile the Good Professor Saturn. These configurations, especially the Mars/Saturn sextile, can tell us volumes about the age-old wisdom of "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear."

The balance-seeking Libra Full Moon on March 29 drives this point home as a Good Professor (Saturn?!) arrives to help us make good on the promises of the New Moon two weeks earlier. As always, the Sabian images need to be taken together, even though the Sun and Moon will appear to be on opposite sides of our Solar system. For the Sun at ten degrees Aries, "A teacher gives new symbolic forms to traditional images, revision of attitude at the beginning of a new cycle of experience," and for the Moon at ten degrees Libra, "Having passed safely through narrow rapids, a canoe reaches calm waters, the self-control and poise necessary to reach a steady state of inner stability."

We could all use a "new cycle of experience," and nothing quite says "inner stability" like a well-maintained ego. We might just need a wise teacher to show us how we can revise our attitudes, especially after the cynicism-inducing past with an unknown and potentially scary future right ahead of us. "New symbolic forms to traditional images" would therefore require further examination, one that involves the not-so-secret Wisdom of the Ages in order to shape the future any way we want it.

"Self-control and poise" is also known as Self-mastery, a prerequisite for seeking any higher knowledge regarding our personal and collective destinies. Our Self is the only thing we have any control over and further, it's the only thing we have the right to control. Further still, Self-mastery is our karmic obligation, duty and responsibility to our Soul of Souls, otherwise we need to keep on coming back until we get it right.

Doing any such spiritual work for selfish Ego gain is guaranteed to fail, while Self-mastery (loving our "small e" ego) has been the first step taken by every exalted spiritual Master since the dawn of history. While not everyone thinks they may have a karmic path toward becoming an enlightened spiritual Master like the Christ, Buddha, Gandhi or Krishna, a Good Professor awaits everyone of good faith to put new symbolic faces of these great Masters into the world, perhaps in ways we can't fully appreciate at this time. Again, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

One of the most optimistic predictions we've been hearing about 2012 is that we'll be arriving at a collective critical mass of Consciousness that will - in some mysterious way - propel our species into the next level of evolution. While we can't control global calamities like earthquakes from happening, we need to know that we can fully control how we react to them. Self-mastery therefore lives on the thin line between compassion and dispassion, of living in the world but being not of the world.

Self-mastery is also the foundation from which every great invention has ever been devised, the state of awareness that allows for Divine inspiration to flow through the veins of the Creative Class. This Full Moon announces that it's open enrollment time, and the sign-up sheet is right in our hands.

(* The Sabian symbols are from Dane Rudhyar's "An Astrological Mandala," 1972. Thanks to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973 for the clarification regarding the word "disaster," and further thanks go out to your Saturnian patience for reading this far.)

See the FebForecast here
See the Capricorn Forecast here
See the Sagittarius Forecast here

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