March 21-28, 2005

We've crossed into Aries, the fire sign that begins spring. This year it began, over the weekend, with the moon (heart) in Leo, mid-summer's peak passion. Mercury, quick mental processing, which led the way into Aries like a scout, now has gone retrograde there, backtracking and internalizing. The mind responds to impulse by turning inward, deepening our solitary mental experience even as we move forward with the passion of early spring. We must accept this and let it inform our spirit.

Monday night, Saturn, the thirty-year cycle centering/grounding influence, completes months of retrograde/backtracking in the emotional release of Cancer. Pulling at us from the middle of flowing feeling, Saturn has now ground to a stop at the deepest place inside us, demanding that we experience the source of true personal nurturance. From here it will start to flow forward and outward again. Tuesday, moon still in peak fire sign Leo, Venus, the light of love and beauty, right behind the sun, also crosses into Aries and early spring emergence. Internalizing mind (retrograde Mercury), soul vitality (sun), and beauty's love (Venus) have now all emerged, like dawn for the year, into the warm passion of early spring's morning light. Late Tuesday, the moon moves on into the ripening fruitfulness of Virgo, late summer in our seasonal cycle, for a few days of practical manifestation of all this new spring energy.

Before dawn on Friday, the moon (heart) crosses into Libra, the love awareness that colors early autumn, where it will be full, opposite the sun, at midday, growing in strength by Saturday. This year, big, expansive Jupiter is in Libra, reinforcing mindfulness of true harmony. With deep feeling 164-year cycle Neptune now at the midpoint of Aquarius, also, like Libra, an air sign, this full moon, the first of the new spring, is fed by creativity in love and dreams at the peak of awareness. And it is happening just as Pluto, deep, transformative power and expression, slows to an apparent stop, beginning to turn inward, in the resolving passion of Sagittarius, down at the bottom of our natural seasonal cycle. We are anchored by deep power, mentally reflective, as the passion-charged heart is full in awareness of love.

March 14-21, 2005

It's the last week of winter, finishing sensitive Pisces. It begins with the moon (heart spirit) in earthy Taurus. By Sunday the sun will cross into spring, kicking off a new year of fruition.

Monday starts off strong. The soul is vulnerable (sun in Pisces) and the heart is fertile (moon in Taurus). Creativity, internalizing in love (Jupiter retrograde in Libra), is blending with dreams at the peak of awareness (Neptune at mid-Aquarius). Tension is breaking between tender vitality (sun in Pisces) and passionate power (Pluto in Sagittarius). Beauty and grounding are blending in emotion (Venus trine Saturn in water signs).

Tuesday the spring energy moon rises to the lofty mentality of Gemini for a couple days of sensitive thinking. Late Thursday the moon spills over into Cancer's releasing feeling. Love charged with deep power (Venus square Pluto) reaches the breaking point. A wave of emotion overwhelms our resistance. Saturday Mercury, mental quickness, having led the way into Aries/early spring, slows to an apparent stop, its scouting job complete, and begins three weeks of apparent backtracking/internalizing. There's nothing wrong with this so long as we accept it, letting the mental tide turn inward and deepen as we move forward.

Sunday morning the sun crosses the equinox into Aries, the dawn of spring on our seasonal cycle, just as the moon reaches the peak passion of Leo's radiant expression. Sun and moon in fire signs, expansive Jupiter deepening in Libra's love, the Year of the Rooster is ready to crow.

March 7-14, 2005

We are moving through Pisces, emotional vulnerability. We begin the week with the moon (heart) in Aquarius, alignment in awareness amidst the pattern of life's interrelationship. With mental Mercury leading like a scout into Aries, the passion of early spring, thought and communication race ahead of lingering feeling just as we're being drawn to the center of our selves.

Charging tension that's been building between action in earthiness (Mars in Capricorn) and grounding in feeling (Saturn in Cancer) reaches the breaking point, releasing its energy, on Monday. By Monday night the moon is at the peak of awareness (mid-Aquarius), reinforced by the historic presence there of 164-year cycle Neptune, the pull of deepest feelings, along with this year's passage of expansive Jupiter through Libra's mindfulness of love. At a time of fragile sensitivity, the heart is awake, fed by deep dreams and loving creativity, activated by primal power and flowing emotion.

Tuesday toward sunset the moon moves on to Pisces, where Wednesday, after meeting beauty (Venus) and wisdom (Uranus), it will blend with the sun for the Pisces new moon. Heart and soul are together in vulnerability at a time of grounding in feeling. Late Thursday the moon crosses into Aries, the spark of spring, where Friday it will meet Mercury's mental expression. Saturday night it progresses into the peak spring earth power of Taurus. Sunday, with the sun in precious Pisces and moon in fertile Taurus, creative Jupiter in loving Libra blends with dreamy Neptune in visionary Aquarius.

Slushy with feeling amidst intensified awareness, we are challenged to accept tenderness as the healthy foundation of manifest fruitfulness just around the corner.