March 15th ~ 22nd
Life is a balance of holding on and letting go. ~ Rumi
On Thursday, the Inferior Conjunction of Mercury activated a square to Jupiter at the first quarter Moon. Quarter Moons can feel like a time of crisis when we begin to see the ramifications of decisions being made. This is all the more confusing due to the retrograde motion of Mercury and the prevailing conjunction to elusive Neptune. What we may be witnessing here as we now approach the Full Moon on the 20th, is where and how we may have over-extended ourselves, or bit off more than we can chew. As things begin to falter or fail, we are being shown what is or is not working. Rather than giving in to disenchantment and despair; it is more helpful to create better and more useful perspectives and mental habits.
The Inferior Conjunction of Mercury is the equivalent to the Mercury New Moon, when seeds are being planted for the next 90 day Mercury cycle. Whatever initiatives are being planted, they probably won’t be implemented until after Mercury is direct again, but in the mean time it is always helpful to pay attention to our own mind at this time. Ask yourself, if you wanted to create better, more useful mental habits, what would these look like? And rather than thinking about ridding yourself of negative mental habits, what sort of positive mental habits could over-ride these? Patience? Increased focus and attention? Kindness and Understanding? More gratitude? Perhaps just cultivating a more positive outlook each day?
This year, the March Full Moon falls on the same day as the Vernal Equinox. It is also the final full Super Full Moon of the year, meaning that the Moon will be near its closest point in its orbit to the Earth. These Supermoons can be quite spectacular. Especially when rising and setting. Even more so from an astrological point of view, as we consider the chart of the Vernal Equinox, the 1st day of Aries, sets the tone for the year ahead.
At the Full Moon the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs. For this Full Moon, the Sun at the very first degree of Aries opposes the Moon at the very first degree of Libra. Aries is a sign of New Beginnings, flush with the excitement of emerging strength, procreation and initiation. Through Libra, we come to witness the impact that our actions and intentions have on others. Themes of the Aries/Libra axis are: War vs. Peace; competition vs. compromise; I vs. Thou. Where Aries celebrates the individual and independence; Libra seeks fairness, balance, equality and justice. There will be two Full Moons in Libra this season: the Full Moon in the 1st degree of Libra on March 20th, and then a Full Moon at the last degree of Libra on April 19th.
The Full Moon will also oppose Chiron, who recently limped into Aries. The Full Moon is shining a light on our wounds, our sorrows and regrets. It shows us where we falter. But it is also shining a light on the remedies. The guidance and the remedy is there if we need it. Sometimes all we need to do is ask. In the midst of all of this retrograde and Neptunian weather there are still a few markers and guides along the way trying to help us to make sense of the insensible, and show us the way through the mist.
Whereas Aries is about new beginnings and new initiatives, Libra presents us the consequences and results of previous initiatives already set in motion. The question at this time, in light of the recent New Mercury Cycle, and the upcoming Vernal Equinox, is to think about what initiatives we wish to reinvest in, and what new beginnings or better alternatives we might want to consider instead. Mercury is indeed still retrograde, so this is not a time for definite decisions yet. We may still not have all the information we need to make definite informed decisions. But we will certainly want to take into consideration what is being revealed, and what we have learned, in the light of this Super Full Moon.
For next week’s horoscopes, click below: