March 17th ~ 24th
“Joys of Spring” by René Lelong
i thank you God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky: and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today, and this is the sun’s birthday: this is the birth day of life and love and wings and of the gay great happening illimitably earth) ~ e.e. cummings
The last of the super new moons this year, the New Moon in the very first degree of the first sign of the zodiac, falls on the Aries Equinox this year. The first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere. Like a glorious rebirth, the New Moon in Aries is sextile to, and ushering in the Pluto ingress into the sign of Aquarius on the 23rd of March. Like an infant fresh from the womb, filled with this new life force, the New Moon at 0º Aries 50’ is beckoning us onto a path of profound transformation.
New Moons are about new starts, new beginnings. Fresh out of the gate, the sign of Aries is filled with potential. The Sun’s ingress into Aries, coinciding with a New Moon, sets the tone not only for the month, but for the full year ahead. The New Moon in Aries always brings an opportunity for renewal. All the more so with Pluto casting its influence over this Moon. A sense of empowerment arises when we figure out who we are and find our place in the scheme of things. The New Moon in Aries sextile Pluto aims to do precisely that.
This is a Moon about rebuilding, getting second chances, and reinventing ourselves and our lives. It dares us to take on challenges that require focus, determination and a strong will. The influence of Pluto can make us feel as if we are on a mission. And if you were to have your own mission statement, what might that be? What sort of person are you aspiring to be? In what ways do you want to grow and/or evolve? Use this Moon to set the intention to do so. It is powerful and forward moving.
This can be heartening following the Mars/Neptune square last week wreaking its existential despair. The New Moon is still within range of a conjunction to Neptune and square raging Mars. But it is separating. And Mars is now approaching a stabilizing trine to Saturn. Whatever demons we were battling are in retreat, even though they may be leaving a bittersweet trail of tears behind them. Know that Aries looks to the future, and does not dwell on what was. And with the courage of a mighty warrior, takes on all challenges.
The New Moon on Tuesday is an excellent Moon to work with if you are wanting to start something new, or reinvest an intention, a venture, an initiative with some super charged Aries energy. If you wish to set intentions or make affirmations with the New Moon, do so after the New Moon on March 21st, (1:23 PM EDT; 10:23 AM PDT; and 5:23 PM British Standard Time); and thru the Crescent Moon on the 24th. Even better to do so when the Moon is still in Aries, and when the Sun/Moon are above the horizon (during day hours).
The sign of Aries is a sign of new beginnings, eager and ready to get going. It is especially good for doing things that we need to do ourselves, under our own steam. Great for competitions, or things that require physical energy and initiative. Aries can bring us the motivation to do things that we normally would not have the courage, daring or energy to be bothered with. So lace up those running shoes, it’s time to get moving.
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives, may we greet it with enthusiasm and an open heart.
Some possible intentions or affirmations for the New Moon in Aries might be:
In life there are no problems, only challenges to be faced and overcome.
I trust my instincts to bring me where I need to be.
I am filled with the courage and strength to take on even the most daunting of challenges.
I embrace new beginnings with anticipation and eagerness to get started.
May I embody the spirit of a warrior hero, rushing headlong into life.
I have faith in my ability to take the initiative, putting all doubts aside.
Through our scientific and technological genius we've made of this world a neighborhood. And now through our moral and ethical commitment we must make of it a brotherhood. We must all learn to live together as brothers ~ or we will all perish together as fools.~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Pluto at the very last minute of the last degree of Capricorn finally crosses over into Aquarius on March 23rd, just a little over a day after the New Moon. For the past 3 years that Saturn has been in Aquarius, we have all been in Aquarius school. Learning the ropes. Figuring out what this whole new Aquarius era is going to involve. Saturn in Aquarius was like the school of hard knocks. Figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Stumbling over ourselves in the process. We were just barely getting our footing. But whereas Saturn in Aquarius was like an undergrad degree, Pluto in Aquarius is going to be the master class.
And we’re only just getting started. Pluto will only be in this first degree of Aquarius for 11 weeks, before it retrogrades back into Capricorn again on June 11th. This is its inaugural debut as it just barely dips its Plutonian toe into the roiling air waves of Aquarius. We are being introduced into the Pluto in Aquarius era in increments, beginning with this initial visit, followed by a deeper dive early in 2024, and then finally entering Aquarius in November 2024, where it will remain thru 2043/44.
Pluto has an unusually elliptical orbit, in that it spends different lengths of time in each sign. It’s longest stay is in the sign of Taurus (31 years), its shortest (12 years) in Scorpio. It took Pluto 15 years to move through Capricorn. It will be 20 years in Aquarius. But whichever sign Pluto moves through it has this remarkable capacity to transform and redefine our relationship to what that sign means generally in society, as well as what it means to us personally.
Also note that Pluto may not change your actual quadrant house when it changes signs this week. It will continue to function in that department of life, but through a different lens and value system. With this initial dip into the Pluto in Aquarius era, we are just getting acclimated to what those values are, or may be going forward.
Ultimately there will be social changes, which will impact everyone. There is no doubt. And we will explore these further with next week’s post. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius from 1777/78 thru 1798, we had the French Revolution (liberté, egalité, fraternité) which began in 1789 and culminated with the Reign of Terror in 1799; the Americans were still in the throes of their own Revolutionary War ending with the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. And then there was the Industrial Revolution (remember the cotton gin?), and the impact it had on the global economy (not to mention the environment).
The time Pluto was in Aquarius before that (1532-1553) led off with Calvin’s Protestant reformation in France; Henry VIII’s break with Rome and the establishment of the Church of England; not to mention Copernicus’ revolutionary manuscript (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium) was finally published, supporting the heliocentric theory that the planets revolved around the Sun, not the Earth. Talk about a mind-bender!
Pluto in Aquarius has this capacity to transform, and yes, revolutionize the world in remarkable ways. The closest we can come to these vast revolutionary eras in our most recent history, can be correlated with the Uranus/Pluto conjunction in the 1960’s when we had the Civil Rights Movement, the vast anti-war demonstrations, the Women’s Movement and more. So even a small dip into Aquarius this year has the potential to change our world view in remarkable, and yes, perhaps even revolutionary ways. Be prepared to be amazed.
For this week’s horoscopes, click below: