Early March in northern California typically feels as transitional as the governing mutable water sign Pisces suggests it should. [Mutable- from the Latin mutabilis, “changeable”] There are four mutable, or changeable, astrological signs, one for each element, each occurring in the last stage of every season, prior to the start of the next. Spring changes to summer through airy Gemini, summer shifts into autumn helped by earthy Virgo, and fiery Sagittarius is the transition sign completing autumn in the northern hemisphere. Winter closes in the sign of Pisces, and like the ocean with which it is associated, Pisces time can be sparkly or stormy, with choppy waves apparent, or a still surface hiding the currents of change beneath. Is it still winter? Look! There’s frost on the lawn. Or is it spring? Colorful petals adorn the cherry and plum trees, daffodils emerge, purple and yellow flowers brighten the green hills. Yikes! It’s cold again, and the Russian River’s in danger of flooding from all the rain. Ahhhh, what a beautiful sunny day, I have to roll my window down because my car’s so warm…and so forth. Mutable, changeable, hints of what is coming, but not stabilized or established. Since February 18th and until March 20th this year, Pisces keeps us wondering and wistful, eager for the coming warmth of spring and summer, yet happy that the showers keep the hills verdant and the blossoms fresh.
New Moon in Pisces on Friday, March 4th. Dark of the Moon phase in the time of Pisces, the most expansively mysterious and fantastically transcendent of the zodiacal signs. With Mercury, Mars and Uranus joining the Luminaries in a “rolling conjunction” across the breadth of the entire “Fishes” constellation, and picking up by proximity the dreamy sea-god planet, Neptune, at the tail-end of Aquarius, we have a lunation destined to take us deeply into ourselves, especially our hearts, and ideally, our souls.
Dreams are, according to some, our direct link to the Source, our very own personal messages, given to guide us into wisdom and healing. Relax, receive, and honor this most dreamy time of year by heeding, recording, programming or even ‘waking up’ in your dreams! Dreamy, yes? Dreamy indeed, yet like the suddenly stormy and chaotic seas, our dreamtime adventures might become nightmarish voyages into the sub-conscious, where personal versions of sea monsters and terrifying creatures of the deep appear to torment, or devour us. <Emily says department: “In the ocean, I am at the bottom of the food chain!”> Just so, in the astral realm we are often “at the effect” of whatever seems to appear. However, with intentional dreamwork, and a willingness to meet the dreams at their level, mainly in the dark, strange and ‘unreal’ world of our inner depths, we can gain our ‘sea legs’ and maintain greater and greater consciousness and equilibrium, and therefore memory of the dreams, while enduring all but the most turbulent of emotional storms. The rational mind seems like the proverbial fish-out-of-water trying to “stay afloat” in the dreamtime, or astral worlds.
Consider this Piscean phase of 2011 to be a potential initiation into greater awareness of, and interpenetration by, the subtle realms of consciousness. With mystical Neptune making its initial, exploratory voyage into its home waters of Pisces on April 4th, the human race can expect to actually feel what we mean when we say that “We are all in this boat together.” That has an Aquarian ring to it, with the concept of some common context, this great society, this fine civilization, this precious planet as the “boat” within which we inter-depend on our collective voyage. This idea may soon be ‘floated’ upon the watery currents of our emotional interconnectedness, perhaps refining our capacity for sensitivity to others. With the Piscean influence waxing, it may be quite a challenge to adapt to the experience of increased empathic receptivity, not just the idea of “‘being in the boat together”, but truly feeling, feeling a planet that wants to be felt, known, and loved, experiencing emotional openness to the myriad species and fellow humans that accompany us on our shared ‘voyage’. What would it be like to have our secret human emotional “internet” switched on so that we become aware of, and vulnerable to, our inter-subjective psychic link with our world? If it means enduring the raw tenderness of an open heart in order to come into right relationship with our planet and each other, could we handle it? Should we hope for it? If Captain Jean-Luc Picard were truly at the helm, and facing our dilemma, I believe he would give the order, “Make it so.”
Full Moon in Virgo on Saturday, March 19th Consulting the website, waningmoon.com, we find that the Full Moon (usually) occurring in March can be called the Chaste Moon, a Moon that excites the Faery folk, and asks us to honor the goddess in her maiden aspect. Since the Full Moon finds herself in the sign of Virgo when the Sun travels through Pisces, we think in terms of analysis and schedules, organization and preparation, and ask humbly to receive gifts of guidance, inspiration, and creativity through our dreams and visions. This Pisces time of year is the very best, generally speaking, for dreamwork. It seems the mind becomes particularly receptive to images and messages from the Dream Producer in the phase prior to the spring equinox and the urgent need for action stimulated by the birth of Aries! Prior to action, we dream of what can be, what wants to be, what will guide us joyfully to our greatest fulfillment, Guiding and inspiring dreams dreamt now can clue us into our next ‘mission’.
On the day after the Full Moon, March 20th, the Vernal Equinox arrives and we start the astrological New Year with the cardinal fire sign, Aries the Ram. The primal, aroused life-force is eager to act, to create, to do – do – do something! Impulses start to take over, so it is helpful to have a long-range guiding vision, dream or ambition to help keep the priorities straight and one’s efforts in alignment with one’s goals. Although the ‘sap is rising’ it is only just the beginning of a full set of seasons, so use the gentleness and balancing effect of the Libra Moon during the first weekend of Aries-time to help you get going with poise and graceful dignity. Or just burst out of the gate in a wild rampage and see who gets there first, anyway! What the hell, it is not a time of year to sit idle and let it be, at least for the birds and bees, so let it rip and pick up the pieces later. Either way, the path is cyclical and certain. We all get to the same destination, back to our beloved, fishy Pisces a year from now, so do what you do and do it your way and we’ll all get together in the end to hear the tale; so why not make an adventure of it and bring an interesting story to share, after all? Happy astrological New Year!