Spring Equinox - Astrology and Ceremony
20th March – 21:25 UT/GMT
Technical Astrology bits are in italics and can be ignored if you wish.
This Equinox, there is a massive line-up of the Sun and Moon with 8 of the planets and main asteroids all together in one quadrant of the sky. Along with Saturn having just moved into Pisces and Pluto about to move into Aquarius, this signifies a major shift in our personal and collective consciousness.
The alignment is led by Uranus in Taurus, followed by a conjunction of Juno, Venus and Moon’s North Node in Taurus, followed by another conjunction of Vesta, Jupiter and Chiron in Aries, followed by another conjunction of Mercury and Sun in Aries, with Neptune and the Moon in Pisces.
Way ahead of Uranus are Pallas in Cancer and Mars in Gemini, and at a distance behind the Moon, are Saturn, which has just entered Pisces and Pluto, in the last degree of Capricorn and about to enter Aquarius on 23rd March.
Uranus continues to shake up structures all around us, bringing radical change and opening the way into a different future. Ahead of Uranus the two spiritual warriors, Pallas Athene and Mars, are like the advance guard, highlighting and, where possible, beginning the process of clearing away obstacles that lie on the path ahead.
Pallas is square (90°) the conjunction of Vesta – Jupiter – Chiron, which are semi-sextile (30°) the Moon, which is trine (120°) back to Pallas.
Pallas is challenging us to totally trust our inner knowing and the spiritual perceptions of our hearts. This can make us aware of when we are just reacting automatically, from a place of emotional habit or wanting to remain in our comfort zones; if we allow our inner heart’s knowing to guide us, this will bring healing to our emotions, particularly in the kind of situations where we may not have had the courage to stand by our convictions in the past.
Mars is at the apex of a T-square, with squares (90°) to Mercury – Sun – Neptune, and to retrograde Ceres. Ceres is in opposition to Mercury – Sun – Neptune.
Mars is challenging us to let go of our attachments to how we think about our personal needs, particularly when those needs conflict with the needs of the planet, or the well-being, care and nurture of others. Just as the Equinox is a time of balance between the light and the dark, between the outer and the inner self, so is the Sun poised between the out-going, eagerness of the rational mind (Mercury in Aries) and the inwardly focussed surrender of the intuition to the greater whole (Neptune in Pisces). Mars is challenging us to find a balance between these two extremes in our nature (rational mind and intuitive feeling self), before we make any important decisions and act them out in the world (Mars in Gemini). We need to allow the intuition to inform our thinking, but at the same time to allow our rational thinking to inform our intuition, so that we can be sure we are not merely escaping into fantasy or wishful thinking.
Following behind Uranus is a close conjunction of Juno, Venus and Moon’s North Node; these indicate that the true purpose of this time of change is to build bridges to ensure that, in all our dealings and encounters, we focus our attention on doing our very best to act in ways that keep us in right relationship with others. The key here is to try to see beyond the personality (our own and others’) and find ways to honour the essence or soul of others. In this way, we can build bridges that can span what may at first appear to be unreconcilable differences.
Following behind Juno – Venus – Node is a conjunction of Vesta - Jupiter – Chiron. This is about listening to the perceptions of our innermost heart (Vesta) and our higher knowing (Jupiter), in order to create the right conditions to bring healing (Chiron) for ourselves and others.
Following behind Vesta – Jupiter – Chiron is yet another conjunction of Mercury – Sun – Neptune – Moon. Neptune is dissolving our attachments to the ways in which we have habitually identified with our thoughts and feelings, believing them to be who we are. Neptune can enable us to go beyond those thoughts and feelings, to directly experience our innermost essence.
Saturn entered Pisces on 7th March. As it passes through Pisces over the next three years, it can enable us to use our accumulated wisdom and experience to confront our personal and collective shadow. These are all the hidden, unexpressed, or repressed qualities that are still left unresolved from the last 2,00 years of the Piscean Age, and which may be blocking or interfering with our progress forward. Saturn will bring these qualities into the light, so that we can decide what to keep and what to let go of, thereby creating space to absorb, integrate, digest and anchor the incoming, positive, new energies into the world.
Finally, we can begin to free ourselves from Pluto’s power-plays and attempts at mass control and manipulation that have been played out over the past 15 years of it passing through Capricorn. As Pluto moves into Aquarius on 23rd March, it can begin to reveal what the true power of the collective really looks like in the world, as individuals and groups increasingly reclaim and express their inner power. This process will take some time, as Pluto will take the next 20 years to pass through Aquarius. It will definitely not be comfortable for those still clinging on to the old cycles of control and manipulation; but for those who embrace their own true inner power, Pluto can propel us forward into a new era of personal and collective responsibility focussed on the well-being of humanity and the Earth.
Retrograde Ceres and the Moon’s South Node stand alone on the opposite side of the chart and are linked by aspect lines to most of the other planets. This indicates that everything mentioned above, will depend upon us confronting and releasing our deepest emotional patterns of attachment to the past (South Node in Scorpio); it will also depend upon us redressing the damage caused to our planet, whether through ignorance or intention, and using all of our resources and energies to care for and restore the balance of our relationship with Mother Earth (Ceres in Libra), in the future.
JOIN US IN CEREMONY
We invite you to join us in ceremony on Monday 20th March at 7:30
Everyone is welcome
We’re hoping that the weather will be like today - dry and a bright sky - so we can
sit around the fire with the trees in bud and blossom and Sheila’s gorgeous, special drum.
Dress warm and bring a folding camping chair.
If it’s like yesterday - really wet, windy and cold - we’ll be in the crystal barn.
Dear Sheila is bringing her beautiful drum
Whatever the evening brings, we’ll move into the barn for 9pm
You will be able to link in and we’ll meditate together at the time of the eclipse.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89025985907?pwd=ck51RjBDT2UxaEI5TjEvd1hRYS83QT09
Everyone is welcome but we’d like to know if you plan to join us.
Email and we’ll give you the password.