I remember the occasion many years ago hearing the quote ‘May you live through interesting times’ with the explanation that it was an ancient Chinese curse. Maybe not Chinese in origin, but we are in the throes of interesting times. Cast back to my 2011 forecast… ‘… revolution, earthquakes, hurricanes & floods…’ And the Fat Lady hasn’t even begun to sing yet!
In conversation recently, someone described my forecast as ‘gloom & doom’…. And I suppose there is news that’s not welcome…. But is the alternative, which is totally uninformed even better? I don’t think so. At least we know that these bad times will eventually turn to good times, and can prepare accordingly.
So….. To March. Days of the mad hares… In like a Lion, and out like a Lamb…. It will indeed be an interesting month. Not least because the Vernal Equinox on the 21st sees the day becoming longer than the nights, and it heralds the New Year as the Sun passes into Aries, first sign of the zodiac. The old ‘quarter day’ it is a very significant moment, as important as the Gregorian ‘new year’ of January 1st. A few days before that on the 19th, there is a full Moon in Virgo which is particularly important to note. It is a ‘SuperMoon’ which means that the Moon is at perigee… closest to the earth in its orbit. In fact it will be the closest perigee for 2011, so the Full Moon will appear bigger that any other all year.
The critical thing to watch though is that the gravitational pull is strongest on the Earth’s crust, even stronger that the Full Moon of Feb 18th, and the perigee of Feb 19th. You may recall I predicted earthquakes around this time, and Christchurch was at the epicentre on the 22nd after some early warning shakes.
So the SuperMoon of the 19th is arguably the most extreme of 2011, and the close proximity to the equinox means that it occurs almost directly over the equator, stressing and distorting the Earth’s crust severely. Think earthquakes, floods, electrical storms, hurricanes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Not all, but the potential is raised for any and all. Maybe not in Ibiza, but the window between the 16th and the 19th will be interesting to watch. Of course the tides will be highest and lowest across the world as the Earth’s crust suffers greatest distortion for 2011.
Of course folklore tells of people ‘going funny’ at the Full Moon. Think back over the past couple of weeks……. A lot of people have ‘gone funny’ but regrettably not in a ‘Ha Ha’ way. The SuperMoon of the 19th will make them, and others go even funnier. To fire them up, we see Uranus, the ‘awakener’ move into Aries the Ram sign of the zodiac on the 11th, ready to fire up sudden dramatic actions with typical ‘head down eyes closed’. But this is not a short term affair, Uranus remains in Aries for seven years, not finally moving into Taurus for good until March 2019. See my daily comment, that sums up the situation.
Areas under particular duress are North & central America, from Mexico City to Chicago; China and Siberia are vulnerable, as is West Africa and Western Europe. Even New Zealand is in the frame again, albeit the edge, and hopefully the previous quakes have left no ‘booby traps’ under the Earth’s crusts just waiting to be nudged.
At the end of the month, we see the opposition of Jupiter and Saturn perfect. The absolute paradox of expansion and contraction opposing each other. Freedom and restriction opposing one another. Look at the world, watch it in action!
And the good news? It gets better! The March Full Moon sees the harshest of the short term aspects, and while I will not predict Utopia, things do start to mend and get better. There are longer term issues between 2012 and 2015, but more of that another day.
But to the nitty gritty of March, day by day……
The 1st sees Venus Sextile Uranus: You don’t have to go crazy trying to discover new sensations. Sometimes the slightest variation in a time-honoured recipe will turn things around with hardly any effort. Try a new ingredient, a new position, a new side road — you’ll be surprised what’s just next door and around the corner, and maybe who’s doing it too.
Next day, Venus enters Aquarius, and everything is worth a try for the next few weeks. Branching out to have a little of each is what it’s all about. That of course includes taking the banal with the sublime, and if mixed tastes are not your style you may want to tread water for a while. On the other hand, there will be some dishes up for grabs you wish you’d known about earlier, so don’t turn a blind eye.
The 4th and Mars Sextile Pluto means that being firm but not controlling is the key to getting along for everyone. Stick to your guns but don’t point them at others and all will go smoothly. When expectations are clear, it is easy to achieve harmony and mutual cooperation.
In the evening, there’s a New Moon in Pisces. To focus your mind, you must empty it first – if you can’t do that, you’ll never line up the sights. The compelling urgency right now is to take your attention away from the details and let the white noise take over until something materializes in the midst of it, a new figure stepping out of the mist. The challenge is to follow the swirls of the current until you feel the change in the waters around you, sense the nearness of the shore, and then direct your stroke to the sound of the waves on the beach. The courage is in knowing there will be a resolution when there isn’t yet one in sight.
The 9th and Mercury Conjunct Uranus suggests that lightning-flash ideas lead to sudden, keen insights about how to make things work better. Leading-edge inventiveness abounds. In general, it’s a good time for that “aha!” light bulb to go off over your head, so keep your mind open and write down what comes to you. Later in the day, Mercury enters Aries, so everybody’s going to be quick-witted for a few weeks, or at least will be giving it a try, which means the foot-in-mouth syndrome escalates, as people speak before they think. Nevertheless, there’s a sharpening of minds that cuts waste and makes for rapid-fire unfolding of ideas. Follow-through after the onrush will be the challenge.
Next day, the 10th Venus Sextiles Jupiter. There is an opulence in good taste that surpasses grandiose, and the key to satisfaction is not how much you have but what you do with it. Taking just what you need to feed your desires creates a gentle spiral of growth and gratification. By making it ‘just so’ the afterglow of contentment lingers.
Early on the 12th Uranus enters Aries. Discoveries are increasingly made by forcing the issue over the next seven years. Breaks and discontinuities seem to come from out of the blue, even though they have been gestating for some time. Belief systems around you change radically at sudden shear points, revealing the obvious only after the fact, leaving the most aggressive in charge.
The 13th and Mercury Squares Pluto. Forceful arguments have less weight, the more you put into them. Pounding debates only exhaust their participants. Attacking the issue will wind up destroying it. Yet that’s the general inclination, so when in doubt just say nothing. Hightail it to some seclusion where you can wait out the battle, then pick up others’ pieces.
On the 15th Venus Trines Saturn. Beauty and wealth both come from the bottom up — built, not just acquired. Desires are truly fulfilled only by plumbing their depths and knowing what it is you really truly want. Addressing these issues now allows for lasting satisfaction where recurrent cravings no longer unsettles your sleep.
The 16th and Mercury Conjuncts Jupiter, so all kinds of new plans and schemes fill the air, and if you can latch onto one that really works, you can go far. If there is a problem, it is sieving out the best from the rest and settling on what to do with it. No time for details now, just get the concepts right and lay big plans for the future.
Friday the 18th, Mercury is Opposite Saturn Navigating past the logjams of the mind can be a challenge, and sometimes you just can’t get your head together and focused. The brain drain is a pain, and only periodically with periods of mental energy and clear thinking. It’s happening all around, so best wait until things lighten up before making commitments.
The 19th and the Full Moon in Virgo. This “Worm” Moon has more than the usual craziness of full Moon, it also has an in-and-out-of-focus quality that can change from moment to moment. Just when you think you’ve got things pinned down, life goes into soft focus and you forget your line and have to wing it. It’s really hard to script what’s going on, so maybe you shouldn’t try too hard, and certainly don’t insist others toe the line, as they’re having the same issues. What you bring out of this period will be better intuitive communication and a better understanding of just how unreliable pre-set cues can be. It’s less about saying what you mean, more about meaning what you say – even if it isn’t all that clear, it can still get across.
20 minutes into the 21st and it’s Sun into Aries. There’s a fairly sudden shift of energy as a month of urgency begins, painting action and purpose on a previously passive environmental palette. Patience and gestation won’t do anymore, time to get up and go – but exactly where to may be the puzzle. Preventing premature detonation while delivering a timely bombshell is the challenge of the month ahead. Later the same day…. Sun Conjunct Uranus, and a feeling of explosive urgency is in the air. You can fall into some serious personal discovery if you ride that wave. You can also get into some heated debate in a flash as there’s an all-or-nothing tinge to events that resist reining in. Exploit the moment, but wait on pursuing it too far until heads cool.
The 27th and Venus Conjuncts Neptune. Mystery holds much appeal; the more difficult it is to put a finger on the more people will want it. Dreams, fantasies, fiction, and the generally ineffable are all good sellers, no matter who is buying. A time to be gloriously unspecific and totally undemanding of the suddenly gossamer fabric of reality. Later, Venus enters Pisces, and the more ethereal the better for a few weeks, and if you can’t quite put your finger on it, that’s just what everybody wants. The elusive, mysterious, and hard to get or understand are what’s on the general menu, though satisfaction may be hard to find afterward. But just the right taste could lead straight to heaven.
Next day, the 28th and Sun Squares Pluto. Personal confrontations abound and you will do well to avoid them. They lead nowhere but take up a lot of time and energy and leave resentment in their trail. Force plays and squeeze plays are no substitute for fair play, and you’ll never regret walking away. Let the air clear and be ready to move on unimpeded.
Later on the same day, Jupiter moves Opposite Saturn. This generational aspect, which happens only once every 20 years, marks a major social and economic struggle between the new and the old, the traditional and the radical, in which both sides spar and harden against each other. It is very much a time to choose one and leave the other behind in relation to the larger part all play in the big picture. Prejudices increase, along with paranoia and general fear of the unknown, leading many to cling to false idols and defend or advance them dangerously. Where you can find movement that leads both to what is right and also profitable, there you will become elevated above the fray.
The 30th, and Mercury moves to Stationary Retrograde in readiness to commence it backward journey in Aries for a few weeks. Just when you think you can enjoy the limelight, you have to turn around and put some more spin on your tale to satisfy the onlookers. That scenario can characterize the next three weeks when your image may need some polishing and you have to resolve differences of opinion on your status. But, a few stumbling blocks well attended to now will open up a path of clear sailing down the road. Part of this may be that you haven’t really picked up the smaller stitches because you’ve not quite got the bigger picture in focus. Refocus, pull all the threads together, and then you’re on your way.
So, there you have it, March…. Mad as a hare…..
The days are now longer, the Sun is now higher, flowers bloom in its warmth, and we are here to delight in them. These are the truly important things. Sadly, so very many people in the world have lost their way.
With the blessings of the Cosmos until next month….
Your Ibiza Astrologer
