Aries Equinox 2016

The gateway into the zodiacal New Year is always 0 degrees of Aries whether you live above the equator or below. This year the Vernal Equinox occurs early on March 20th in Washington DC.

The boundless energy of Aries, like the Ram, needs to push hard to relinquish the hold of Pisces. This won’t be the easiest of tasks this year considering the large massing of energies in the most watery of signs symbolized by the two fishes swimming in opposite directions.  March has been filled with not just the Sun, but Neptune, Chiron, the South Node in Pisces, Venus, the asteroid Demeter, and Mercury. These energies have tended to unbalance Jupiter and the North Node opposite in Virgo, as well as conflicting with Saturn in Sagittarius. Where have the logic, discipline and orderly protocol of Virgo gone?   Where is the focused aim of Sagittarius?  Chaotic, confusing, and amorphous energies have reigned supreme in the GOP debates in America these past several months.  Thankfully the Democratic debates have been more civil.

Many of the Presidential hopefuls have reflected the Mutable Dilemma with Bernie Sanders and Ben Carson representing Virgo, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio representing Gemini, and Ted Cruz representing Sagittarius. No Pisces is highlighted save for Hilary Clinton’s Moon in this sign. She is the only candidate still in the running with a fixed Sun in Scorpio.

Looking at how this Equinox charts fits into the Sibley chart of the United States, we see that the Sun will soon be illuminating the 4th foundational house. What about this ‘land of the free, and home of the brave’? Transit Uranus is set to go over Chiron in Aries starting in April. Does this portend a further awakening of all that is wounded in this land? Chiron isn’t addressed enough in America’s chart, sitting down there hidden from view squaring Pluto and squaring the Sun and Mercury. The lid on all these tensions may erupt more violently before election year is over. Good dates to watch will be when Sun conjoins Uranus from the 1st of April through the 16th.  The Uranus/Pluto square further intensifies these uprisings.

Artist Murat Sayginer@www.muratsayginer.com

For those of you wanting to work with these highly charged energies in a positive way, keep moving forward with your plans and aspirations as more of the Cardinal/action signs help to balance out the mutable ones. Aries likes action. With Mars also in the Fire sign of Sagittarius, great energies can be harnessed to accomplish your goals. Mars tries to catch up with Saturn, but turns Retrograde on April 18th. It will finally join solid forces with that planet of work and accomplishment in August.

Flowing with Pisces isn’t necessarily easy either!  Some people get sick this time of year as the weather keeps changing back and forth.  This may afford a time of rest finally!  Ideally, time-out periods each day should be taken for meditation, reflection, enjoyment of nature, and simply breathing and being.

I’ve purposely spent a bit of time on this American election process because the next President of a world power will determine much on the collective world stage.  July determines the final two candidates when a great deal Fire energies are present, including a lot of Leo. A very high stakes game is being played now for more power and control. We know this by watching Uranus square Pluto in Capricorn. We also see Pluto, symbolically representing the ‘plutocracy’, attempting to gain an even stronger stance in the body politic as it returns to its original position in the July 4th chart over the next few years.  If  (there’s always a chance it could be other possibilities) it is to be Trump vs. Clinton things are certainly going to get interesting with two souls both having Mars in Leo.

Hilary Clinton

Hilary’s chart shows a Mars/Pluto/Saturn conjunction in that sign which is a deep and driving ambition born out of post World War II.

Donald Trump

Trump simply identifies with his Mars/Ascendant in Leo.  Hilary, of course, is a double Scorpio with Moon in Pisces while Donald is a Gemini Sun with Moon in Sagittarius.  Quite a lot of ‘adjustments’ between these two lie ahead if they end up being the ones who vie for the throne.

Right on the heels of the Sun entering Aries will be our second eclipse this month, the Full Moon Eclipse in Libra on the 23rd. A Lunar Eclipse is a good time to reach clear awareness of what needs to be released in your life so you can move forward. The Moon in Libra asks that we balance our own desires with others and move towards greater cooperation. It may also be time for us to see clearly which relationships are in harmony, and which aren’t. The next two weeks leading to the New Moon at 18+ Aires on April 7th can ideally be weeks when we are living our truths in all our relationships.

What I see in this Equinox chart is a lot of shifting energies at work. Lots of ripples and waves. Lots of words thrown around. Lots of hidden agendas swirling underneath it all. So keep your own wise counsel. Stay alert. And most of all; stay sane. It’s not a good time to go off the deep end. Be careful where you jump!