The Astrological New Year

I don't usually post about the Astrological New Year but March 2023 is a very exciting month. With a New Moon at the Spring Equinox and three planets changing signs, this will truly be a time of new beginnings.

Transiting Saturn has already started the trend as it moved into the sign of Pisces on 7th March. It will be followed by transiting Pluto moving into Aquarius on the 23rd (more on this coming up) and transiting Mars, after seven months in Gemini, will enter the sign of Cancer on the 25th. 

The Spring Equinox takes place on March 20th and just a few hours later there will be a New Moon at 0° Aries. This conjunction of the Sun and Moon is also joined by transiting Mercury - so, a Stellium at the very beginning of the zodiac circle. 

Intimate conversations are lucky during this Sun, Moon, Mercury Stellium, so if you have been thinking about marriage, the 20th/21st March will be an excellent time to propose. If you've already 'popped the question', this will be a beneficial influence - particularly as Venus (relationships) and Saturn (commitment) are also in a very positive aspect to each other - for taking things further and getting down to some serious wedding plans. If you're due to get hitched on either of those dates, your marriage should be a successful one. Congratulations!

With transiting Mars finally out of Gemini and into Cancer on 25th March for eight weeks until 20th May, we can expect new developments connected to women, the environment and the oceans. Mars will be on a World Point at 0° Cancer, so there's a possibility of disruption caused by deeply felt emotions. Perhaps this refers to public protests of some sort. There will be a lack of control in headlong confrontations throughout the Mars in Cancer transit and accidents resulting from hasty actions - or reactions - will be a danger. When Mars reaches 22° Cancer from 3rd - 12th May, it will be in opposition to the degree it was in when the Ukraine war began - 22° Capricorn. Expect something significant. Mars is, of course, the planet which rules war and aggression. It symbolises the weapons of war and in Cancer, this could mean attacks involving the sea - torpedoes, submarines, sea-to-air missiles, etc. 

Interestingly, in traditional astrology, the sign of Cancer represents Scotland. The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, recently announced her resignation and as a result the race is on to find her successor. There are three candidates and two of them were born under the sign of Aries - the sign ruled by Mars. So, when the new First Minister is revealed on the 27th March - just two days after Mars enters Cancer - it looks like a win for one of the Aries.candidates.

Happy Astrological New Year!

The Spring Equinox will occur on Tuesday 20th March at 16:16 hrs precisely. In the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the official start of Spring. Also known as the March Equinox, the Northward Equinox and the Vernal Equinox from Vernus - the Latin word for Spring, aequus - Latin for equal, and nox - Latin for night. It describes the two days of the year (the other is the Autumnal Equinox in September) when day and night are equal in length. On the Spring Equinox, the Sun moves North across the Equator and positions at 0.00° of the Zodiac Circle. Known as the First Point In Aries, this is where the Sun's annual journey around the Zodiac begins - it's the Astrological New Year.

If you calculate a chart for the beginning of any season, it will show likely events, both personally and globally, for the next three months. So, what lies ahead from now until 21st June? The first thing I noticed is that there is an Earth Grand Trine involving the Moon in Taurus, Saturn in Capricorn, and the Ascendant in Virgo. This suggests a period of stability on the world stage. However, there are no fewer than five planets situated in sector 8 - the house of money, scandal and dark secrets. Is something going on behind the scenes that we know nothing about? As two of those planets are Mercury and Venus in a conjunction to each other, it could mean secret negotiations of some kind. 

In the Spring Equinox chart, the Sun is in a square aspect to Mars. This indicates turbulent times with an accident-prone phase ahead. A very uncompromising influence which will bring a lot of frustration. Explosive bursts of anger are also likely - so hopefully that stabilising Earth Grand Trine will prevent conflict. It's true that certain factions will be in the mood to do battle but perhaps with words, not war. Interestingly this planetary influence shows increased physical energy. What does this mean on a global scale? Could it be seismic energy? Or perhaps other forces of nature - weather, tidal surges, etc?

Sector 7 of the Spring Equinox chart is also highly emphasised - including Juno, the marriage asteroid conjunct the Descendant. Now, who do we know who will be getting married soon with a wedding seen by millions of people? As far as the new royal baby is concerned, I can't be sure and I'm really sticking my neck out, but it seems likely that the birth of Kate's third will be on or around the 28th April. 

For those of you reading this who are into numerology, can you tell what the significance of the number 16 is? The Equinox date adds up to 16 (2 + 0 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 8) and the time is 16 hours and 16 minutes.