March 15, 2024 | by Silvianne K. Delmars |
This astro week begins on Sunday, March 16, with the 2nd Quarter waxing Moon in Gemini, and ends on Monday, March 25, with the Libra Full Moon. Here are the highlights (all times given in PDT):
Saturday, March 16
We begin our lunation week with the 2nd Quarter Moon in Gemini squaring the Sun in Pisces late in the evening (or the next morning, depending on your time zone). During this phase, the Moon rises around noon, so look for it high in the sky after sunset. This waxing Moon has just passed Aldebaran and the Pleiades, and they will all travel across the sky together this evening, setting around midnight.
With the very out-of-bounds Moon here at Galactic Edge (opposite to Galactic Center in the heart of the Milky Way), we are definitely being invited to hang out and tune in to information streaming from this pregnant-with-possibilities portion of the cosmos.
Sunday, March 17
The Moon reaches its current most extreme out-of-bounds north position today, in late degrees of Gemini/early Cancer. Time to bring our perceptions along into unknown territory as well. The Moon is now approaching Castor and Pollux in the night sky, closest tomorrow on March 18, in mid/late degrees of Cancer.
The Sun will be passing Neptune in Pisces in the early morning, continuing the current emphasis on this dreamy, watery, visionary sign. We are being encouraged to feel our feelings – so that we may soften our perceptions, opening to new, previously undreamt of modes of accessing heart-centered knowing. A good time to ask for wisdom to come through from our dreams or other non-ordinary states of being.
Monday, March 18
Venus is currently in Pisces, making an exact square to Pallas in Sagittarius today, and an exact opposition to Juno in Virgo tomorrow. Leo synodic overstory Venus is rapidly descending in the morning sky, traversing the Root Chakra gate, and heading towards her last meet-up with the Moon in the morning sky in early April, before the underworld phase of her journey begins in late April. Thereafter she will no longer be visible to us, until she rises as an evening star a couple months later.
In these final stages of her descent journey, the sovereign Sacred Feminine is being given the opportunity to confront the different ways in which her wholeness has been split and distorted by thousands of years of dominator culture. This affects the Sacred Feminine aspect within each one of us, male and female. The emphasis on challenging aspects to the asteroid goddesses invites us to explore our own deep-seated blocks to an intrinsic experience of wholeness, and asks if are willing to finally let them go.
Mercury, now in the Hermes evening star phase of its Sagittarius synodic overstory, will confer with the North Node this evening. This is a powerful timing, as the sacred messenger aligns with humanity’s future trajectory in the pioneering sign of Aries. Time to reclaim and invoke the gift of healthy Aries’ unwavering commitment to justice and defending what truly matters with courage and infectious enthusiasm.
Tuesday, March 19
March Equinox Sunset, Southern Spain, by Naraya Naserian
The Sun enters Aries late this evening (or tomorrow depending on your time zone), marking the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Fall Equinox in the southern part of the globe. At this pregnant moment, when light and dark are balanced on the Earth, the energies are ripe to co-create with Great Mystery.
We are invited to take note of and honor the position of the sun’s rising and setting during this 3-day window in the very particular landscape we currently inhabit. Unlike at the Solstice points (the word means “Sun stands still”) the Sun is moving more rapidly at these balance points. What energies are stirring in us, longing to unfold as we head towards the fullness of the Equinox, at the next seasonal turning?
Wednesday, March 20
Still fresh from its rendezvous with the North Node, Mercury overtakes Chiron today, just one degree from the position of the approaching New Moon solar eclipse on April 8, which will also feature an exact conjunction with Chiron. An invitation to source the profound wisdom of teacher/healer Chiron in repairing the distortions of archetypal Aries. Time to let go of false dichotomies, and debased mercenary applications of power, so we can restore the path of the Sacred Warrior in service to the Earth and all her creatures.
The Moon, in early degrees of Leo, goes back in bounds again today. It can be seen near Regulus, the Royal Star that marks the heart of the Lion constellation, in the night sky today and tomorrow, visible through dawn.
Thursday, March 21
Venus is conjunct Saturn in Pisces today, very low and dim in the eastern, morning sky. In preparation for her transformative underworld passage next month, Leo overstory Venus is being given the opportunity to seek her deepest spiritual underpinnings!
Friday, March 22
Gemini synodic overstory Mars, continuing in his growth of wisdom phase, is entering the sign of Pisces this afternoon. Mind-centered Gemini Mars is being invited into the numinous, emotional waters of mystic Pisces. What will the trickster god encounter there and how will it inform the Sacred Masculine within each of us and for the collective? Mars can be seen in the early morning, becoming more visible as he slowly ascends in the eastern sky.
Saturday, March 23
The Moon will reach apogee today – its farthest distance from Earth in its elliptical orbit.
Sunday, March 24
Evening star Mercury reaches its maximum elongation, at 19 degrees from the Sun. This is the best Northern hemisphere apparition of Mercury in 2024. Look for it near the western horizon just after sunset.
Monday, March 25
We end our lunation week with the Libra Full Moon. This is also a partial, penumbral lunar eclipse, visible over large parts of South and all of North America, exact at midnight. The Libra Moon opposing Sun in Aries continues this week’s emphasis on fiery Aries themes, strongly invoking the resonant polarity of airy Libra, who longs to bring conscious, equal relationship ideals down to Earth to foster balance and harmony, making sure all the voices are heard.
With all planets currently in direct motion through the end of the month, aiding and abetting Aries’ natural tendency towards sometimes reckless spontaneity, Libra offers a welcome reminder to take a breath and consider all sides of a situation before proceeding.
This is especially important as we continue to navigate the deep Piscean waters of collective ancestral grief, murky with guilt and shame. As we courageously commit to this necessary plumbing of the depths at this unprecedented Turning of The Ages, it is imperative that we also remember to seek solace and inspiration from the interwoven threads of relationship that compose the tapestry of our daily lives, including the relationship with our own deep Soul. Help is always available if we seek it – sometimes we just need to remind ourselves to stop and ask!