The Spring Equinox is upon us! Temperatures are rising and the days are getting longer and longer. Have you already gone for a walk in nature? You definitely should, the Sun is smiling at us (here in Italy at least). But what about the stars?
As you may know according to Astrology the Spring Equinox is the first of the year. It is the moment when the Sun enters Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. A new cycle starts, and since Astrology holds beginnings in high regard this event is huge. As your life is affected by the moment of your birth, so is the next year.
Let’s take a closer look to the chart of the Sun entrance in Aries.
A Pressure Cooker
First of all, we have an excess of fire energy here. Usually it’s not uncommon to find—as in this case—both Mercury and Venus in Aries as well. This because they never stray too far away from the Sun. But this year we also have Uranus, the Moon and Saturn: six out of ten planets in fire signs. Uranus is nothing new: it is in Aries for several years. On top of that, Saturn is in Sagittarius since 2015. But the Moon? Seriously? Do we really need other fire?
Fire is the element of action, will, passion, desire and ultimately transformation. No need to say that the last year has been quite… eventful. So we can expect this trend to continue the next year.
But how is it Mars? We want to check it out because the relief valve of all this fire is usually the god of war. It is in Taurus, though—duh! Taurus is about stability, consolidation and tranquility… so basically the relief valve is not going to work properly. He tends to defend the castle and never come out! And those left out—well—they can go to hell.
The Cardinal T-Square
So, what’s cooking? The Cardinal T-Square, of course. We have already discussed about it, so let’s sum it up briefly. Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter are battling in the sky, so to speak. They represent respectively the financial elites (Pluto in Capricorn), the people who stand up all around the world protesting for social justice (Uranus in Aries) and the legal systems (Jupiter in Libra) that abide mainly what is formally correct rather than what feels right for the people.
In the chart of the year we find Saturn conjunct the Moon. This means that the public opinion (the Moon represents the mass) is going to feel blocked and oppressed. The conjunction with Saturn is always very challenging; and in this case it is partile, meaning that the planets are on the same degree at 28° Sagittarius. In the end, having a weak Mars we can expect that the general discontent will increase. Coincidentally, the Saturn-Moon conjunction makes a trine with Uranus. This means that the protests will definitely rise, but their effect for this year will still be very weak due to Saturn.
On top of that, Mercury in Aries will set the media on fire. This will contribute to the above mentioned general discontent. Nothing new, right? This is after all a very well known media strategy to make us feel vulnerable and scared, as the Moon conjunct Saturn aspect suggests.
Both the Benefics are Retrograde
In the chart of the year Jupiter and Venus are both retrograde—which doesn’t help at all. Usually the benefics are able to balance tension with harmony (Venus) and pessimism with confidence (Jupiter). But in this case they are retrograde, which means that mainly they are going to make us question ourselves.
We can say that all that rising frustration can be an opportunity for questioning what we think to be right or wrong (read Jupiter Retrograde in Libra 2017 for further details) and the way passion affects our relationships (see Venus Retrograde in Aries 2017).
In Conclusion
I am not going to lie: this year is going to be tough. Obviously this is a very general interpretation that concerns the collective unconscious on a global scale. Each single country, as well as each single person, is going to be affected in a very specific way that doesn’t necessarily match this reading. However, the dynamic aspects involved (T-Square), the benefics retrograde, the Moon-Saturn conjunction, the excess of fire and a very weak Mars are all symptoms of both tension and energy stagnation.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
