The Cosmic Story: Spring Equinox 2023
Emergence and Rebirth
Wheel of the Year.JPG
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Spring Equinox: Autumn Equinox
While I'll be talking about the northern hemisphere and the Spring Equinox, I want to acknowledge those of you in the southern hemisphere as you begin to let go of the light and slide into the fall.
The Equinox impacts both the North and South in the same way - there is a balance of day and night, light and dark. That moment of balance happens twice each year, as the sunlight waxes and wanes.
Onward we go round the Spiral
Touching darkness, touching light.
Twice each year we rest in balance,
Make choices on this night.
Make choices on this night.
In the South, you're gathering in the harvest. Up North, we're beginning to see flowers emerging. The crocuses have come out, heralding the return of life. If you haven't already, it's time to ground yourself in Mother Earth's life and death cycle. We belong in the natural cycle: many of our cultural problems come from being cut off from it.
The choices we make for this new year will have ramifications for the next few years. With Saturn's entry into Pisces, we have the chance to completely regenerate the roots of our sense of security and grounding. While it might seem scary to root ourselves in the waters of the Collective Unconscious, what we're really being called upon to do is to root ourselves in our spiritual beliefs. Which means, establishing a strong spiritual practice so we stay centered while our collective culture undergoes a much needed transformation. To be in the world (society) but not of it.
At Spring Equinox, we emerge from our Winter hibernation and prepare ourselves for another year of growth. Each year we learn something new about ourselves and each year when we integrate that new part of ourselves, we create a new story. This year's new story is about Freedom. The freedom from patriarchal rules and perspectives and beliefs. That doesn't mean we throw out the baby with the bathwater. It means freely choosing what you value and how you live those values, without the guild, shame and fear that patriarchy thrives on. Clean out your psychic 'gut microbiome' of unhealthy self-talk, negative emotions and most importantly, fear.
Open yourself to your community and to the causes that you're passionate about. That's what Spring is all about. Coming Out. Emerging.
March's Astrological Shifts in Energy
Spring Equinox is the beginning of the new astrological year. This Spring Equinox comes in the midst of important collective energetic shifts.
Saturn during Equinox.
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The first was Saturn going into Pisces on March 7th. For the past, tumultuous five years 2018-23), Saturn has been in the two signs it rules: Capricorn and Aquarius (along with Uranus). Our physical and mental lives have been shaken up, our illusions about our collective life shattered. As Saturn's archetypal energy of structure and security begins to dissolve in Pisces' oceanic womb of our collective psyche, our sense of reality is going to shift. Just look at the hot movie of the year: Everything, Everywhere All At Once. It's about parallel worlds and alternative realities. And most important, it's a story about the power of Love.
The Aries New Moon, March 21st, occurs one day after the Equinox, naturally aligning with the shift in season. (This is often not the case with Aries New Moons.) There will be a second Aries New Moon at 29*50' on April 20th, switching the lunar cycle from New Moon/Full Moon in complementary signs to Full Moon/New Moon. The last time it flipped with two New Moon was in July 2020 and it flipped back in August 2021 with two Full Moons in Aquarius (a Blue Moon).
On March 23rd, Pluto, the planet of evolution/death&rebirth/power, dips its toe into Aquarius for a little over two months before moving back into Capricorn, giving us a preview of changes and challenges we'll be facing as a society when it finally stays in Aquarius from 2025 - 2043.
Pluto in True Color - High-Res.
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When Pluto moves into a sign, it usually picks up on what's really not working right away. In 2008, when Pluto moved into the sign of Capricorn - the sign ruling financial systems, government, collective institutions - we had one of the worst financial crises we've faced. Instead of taking the bull by the horns and addressing the real issues of wealth inequality and power, the government gave banks the money they needed and left people to swing in the breeze. Instead, they could have allotted each of us a certain amount of money that could only be used to pay off debts, thereby laundering the money for the banks through us, keeping all of us economically healthy.
But they didn't. Perhaps because Pluto was just beginning to show us what was rotten in the system. Now as Pluto ends its stay in Capricorn, we're seeing another bank failure out in Silicon Valley. A nice tidy bookend to these past 15 + years. What will be our response now? How did this happen again?
If we take this as a metaphor for our inner lives, what have we been 'banking' on? And have we put our energy into a solid structure?
When Pluto moves into Aquarius, we'll be dealing with new ideas about our society, about what is fair, about technology companies and how we use and abuse social media. (I love to imagine us getting rid of social media during these years. It reminds me of an old Star Trek: Next Generation TV show where they pick up some people from our time who were in frozen stasis floating in space until cures could be discovered. When they asked about TV - social media wasn't around at the filming - they were told 'we got rid of that along time ago'!)
The last time Pluto was in Aquarius our constitution was written. Pluto in Aquarius is invested in our personal power and our freedom. It's interesting, and a bit disturbing to once again see them using astrology for their own purposes, that right-wing conservative money is funding a push in red states for a new constitutional convention to re-write our constitution - perhaps to institute a more Christian-based society. This is another aspect of Pluto in Aquarius - manipulating public opinion through mass media.
Pluto will be squaring the Nodal Axis in Taurus/Scorpio most of the year. This new vision of life must include the Earth and all of Nature. It will also bring about major transformations in our political life. Last time Pluto was in Aquarius, the French Revolution brought down the monarchy and shifted power to the people.
Aquarius as a fixed air sign: there are certain cosmic laws that shape our society and certain ideals which shape how we see our purpose in life. How we live those ideals is up to us. Air signs always speak to the need to improve our communications and personal networks. But Aquarius, especially, asks us to look at our experience as individuals in the context of society. What is our social responsibility? What part do we play as an individual member of our local community, the national community, the global community? We have the next 20 years to figure that out. But it starts with us, now. If we want to create a better world, we all have a part in making it happen.
So let's watch and see what Pluto's first ingress into Aquarius (March 23 - June 11) brings up for ourselves and for the world.
Mercury went into Pisces on March 2nd and conjuncts Neptune and then the Sun at 27* Pisces on March 17th. Then Mercury goes into Aries on March 19th, right before Spring Equinox. So watch for Mercury conjunct the Aries New Moon and how it affects what you want to plant for this year.
Venus started March off in Aries conjuncting Jupiter on March 2nd. Luck and beauty. Truth and Compassion. Venus moves into her own sign of Taurus on March 16th, right after she squares Pluto in the last degree of Capricorn. Venus rules money, so let's see what happens with the bank crisis. Venus conjuncts the Taurus North Node on Spring Equinox and conjuncts Uranus in Taurus on March 30th.
Mars ends its long retrograde, 7 month journey in Gemini on March 25th, finally arriving in Cancer to see how home, family and emotional security are feeling. Gemini offers a wide range of ways to think about life and the world. With Mars there for so long, have you settled on a new world view, a new paradigm that helps you understand the world? Mars in Cancer probably just wants to be home for awhile. So slow down that mind of yours and sink into your feelings. What do you desire most? When Mars moves into Cancer, it squares the Spring Equinox point of 0* Aries. What challenge will be offered us when Spring Equinox Aries Sun's ruling planet moves into the soulful waters of Cancer?
Spring Equinox, March 20, 2023
The Spring/Autumn Equinox occurs on March 20 - 21, 2023 at 1:24pm AKDT, 2:24pm PDT/ 5:24pm EDT/ 9:24pm UTC/GMT.
When the Sun gets to the equator and enters the tropical sign of Aries, the fire of Spirit once again descends on us. The spark of life gets ignited. That's Aries quest: Who Am I? What am I? Wherever you have Aries in your chart is where this spirit awakens in you. It has called to you from your birth, and it gets re-ignited each year on the Spring Equinox.
The Aries Sun, so soon after its conjunction with Mercury, will continue that Mars/Mercury vibe we've been under while Mars retrograded in Gemini. Mars and Mercury's blended energy indicates an energized Mind, and with the Sun conjunct Mercury for this Equinox chart (which pre-figures the year), we'll be having to make some clear decisions about what we want to accomplish this year.
The Equinox Sun semi-square Uranus in Taurus pushes us to include Mother Nature's evolutionary genius in our plans. It's time to adapt to a new world. Uranus awakens us to higher Mind - it connects us to cosmic consciousness. But as in the myth of Saturn cutting off Uranus' phallus to stop him from coupling with Gaia, this cosmic consciousness has to be mediated by Love. We'll see this cosmic message come up when we look at Venus.
Ceres, the dwarf planet, concerns how we nurture ourselves. Ceres in Libra is exactly opposite this Aries Equinox, reminding us to include others' needs in our decisions.
The Pisces Moon, however, is a balsamic Moon - the last phase before New Moon. Under the balsamic Moon phase, we have to finish up old business. I call it graduating from graduate school - we know what we need to do and now is the time to do it. It's an energy of completion, of sensing your destiny, of feeling secure in what you know.
This feeling of endings and new beginnings is echoed by Pluto in the last degree of Capricorn and Mars in the last degrees of Gemini. Something is coming to an end. Something new wants to be born. First, lay to rest the old story so you can put all your energy into the new one.
Conjunct Neptune, this Pisces Moon gives our Equinox emergence a sense of destiny, a sense of spiritual initiation, and a great connection to our dreamworld. With Saturn sinking into this same collective womb, what we imagine for ourselves will connect with the imaginings of all of us. The more we focus our 3rd Eye/ Imaginal Eye/ Moon on that better world, the more opportunities we'll have to meet others who have those same passions. This is the time to let go of the old, Aries' 'I am alone in this' belief for the Aquarian 'I can be myself with others who I resonate with'.
With Mars squaring Neptune on March 14, the best use of this square energy in the Equinox chart is to stay open to your spiritual insights, using Mars to expand on what you intuit by looking up what symbols are appearing in your dreams and external life. And then learning to integrate them when Mars moves into Cancer. A great example of Mars square Neptune in Pisces is the character of Waymond in Everything, Everywhere All at Once. He's compassionate, kind, willing to cooperate - he just wants people to stop fighting and to be kind. A spiritual warrior and redeemer.
There is big Aries' energy in this Equinox chart, with the Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, Chiron and Vesta in Aries. This is good warrior energy, energy to give us courage to look at this 'emergence' as a real new beginning for ourselves and the world. This is the virginal energy of the goddess Artemis, which can stand on a frontier and take the risk of crossing over into new terrain.
I always think of Aries as the scouts of the zodiac. They go out alone and find what the tribe needs for food or safety. They recognize the signs before others do. So look for the signs of what you need and follow after until you find what you need. Since Mars is out-of-bounds, meaning it's outside the normal north-south range of latitude for the Sun, there's a maverick quality (thank you for this Pam Gregory) to how we might want to approach things. A bit of a rebel, a bit of just following your own path.
Venus is conjunct the Taurus North Node this Equinox, once again telling us, "All you need is Love" to see the truth of our world's imbalance. Time to let go of our American identity of being 'consumers' and begin to take up our work as citizens and stewards of Mother Earth.
The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 1* Aries is: A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her. This is an image of a new impulse, a new feeling tone arising from the Collective Unconscious. This will be echoed during the Beltane part of the season when Aphrodite becomes our goddess guide. The seal is important in Celtic mythology and comes as the Selkie, or seal woman. This symbolizes our imaginative and creative abilities. When a new feeling life arises, it is accompanied by these qualities.
The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 19* Pisces is: A master instructing his disciple. This speaks to ancient spiritual wisdom being passed down. This is an image of initiation into the mysteries. Coupled with the Sun's symbol, we are invited to use our intuitive abilities as well our ancient wisdom to guide us through the next year.
The Sabian symbol for Venus and the North Node at 5* Taurus is: A widow at an open grave. This is a great symbol for letting go of the past. And also to recognize that we are part of a natural cycle of birth-growth-flowering-harvest-release-death-rebirth.
The tenor of the chart is a strong energy that wants to push for action. All that Aries energy needs an outlet. The outlet is to Uranus, 45* away from the Equinox Sun. The best way to utilize this Uranian energy is to go out and listen to what the Earth is saying. Listen to your imagination. There is a mystical aspect to this chart with the Moon, Saturn and Neptune anchoring in Pisces, the Moon connecting the Lord of Time and the Lord of Eternity/Timelessness. Focus on what needs to be finished up and how that connects to your new ideas and hopes for this year.
Spring Equinox: The Season of Emergence
The Wheel of the Year keeps spinning. As we leave behind the Winter Solstice/Imbolc season of visioning and head into the Spring Equinox/Beltane season of flowering and new growth, we'll see what our visions can produce.
There are many goddesses we can call on for this season. In many ways, the most important one is Persephone, who returns each Spring from her stay in the Underworld where she is Queen of the Dead. This is emphasized by Ceres, the Roman Demeter and Persephone's mother, opposite the Equinox Sun. In the Greek myth, at first she is called Kore, the Maiden. While she is out in the fields picking flowers, she is ravished away into the Underworld by Hades, the Greek Pluto, and becomes his bride. She has no name before she is ravished. When she returns in the Spring, she has a name and is a Queen, a woman of power and purpose. We have all gone through the darkness of the past few years, gone into our own private underworlds and hopefully dealt with our Shadows, so when we emerge this Spring, call on Persephone - Spring Maiden and Woman of Power - to help you step into this next part of your story with grace and beauty.
While Persephone epitomizes the return ing energy of Spring, she is part of a deeper mystery along with her mother Demeter. You can read about Persephone's return at my Wisdom Chronicle blog.
The Spring Equinox season includes Beltane, the cross-quarter fire festival that occurs when the Sun reaches 15* Taurus, between May 1 - 6. We'll call on the great goddess Aphrodite for Beltane, but for these next six weeks, here are a few more Spring goddesses who exemplify the first flowering of the season.
Ostara
Pagans celebrate Spring Equinox as Ostara, the festival of Spring and new beginnings. We get the name Easter from this Anglo-Saxon goddess, Eostre, since so many of our Christian holidays are based on ancient pagan celebrations.
Ostara is the goddess of increasing light and warmth and the balance between light and darkness. Ostara was associated with rabbits, who symbolize fertility. This is Her legend.
Ostara is the goddess of spring. She is the divine maiden that brings forth the first light of day and springtime. Ostara is responsible for resurrecting the world after winter's frozen grip has been withdrawn.
She blows the warm winds of springtime over the lands. Fields and trees become green again, and flowers blossom. However, one year, Ostara came a bit too late.
Already feeling a little bit guilty for arriving late, the Goddess Ostara was appalled when the first thing she encountered was a little bird who lay dying on the forest floor, his wings frozen by the snow.
Filled with compassion, Ostara took him as a pet or, as some versions of the tale have it, her lover. Feeling sorry that the poor wingless bird could no longer take flight, she turned him into a snow hare and gave him the ability to run rapidly so he could evade all hunters. Honoring his earlier life as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs in all the colors of the rainbow.
Eventually, the decision backfired when the goddess became enraged with his numerous affairs. In a fit of anger, she threw him into the skies, where he, unfortunately, landed under the feet of the constellation Orion (the Hunter). He remains there to this day and is known to us as the constellation Lepus (The Hare).
S oftening her attitude a bit, Ostara allowed the hare to return to earth once each year to give away his colored eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. (Click Here)
This is a goddess who feels compassion, love, jealousy and forgiveness. She is a goddess of fertility and her totem animal is the Rabbit. (Where do you think the Easter Bunny comes from?) In medieval times in Europe, the March hare was seen as a fertility symbol, and a sign of spring. This species of rabbit is nocturnal most of the year, but March is its mating season, and so during March, hares are seen all day long.
Maia
Maia is an ancient Roman Goddess of springtime, warmth, and increase. She causes the plants to grow through Her gentle heat, and the month of May is probably named for her. Her name means "She Who is Great". Through the increasing warmth of Maia's spring season, flowers and plants sprouted and grew.
Flora
Flora is an ancient Goddess of blossoming plants, especially those that bare fruit. Without Flora, there would be no fruit, no harvest, no honey. In her myth, Flora was a nymph of happy fields. One Spring day while she was roaming meadows of new grass and wildflowers, Zephyr the god of Breezes saw her and fell in love. For her wedding gift he gave her the gift of perpetual Spring. Zephyr filled her garden with every kind of blooming flowers and called her Queen of the Flowers. She was the goddess who scattered seeds of narcissus, hyacinth, violets and more - she scattered the seeds for grains and fruits as well. Honey from her flowers were her gifts.
In Rome, her festival, the Floralia, took place from April 27 to May 3 and was marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers. Her priests released hares and goats, animals of great fertility. Women wore brightly colored clothes to symbolize the variety flowers and garlands in their hair.
Blodewedd
Blodewedd is a Celtic Spring goddess who was created by the Welsh Bran and the wizard Gwydion with magic from nine spring flowers to be the wife of Llew Llaw. This got around the curse Gwydion's sister Arianhod had placed upon her son, preventing him from taking a human wife.
Artemis
Artemis is the Greek goddess of the Moon, sister to Apollo, god of the Sun. She was the divine huntress and the nurturer of young girls before they matured into women. She lived in the wilds and the girls from 8-12 years old came to her sanctuaries and were her 'bear cubs'. They learned to be free and in their bodies, before they were condemned to be married and shut away without any rights. Artemis is the Virgin, the goddess who belongs to herself.
Just as Spring gives birth to so many beautiful and diverse plants and flowers, so too we have many goddesses to choose from. But what they all share in common is the idea of blossoming. The goddesses of emergence help us to get out of our shells and explore the world in new ways.
So have a blessed Equinox, both North and South, and may you blossom so that your harvest is full!
Blessed Be!
Cathy
