The Cosmic Story: the Wheel of the Year -- Spring Equinox

 

The Wheel of the Year:

Spring Equinox: March 19-20, 2024

The Opening Notes to the Song of the Future.

The Wheel of the Year: Ostara – Spring Equinox

Spring is arriving in southern Rhode Island. Crocuses dot the gardens and lawns with purple and yellow, white and lavender. We often ignore how connected we are to Mother Earth, but rarely in the Spring. As we watch Nature re-birth herself in the warmth and light of the Spring Sun, we can’t help but feel that connection. Spring is the season of hope and possibilities.

It’s the season of new beginnings.

The traditional religions recognize this connection to Spring and have their own ritual celebrations. But I’d like to look at the myth that gave its name to the Christian celebration of Easter. The story of the Goddess Ostara and the Easter Bunny.

Ostara, the Saxon Goddess of Dawn, who was responsible for bringing spring each year, was feeling guilty about arriving so late. To make matters worse, she arrived to find a pitiful little bird who lay dying, his wings frozen by the snow. Lovingly, Ostara cradled the shivering creature and saved his life.

Legend has it that she then made him her lover. Filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly because of his frost-damaged wings, the goddess Ostara turned him into a rabbit, a snow hare, and gave him the name Lepus.

She gave him the gift of being able to run with astonishing speed so he could easily evade all the hunters. To honor his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs (in all the colors of the rainbow), but he was only allowed to lay eggs on one day out of each year.

This beautiful and interesting myth of the Goddess of new beginnings offers us the promise of the gift of rebirth each Spring. Beautiful because a Goddess has compassion for and responsibility to life. She saves the bird’s life.

Interesting because she filled this wingless bird with her own life-force and it transformed into a snow hare, an animal spirit associated with creation, fertility and swiftness. These are certainly the characteristics of the Spring season. New beginnings, lots of fertility – and it all happens rather quickly once it starts.

I love that the Goddess opens up the hare’s feminine side so it can give birth once each year. The hare gives birth to all the colorful possibilities waiting to be hatched from the wishes we made on the ornaments on the Christmas tree at Winter Solstice.

This myth promises not just a re-birth of life, but also the possibility of a transformation of one form for another. It can hint at reincarnation, a whole new life with new gifts. But it can also promise us that the new birth each Spring will help us shape-shift into the form that best suits us at each stage of our lives.

The astrology of this season will inspire us to radically change our form – to step into our authentic Self, as we step out of the patriarchal overlay of our souls.

 

 

Spring Equinox 2024 Season: Emerging from our patriarchal sleep

This Spring Equinox ushers in a month of the most power energies of the year. After the Equinox on March 19-20^th, we’ll see a lunar eclipse in Libra/Aries on March 24-25^th, a total solar eclipse in Aries on April 8^th, and the conjunction of two powerhouses in Taurus, Uranus and Jupiter, on April 20^th. During this Aries’ month, Mercury in Aries is the only planet to go retrograde, once again emphasizing the Aries quest.

Who am I?

With the arrival of Spring in the northern hemisphere (hello Autumn down south!), these celestial happenings might bless the Earth with an extra influx of energy, sending us on a quest to understand who am I? Our world is in crisis. Now is the time to step onto the road, like Bilbo and Frodo, that leads to the Hero’s Journey.

This quest asks us to take responsibility for our lives, our cultures, and our world. During it, we will learn to start doing our part to help the world transition into a new age, leaving behind patriarchal perspectives and psychological imprints, hopefully for a more balanced perspective about freedom, gender, race and religious equality, and a deeper awareness and development of our human potential.

Astrologers always look at the Spring Equinox chart, which we consider the beginning of the new year, to see what energies we get to play with that year. This year’s chart is quite simple at the same time as it is inwardly complex.

At Spring Equinox this year, the Sun enters Aries on March 19^th at 7:06pm Alaska Time/ 8:06pm PDT/ 9:06pm MT/ 10:06pm CDT/ 11:06pm EDT and on March 20^th at 3:06am GMT.

At the Equinox, the Moon is in the sign of Leo. I like to call the Moon the operating system of the day/season – the basic soul energy that is infused into the day. The Moon in Leo is generous, open-hearted, creative and fun-loving. Since this Moon is Out-of-bounds, meaning outside the usual boundaries of planetary movement, we can expect lots of unique forms of self-express and creativity, as well as kindness, generosity and responsibility. Oh yes, Leo is supposed to be responsible because it is the sign of the King or Queen, those people who are mediators between heaven and earth, the gods and the people. It can also make people feel entitled and bossy. But in the Equinox chart, this Leo Moon is in a creative aspect to the Aries Sun, so it will express that need to know who am I? quest that Aries is known for.

This is a great chart for artists who want to speak to the people (Moon also symbolizes the people in a country’s chart) through their art. This trine aspect between the Sun and Moon makes me think of the guerrilla theater of the 60s. Guerrilla theatre is a form of socially and politically active public performance, in which actors use satire, improvisation, and drama to disrupt cultural norms. (google: https://study.com)

The Leo Moon is opposite Pluto in Aquarius, so our emotional body (Moon) is being pulled into the deep need to regenerate (Pluto) our collective Mind (Aquarius). The best way to change people’s minds is to feed them stories, art and music that opens their hearts so their minds can see new possibilities. Activist artists are needed now! (Where are the protest songs similar to the ones our musicians sang in the 60s-70s?)

The Sun goes into the sign of Aries at the Spring Equinox. It rises over the equator and begins its 6 month stay in the northern hemisphere. I love the Sabian symbol for this first degree of Aries. A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her. This image makes me think of Aphrodite rising out of the ocean, new-born of her father Uranus’ phallus/cosmic creativity. This myth tells us that the real power of life is LOVE. The seal is a reminder that our instincts play a big role in our awakening consciousness. We have to get out of our heads and into our bodies. We need our instincts to be awake during these critical times. Our heart wisdom/love opens the way for our instincts to help us with life.

This Equinox Sun is close to Neptune in Pisces, having joined with it on March 17^th opening our imaginations to the longings of our collective Soul. So the Sun already picked up Neptune’s information that the collective needs of our world want us to grow up and take responsible action (Aries love action) to create a better world for all of us.

 

 

Aries is a joyous sign, an exuberant burst of heavenly fire that wants to manifest its potential. That’s why its quest is all about their identity. You have to know yourself and what you love so you can build it in the 3-D world. This Aries Sun is in a good relationship to the fiery Leo Moon and as well as to Pluto in Aquarius. The new identity (Aries) we’re all seeking has to do with our own sovereignty (Leo) and our connection to our society and its beliefs (Aquarius).

We can all see what’s going on in our society. The wealthy are trying to control our country, using the Christian right as a shield and a sword. Nobody is going to vote to give the wealthy ultimate power so they’re hiding behind the morality card. HA! We are facing an ecological disaster that big corporations want us to ignore. Technology is controlling our perspective, running amok with issues of privacy and control, so let’s get everyone off the addictive phase of using technology so we can figure out its best use.

We counter these destructive forces by banding together, by protesting, (I still think we need a general strike), by going out into our communities to bring a different perspective to our neighbors and friends, by really listening to those people who have a different perspective and actually having a conversation with them. We the people aren’t as far apart in our vision of life as the news and their wealthy owners make us seem.

Women especially have to stand up for those kinder qualities that the divine feminine symbolizes. We know how to take care of each other and the children. We know that war is just a way of bullying others. We know that we need a healthy environment for life.

Women. Please step into your power this year – use your feminine gifts to help change the energies of fear and death that are looming over the world.

As I said, the Equinox chart is both simple and complex. The complexity comes from the pairing up of so many planetary energies.

Mercury in Aries enters its shadow retrograde period at the Equinox. It moves between 28* Aries and 17* Aries during its retrograde period starting April 1^st until April 25^th. So it will slow down to ask the question Who am I? before it moves ahead. Since Mercury is a degree away from both the North Node and Chiron in Aries at the Equinox, the question of identity is up again.

Chiron’s energy shows us a wound that is our initiation into higher consciousness. Right now, Chiron is in Aries, making us question our identity. The Aries Solar Eclipse on April 8^th is conjunct Chiron in Aries, in both the present chart and in the US Sibly chart of July 4, 1776.

We really need to think about this question of identity. The Chiron in Aries wound to our national identity is that the ‘father’ is not a loving, kind, strong protector of the land and of the people. The ‘father’ of the US is capitalism and corporations – machines and ideas rather than flesh and blood. This ‘father’ is willing to eat his own children to stay in power. So our task is to shape our own identity, to rebel against the machines of American capitalism and its expectations of us.

If we overthrow the tyrant, who will we be?

Can you see the strong weaving that is occurring in the cosmic energies?

Venus and Saturn team up in Pisces for this Equinox chart. Usually Saturn makes Venus shy, insecure and a father’s daughter who obeys the masculine rules. But I don’t think this is what is happening here. First, Pisces dissolves the old patterns we develop, and it’s been dissolving Saturn’s rigidity for the past year so far, so it can create a new collective structure when it moves into Aries in 2025 – 2026. And Venus is exalted in Pisces, starring in her role of Lady Wisdom. So I think this joining will be centered around Venus shaping what this new Saturn structure will look like. I think she’ll add in compassion and caring, community and equality to our collective dialogue. She’s building a spiritual structure to manifest Love in the world. Creating a vehicle of love for the world. We can help her make it happen.

At the Equinox, Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus are getting closer together for their conjunction on April 20^th. Jupiter is an expansive, lucky energy while Uranus is the surprise giver. So look for a surprising shift and expansion of your Taurus energies. Taurus rules the body, self-worth, talents, money and pleasure and is ruled by the Goddess of Love. Look for what house 21* Taurus falls in and expect the unexpected.

Uranus is squaring Mars in Aquarius, so there can be unexpected accidents and incidents. But mostly, this is a call for independence, a need to be free of outer authority. It’s time to be the author of your own story.

Interestingly, Mars is at the same degree as America’s Aquarius Moon in the 4^th of July chart, and America’s Moon, symbolizing we the people, will be squared/challenged by Uranus in Taurus in 2024-25. I keep seeing all of us waking up out of our consumer stupor and taking back our government peacefully, rather than seeing a ‘bloodbath’ that mr. maga-oo is predicting.

Libra Lunar Eclipse March 24-25, 2024

This Libra Full Moon eclipse at 6* Libra/Aries occurs on March 25, 2024 at 12am PDT/ 3am EDT/ and 7am GMT. The energy of this eclipse favors risk-takers and the unconventional and loves innovation and originality. (Where Dragons Dance/Kory Varlen) Chiron is still conjunct the Aries North Node. This eclipse can help us achieve our goals and begin to move our culture in a different direction.

Keep asking Who am I? And find out where you want to go.

Aries Total Solar Eclipse, April 8 2024

This Aries Solar Eclipse occurs on April 8, 2024 at 11:21am PDT, 12:21pm MT, 1:21pm CDT/ 2:21pm EDT.

 

 

Solar eclipses are super-charged New Moons. This is another big solar eclipse for the United States. It crosses the continent in a different direction from the one in 2017. Someone pointed out that the 2017 eclipse divided the country from north to south, whereas this one goes almost right up the middle before veering to the northeast. This eclipse goes over many cities and will be seen by millions of Americans.

It’s interesting because at this 20* Aries’ solar eclipse, the Sun and Moon are exactly conjunct Chiron, the wounded healer and mentor. The Equinox theme repeats. But even more interesting is that it occurs on the US’s Chiron at 21* Aries.

So this important solar eclipse energizes our collective wound to our identity. I wrote about these identity wounds in my last Substack article. Basically, we all (even the Native peoples because of us) have a wound to our identities because we are all immigrants. This is not our native landscape, and we’ve all had to adjust our identities to become ‘Americans’. But the culture we have now has been shaped by corporations, which are not people, and so our culture needs an overhaul. We need to deepen.

But first, let’s address the question of our identity concerning what it means to be an American. Does it mean what the Christian nationalists mean? Or does it mean that each of us has a responsibility to stand up for what we believe America stands for. Are we a mob or are we a group of people who are willing to stand up for our values?

The Right likes to drape itself in the mantle of patriotism, but it doesn’t work if they don’t stand up for our country’s ideals. For those of us who do, we have to acknowledge that we are the patriots that our country needs now. (I never could get into this patriotic myth. But I guess I am now!) Not people who use violence to get their way, but people who know how to use peace to bring about change. (I’ve been rewatching Star Trek Discovery in preparation for its last season. And the heroine of Discovery is someone who whole-heartedly believes in the foundational values of the Federation – freedom, truth, honor, valor, peace. And because she does, she constantly takes a stand that ultimately results in a new consensus and, sometimes a peace.)

The American story (which is our myth while not yet our reality) is that America is a land of opportunity, of freedom and equality, of potential and progress. The Land of Milk and Honey. Some people found that land, but many haven’t.

We’ve exported that myth into the world, but we aren’t living it. These times call on us to become passionate about our freedom and our values. Look at what’s happening in Russia today as the people go to the poles to vote. Some people have guns aimed at them to make them vote for Putin. Some protested by showing up at noon to vote to honor Alexi Navalyny’s call and some were arrested for protesting. Putin won by a large amount. Of course, because there wasn’t anyone else running against him. We could have that here too if we let mr. maga-oo run the show again.

If we don’t like our choices in leaders, then we need to become the leaders we want. But first, let’s finish up old business with this election. Pluto will have moved from Aquarius back into Capricorn for the two months before the US election and will return to Aquarius for the next 20 years by mid-November.

I see this as our initiation and our choice. Will we let money and power take over this country or will we vote in the people who will move us forward, so that in 4 more years new leaders will emerge to continue to move us into a new future.

There’s so much Aries energy up now. Find out where Aries lies in your birth chart. That’s where a new spirit of freedom wants to come into your life.

Until next time,

Merry meet and merry part. And merry meet again.

The Cosmic Story: Spring Equinox: Emergence and Rebirth & Pluto Goes into Aquarius

 

The Cosmic Story: Spring Equinox 2023

Emergence and Rebirth 

 

 

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 micro-biome’ 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. 

 

 

The first was Saturn going into Pisces on March 7^th. 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 21^st, 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 20^th, 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 23^rd, 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. 

 

 

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 2^nd and conjuncts Neptune and then the Sun at 27* Pisces on March 17^th. Then Mercury goes into Aries on March 19^th, 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 connecting with Jupiter on March 2^nd. Luck and beauty. Truth and Compassion. Venus moves into her own sign of Taurus on March 16^th, 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 30^th. 

 

 

Mars ends its long retrograde, 7 month journey in Gemini on March 25^th, 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 influences 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 3^rd 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.

 

Persephone ~ Susan Seddon Boulet

 

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 returning 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).

Softening 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. (https://goddessgift.com/goddesses/ostara/)

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 before puberty 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