Astrology of March 2011 by Henry Seltzer (www.astrograph.com)

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The Astrology of March focuses on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Jupiter will square Pluto in the beginning part of the month, and also be opposed to its archetypal counterpart Saturn, especially in the latter half, so that optimism, transformation and also a defeatist sense of limitation face off within our psyches. Neptune also aspects Saturn by sesquiquadrate all month long, bringing a slightly cynical attitude to the proceedings. The big news of March is that Uranus will enter Aries on the 11th there to join Jupiter. This is a strikingly huge occasion, bringing the unique and startling perspective of Uranus more fully into conscious awareness, and linking it up once more with Jupiter, since they are again in the same sign. The Spring Equinox taking place on March 20th will be more than a little wild, since at that time the Sun will conjoin Uranus.

As the month begins, Jupiter squares Pluto, so that the re-forming Uranus-Pluto square is triggered and very much in our awareness at this time as well. This will be increasingly so as the weeks unfold, leading up to a climactic summer. We are already seeing signs of this revolutionary influence, reminiscent of the period of the sixties, in the ongoing mass demonstrations across the Middle East.

The New Moon of Friday, March 4th, features a strong dose of mystical and dreamy Pisces since five planets reside there, including Chiron and Mars, the Sun, Moon and Mercury. This Pisces line-up further emphasizes Neptune, which is hovering on the brink of its ingress into Pisces early next month. Saturn is strongly emphasized at this time as well, since all the traditional planets except Saturn form a tight cluster, within 90 degrees, across from Saturn. These planets are in fact contained within the close Pluto-Jupiter square from Capricorn to Aries. This implies that March is starting off with a bang rather than a whimper. Jupiter amps up the powerfully transformative power of Pluto, which is the energy to effect massive change in our lives. We have already seen a good deal of this sometimes overly extreme energy for personal and collective evolution and we will see more as events continue to unfold.

With the Full Moon configuration of Saturday, March 19th, the Sun and Moon in the last degrees of Pisces and Virgo closely conjunct and oppose Uranus as it enters Aries. The Jupiter–Saturn opposition is also highlighted. Jupiter suggests expansion and optimism toward the future, while Saturn, almost exactly opposed, symbolizes contraction and negativity, a sense of limitation. These planetary archetypes, fundamentally opposed in meaning as well as in these Full Moon skies, will bring out political polarities and drive us to somehow seek balance. Their push-pull is also triggered by the Last Quarter Moon of March 26th, when this edge will also be most decidedly felt.

The Full Moon weekend of the 19th and 20th includes the Spring Equinox on Sunday the 20th, and promises to be a particularly intense time. We are thrown forward into our future, ready or not, and do well to pay close attention to the changes that are coming toward us, and through us.

March 4th New Moon
This exciting New Moon features a Pisces line-up emphasizing mystical Neptune. The New Moon makes an inconjunct to a solitary Saturn, so that the polarity of the mystical and the practical is very much with us all month long. Jupiter in Aries squares Pluto and Uranus hovers on the brink of entering Aries, there to join Jupiter and square Pluto over the spring and early summer. We have many oppositional tendencies coming into play in our personal lives and the divisive nature of American and world politics is likely to continue.

March 12th First Quarter Moon
This is traditionally a time of testing when we get to examine what in our current process stemming from the time of the New Moon is viable. Tension is in the air, and Jupiter begins to oppose Saturn as it continues to square Pluto, indicating the loss of faith in ourselves together with conservative empowerment. Relationships are brought forward and take on a serious cast of mind, since Venus enters into a trine with Saturn. Uranus – newly in Aries – amps up the action with unexpected enlightenment and reminds us that the best moments in life are often unplanned.

March 19th Full Moon
This Full Moon again takes place in the last degree of its sign. An out-of-sign T-square to Pluto implies that massive change continues to make itself known. The Sun is also less than two degrees away from Uranus in early Aries, so that surprises continue and even magnify. Jupiter and Mercury conjoin and almost exactly oppose Saturn, leading to a potentially joyous attitude of mind that is simultaneously serious in nature with all the joyousness squelched out of it. The best of this condition is a sober optimism while the worst is a loss of faith in ourselves altogether.

March 20th Spring Equinox
This powerful configuration is a time that totally emphasizes the trickster god that is symbolized by Uranus, since the Sun in conjunction with the Aries point, also closely conjuncts volatile and surprising Uranus. Epiphanies abound.

March 26th Last Quarter Moon
This is traditionally a time when the accumulated wisdom of our process comes alive to our meditative inquiry as we mull over the successes and the failures of the previous three weeks of the cycle. The Sun is now in Aries and close to the Jupiter-Uranus midpoint as it is squared by the Moon in Capricorn conjunct Pluto. Revolution is available to all those who are ready and many who are not. Enthusiastically brilliant ideas continue to arrive, although the best time for action on these comes a week later, with the Aries New Moon of April 3rd. This powerful New Moon will start the month of April with an even more exacerbated version of the preceding month of changes, and it will be wild.